Page 53 of Pride, Prejudice & Wicked Pleasure

“Thank you,” she said.

She was unable to discern his full expression behind his mask. His lips were prone to a slight frown. If he were disappointed—and she could not gather why he should be for he had initiated the consequences—she could not be certain.

“You have forgotten the second tenet.”

Her eyes widened with realization. Oh dear. She had once prided herself on her ability to recall even the most mundane of facts. How had she managed to forget?

“Your pardon,” she said. “I was, er, pleasantly distracted.”

“You wish to lay the blame at my feet?”

Perhaps if you were not so skilled…But aloud she replied, “I bear responsibility for the oversight.”

“What is the tenet to which I allude?”

“Not to spend without your permission.” She lowered her gaze so that he would not discern how silly she still thought this directive to be.

“A sound punishment will aid your memory of this.”

She drew in a sharp breath. She had no notion of what a punishment entailed.

“Face the bed,” he instructed.

“Are punishments the norm for these lessons?” she asked, trying to remember what Abby might have said on the subject.

“Are you not to heed my every word?”

She wrinkled her nose that he had answered her question with one of his own. He said nothing further and waited for her to follow his order. Without protest, she did as told. She did not like that she could no longer see what he did, but she found comfort in not having her breasts and pelvis displayed before him.

“Bend over.”

He pushed her over the bed at the waist. Her derrière rounded the edge, and she instantly preferred her prior position. He softly palmed the curve of her rump. She shivered.

“Abby made no elaboration of punishments,” she noted, her pulse quickening at the awkwardness of her position.

“Do you recall your word of safety?”

“Will I need it?”

“I know not. Tolerance of pain differs greatly from one to another.”

Pain. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Do you fear pain?” he asked.

“Not in particular, but I do not seek it, nor do I often anticipate it. Perhaps if you described the nature of what you intend, I can better answer your question.”

“In this, words cannot best demonstration.”

He slapped a buttock. She yelped. It surprised more than it hurt. Did he intend to give her a spanking? Was that to be her punishment?

“Was that painful?”

“No.”

He still had his hand upon her back, and she found herself wondering how it would feel to receive a harsher strike. He caressed the orb he had struck. His touch was ever pleasant and provocative. His hand pulled back before delivering another blow to her rump, a little more harshly this time.

“Oh!” she gasped. To her surprise, she rather enjoyed the sting. It was rather errant—wanton—to receive a spanking as a grown woman and from a stranger.