Gabby bristled at his words. “I’m not entertainment, Lord Ellington.”
“My apologies,” he said. But he didn’t take back his words, and he was still smiling.
“Be nice to each other,” Charlotte said. “Well, we do more sleuthing, but please don’t forget my upcoming party. I would like to be done with this particular event by that time. I don’t want anything getting in the way of our celebrating the fact that Fergus and Gabby are getting married.”
“Excuse me?” Gabby stared at her friend. “How did the party become about our marriage? You didn’t even find out about it until tonight.”
“I am always ready to adapt,” Charlotte said. “It will be the party of the century.” But then Charlotte popped up from her chair, knocking over her wine glass and spilling the liquid on the table. But she didn’t act as if anything had happened. “I have a brilliant idea! We’ll make it Egyptian themed. It’s a good thing I haven’t sent out invitations yet. I may even have to change the date to give people time to find the appropriate costumes.”
“Sorry all, I have work to do.” She moved toward the house and then turned around. “Alice, I hope you’ll help me. Carin can, too. You, Gabby, cannot. I want it all to be a surprise.” She waved her fingers at them. “Carry on, all.”
Alice and Carin followed her and Gabby couldn’t help but feel a little left out. Since she and Fergus were to be married she would become a part of this group.
“Charlotte is big on handing out surprises,” Dalton said. “The best thing you can do right now is be prepared for anything.”
“Sounds ominous,” Gabby said. “If I remember right, she was that way when we were growing up, too.”
“I’m not surprised,” Dalton responded. He turned to Fergus. “I don’t think there’s much we can do tonight. We should relax and hit the streets tomorrow.”
“Agreed, although I don’t much care for the idea,” Fergus said. “I want it all to unfold tonight, to find McNutt’s killer and recover Robert’s artifacts.”
“We’ll make it happen,” Buxton said.
They said their goodbyes and when they were in the carriage, Gabby settled in her seat and was surprised when Fergus sat opposite her.
“Charlotte and I talked about the club,” she said.
“Good.”
“She said you’d spanked her.”
“Yeah.” He sounded bored, and so far away. She could tell he wasn’t paying any attention to her.
“Am I being too forward? Am I poking my nose into something you’d rather not talk about?” She leaned forward. “If I am, please let me know.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, finally looking at her.
Gabby let out a puff of air, disgusted that he hadn’t been listening to her. “What has you so bound up that you don’t even realize I’m here?”
“I feel like we’re missing something,” he said.
“About what?” Her stomach twisted, and she wondered if he was about to tell her that he really had killed McNutt, that he and his friends had put the body in the sarcophagus. She pushed the idea aside. He was away from her during the day. Wilcox said the event had taken place at night.
“If I knew what it was it wouldn’t be a problem,” he said.
“Don’t talk down to me,” she said. “I’m trying to work things out with you.”
“My apologies,” he said. “Sometimes I can be rather harsh.”
“That much is true,” she said.
“What do you know about McNutt’s personal life?” he asked.
“Not a great deal,” she said.
“Perhaps we should go see Phillips,” he said.
“Now, him I do know about,” she said. “He’s a family man, which means he’s already at home.”
“We’ll stop by The Sentinel tomorrow and talk with him.” He moved across the carriage to sit next to her. “In the meantime, I understand you and Charlotte talked about her favorite activity tonight.”
“We did,” Gabby said softly.
“And you hate the idea, I can tell.”
She wasn’t exactly sure the words to use to express her feelings. “I don’t want to be spanked for punishment.”
“We can agree on that,” he said.
A feeling of triumph spread through her, but it disappeared when he held up a finger. “There is a Club meeting tonight. Dalton is going to give Charlotte a very good spanking. Now, before you object, and I can see that you are going to, you know from when you talked to her that she loves it.”
The carriage grew silent, and she turned to him. “What exactly are you saying?”
“That Dalton is going to spank her tonight, in front of Club members.” Fergus put his hand on her knee. “Would you like to attend?”
“Do I want to watch my friend be beaten? That would be an emphatic no.”
“Gabriella, my sweet, if you were sent to cover a story that made you angry, would you go?”
“Of course,” she said. “It would be part of my job. This is not.”
“Unless you are writing erotic tales,” he said.
She pushed his hand away. “This is a test, isn’t it?”
“Somewhat,” he said. “The Rakes are an important part of my life. If you are not comfortable with things that happen in these meetings that is—”
“A problem,” she finished his sentence for him.
“Let’s call it a difficulty,” he said.
“And what exactly does that mean?” she asked.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions until we find the problem,” he said. “Do you want to go to the Club meeting? We can go change our clothing and sneak in at the beginning so no one sees us there. You don’t have to interact with anyone else.”
“No, I just have to watch Charlotte be hurt.”
“You’ll watch Charlotte receive a good spanking, and then spend so hard you might think the top of her head would come off.”
“It’s not my first choice for the evening’s events,” she said.
“It’s a simple yes or no question, Gabriella,” he said.
The thought of watching Dalton spank Charlotte made her queasy, but if this Club meant so much to Fergus, and she was going to spend the rest of her life with him, then she needed all the facts before she made a decision about The Rakes Club.
She just hoped that if her decision was no, it wouldn’t mean the end of her life with Fergus.
* * *
There was a pit in the middle of her stomach, and Gabby paused outside the door and put her hand on Fergus’ arm. “I’m very uneasy about this.”
“Do you trust me, Gabby?”
“Trust is hard for me,” she said. “You know that.”
“I understand that, but it’s important to me. I want you to know that I care about how you feel about things. You’ve agreed to be my wife and I want the bond between us that my parents have. That my friends have with their wives.”
Gabby gazed up at him. “I understand what you’re saying, but what happens if I don’t like what is happening in there?”
“Then we find what you do like,” he said. “I just want you to have a Club experience with someone that you know, and that is Charlotte.”
“Does she know I will be here?”
“No,” he said. “Plus, she really doesn’t care who is there. Charlotte loves spanking, and she loves being the center of a Club scene.”
“All right,” Gabby said. She took a deep breath. She was an adult, one who thought about writing erotic stories. Surely she could sit through one of their meetings.
Fergus gathered her close and kissed her. She savored the taste of him as she opened her mouth and they flicked their tongues together.
“I’ll try to behave,” she said.
“See that you do,” he replied.
He opened the door and they went inside. The room was bathed in candlelight. There was a large bed in the center. Sitting in front of the bed was Charlotte, perched on a ladder- back ch
air. She wore a corset and nothing else. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and she had a calm, peaceful look on her face.
Gabby had so many questions, so many things she wanted to know. But now wasn’t the time, she knew. She and Fergus sat down on two chairs near the door. A quick glance around the room told Gabby there were about fourteen people here, excluding herself and Fergus.
How did Charlotte sit in front of sixteen people with full knowledge of what was about to happen? Gabby knew she couldn’t do it.
“Stay silent,” Fergus whispered to her. His voice was husky, as if he were excited. She on the other hand wanted to bolt out of the room. She got hold of her senses and nodded before she turned her attention to the front of the room.
Charlotte glanced up at Dalton, who stood next to her, fully clothed.
“I’m going to redden your bum tonight, Charlotte. Maybe this time it will take hold in your brain as well as your behind.”
“Dalton, I…”
“No, Charlotte, no excuses, no buts, no I didn’t mean tos. You will receive discipline.”
“Now, stand up and grasp the bedpost.” He pointed to a place not far above the mattress. “You know the position to get into; move back until you are bent over.”
Charlotte did as Dalton said. When she was in position she said, “Dalton, please. I still hurt from the last one.”
He ran his fingers along her behind. “Not that badly I’m sure. There aren’t even any marks. Although, you won’t be able to say that in the morning.”
Dalton moved to the front of the bed, and Gabby was surprised when he sat on the mattress, stretching his legs out in front of him. Gabby wasn’t sure of the reasons why, but then it hit her. He was drawing things out, building up the tension that Charlotte obviously felt. He knew how to build the tension that Charlotte obviously wanted.
Charlotte let go of the post and started to stand.
“Did I give you permission to do that?”
“Dalton, I…”
“Get. Back. In. Place.” Gabby shivered at Dalton’s command. She could only imagine what Charlotte was feeling.
“Your punishment will reinforce the fact that you disobeyed me. I told you to behave yourself. And you didn’t. You deserve this, and you know it.”
“Yes, Dalton,” Charlotte said. Her voice wobbled, but Gabby caught the undercurrent of excitement. “How many swats, Dalton?”
“As many as I think you need, Charlotte. When I think you’ve learned your lesson then the spanking will be over.”
Dalton stood and Gabby’s eyes widened as he took a thin strap of leather from the end of the bed. He doubled it over and walked behind Charlotte.
Gabby wondered what the leather felt like on Charlotte’s skin. She wondered if she would ever know, or if, as Charlotte had said, her experiences with Fergus would be more of the domination sort.
The sharp crack of the leather striking Charlotte’s skin made Gabby jump. Fergus put his hand on her knee and squeezed it gently. The strap landed again and Gabby gasped.
“Remember, I said stay silent,” Fergus said.
Gabby pressed her lips together. A feeling of dread spread through her as the leather came down again and again. The sting from the strap increased and Gabby moaned softly. She wanted to jump up, scream at Dalton to stop.
But Charlotte wasn’t crying. In fact, Gabby was pretty sure she could hear her friend moaning with pleasure with each strike.
Until…
“Dalton, please, please stop.”
He stopped abruptly and Gabby sighed. It was over. She had made it through. Then she shrieked when the sound of the leather striking Charlotte’s bottom rang through the room again. It came down over and over and over and Gabby put her head in her hands.
“Fergus, tell him to stop, I’m begging you. She’s had enough.”
“Be silent, Gabby,” Fergus said.
In the front of the room, Dalton said, “Will you disobey me again?”
The slap, slap, slap of the leather made Gabby jump once more.
“No, I promise I won’t. Please, Dalton, please!”
Slap, slap, slap.
The sound was loud and harsh. Tears stung the back of Gabby’s eyes.
“Convince me, Charlotte,” Dalton said. “Tell me why you disobeyed.”
It struck Gabby that Dalton had not really given a reason for the spanking. He’d just said she needed discipline.
Slap, slap, slap, slap.
“I know to mind my manners, and I didn’t,” Charlotte said. “I was a naughty girl.”
Slap, slap, slap, slap.
“Please stop!” Charlotte’s words were coming out in sobs now.
“Did you consider the fact that someone was watching you? Someone could have seen your indiscretion.”
It suddenly sunk into Gabby’s brain that this was a very generic thing, that it was an act.
The leather came down with more ferocity and for the first time since it had started, Gabby didn’t want to jump up and scream at Dalton for abusing her friend.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow, please stop!”
“Promise me you’ll think before you act.” He delivered ten quick swats.
“I will, Dalton, I swear it.”
Dalton rubbed the leather against Charlotte’s bottom. “Put your hand between your legs, you nasty girl. Show the people here what a little whore you are.”
His harsh words were hard for Gabby to hear. She watched as Charlotte immediately followed his instructions. Her hand moved quickly, and Gabby knew she was frigging herself, and from the moans filling the room, she savored every touch.
“Turn around, you little slut.” Charlotte obeyed. “Play with your cunt, show them what you like.”
Charlotte’s hand moved rapidly. She threw her head back and groaned. “May I come, Sir?”
“You may not,” Dalton said. “Put on a show for my friends, Charlotte. Keep playing with yourself.”
Gabby’s eyes widened as Charlotte did as she was told. Was it her imagination, or was wetness filling her own quim? Was she enjoying this? It took her a few moments to realize that she was. Obviously reading erotica and watching something so incredibly naughty unfold before your eyes were closely linked.
Gabby wanted to leave, she wanted to get into the carriage and sit on Fergus’ lap. She wanted to take his cock deep inside her and rock until they both exploded with their passion.
“Sir, may I?” Charlotte almost screamed out her question. “I’m begging you, please, let me come. Please!”
“Do it, slut.”
Charlotte yelled out once more, and a deep rage of jealousy filled Gabby. She wanted to be her at that moment, spending in front of all these people, coming so hard she collapsed on the floor, her hand still working between her legs.
“Fergus,” Gabby whispered his name, not sure what to say next.
“Time to go,” he said. He took her hand and they left the room. When they were in the carriage he pulled her close and kissed her. “Thank you, Gabby, for trusting me.”
“How did I do that?”
“You proved you trusted me by staying. That means a great deal to me, Gabby.”
He captured her lips again.
“Fergus, may we—I want…”
“When we get home, Gabby, when we get home.”
She settled against his chest, his heartbeat reaching her ear. She smiled at the sound and relaxed into his arms, eager to see what would happen when they returned home.
Chapter 10
They were in bed, and Gabby was snuggled up with her head on his chest, before either of them brought up what they’d just witnessed.
“How often does it happen?” she asked.
“Various times,” he said. “We used to have set meetings times, but then members started to get married, and things became a little less organized.”
“How did this club start?”
“Ellington and Buxton,” Fergus said. He stroked her forehead just at the hairline.
“Those of us who joined later were friends.”
“You’ve found mistresses through them?” she asked.
She felt his shrug, but he didn’t answer.
“How many?” When he didn’t answer she continued, “You know about my previous lover. I only know about one of yours.” She kept her voice light, so she didn’t think she was being jealous.
“That makes us even, then,” he said, and then he chuckled. “Gabriella, the past doesn’t matter. If I had felt anything for those women, I would be with them. No one has worn that ring except you. I promise you that.”
She didn’t say anything because she believed him, and he knew it.
“What if tonight was too much for me?” she asked. “What if I can’t be part of what I witnessed?”
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” he said as he tightened his hold on her. He kissed the top of her head. “Things always seem different after you’ve had time to think about it.”
“Decisions made in haste always cause troubles,” she said. “I learned that early in my life.”
“It might have seemed that way before, but your decision brought you to me, even if it was later in life,” he said. He moved so they were face to face. “That means it will be a decision that I, for one, will never regret.”
His kiss was gentle, as if thousands of roses were being pressed against her lips. They were both naked, and although she could feel his hardness pressed against her, he didn’t make any move to take her, and for that she knew she could be in love with him. She knew he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life and she felt the same.
* * *
A sharp pounding awoke her the next morning. Next to her, Fergus stirred and cried out, “Go away!”
“Sir, Inspector Wilcox is here.” Timmons’ voice was strong despite the obvious anger of his employer. “He insists that he see you as soon as possible.”
“Oh damn it to hell’s bells and all the other nasty phrases I can think of,” Fergus said as he stood and threw the blankets off the bed. “Does the man not think to come at a decent time?”
His voice rose with each word, and Gabby couldn’t hold back her laugh.
His Curious Imp Page 12
