On one hand, she'd loved tracing the welts from his belt on her bottom and the subsequent soreness in her nipples from the clips he'd put on them. The pleasure that he'd brought her to had been intense. On the other, he'd done unspeakable things to her bottom. Inside her bottom. The poor little hole was still tender and yet... that had been part of the pleasure. It was humiliating.
Even more so since he'd barely touched her again since then, when she was still craving him so desperately. Rubbing herself, the way she'd done before, just didn't fulfill her the way he had. She'd learned that there was a very keen difference between pleasure she gave herself, and pleasure given to her. Touching herself wasn't nearly as exciting as when Wesley touched her. Besides, shouldn't he want to touch her more? Every other man she'd met had constantly been coaxing her to allow them more liberties; the man she was going to marry barely kissed her hand or cheek.
Well, except when she'd pushed him to punish her.
But she wasn't sure she was ready to do that again; the last time had left her wary of him. She remembered telling him that she wanted a husband who wouldn't bore her. He would certainly be that, but now she was unsure if that was a good thing. The things he'd done to her... well, they'd been unimaginable. Far beyond anything she'd thought of doing with a man. Even if it had been both exciting and pleasurable, for the first time in her life she'd been frightened by her reaction, because he'd gone far beyond the bounds she'd even thought possible. Which was why she was on her best behavior tonight, doing the pretty for Eleanor and Edwin, and the Viscount and Viscountess.
The Viscountess wasn't at all how Cynthia had pictured her, not after meeting Eleanor. Although, the Viscount was. He was as goldenly handsome as Eleanor was angelically beautiful, with piercing blue eyes and a quick, flashing smile as he looked down at his wife. The Viscountess wasn't a fashionable beauty; she had red hair and freckles, for one, but she was quite pretty even if she'd never be a Diamond of the First Water. Quite shy too, from the way she practically clung to her husband's arm as she was introduced to the Countess.
Cynthia hoped the Viscountess wouldn't be boring. She had the look of a woman who would be horrified by impropriety. Or, if she was, that her presence wouldn't make Eleanor prim and proper as well.
"May I present my betrothed, Miss Cynthia Bryant," the Earl said, pressing his fingers briefly against hers on his arm, as if telling her to behave. She stifled the impulse to stick her tongue out at him. The Earl might be wildly unpredictable in private, but he was a stuffed shirt in public and she wasn't about to purposefully court his displeasure.
She curtsied prettily, and smiled demurely. "It's very nice to meet you."
To her amusement, everyone in the room looked at her slightly askance, as if waiting for her to do something naughty. Cynthia kept the demure smile on her face, feeling her fiancé’s arm tense under her fingers. From the narrow-eyed look he gave her, she was quite sure that he thought her good behavior was a cover and he was trying to figure out what mischief she was up to. How galling it would be for him to discover that she wasn't up to anything at all.
It was sure to frustrate him greatly.
Cynthia asked after their travels, the way a young lady should, and felt Wesley stiffen even more, if that was possible. Oh, this was going to be fun. The better she behaved, the more wound up he would get. She didn't realize that the gleam in her eye was only making the Earl feel even more on edge, but she would have been quite satisfied with that knowledge as well.
******
"I'm disappointed," Hugh announced, settling down in his seat, a snifter of brandy in his hand. The ladies had withdrawn to the drawing room, leaving the men at the table for their drinks. "After all the descriptions of Miss Bryant as a hellion, I expected a much more debaucherous showing."
"Perhaps Wesley has had a steadying influence on her," Edwin teased. He shot his friend a look. "Although, I have to admit, I was expecting something from her this evening as well. She certainly looked as though she was plotting mischief."
"Did she?" Hugh asked, looking somewhat confused. To him, Miss Bryant had seemed the very picture of a sweet young miss. Granted, she had quite a figure for a young miss, which he was sure had attracted Wesley, but he hadn't seen any of the spirit that he'd expected.
"It's in her eyes," Wesley said, glancing at the door. Tension had gripped him all evening as he'd waited for Cynthia's behavior to degenerate. It hadn't, not once, and he didn't know whether he was relieved or disappointed by it. He certainly hoped he hadn't put her off misbehaving entirely, but going by her expression he hadn't. He just didn't know what the damned chit was up to. "She was playacting, although I don't know for whose benefit - yours, mine or my mother's. I'm sure you'll have ample opportunity to see her antics before the wedding."
"Although she has been on better behavior the past couple of days," Edwin observed, raising his eyebrow at Wesley. "Eleanor wondered what you had done to her."
The memory of Cynthia's last punishment made Wesley grin, even as his cock hardened slightly. He'd been in a state of almost perpetual arousal following that night, which he'd only managed to deal with by keeping his distance from his bride. Given the opportunity, it was all too tempting to divest her of her virginity before the wedding night, which was absolutely not something he was going to do. Especially not in his mother's house.
Still, he wouldn't object to punishing her again. He'd taken one virginity from her the other night, indulging in his most depraved fantasy, as he'd buried himself in her tight arse after belting her creamy cheeks to a dark red. The little wanton had enjoyed herself too, for all she'd been embarrassed by the act. As much as Wesley enjoyed indulging in that particular perversion, he knew he was going to have to keep it strictly for special punishment occasions or it would lose its potent effect on her. There wasn't much his little minx was embarrassed by, and he certainly didn't want to cure her of that particular one.
"Well, well," Hugh said, raising his eyebrows. "It appears Wesley did anticipate his wedding night." He looked at Edwin. "You owe me twenty pounds."
"No." Wesley glared at his friends, although he wasn't truly angry. It was the kind of thing he'd bet on, and he wasn't entirely surprised that they had. "She's still pure."
"Damn," said Hugh, as a triumphant Edwin held out his hand. Hugh dug into his pocket and pulled out several notes, slapping them down into Edwin's palm.
"So what did you do?" Edwin asked, curious. "Whatever it was, it definitely set her on edge."
The smile that stretched across Wesley's face was pure, smug, male satisfaction. "I just used the little implements that I brought back from India. There's nothing like filling a woman's bottom to make it quite clear who the Master of the House is."
Edwin guffawed as Hugh shook his head.
"I don't need that to assert myself as Master of the House," Hugh said. "Other than the oils, I haven't used your wedding gift at all."
"You don't know what you're missing," Edwin said, his eyes gleaming as Hugh pretended to try and cover his ears, a useless exploit since he refused to let go of his brandy while he did so. Before Edwin had
married his sister, Hugh hadn't minded hearing about his exploits, but now he preferred not to know the details. Laughing, Edwin leaned towards Wesley, whispering loudly as Hugh pretended temporary deafness. "I haven't used the dilators yet, but I've gotten a bit of use out of your other gifts."
"At least someone is," Wesley said, grinning. Although he wasn't entirely surprised. Hugh had been the one to first introduce himself and Edwin to the idea of feminine discipline, when he'd invited them to watch Eleanor receive a birching from her father, but in many ways he was a prude. Edwin was far more adventurous, even if he hadn't reached the level that Wesley had yet. While it was strange to think about Edwin and Eleanor together that way, it didn't bother him the way it did Hugh.
"I don't need such sundry instruments to discipline my wife," Hugh said loftily. "All Irene needs is a spanking now and then to keep her in line."