Gabrielle's Discipline (Bridal Discipline Book 3)

by Angel, Golden

  Of course not... not if the competition was with darling Cordelia.

  "Gabrielle, may I speak to you outside for a minute?"

  Tears pricking at the back of her eyes, Gabrielle dropped her fork so that it clattered against the plate, making Cordelia jump at the loud sound. What a ninny.

  Chapter 15

  Holding the door open for his wife, Felix gripped her arm and practically dragged her to the front parlor so that Philip and Cordelia wouldn't be able to hear any of their conversation. He had no idea what had just happened... everything had been going so well! He'd been satisfied knowing Cordelia had been punished for not attending to her duty as Gabrielle's stepmother, and while Gabrielle didn't know that, she also didn't seem to have cared that Cordelia hadn't visited before today. At first she'd been the perfect hostess, taking Philip into the dining room, and then she'd been rather quiet, but he didn't understand why she'd suddenly turned back into the sniping, biting, sharp-tongued creature she'd been when she'd first arrived in London.

  Although at least they weren't in public, but she'd obviously been very aware that she had been slurring Cordelia as a stepmother, hurting Cordelia's feelings in the process, without provocation, and that was unacceptable. He couldn't allow her to think such behavior was acceptable, even in private. Give Gabrielle an inch, and she'd take a mile.

  He also had to admit he was disappointed... he'd thought she'd turned over a new leaf in the country. Felix enjoyed London, and he thought Gabrielle did too, but if this was how she was going to behave then they might have to rusticate in the country more often than not. Even if she only behaved this way around Cordelia, that wasn't acceptable, as they ran in all the same circles and he wasn't going to sacrifice his friendship with Philip for Gabrielle's animosity.

  "What was that?" he asked, releasing her to close the parlor door behind them. Gabrielle glided away from him, across the room to look out the front window.

  "What was what?"

  "Gabrielle, look at me."

  Her shoulders stiffened, her chin stubbornly tilted upwards, but she did as he commanded. With the little bit of light coming in from the street, her face was shadowed, making it impossible to read her expression.

  "What you said to Cordelia was uncalled for-" he started, and Gabrielle sneered so widely that even in the dim lighting he could see it.

  "Oh my, well, poor Cordelia, I'm so sorry if Cordelia's feelings were hurt by nothing less than the truth-"

  "Even if it was the truth-"

  "It was!"

  "That doesn't mean it had to be said. Did you want to hurt her?"

  Crossing her arms, Gabrielle looked away again, her lips firm and stubborn in profile, her jaw clenched in determination. Felix felt like growling. What had happened to the sweet but fiery submissive wife he'd come to know? Where had this bad tempered she devil come from? The Gabrielle he'd come to know would never have been deliberately cruel... and yet he knew she had been before their marriage. It was back to the two Gabrielle's apparently.

  "I can't let this slide, Gabrielle," he said, slowly. He didn't want to punish her tonight, especially when she was obviously already out of sorts and had been since this afternoon, but he had no choice. If he was going to keep her from running roughshod over him as a husband he had to put his foot down, immediately and firmly. With a stifled sigh, he moved over to sit on the couch and patted his knee. "Come here."

  Even though he couldn't see her expression, he could feel her stare of astonishment. He hadn't thought her spine could get any stiffer, but now she was straighter than a poker stick. In fact, it looked liked there was one rammed up her-

  "You can't!" The utter shock in her voice only strengthened his resolve. He hadn't given her a punishment spanking in quite a while now, but that didn't mean she should take it for granted that she would never get another one.

  "Now, Gabrielle. You were rude and thoughtless, and if you ever say anything like that in anyone's hearing again, if I ever hear any gossip about you maligning Cordelia as a mother figure - as there would be if we’d had any other guests tonight - you'll be getting far worse than my hand. I'm not going to tolerate this kind of behavior, and we're going to nip it in the bud right now. You're better than this."

  To his consternation, she stomped over and threw herself over his lap, every line of her body trembling in wounded betrayal. It wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting, to be honest. He'd thought she'd argue more, fight more, and have to be threatened more or even coaxed to place herself in position. At worst, possibly chased. Instead, she was acting like a martyr, and the expression on her face - which he'd only glimpsed - had been one of aggrieved disappointment. As if she'd expected better from him. Which he didn't understand at all.

  Gathering himself, Felix lifted her skirts and pulled the sides of her open seam drawers apart to frame her creamy buttocks as he cleared his throat. It was a beautiful sight, but at the moment he found no joy in it. "Do you understand why you're being punished, Gabrielle?"

  "Because I complimented your mother," she replied sullenly.

  SMACK!

  A pink print appeared in the center of her right buttock; a warning shot, despite the fact that his lips involuntarily twitched at her entirely truthful and yet incomplete statement.

  "Compliments to my mother are always welcome, unless they're stated in such a way to be an insult to someone else," he said sternly. "Why are you being punished Gabrielle."

  She sniffed. "Because complimenting your mother makes Cordelia look badly."

  SMACK!

  Gabrielle yelped. He hadn't smacked her other cheek to even her out, instead he'd hit the exact spot that he'd already spanked, turning it an even brighter shade of pink.

  "Because you think I insulted Cordelia." Gabrielle sneered her stepmother’s name, almost making Felix fumble at the animosity in her voice. Animosity that he definitely did not understand.

  "Why are you angry at Cordelia?" he asked, resting his hand on her bottom, just over the spot where he'd spanked her, rubbing it gently. If she had a good reason, he would temper the punishment. She still needed to change how she behaved - even justified anger wasn't reason enough for veiled insults to Cordelia, which would make both ladies the talk of the ton if Gabrielle were indiscreet enough to air her anger in public.

  "Why would I be angry at Cordelia?" Gabrielle asked stiffly. Felix wished that he could see her face, although he doubted it would help. He could picture her icy expression with ease, the one that gave away nothing. "What could Cordelia have possibly done wrong? She's perfect."

  "If you have anything to say in your defense, I will listen," Felix said gently, still rubbing her bottom. He didn't miss the jealousy in Gabrielle's voice, and he supposed it must have something to do with the rivalry that his mother had mentioned. Both ladies were very beautiful, after all, and similar in age. While he didn't have any sisters of his own, he'd observed plenty of sisters, and had seen how jealous and competitive those relationships could be.

  Stubborn silence met his offer. He couldn't imagine what excuse she would give anyway. Sighing, Felix stopped rubbing her bottom.

  "Our friends have worked hard to ensure there would be no gossip about our marriage," he said sternly, lecturing her as he began to spank.

  ******

  "It would be ill of us to undo their hard work by providing new fodder for the ton, and insulting your stepmother, a Marchesse, would certainly do that, no matter how veiled."

  SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

  At least he wasn't focusing all of his attention on one spot anymore. Gabrielle squirmed as his hard hand impacted against her bottom. This wasn't fun or exciting like other spankings. She was utterly miserable, both about her behavior and Felix's attitude.

  What could she have said to defend herself? Nothing. Cordelia hadn't done anything outwardly wrong. It was Felix who had given Cordelia permission to use his Christian name. Felix who was infatuated with Cordelia, not the other way round. No, Cordelia did nothing
to rebuke or deter him, but Cordelia shouldn't have to tell him to attend to his own wife. He should just do it, the way the Marquess did. Gritting her teeth, she took her spanking, determined to just get through this.

  Perhaps she did deserve a spanking for being intentionally cruel to Cordelia. Gabrielle had lashed out. She could have been the better person. Wasn't that part of what made her so jealous of Cordelia? So resentful? But it wasn't that Gabrielle was incapable of being a perfect lady, she just let her emotions get the better of her... she could have risen above it and been coolly polite, instead of being cruel and snappish.

  "Implying that she's an unfit mother... well, that's a poor way to repay her care of you."

  SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

  The skin of her bottom was becoming more and more sensitive as Felix's hand slapped against it, over and over again, turning her creamy skin bright pink as he spanked her from crest to sit-spot. Gabrielle couldn't tell if her tears were from the humiliation of being spanked while Cordelia and the Marquess were in the other room, the humiliation of needing to be spanked at all, the actual pain from the sharp slaps that were raining down without mercy, or from the pain in her chest over her broken heart.

  "You don't have to love her."

  SMACK! SMACK!

  "You don't even have to like her."

  SMACK! SMACK!

  Liking Cordelia wasn't the problem. Neither was loving her. Gabrielle did both. She just also hated her sometimes. Her emotions about her stepmother were nothing that she wanted to examine closely, because they made no kind of sense.

  A sob rose in Gabrielle's throat. The spanking was starting to burn like the dickens and she couldn't stop squirming, trying to get away, no matter how much she wanted to hold onto her dignity. She'd forgotten how much a punishment spanking hurt, how hot her skin could get, only to flare anew every time his hand landed. The heat in her bottom was finally more painful than any of the emotional pain she was feeling, and it didn't seem like there was an end in sight.

  "If you want to make a complaint about her, you will do so privately, and certainly not to her or where you may be overheard."

  SMACK! SMACK!

  Ow... ow... he had to stop soon, didn't he? The icy, rebellious resolve to take her spanking in silence was starting to melt.

  "But otherwise, you will behave civilly and politely -"

  SMACK! SMACK!

  Oh please...

  "Whether about her or anyone else."

  SMACK! SMACK!

  "I won't! I won't talk about anyone, I'm sorry!" Gabrielle blurted out, her fingers digging into the couch cushion to keep from reaching behind her and covering up her roasted nates. Her dignity was shredded and she didn't care anymore, she just wanted the spanking to stop.

  SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

  Felix unleashed a small flurry of lighter, sharply stinging swats that had her crying out, before he suddenly stopped. Slumping, Gabrielle pressed her face against the couch and cried. She only stopped when Felix started to gather her up and she realized that he meant to cuddle her as he often did.

  Instead, she pushed his hands away, scrambling to her feet, not even able to take satisfaction in the confusion and unhappiness of his expression. For one long moment they stared at each other, as Gabrielle's emotions churned wildly, her bottom throbbing painfully underneath her skirts. It felt like her skin had been roasted. She couldn’t go back into that other room and sit down. Not in front of Cordelia and the Marquess. Just thinking about it made her want to start sobbing again.

  "Please give my excuses to our guests, I'm not feeling well," she said, forcing the words out through the thickness in her throat, before turning and fleeing the room.

  Behind her, she heard Felix calling her name, but she didn't care. If she stayed, he'd hold her, and it would feel wonderful, and she'd want to stay there forever. She'd want to pretend that today hadn't happened, to pretend that he was actually hers. And it would only hurt all the more when they returned to the dining room and she'd probably have to apologize to Cordelia and then watch Felix dote on her for the rest of the night.

  She just couldn't do it.

  Not because of Cordelia, though.

  Gabrielle finally understood.

  Philip didn't care about any rivals, because he knew that Cordelia's love was his. Cordelia wasn't the problem... Felix was.

  Numbly, Gabrielle changed into the thickest nightgown she owned, not caring that she'd be overheated, barely acknowledging Molly's hovering presence. Her bottom throbbed painfully, the only spot of heat in the icy coldness that seemed to have numbed her, both physically and emotionally.

  Curling up in the bed, completely exhausted, Gabrielle closed her eyes, ignoring the wetness on her cheeks. She supposed that she could ask Molly to have one of the guest rooms made up and retreat there... but she didn't. From now on she was going to be just like Cordelia, because that was obviously what Felix wanted. Dutiful, quiet, ladylike, always taking the moral high ground... Cordelia would never play in a creek or insult a guest at dinner. She was the epitome of a lady and that was what Gabrielle would aspire to be now. Maybe it wouldn't make Felix love her, but at least she wouldn't be spanked as often... and she wouldn't be as vulnerable to him.

  If duty was all that was left to her in this relationship, then she would act as Felix's wife, to the very letter. He'd demanded that they share the same bed, so here she was; although, she hoped that for the sake of her heart he would take the hint from her nightgown and leave her be for tonight. She needed the time to shore up her emotional defenses. Tomorrow she could face him with her new attitude and her new standards for herself.

  Perhaps she would never have a happy life, but she would follow Cordelia's example and make the best of it. After all, that's what Cordelia had done with Gabrielle's father. She was just lucky that her second marriage had turned out so well. Gabrielle was unlucky... but sometimes that was just how the dice rolled. Maybe one day she’d have a second marriage that she could find happiness in… but that would mean that Felix would be gone and that thought hurt too much for her find to any comfort at all in it.

  Pressing her face to her pillow, Gabrielle told herself that she would learn to live with it, and pretended not to notice the way her tears damped the sheets.

  ******

  When Felix returned to the dining room, Philip and Cordelia both looked up with worry in their eyes. Well, Cordelia's worry was writ across her face, whereas only someone who knew him well would note Philip's concern.

  "Where's Gabrielle?" Cordelia asked, her eyes flicking behind him as if she expected her stepdaughter to appear there at any moment.

  "She... wasn't up to finishing dinner," Felix said carefully.

  The scowl that Cordelia gave him was almost threatening as she started to stand. "How hard did you hit her? Why-"

  "Cordelia," Philip said repressively, putting his hand on her arm and pulling her back down into her chair. His hazel eyes pinned her in place. "Felix would never hit Gabrielle. And if he spanked her, that's between the two of them. She's his wife." Still, he gave Felix a look that said he'd better not have doled out more than Gabrielle could handle, but it was more a habitual, protective response. Felix could tell that his friend wasn't truly worried that Felix was abusing Gabrielle.

  Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest, her voice higher than normal but determined. "I'm not leaving here until I know Gabrielle is alright."

  "Perhaps if you wanted to check in on her you should have done so when we first arrived in town, rather than making up excuses not to," Felix snapped, his temper flaring.

  He hated that Gabrielle hadn't allowed him to comfort her, hated that she'd run from him. Part of him had wanted to follow after her, but not only would that have been unaccountably rude and setting a poor example for the kind of behavior he expected from her as his wife, but he wasn't sure it would make anything better. Everything about her posture had screamed that she wanted space away from him. Whatever had set her off,
maybe she just needed some time to deal with it alone.

  "Felix," Philip said, just as repressively and sounding remarkably like Felix's father when he was referring a fight among the siblings. "Cordelia has already been punished for her lapse and it will not be brought up again. Besides which, I'm sure you've already said your piece to her about it." He turned his eyes to his pouting wife, looking like a golden angel of judgement with the candlelight flickering off his blond hair. "Cordelia, I'm sure Gabrielle is fine and you may visit her tomorrow if you like, but tonight you will leave it be."

  Both Cordelia and Felix glared at each other from across the table, neither of them totally happy with Philip's declarations. Resentment smoldered inside of Felix, which he tried to push down.

  Gabrielle's behavior was not Cordelia's fault, he reminded himself. No matter what her problem with Cordelia was, Cordelia herself had done nothing to instigate Gabrielle's comments. And, even if she had, Gabrielle should know better than to respond that way. It was also not Cordelia's fault that Gabrielle hadn't wanted him to hold her after her discipline.

  The rest of dinner was rather stilted and awkward. Although all three parties did their best to revive the camaraderie from earlier, it was obvious that none of their thoughts were focused on the conversation, and Gabrielle's empty chair felt like a hole in the company. All Felix wanted to do was go find his wife. Cordelia seemed to have the same thought, although she was beholden to her husband's dictates. Felix had no doubt that she'd be back tomorrow, however, to try and talk to Gabrielle.

  Too little, too late, apparently.

  He wondered if someone at the tea had said something to Gabrielle about Cordelia not visiting them sooner... but no, she would have told him. He'd even given her the time to do so.

  After a rather strained goodbye, Felix hurried up the stairs to the bedroom, slowing when he was only a few feet away from the door, marshaling his arguments and defenses for not following his wife here immediately.