But she didn’t necessarily believe them. She figured that he was just saying what he thought she needed to hear. She could barely swallow around the huge lump in her throat at the thought, as tears welled in her eyes, but she really had a hard time believing that he meant what he said. He was a jet-setting millionaire businessman who could have any woman in the world. Why would he bother with a washed up horse trainer with a perpetually negative bank balance? Despite his wonderful compliment about how beautiful she was, she was no model or actress. She looked . . . average. Normal, at best. Truly nothing to write home about. Certainly not someone that anyone would want to stroll down the red carpet with, regardless. She could never be his “Trophy” wife.
“Come here.” His voice was a command, but he had his arms open wide to her.
Liz wasn’t at all sure which one she wanted to obey, if either of them, and so she remained exactly where she was.
There was a wariness in her eyes that he didn’t like the looks of at all, and for the life of him he couldn’t fathom its origin. Hadn’t they just made spectacular love? Again? He was just about wiped out from it, and he thought she would have been, too. He was surprised that he now had to resort to a command to get her to come back to him.
“I just want to get my -”
She never got a chance to complete her sentence. Within seconds she found herself tucked up against him as he lay on his side, but not on his chest, as she most definitely would have preferred, but right next to him on her tummy, still awkwardly, embarrassingly naked.
And quite vulnerable, too; a point he set about proving to her with the flat of his hand.
Chapter Nine
Damn the man’s hand hurt!
She found herself drumming her feet on the mattress within an embarrassingly few swats, begging for him to stop – to no avail, of course.
“I don’t think so, Beth. It’s not at all too early in this relationship for you to learn that I mean what I say. When I ask you to do something, I expect you to do it as quickly as possible, and without any backtalk or mumbling under your breath about having to do it. Do you understand?”
She couldn’t get past the “in this relationship” part of his little speech to concentrate on the rest of it, and she said as much before she could stifle it, parroting the phrase back to him.
Vidar was surprised at her questioning tone, and was horrified to realize that she might think that this was some sort of fluke for him, or worse, a one night stand. He had hoped that confessing his love for her would have conveyed that, but apparently not.
“Yes, a relationship. Surely you didn’t think that I was going to make love to you, and then add a notch on my belt as I drove out of town! Do you really think of me as being that heartless?”
He was kind of afraid to ask that question, since she did seem to have a somewhat negative opinion of him, although he certainly couldn’t see why. What had he ever done to her – besides spank her, that is?
“No, but -”
“But what?” Vidar pulled her tightly up against him, putting her on her side and forestalling the spanking for the moment in favor of straightening things out.
Liz couldn’t help it. She leaned forward just a bit and buried her face against his chest, mumbling so softly against it that he couldn’t understand what she was saying.
He pried her away from him, carefully, but when he did she simply lowered her head and did the same mumbling routine. Patience had never been his long suit, and he was rapidly losing it with her. “Elizabeth, look me in the eye and say what you have to say, or you’re going to get a spanking for not doing so, plus a spanking for not obeying me, as well as the paddling you already have coming.”
Liz squeaked in protest – her misbehaviors were piling up at an alarming rate, and she realized she couldn’t really afford to earn another one right now. So she raised her head and looked into those gorgeous, fathomless blue eyes, saying softly, “Not heartless. You just . . . you can’t possibly want me when you could have any woman on the planet, ninety nine point nine percent of whom are loads prettier than I am.”
Vidar sighed just before he leaned down to kiss her tenderly. “And where am I? Here with you. There’s nowhere else I would rather be and no one else I’d rather be with.”
He wasn’t sure exactly how to prove to her that he truly wanted her. He figured that the best way to prove that to her was to do what he’d already planned on doing. Moving in and insinuating himself into her life, being a loving but strict and consistent disciplinarian, and making love to her at every possible opportunity. Hopefully, that would be enough to straighten out her opinion of him.
“I wasn’t lying, or just trying to get you into bed when I told you that I love you. I’ve never said that to any woman other than you. And you said it back to me. Did you mean it?”
Liz squirmed within his strong arms, but he wouldn’t let her off the hook, wouldn’t let her go, until she answered him. After a long pause, during which she made several abortive attempts to answer him, she finally admitted on a somewhat forlorn sigh, “Yes.”
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her so gently, so tenderly that it nearly had her in tears.
“That’s wonderful. Thank you. I’ll do my best to live up to it.” Vidar hugged her so tightly she thought her head was going to pop off, but it felt amazingly good, anyway. Eventually, though, he let her move just a little bit back from him, and looked down at her with a much sterner expression than before. “I don’t think you noticed, but I brought my suitcase with me. I will not leave you again.”
Of course it was his house – he had more right to be here than she did. Did he really and truly want her to stay?
“Seeing just how little food you had in this house reminded me that you need to be looked after, and I promise you, you’re going to be at least as coddled as you were by your parents. The only difference is that I expect you to obey me – the first time I tell you to do something – and if you don’t, there are going to be very definite – and uncomfortable – consequences.”
Liz noticed that he hadn’t said he was going to “ask” her to do anything, he was going to “tell” her. She’d never really thought that all of the things she’d hoped for and fantasized about him would ever come true, but here he was, offering – well, not exactly, but close enough – them to her. She couldn’t even begin to grasp it or believe in it just yet.
Vidar could see that she was hesitant, and he did his best to be understanding, but he decided that he was just going to proceed as if she had leapt enthusiastically into his arms at the mention of him moving in with her. Lord knew he had to do something to soothe his sagging ego. He’d never had a woman – especially not one who professed to love him – be so reluctant to get close to him.
But like it or not, he was in her life to stay, and the sooner she realized that he wasn’t going away, the better.
Although there was a distinct possibility that spanking her might actually drive her away – regardless of the splotches he’d found on his pants – Vidar knew that one of the things she needed in her life the most was consistency. So he moved her back into place on her tummy as carefully as he could and resumed the spanking.
Liz was confused by his behavior, trying to make sense of something she didn’t think was at all sensible, but he wasn’t giving her time to dwell on that – not with the way he was roasting her backside! He hadn’t allowed her to reach for her clothes, so she was completely naked as he smacked her bottom and worse – the backs of her thighs – in a torturously rhythmic pattern that had the usual rosy tone of her creamy skin darkened considerably, first to a bright pink, and then a deep, angry red.
And he scolded her throughout, too, stopping every once in a while – not to rub and soothe her heated bottom, but to ask her questions to make sure she was listening to him through the tears.
“You will do well to remember, Elizabeth Dagmar Shelburne, that you will obey me when I tell you to do something – not
twenty minutes later, or when you want to, or when it’s convenient for you to do so, but immediately. And I will blister your bottom every single time you don’t.” He leaned closer to ask, “Are you listening to me?”
“Yes!” Liz sobbed, having already been depressingly unsuccessful at trying to get away.
“And when did I say you should do what I tell you?” She already hated the tone he adopted any time he scolded her, whether she was being spanked or not. It made her feel as if she were four years old, or called before the principal. Just his voice had her feeling more submissive and obedient than she ever had before.
And very intimate parts of her were taking note of every delicious second of it. She could feel herself growing moist and there was nothing she could do about it. Liz only hoped that Vidar didn’t decide to investigate her level of . . . interest.
“Immediately,” she sniffed, horrified to find that her lower body contracted at the same time she gave her response.
“Exactly. You’ll find you’re much happier doing as you’re told, and you’ll be able to sit a lot more comfortably, too.”
She wasn’t at all sure about his former claim. She’d never submitted to anyone in her life, and she was apprehensive – and tantalized, she had to admit to herself – that strict obedience was exactly what he was demanding of her, and he wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer.
When the spanking finally ceased, Liz found herself a mass of tears. She had promised very quickly that she would be eternally good if he would just stop tanning her fanny. There was a huge wet spot on the bed, directly under her face, and she was in dire need of a Kleenex, which he supplied without comment.
She thought that was wonderfully solicitous of him, at least until he tapped the outer edge of one of her thighs, saying, “Open.”
Considering the condition of her bottom, she knew better than to delay her response, and spread her legs for him, although she couldn’t open them too far without running into him.
Vidar moved back quite a bit, saying, “More. Open them as wide as you can.”
Liz opened her mouth to say that she was worried she was going to drive him off the bed, but then she realized that that wasn’t her concern. Her problem was simply to obey him to the best of her abilities, and that was what she did – no matter how humiliating it was to lie there with her secrets exposed to the world while he gazed eagerly down at them.
Only looking wasn’t the only thing he did.
She started when his hand cupped her inner thigh and began to try to move away from his touch, until he delivered another hard round of slaps that had her moving back into position instantaneously.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Beth. I just want to see.” His fingers moved very delicately up into her cleft, seeking and finding exactly what he wanted: she was literally drenched in her own juices. Again. Vidar felt as if he’d discovered the fountain of youth, but he thought his discovery was better.
He had spanked other women, all of whom had considered it foreplay, or had merely tolerated his peccadillo in favor of keeping him sweet to get something from him, be it the publicity that came with being seen with him or money or a favor of some sort. But he’d never met one who was truly turned on by discipline. If he’d known that was Liz’s bent, he would have swept her away the moment she turned eighteen. He had a lot of lost time to make up for.
He played with her for a few moments longer, listening with rapt attention to the changes in her breathing as she became more and more aroused. She moved her leg up – just once – in an aborted attempt to get away again, but a sharp, “Stop,” accompanied by another series of crisp smacks convinced her that still wasn’t a very good idea. He kept his fingers right where he wanted them for several minutes longer, requiring her to submit to his intimate invasion of her body without protest before he withdrew.
“I have a bit of an assignment for you today,” Vidar said casually.
Liz sat up in bed, sucking in her breath quickly at the feeling of her poor abused and unprotected bottom against the sheets and realizing that that was not such a good idea. She rolled onto her side and was instantly more comfortable. An assignment? She would bet it was going to be something kinky. Was he going to send her into an adult bookstore? Or make her walk around the house nude? She wouldn’t put either of those things past him.
What he asked of her surprised her to no end. “I want you to redecorate the master bedroom.”
“The master bedroom?”
“Yes.”
“You want it redecorated?”
His answer was quite a bit less patient. “Yes.” Vidar frowned, wondering at the tone of her voice. He hadn’t thought that it might be uncomfortable for her to do what he was asking of her. “Are you okay with that? And, just in case you don’t know, I always expect you to tell me the truth, even if you think I might not want to hear it.”
“Uh-huh.”
She still sounded far away from him, and he didn’t like that. And he definitely didn’t like her answer, either. “No, not ‘uh-huh.’ ‘Yes, Vidar’ or ‘yes, Sir’ are your options.”
He paused for a moment to prompt her to give him the correct response.
It took her a long beat before she said, in a manner that let him know that she was squirming with humiliation as she did so, “Yes, Vidar.”
“Much better. Are you all right about that? You don’t have to get rid of the furniture if you don’t want to. We can store it. But your bed really is too small for the two of us –”
“It’s not too small for me,” she chimed in.
“Okay, then it’s too small for me. I want you to go to whatever furniture store you prefer and buy a nice king sized bedroom set. Real wood. None of that pressed board stuff. It’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.”
She twirled her fingers in his chest hair, tugging on it absently. “Vidar? You know I can’t afford that.”
He reached over to the nightstand and retrieved his wallet. He withdrew a credit card – one of many – and handed it to her. “Get something you think I will like,” he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted him. “Make sure they will deliver it today. Because you are going to sleep with me tonight, and every night from this day forward.”
“Don’t you want to come with me?” she suggested, sticking out her lower lip in a pout.
He kissed her pouting lip, then bit it just a bit too firmly to be entirely playful. “No pouting allowed,” he warned. “But just this once, I’ll concede. Yes, I’ll come with you. Let’s pick out a bedroom suite together. No pink!”
She giggled, still playing with the hair on his chest. “I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m not that fond of pink myself. It was my mother’s idea to decorate my bedroom that way. Maybe she thought if she surrounded me with girly things, I’d absorb some of it by osmosis.”
“Poor misguided woman,” Vidar agreed.
It was a beautiful spring morning as they drove into White Hall to the nearest furniture store. The kind of morning that made one just happy to be alive. The sky was clear and brilliant blue. The air was filled with birdsong as the returning snowbirds began their mating rituals in preparation for a new batch of eggs. A gentle breeze set the budding tree branches aquiver in the never-ending dance of life. Liz felt herself grinning and she couldn’t explain why. It just felt good.
Furniture shopping with Vidar was a new experience. He was not one to prevaricate. He strode to the bedroom furniture section and selected three styles he approved, then let Liz chose from between the three. All of them were four-poster beds, she realized, already wondering what sort of activities he had in mind for that. All were made of solid wood, although there was some difference in style. One was ornately carved with a grape leaf motif that while gorgeous in the store, Liz figured that it would be a nuisance to keep it dusted. The second was Spartan in design. Straight, smooth lines, no detail, flat polish and minimalist. The third was the one she chose. A smooth cherry finish, a simple yet elegant desi
gn, and of course, the stately posts at the four corners to stand guard over them while they slept. Then Vidar ordered the entire set – two nightstands, a tall chest of drawers and a shorter, wider one with mirror, and matching hope chest. He paid extra to have it delivered later that day.
Next they went to a white-goods store to purchase sheets. That too, was dispatched with amazing ease. Vidar asked her on the way over what her favorite colors were. “Blue,” she had told him.
“What shade of blue?”
“All blues. I love sky blue and navy blue, aquamarine, cobalt, indigo and sapphire. I don’t think you could find a shade of blue that I don’t like.”
“Fair enough,” he remarked. “What’s your second favorite color? What goes best with blue?”
“Peach. I love blue and peach together. And big cabbage roses. I know it’s sort of Victorian in style, and so totally un-cool, but I like it.”
And when they walked into the store, he went straight to the bedding area and picked up a set of steel blue sheets, handing them to her. Next he grabbed a “bed in a box” package that was complete with comforter, dust ruffle, pillow shams and whatnots, all in steel blue with peach cabbage roses. Liz couldn’t believe the good luck they had! The entire shopping trip had taken less time that it took to drive there.
They were just loading their purchases into his SUV when she bumped into Tracy, of all people. “Hi, Tracy,” Liz bubbled enthusiastically. “What brings you to town today?”
“Soliciting signatures for our cause. Liz, what are you doing with the enemy!”
Vidar rudely ignored her friend, taking the sheets from Liz’s hands to tuck them into the back of the SUV. “Come along, Liz. Let’s get some lunch.”
Forever Wife Page 11
