She rolled under the bed, making it to the center. She would be able to tell from the sound of his walking which way he was going, and she would roll the other way and bolt for the door.
It was the only thing she could do, really.
His laughter filled the room. “What are you, a child? Come out and face the consequences of your actions.”
Carin knew he was right. She was not a child. She was a thirty-five year old woman. Maybe if she did as he asked, she would be able to tell him the truth, let him know what was happening. Would she be able to talk him into helping her? Something told her no, but it was worth a try.
If it didn’t work, there was always the chance she could push him down and make a run for it. Hopefully, the back door was open.
She rolled to the far side and stood, keeping the bed between them. She stood rock still and stared at him.
“Why you’re nothing more than a boy,” Ellington said. “You have no muscles at all, and curvy as a...” His words trailed off.
Carin pulled the cap from her hair, letting her braid tumble over her shoulder.
“A woman?” She could see the startled look on his face. “Well, I’ll be damned, I’ve caught myself a thief. A female cat burglar. Perhaps we don’t need to bring the authorities into this after all.”
She definitely didn’t like the tone of his voice. There was every chance he was thinking of things that she didn’t like. Well, not in this situation anyway.
“If you let me leave I won’t cause you problems,” she said. “I swear to you, I haven’t taken anything. Not one piece of silver, not a little piece of jewelry.”
“Then what are you doing here, you little thief? Why would you break into someone’s home and not take anything?”
This was her chance, to tell him the truth. But she kept her mouth closed. How would her father handle this situation? Would he offer the man money, or would he try to get away. If she did manage to flee what would happen then? If she wasn’t a good enough cat burglar to not get caught, she was not good enough to figure out who killed her father.
He moved to the other side of the bed, his hands on his hips.
“What are you looking for?” He cocked his head. “If you are not stealing something you are here for other reasons. Tell me why.”
Carin swallowed hard. What should she say?
“Did you break into my house last year?”
“No,” Carin said. “I swear, it wasn’t me.” She took a deep breath. “But it was my father, and he is now dead.”
They stared at each other, their gazes locked. Which one of them would look the other way first? Somehow, she didn’t think it would be him.
“Tell me why you’re here?” he said. “Tell me why your father broke into my house? Tell me why you are here, to finish the job? Or does it have something to do with this?”
He reached into his pocket, then held out his hand. The key set in the center.
“That’s mine,” she said. “Sort of,” she murmured to herself.
“You were in here last night, too,” he said. “Why?”
Why couldn’t she think of the right words to say? If she told him the truth, and he ended up being the person who had hired her father, would he kill her, just as he had her father?
“Please let me leave.”
“Not without giving me a few answers,” he said.
Carin sighed. “Don’t you want to pleasure yourself like you did last night? Then you could fall asleep and I could leave without there being any problems between the two of us. I think that’s a fair solution.”
He chuckled. “If you think to throw me off by talking about me masturbating, you are sorely mistaken,” he said. “Do you know anything about me, at all?”
His smile was almost evil, and it stirred something inside her.
“Was it last night when you were here?” He shut the door to his bedroom, turned the key in the lock and then pocketed it. He showed her the key she was after and also put it in his pocket. Then he sat down in the wingback chair near the fire, the same one he’d sat in last night when he’d taken out his cock and stroked it.
“Did Dalton send you? Or Charlotte? Are you a courtesan?”
Her blood boiled at his suggestion.
“I can’t really see you very well in that outfit, but from the length of your braid I can see you have long, black hair. Your eyes are a dark brown. You have an upturned nose and a beautiful, full mouth that I would love to see wrapped around my dick. More to the point, you are making my cock hard.”
“How dare you speak to me like that,” she said.
“You’re standing in my bedroom,” he said. Then he leaned forward and put his hands on his knees. “I have to admit that’s not the sexiest clothing, but the idea of catching a thief and punishing her does stir my loins. Come across my lap and let me spank you.”
“What? I am not the sort of woman who offers herself to a man for money!” she screamed. “You can go to Hell with your horrible suggestions.”
“I should go to Hell?” The laughter in his voice filled the room. “That little mouth of yours needs washing out with soap!”
She took a step back.
“A punishment scene. I love it,” he said. “Let’s stay in character, shall we? I’m the angry man who has caught the thief. You need to be punished. Should I take the lead, or do you want to?”
A knock on the door caught both of their attentions. “Sir, is everything all right?”
It was a man’s voice, one she’d never heard before.
“Yes, Temple, everything is fine,” Ellington answered. “I have company for the evening and don’t wish to be disturbed. Go back to your bed.”
Footsteps echoed down the hallway and Ellington turned his attention back to her. “My butler. My staff is very protective of me.”
“So it would seem,” she said.
“Now, once again, answer my question, or we’ll just start the spanking.”
“No one sent me,” she said.
“Of course, they would tell you to say that.” He patted his knee. “We don’t want to make things too easy, do we? I’m sure Dalton told you to fight my suggestion, and you seem to be doing a good job of it. Now, make a run for it and I’ll capture you.”
This was getting worse by the moment. She didn’t want to tell him the truth, but the other suggestion was worse than that. “I, um, I was going to take things, but I didn’t find anything, I swear. Please let me go. I won’t come back. Please.”
“You’re a bad liar, my little cat burglar. First, you tell me you didn’t want to take anything. Then you say you were going to steal things. Which is it?”
“I was going to take things. I looked for jewelry, but didn’t find any.”
Ellington threw back his head and laughed. “Try again. My late wife had loads of jewelry, but the person who broke into my house a few months ago took a great deal of it. I would think Dalton would have told you that when he hired you for this little meeting. You’re not staying in character, my little cat.”
He stood and started toward her. It took her a moment to realize she’d basically backed herself into a corner, unless she tried to go over the bed and make it to the door. Since that was the only thing she could think of she launched herself across the bed. But he obviously figured out what she was going to do, because he was on the other side, waiting for her. He pushed her back on the bed and then straddled her.
Carin stirred under him, his weight causing uncomfortable feelings of desire to build in her lower region. She wished he hadn’t talked about his cock, or her sucking it, or anything that had to do with sex.
“Please let me go,” she whispered. “I won’t come back. I can give you money.” Which wasn’t true, she didn’t have any money.
He laughed again. “Do you think I need your money? You’re stealing from me, remember?”
When Carin didn’t answer, he stared into her eyes.
“Definitely time for your punishment to s
tart.” Carin gasped and he smiled. “Now, behave and I won’t send for Inspector Kelley.” When her eyes widened, he smiled. “It’s too bad you’re wearing pants. It makes things a little more difficult but I’m sure we’ll manage.”
“You have the wrong idea, I swear it,” she said. “I am not a courtesan sent by your friends, and I am not a thief. I did break in, and I did leave the key.”
“Why?”
Carin shook her head.
“Tell me or I spank you, on your bare bottom.”
Carin’s eyes widened even more, and his grin disarmed her. “It is your choice, little cat. You can willingly submit to a bare-bottomed spanking, or you can be handed over to the Yard. Which will it be?”
“They will take me to Newgate.” Her voice was soft, frightened. For her it was real fear. But he seemed to think this was some sort of joke set up by his friends. Could she use that to her advantage? Maybe she should play along and then she would be able to get away from him at some point.
“Yes, and they will probably say you have committed all the burglaries of late. Have you?” He leaned back. “But you said your father committed the other ones. What are you, some sort of family crime unit?”
She shook her head furiously, weighing her options. “If I submit to your spanking, will you not summon the authorities?”
“I swear it,” he said.
“Very well,” she said. “I will submit to your spanking. But not on my bare bum.”
“The deal, little cat, is not negotiable,” Ellington’s voice was soft as he dropped his head near her ears. “You will be bare assed for the spanking, or you will go to prison.”
She really had no choice. She nodded her head and she felt his lips part in a smile against her neck. He stood suddenly, leaving her on the bed. He walked to the wing chair where he’d sat before, stretching his long legs out in front of him.
“Come here, my little cat burglar.”
It was hard to control her emotions as she walked toward him. She could see from the bulge between his legs that he was excited. What sort of friends did this man have that he would think they sent him a courtesan that he could spank?
She stopped in front of him and he looked up at her.
“What is your name?”
“Carin.”
“Very well, Carin. Undo your trousers and pull them and your underclothes around your knees. Then place yourself across my lap.”
Carin’s trembling fingers worked at her laces, her fingers slipping in their effort to hurry. She didn’t dare disobey him. If he figured out she really was a cat burglar he would surely summon the Inspector, and then there would be the devil to pay.
She fumbled with the laces and let her gaze look first toward the bedroom door, and then toward the French doors that had offered her such an easy escape the night before.
“I know what you’re thinking and it’s really not worth the effort,” Ellington said. “I will catch you before you make it to the doors, I assure you. And your spanking will be that much harder. Now do as you’re told, before I send Temple after the authorities.”
Carin finished undoing her trousers, and then squared her shoulders. She refused to show him that she was frightened. She slipped her thumbs inside her clothing and pushed them down to her knees, underclothes and all.
Ellington threw out his arms and nodded his head toward his lap. Carin looked down. The bulge was bigger than before. What sort of man was this?
“Get into place,” he said. “Surely you’ve been spanked before.”
Carin quickly lowered herself onto his lap. It was best to get this over with as soon as possible.
“Raise your arms above your head,” Ellington ordered. “Keep them there or I will restrain you.”
Not trusting her voice, Carin nodded. She shivered, when Ellington’s hand caressed her bum. His hands were soft, yet firm. Her body was tight with fear and anticipation, and she yelped in pain when the caress turned into a hard thwack.
He brought his hand down over and over, and Carin tried to stand. Ellington put his hand on the small of her back and pushed her back down.
“Stop, stop! It hurts too much!”
He laughed evilly and slapped her behind repeatedly, the loud cracking noises competing with her sobs to fill the room.
“Please, Lord Ellington, I’m sorry, please stop!”
“I am not a Lord,” he said. “I am the fifth son of a Baron. You will call me sir, but not milord.”
She ignored his words and reached back to try and block the spanking but he grabbed her hands with his free hand. Now, with her hands caught behind her back he continued to spank.
“Tell me what the key is for, Carin.”
She ignored his demand and he delivered more slaps.
“Answer me!
Why wasn’t he tiring of this? Why was he being this way? Did he think this was fun? That was obvious, since he thought she was a gift from his friends.
She couldn’t take much more of it, and she couldn’t really think of a credible lie.
She gasped around her sobs and whispered, “Because of my father.”
Ellington delivered a few more whacks and then whispered, “What about him. Who is your father? You said he broke into my house. Tell me why?”
“He was a thief,” she cried softly. “He was in the employ of an influential man, someone who would be called Lord, I believe. That man killed him.”
Her words were coming out in short bursts, her crying more pronounced. At least he had stopped spanking her.
“And you think I’m that man?”
“I don’t know,” she answered.
He slapped her behind harder and Carin groaned. “I’m searching for evidence.”
Ellington began caressing her behind, his hand soft against her fiery bum. “How many houses have you broken into?”
“Four, including yours.”
He slapped her ass again, and she cried out. “Are you lying to me?”
He slapped her ass again and she shook her head.
“There was a story in the paper this morning about a burglar who was taking things from people’s houses? Are you that person?”
His voice had changed, and she wondered if this had turned for him. Did he no longer think she was a whore his friends had sent so he could slake his lust?
“I am not,” she said, and then she cried out once more as he slapped her behind again and again and again, his hand coming down harder with each smack.
She begged, pleaded with him to stop but he paid her no attention.
He stopped slapping her behind and started to caress it once more.
“If Dalton did not send you, we have a problem,” he said. “I need to keep you here until I get to the bottom of things.”
“No, you said if I allowed you to spank me it would be over,” she said.
“That’s when I thought your spanking would end with me pushing my dick into your quim,” he said. “We obviously have a problem, and I need to get to the bottom of things. You will stay here as long as it takes me.”
“No!” Carin shook her head furiously. “You must let me go.”
“You have no choice, Carin,” Ellington said. “I need time to think.”
She turned her head toward him. “You mean because you deserve to be taken before the magistrate for assaulting me?”
“It was a small spanking,” he said.
“Small spanking? My bum is on fire!”
He began slapping her ass again, harder and harder. Carin’s cries grew louder and she begged him to stop. “Please, I can’t take anymore! This isn’t right!”
“Let’s not forget that you are the one who broke into my house,” he said.
He gently pushed her to her feet, which shocked her. Then she decided it shouldn’t. At least the spanking was over.
“On the bed with you,” he said.
“No, I won’t!” she yelled. Was this normal at his household? Why was the staff not checking on him again?
“I won’t stay here,” she said.
“You will do as I say,” he said. He grasped her around the waist, lifted her over his shoulder and then crossed to the bed. He deposited her there as if she weighed no more than a grain of salt.
Before she could move he’d pulled a sash from the bed curtains and once again straddled her. She struggled, but he held her close and tied her wrists together, then lashed the sash to the headboard.
“You will wait here while I go downstairs and think. I will return.”
He left quickly and Carin yelled for him to come back.
“You can’t leave me here! Come back! Come back!” She worked at her bonds and then fell back against the bed. He had not given her time to pull up her trousers so she was lying across his bed, her bare red ass pressed against the bedding. She sobbed and, after a few moments, stopped struggling. She slumped onto the mattress, silently begging for the aching in her behind to end.
Ellington took a pull on his cigar and a swig of his brandy, pondering the little vixen who was tied to his bed. His cock was painfully hard, but he had to figure things out before he did anything about it.
Was she telling the truth? Was she really a thief who had broken into his house to try and figure out what had happened to her father? Or was she someone Dalton, or another member of The Club, sent to ease his lust. He needed to have sex, that much was true, and his friends would be the type to hire a woman and set up a scene like this.
But if she really was a courtesan she played a very convincing part. When he’d visited houses before, and set up scenes where he could spank a woman’s bottom, most of the ladies he’d hired had giggled and tried to stay in character.
Carin, if that was her real name, had not. He’d thought she was excited about the spanking, and would want to fuck after. But he’d seen real fear on her face when it was over.
It was all so frustrating. He supposed the first thing he really needed to do was go upstairs and soothe her bottom, which had been a fiery red. He should never have left her there. Things had just happened much too quickly.
He took another swig of his brandy in an effort to calm his nerves. Then he drained his glass and placed his cigar in the glass tray. He felt calmer now. He could, hopefully, talk to her without feeling the need to release himself and fuck her until she screamed with release.
His Disobedient Thief (Rakes of Mayfair Book 2) Page 4
