“You’re sure?” he asked, as he helped her to her feet and watched her test her hesitant body.
“Yes, I’m just a little shaky.”
“No more jumping,” he warned her.
“She was doing so beautifully.”
“I’ve never known you to take such chances. Jocelyn yes. But you’re usually more conservative.”
“It’s the day,” she advised him as he helped her to the saddle.
“That and far more spunk that you need,” he said. “But, no more. Will would have my hide if you end up with a broken leg.”
“That I’d like to see.”
Reggie’s eyes narrowed sternly. “Just take it easy,” he advised.
That wasn’t hard to do, since she was still trembling, her stomach doing flip-flops. They rode just a few miles more, and then turned for the stables, taking the last mile at a quick but easy clip along a well-traveled lane.
Once off her mount, Alex led the mare to her stall and began to remove the bridle and saddle. She was such a sweet animal. She still couldn’t believe that she’d misjudged the fence and fallen. Nuzzling the mare, her gentle coo and careful stroking seemed only appropriate since she considered it her fault for taking the horse to a jump she was unaccustomed to. She remained lost in the affectionate moment until she heard footsteps behind her. Jerking around, she saw Reggie standing there, and cringed noting the riding crop in his hand.
“You planning to use that?” she asked him directly.
“Only if it’s necessary.”
“I thought we covered that territory,” she said, not sure if Reggie was serious or just teasing.
“And I haven’t yet had a flat denial from you, Alexandra,” he reminded her.
“What do you think I have to confess?” she replied.
“Why don’t you tell me,” he stated flatly.
“If there’s nothing?”
“Is there nothing?”
Reggie’s pursuit of the matter made her suspicious. Did he know about her night out? The possibility was looming formidably and she was getting more nervous fending off the inescapable reply.
Reggie tapped the crop against his leg and she stared at it. Did he read her thoughts? Could he feel the agitation in her belly? Could he sense the arousal in her sex and know that she was feeling slightly dizzy?
“You know, I think that fall is catching up with me,” she said.
“Convenient time,” he suggested.
“What if you let me take a breather?” she appealed to him like a withering flower of a woman.
“Alexandra,” he barked at her harshly. “Answer me honestly and you can go.”
She thought about the possibilities and the consequences, knowing that the way he leaned on her he must have a clue about that night. If he did know and she denied it, any punishment he chose would be more severe. Her palms were sweating. Her dizziness turning to nausea. She was about to blush, a dead giveaway.
“Your hesitation speaks loudly,” he finally prompted her.
“Does it? Or is there something else motivating this third degree?”
“Why don’t you just tell me and we can get it over with.”
“You mean about the night I sneaked out of the house?” she finally confessed that much.
He raised his eyebrows. “Tell me.”
“I needed a breather, Reg, with you and that trollop of yours going at it like minks. I don’t think I’ve known you to be so obvious with the women you’re fucking.”
“And that gave you permission to leave this house? Against my wishes? Against Will’s orders?”
“You think you have me imprisoned here?”
“I think you’re a wayward wife that needs to be bridled for her own best interests. So tell me, what did you do?”
Alex fumed a bit, afraid mostly. Afraid because Reggie’s genius with her extended to her ability to lie—which she’d always found impossible to do with the man. After a few minutes of painful wavering she finally gave in. “Oh, hell,” she retorted. “It didn’t start out that way. But he was this cute, young stud, and we were playing pool at that tavern on the highway. I didn’t even think we’d end up in bed. In fact we didn’t really go to bed at all. The back of his van was perfect for what he wanted.”
Hearing the complete confession Reggie eyes turned from mildly severe to piercing hot. “You mean to tell me that you not only walked out of the house, you fucked some stranger in the back of a van?” The harsh judgment was more than she expected. She trembled afraid.
“Why should you be so surprised? That’s what you expected, wasn’t it?”
“I hoped I was wrong,” he spit venom. “You’ve become quite the whore. Talk about trollops and tramps.”
“You think I’m a tramp?”
“Was it even a week ago?”
“A week…?” She stared at him blankly.
“That Will punished you?”
“I guess it wasn’t much more than that,” she admitted.
“You came here just to avoid another misstep. And you couldn’t stay out of another man’s pants for a week.”
As he upbraided her, his expression became more chilling, something she always thought was impossible; but the hot and cold of his emotions mingled freely and poured out onto her in a tortuous bath.
“You’re so careless with your marriage, it’s a wonder that Will still loves you,” he retorted.
“You still love Jocelyn,” she reminded him.
For a moment Alex thought that he was going to slap her face. The glare in his eye was the dangerous one she should have been avoiding. “You know I thought this was going to be a very easy respite for you staying here, keeping your nose away from temptation, your body behaving, your mind in control. I guess I should have locked you up and tossed the key in the lake.”
“Reggie please, you make it sound so disastrous.”
“I warned you once to watch your marriage. But obviously it didn’t have much effect. Either that, or you seriously need to be punished and this is your way to get it.”
“I promise you it’s not that.”
“Nonetheless, we’ll take care of that matter right now.”
“Maybe you should wait for Will. He is coming home soon.”
“I’m sure he’ll take care of things himself when he returns, but his wishes were quite clear when he left. “Make her toe the line or make her ass pay.”
Alex remembered the words when they were first spoken, even though they were in the form of a joke. Apparently Reggie had a different recollection of that quick conversation. Alex stared again at the crop.
“Bare your ass, spread your legs and bend over that bar,” he said pointing to a thigh high sawhorse that was covered with an old horse blanket.
“Here, right here?”
Reggie viewed her with a haughty resolve and didn’t budge an inch in his physical stance or his purpose.
“You know this crop’s going to sting, but if that’s not enough for you, there’s a horse whip in the office I can use. I warn you, it’ll be a whole lot more damaging.”
“No. That’s all right,” she replied, immediately raising her sweatshirt so that she could undo the clasp at her pants. Peeling the jodhpurs from her hips, she turned around and exposed her hind end to Reggie’s gaze. Though she was terrified, the thrill of submitting to a punishment from him shot little darts of desire through her mid-section. To know that her body adored the act was always embarrassing. To know that she was even juicier between her thighs because he was staring at her with his threatening eyes was further torment.
There was little likelihood that Reggie would be anything but harsh. The blows severe. The sting outrageous. He would lay it on as ruthlessly as he ever had because he was so furious with her. And because she was stupid enough to get herself into this mess again, she’d live through it—only to endure it all over again once her husband was informed of her latest trespass.
The unfortunate fact, Reggie was right. She’d
turned into a loose, conscienceless woman. But why? Why had it become so easy to break her vows to Will?
“Perhaps if you rested your hands on that bale of straw,” he suggested, nodding toward the other side of the sawhorse.
Like every other time in her life, Alexandra faced the punishment with two attitudes: the one that would have dashed from the stable and raced far and long to get away from the crop’s mean cut; and the other attitude of mind that defined her as a bonafide submissive with a desperate yearning to feel that righteous wrath get under her skin.
Knowing that there was no chance of getting out of the punishment, she followed orders. Spreading her legs she bent over the bar feeling a cool gust of air turn her skin to goosebumps. With a flood of emotion converging on her, she began to cry before the first strike of the crop hit her flesh.
The crop was such an efficient implement, one Reggie wielded with expertise. The split end of the piece was tied in a knot so that it bit like an angry dog. His precise delivery laid mark after mark on her tender skin. He hardly cared whether the strike would hit her side or her thigh or the sensitive crack where her two globes parted. When he applied the broader, thicker shaft of the crop against her flesh, it left stripes like a cane. It didn’t take long for her bottom to be blotched and crimson—as if she’d been caught naked in a brier of thorns.
In reply to the agonizing pain, Alexandra wailed penitent cries, and then: “Reg, please no more! I am sorry! No, no, no more, I can’t stand this!”
Her cries had little effect. And when she twisted and turned in an attempt to get away from the worst of the sting, the pain got worse. The riding crop hit everywhere but her padded flesh. It was unforgiving discipline. Pain that knew no relief.
And then there was one particularly vehement crack. She tried to bolt. Had every intention of flying from the stall and the stables and Reggie’s estate. But halting her flight was a strong hand gripping her arm. With those unexpected fingers taking charge, she jerked back to see Will staring down at her.
“Good, god nooo!” she moaned, as if she’d seen a ghost.
“Misbehaving again?” he asked.
“Oh, please.” Another round of tears streamed from her eyes.
“Thought I’d come home and surprise you,” he said. “Seems you surprised me.”
She tried to stand but Will pushed her down.
“By all means, let Reggie finish,” he said. “Later he can tell me why you deserve it.”
“But Will …” she cried to him, appealing for mercy.
His hand still held her so tightly there’d be bruises by morning.
“Is this justified?” he asked.
I took a long time to respond, and when she did, all the reply she could offer him was a whimpering, “Yes.”
His glare spelled catastrophe. “Then perhaps, Alex darling, you should stay a few more days,” he remarked, and at last relinquished his grasp. “Punish her the way she obviously wants to be punished,” he said turning toward Reggie. “I’ll see you back at the house.”
Like a storm cloud dropping lightning to the earth and then passing swiftly by, Will was there and gone. With him gone Alex and Reggie were alone again.
Without pause, the strike of the riding crop resumed on her mottled behind. Reggie’s purpose seemed inspired by his friend’s appearance. The strikes came down harder, her screams became more agonized. But just shy of breaking the skin he stopped, and the fury of their battle was finally over. Hanging the riding crop on a nail nearby, Reggie turned away from her toward the corridor between the stalls, while Alex remained poised over the bar catching her breath.
“Gus!” Reggie shouted for his foreman.
Finally getting her bearings, Alex stood up straight and shivered with fright realizing that as mean a punishment as this had been, neither dominant—her husband or Reggie—was finished with her. And to have Gus called in, she had even more reason to dread the next few hours.
When the hulking brute at last appeared in the doorway he looked directly at the half-naked Alexandra with a lust-filled expression as frightful as any she’d seen in a long time. Perhaps the last time she’d known such severity from a man was the last time she’d been with Gus. And yet, could his boorish attitude be any worse than what she’d already experienced from Reggie and Will?
“Collar and tether her,” Reggie instructed him. There was a bite in his voice as cold as the bite of the riding crop had been hot on her skin. “Mrs. Kozak will be staying with us a few more days.”
“Just like it used to be,” Gus remarked, one eye fixing her with an insidious spark of elation.
Reggie paused. “Yes. Very much like it used to be,” he replied. “Bring her to the house once you have her harnessed. She’ll stay downstairs in the maid’s room. But you can escort her to my office first.”
“Yes, sir,” Gus replied, as he watched the master of the estate exit the stable. “You wait here,” he addressed her. “And don’t move.” Gus disappeared returning a few minutes later with leather he’d use to bind her.
Alex’s jodhpurs and sweatshirt were left in the stable. She exchanged the mundane garments for more exotic ones—ones Gus affixed on her himself. The style was simple, humbling, just a crude, brown, leather collar around her neck, three inches wide, and one inch straps that crossed her breasts and were fixed to a leather waist belt. Two others straps looped between her thighs on either side of her plump labia and were then drawn up tight inside the crack of her ass.
She would have expected Gus to sneer and deride her, his sentiments coming from his naturally unrefined personality. He was hardly kind, but rather than reproach her more than she’d already been, he simply completed his assignment with efficient speed. Long before Alex was ready to face the two men in the house, she was being brusquely led from the stables up the lawn to Reggie’s private study. She shivered cold even though the summer heat was baking down on her. At one time a naked woman tiptoeing across the grass of Reggie’s estate was not an unusual sight. But now she felt as exposed as she would have been running naked down a busy thoroughfare. The humiliation of her current state was having the desired effect.
***
“So you like the young ones?” Will asked her. His hand held her chin so firmly she thought he might squeeze the bones until they broke. The three were in Reggie’s study, Alexandra in the center of the room. She stood before one dominant, Reggie, who impassively appraised the scene from behind his desk; and was stalked by the other, her husband, as he poured out his anger.
“I wasn’t thinking,” she said.
“Except with this.” Will’s hand grabbed the two straps on her belly and tugged them hard against her exposed pussy.
“Ouch!” she softly muttered.
“Don’t protest, Alex. It’s pointless.”
Will let go of the straps and waltzed around her again, ready to pass judgment.
“What’s it going to take to win your fidelity?” he spouted with an acrimonious twist.
“You home. Us together,” she told him.
“Oh, Alex,” Reggie interjected immediately, exasperation reeking from his voice. The imperious dominant pulled himself from his desk and moved to her other side. “You’re telling me that is as far as your faithfulness extends? You have to have Will in bed every night to keep you constant? You need his ever watchful gaze or you won’t be able to help yourself when some young buck decides you’re ripe to screw? You say you love this man?”
“I do. Really I do.” Tears were streaming from her eyes.
“And you open legs for every prick that catches your fancy?”
“I made a mistake.”
“And do you really regret it?” Reggie mocked her. “Or did you take such pleasure from the sex that you’ll do it again any chance you get?”
“No, I won’t,” she said, turning her face to Will’s.
Reggie jerked her back with his hand giving her the same mean squashing treatment that Will’s had moments earlier. “Loo
k at me, bitch.” He scrutinized her face, her eyes, her mind and her soul with just one look. “You’d better get a handle on your lust or you’ll lose the man that loves you most. If I were him, I wouldn’t trust you for a minute. Don’t tell him you need him home.” His eyes didn’t waver. “Humph! Perhaps you want to turn the tables on him, shackle him to the bed. Is that what this is? A power play?”
“No,” she whimpered.
“No, sir. You’ll call me sir as long as you’re here, slut. You haven’t earned my respect or that of your husband. You’re starting at the beginning with me.”
“Why are you doing this…” she cried softly.
“Because I asked him to,” Will chimed in. This time when she turned her head, Reggie didn’t pull her back, but in fact loosened his grip on her face. To replace the pain, Will’s hand grabbed her buttocks and crushed the soft punished mound in his hand.
He seethed, but said nothing.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“That’s not yours to know,” Will replied. “Right now, you’ll do as Reggie orders you. We’re not going to let up on you for a second. When I want you back, if I want you back, I’ll let him know. We’ll see if you’re ready. Enjoy yourself.” He finished with a smirk, and she watched him walk out the door. She was tempted to break into a sob, but held that emotion back knowing that Reggie wouldn’t be moved, and if anything would be angered by such a display.
Alone in the room with the man who’d awakened her sexual self, who’d punished her indiscretions, who’d played with her psyche and toyed with her body to glorious ends, she was chagrined to find him heaping true contempt on her. This was not some put-on, disdain manufactured for a sexual scene, but disappointment far beyond what she’d ever felt from him. Swept into this miserable state again was akin to the time several years before when she and Will broke up over a similar lapse in common sense and she was forced to submit to Reggie’s brand of retribution. But with the intervening years having turned her association with the Dom more respectful, this was a humiliating predicament.
She had nothing reasonable to say in her defense. There were no words to turn this debacle around. All she could do was endure—and hope the outcome of the trial before her would bring her back to Will with the same love they’d shared when times were better.
The Alexandra Series Page 68
