She looked at him, then down at her feet. Why was she obeying him in this? Couldn’t she just walk away? She sighed. No. She couldn’t, didn’t want to really. Because he’d made it clear if she wanted to stay, she had to obey his rules. So, she’d bent a couple of them, and this was the result. Damnation, she wanted to stay.
Slowly she edged down her underwear, let them slip to the floor, then bent and grasped her ankles, staring at the brown pumps on her feet, waiting, biting her lip, wondering when he would—
The paddle slammed into her, hard enough to make her teeth slide and chatter. The vibration shot through her body as if she’d been shaken by a storm. A fraction of a second later, in its aftermath, her bottom stung like all hell, and heat flared, her lower body throbbing. She gasped and almost straightened. He’d said not to move. She glanced back at him, past her legs, her bottom up in the air.
Theo said nothing. Only watched and waited.
This, she suddenly realized, was as sexually arousing as anything could be without actually touching. The throb from her bottom heightened the pleasure. For a man to be watching while she did this… If she said nothing, would he paddle her again? Her mouth went dry. Fear awakened. No, she didn’t want to go this route. Not pain. Besides, she felt sure Theo enjoyed wielding that paddle, and she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
“The corset,” she muttered, her head feeling like an inflating balloon from all the blood pooling in it. “I’d rather that.”
At least this way she’d be the only one feeling pleasure, and she could limit her reaction to a piece of clothing. With the paddle, Theo controlled her.
Theo nodded. He tossed the paddle onto the sofa.
Not a surprise that she’d chosen the corset. He hadn’t thought Claire ready to find enjoyment in pain. The potential was there, though. She’d liked it to a degree, despite her fear. The main aim of this was to impress on her his seriousness regarding her attitude to him and everyone around him, and one smack had achieved that aim—though the sight of her white posterior raised up high would never grow tiring. He stopped himself smiling.
He thought back to the reason for this. The sight of her attempting to shake Ericson, as if a man almost twice her weight were shakable, had been an eye-opener.
By only wounding that bear, she’d risked her life, and all because she didn’t want to kill. They’d made her murder someone…and for what? Accustoming her to death? Mind-boggling. If he could have erased that awful memory, he would have.
Still, you were the sum of your past. Without that she’d be someone different. A someone who, perhaps, wouldn’t have been appalled at the death of a bear. He’d wanted to grab her and cuddle her when he’d seen that. She was getting to be an addiction for him, far more than any other woman.
He folded his arms and tried to look stern.
The corset, despite what he’d told her, wasn’t really a punishment. Not…exactly. The afternoon should prove interesting.
Efficiently, as if it were some boring task, Claire pulled her dress over her head, breasts bouncing enticingly as the bodice caught under them. Her nipples, pink-brown and soft, peaked as she caught him looking. “I think you need a hand,” he rumbled, scooping up the corset.
“Um, I can do this.”
Her upset tone made him hold the corset up high, so she’d have to stretch to reach it.
“Theo—”
“Yes?”
She sighed and shut her eyes a moment before looking at him. “Very well.”
He tilted his head, wanting to see if she’d get the hint. “Hmm?”
Her brow wrinkled for a second. “Please, help me put it on.”
He smiled. “Ahh. That’s much better.”
On bended knee, he helped her put each foot into the corset and draw it up over the long curves of calf and thigh, his hands drifting up her body, smoothing twisted pearls and cloth at bottom, waist, and breast, clipping the catch shut at her nape, and, naturally, nibbling his way up the slope of her neck. How he adored her neck. By that time, she was leaning back into him, her hand over his at her crotch, breathing fast… He could listen all day to her panting and moaning his name. But…no. He released her, stepping aside after making sure she was balanced.
“Put on your dress, Claire. Let’s eat something.” He smacked her on the red side of her bottom, grinned at the shock on her face.
Quickly, she slipped the dress over her head and adjusted the bodice. The pearls at her neckline were barely visible.
He’d not told her of the punishment for refusing Dankyo’s order. If anything, that was the most important part. He couldn’t afford this wedge she was driving between him and Dankyo. The business needed settling as soon as possible. But one thing at a time.
Chapter Fifteen
Theo swept his arm across, pointing out structures one by one. “Engineering and Vehicle Depot, the firing range, barracks. We’ll go there first. Get your apology to Ericson and Blackman out of the way.”
“Blackman?”