by Haven Handel
His eyes were not on mine, they were boring into Draco and Baal.
“Why does she have her phone?” he demanded.
“Don’t look at me,” Baal said, hands in the air. “I was just supposed to get her here.”
“My apologies,” Draco said, his eyes on mine. “An oversight on my part.”
The fury in Deo’s voice was chilling. “Cassandra, have you contacted anyone?”
“No,” I said innocently.
Deo, leaned in towards me. “Has anyone contacted you?” he asked in a menacing voice.
My husband obviously knew that I fully believed that omitting information was still truth. “Cynthia called. And I answered. I had to.” I looked at Deo, pleading my case.
“What did you tell her?”
I spoke quickly to get the words over with. “Not much, but she did say she was going to call the cops if she didn’t see my face in the next twenty-four hours.”
“Do you know what you’ve done? You have put your friend in danger.” Snapping his fingers at Baal, Deo said, “Go.”
Baal gave a short nod and hurriedly left the room.
“What is going on, Deo?” I cried out. “Cynthia doesn’t know anything, I promise.”
Standing at the head of the table, Deo rested his weight on his hands on the surface. “Upstairs, now,” he roared. “To your room.”
I had no words. Deo had never raised his voice to me. Unshed tears stinging my eyes, I threw my napkin in my plate and left the table. My skirts made the stupid swishing noise as I rushed across the hall and up the grand stairs.
Immaturely, I slammed my bedroom door and threw myself across the bed. Someone had come in and cleared it during dinner, hanging all the dresses back up. Perhaps that’s why Margaret and I hadn’t gotten off on the right foot. She had most likely done the cleaning.
As my mind was traveling in a downward spiral over the horrendous end to the evening, there was a quiet, polite, knock at the door.
“Come in,” I called, drying the moisture from my eyes.
“You come out,” Draco’s calm voice replied.
Climbing down from the bed, I straightened my dress, twisting my bodice back into place. Smoothing my hair as I walked over to the door, I opened it to reveal the dragon.
There was kindness in his brown eyes. A smile played at his lips as he gazed over me.
“Will Cynthia be okay?” I asked, worried.
“Yes. We will protect her. Baal is on the way to collect her as we speak.”
Looking Draco over, my mind played over the scene in the car where he had forcefully buckled my seatbelt. This man was not going to be messed about by my actions. If he had wanted my phone, he would have taken it from me. “Why didn’t you take my phone?” I demanded.
Crossing his arms over his crisp, white shirt, Draco looked at the ground. “Ah,” he said, “I knew you would work better with Cynthia here.”
That was surprising. Draco obviously knew I would contact Cy if I had my phone. He also knew Deo wouldn’t want that. Maybe I had a friend here. A friend who would give information.
“I would work better if I knew what we were doing in the first place,” I muttered.
“All in good time.” Draco cleared his throat. “I’m sorry if I got you into trouble. I thought you would be a bit more discreet,” he said, his eyes resting on my overflowing bodice, “with the phone. My plan was to let you contact Cynthia, then gather her and take the phone from you, and explain to Deo later.”
“Well, thanks for nothing,” I said. “I don’t think Deo is very happy with me right now.”
“You will survive,” Draco said, with a knowing look in his eyes. “I will see you in the morning, Cassandra, daughter of Priam.”
“What’s left of me,” I groaned under my breath. An unexpected laugh came from Draco. It was short and barely detectable, but it was a laugh. It was a beautiful sound. Despite the storm that I knew was coming, I smiled, and Draco smiled back.
“Sweet dreams,” he said, disappearing down the dark hall.
Only seconds after I had shut the door, it banged back open, an angry Deo filling the frame.
“Cassandra.”
Deo stepped into the room, his livid presence making him seem larger than life.
I moved away from him, to the center of the room. “Deo, I can explain.”
“What did I say?” His hands behind his back, he walked over to me in three big strides.
“Not to contact any of my friends, but...”
Putting a hand up to stop me, Deo stood silent. Then, he began to pace back and forth before me.
Holding my breath, I watched as the orange flames of the fire in the fireplace disappeared behind him each time he passed it.
“The only way I can keep you safe is if you obey me.” He seemed to become more agitated as he walked back and forth. “What do I do with a wife who will not obey?” He stopped in front of the fire, turning towards me.
I had a pretty good idea of what he would be doing with me. Butterflies entered my tummy, and nerves made my knees feel weak. I watched as Deo sat down in the chair by the fireplace.
It was a large, wooden piece with an upholstered back and cushion, with no arms. His frame filled out the chair perfectly, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he had the chair made for this purpose.
Stalling, I smoothed down my gown. “Don’t you love this dress?” I asked, trying to sound seductive.
“I am not concerned about your appearance, Cassandra. I am only concerned with your obedience.”
There was a nagging little voice inside me, wanting to distract my husband. “Draco seems to find me attractive.” I was stretching the truth, remembering when he was speaking of the mythological Cassandra in the car, saying, “But she was beautiful,” then looked straight at me. He’d also said I looked like an angel, so it wasn’t too far of a stretch.
Instead of the reaction I expected, my comment was met with a roaring, annoyed laugh from Deo. When he finally collected himself, he replied, “I think Alekos might get a bit miffed by that.”
“Oh.” Ugh. Stupid me. Trying to cause jealousy with the affections of a gay man. Why was I even tempting fate, pushing Deo’s boundaries, when I was already in trouble with him? Nothing I did made sense to me now. It was as if I was transforming into a less than capable version of myself.
Deo softened from my immature display. “But you are incredibly attractive, my dear. I think you know that. Now stop with your juvenile games, wife. You are mine, and mine alone, no matter anyone’s sexual preferences.”
There it was, the controlling Deo whom I had begun to crave.
As if reading my mind, Deo said, softly, “Cassandra, you don’t need to test me to see what I will do. If you will only give up your will, obey me, allow me to be in complete control, you will have what you are seeking and no longer feel the need for your childish actions.”
Face burning, I weakly protested, “I am not childish.” My husband had known I was testing him before my actions had become clear to myself.
“You act as naughty as a child. Putting people in danger with your waywardness. Trying to cause your husband jealousy and strife with your words. A naughty little girl who needs the firm discipline of her man. Now, lay yourself over my knee,” he commanded.
The last time Deo had said those words to me, I had laughed in his face. That had earned me not only the spanking he had already planned on giving me, but also what Deo had referred to as ‘extras’. Those were sharp slaps covering my upper thighs until I was squirming and begging him to stop. Deo had warned me that next time, the ‘extras’ would be with his belt. Not wanting to endure a second punishment, I quickly obeyed.
Kneeling on the carpet, I lifted myself up and over his knees. Large hands wrapped around my hips, lifting me further up onto his thigh, and tipping me so my bottom was high in the air. I reached down to balance myself with a hand on the ground. The other hand instinctively went to cover my rear.
&
nbsp; Deo laughed, darkly, taking my protective hand and pinning it onto my lower back. With his other hand, he lifted the swishy material of the skirt, folding it over my back. The air was cold, and I shivered as it hit the exposed skin between my boots and my waist.
“No panties,” Deo commented.
I didn’t answer. When dressing that evening, I had searched all the drawers for some normal underthings. Cotton boy shorts, sports bras, even just a simple pair of bikini briefs were nowhere to be found. The wardrobe overflowed with lacy, silk, French undergarments that I was much too shy to put on. I had slammed the drawers as quickly as I had opened them and chosen to go without.
Lightly, his hand caressed my skin, his fingertips trailing over the curve of my bottom. I could feel the chill bumps raising on my skin.
“I’m glad to see you’ve learned to obey when you are being punished. No extras, today. Shame. I wanted to see the marks my belt would leave on this porcelain flesh.”
The feeling of his fingers and the power in his words had me so aroused, I cried out in disbelief as the first, sharp slap landed on my skin with a loud smack. “Tell me stone walls are soundproof,” I begged, as another slap hit. The sound seemed to echo in the huge room, making my face burn hotter.
“I would worry more about yourself than the thoughts of others if I were you,” Deo replied as he spanked me.
“Well, it is unusual,” I argued. “A man spanking his wife.” Smack, smack. His hand landed twice more. “Yeoch. It could draw attention, you know.”
“Unusual perhaps, but more common than you may think.” Several sharper slaps hit my skin. “Many in the Ambrosia family have found domestic discipline does wonders in a relationship.”
I almost laughed at the casual conversation we were having, as if we were at the breakfast table, speaking over coffee cups. Instead, I was hanging upside down, hand pinned back, bottom bare, and my husband spanking me like a naughty child.
Gritting my teeth, I said, “There is nothing common about this. What if they hear?” I wiggled my hips to try and avoid the onslaught of smacks. Deo’s hand tightened its hold on my wrist.
“They all know you are being punished, my sweet. Draco is right outside, in fact, probably counting the swats.”
Groaning, I was wondering how I would ever face Draco again. Humiliated by my chastisement, I changed the subject. “Did you have this chair built for this purpose?” I asked between clenched teeth.
Deo stopped punishing my bottom. His hand rested on my burning skin. “So many questions. I obviously am not spanking you hard enough if your mind is wandering from your punishment,” he said.
I could hear the annoyance in his voice. Not the first, or last time, my big mouth would get me into more trouble than I was already in.
“Let’s get you over the bed. I think, on second thought, I would like to use my belt.”
Screaming at myself for chatting, yet not wanting to add fuel to the fire, I chose to remain silent as Deo raised me from the floor and guided me over to the high four-poster bed. He gestured for me to step up on the stool. I laid myself over the bed.
“Bare yourself to me, Cassandra.”
With a sigh, I lifted my skirts, folding them over my back as Deo had done.
“Good girl. Now, let’s talk about your transgressions, shall we. You directly disobeyed me, resulting in putting your friend in harm’s way. Now Baal is having to retrieve Cynthia, and we will have to figure out how to fold her into our plan.”
“What plan? You haven’t even told me anything. How could I have known?” I moaned into the feather duvet.
“You don’t need to know anything to obey me, Cassandra.”
I gasped at the sound of Deo’s buckle unlatching and swish of the leather as he pulled it through the loops of his trousers. I had never been spanked before, save the last two days, much less by a leather belt. I was terrified. “Deo, I’m sorry, I…”
Crack. The belt came down across my bottom, and I jumped in the air with a scream. With my hands on my bottom, I tried to rub the fire out.
“Position, Cassandra,” Deo said, his voice disapproving. “That jump has earned you another on top of what you already have coming.
I quickly laid back over the edge of the bed, lifting my skirts once again.
“Ten more.”
I whimpered, unsure how I would manage to remain lying over the bed when the next stroke landed.
“Tell me, Cassandra. What did you vow?”
“To honor and obey, you, Deo.”
“And have you done that tonight?”
“No, sir,” I quickly replied.
“Very well.” The leather swooshed through the air, and crack, came down again.
I gritted my teeth. My skin burned.
“What do I require, Cassandra, to keep you safe?”
“Obedience, sir.” Crack. The belt whipped me again. I found myself whimpering at the pain. If Draco hadn’t heard the previous spanking, he was hearing the belt meet my behind. I was sure of it.
“Good girl. How many do you have left?”
“Eight, sir.”
“Would you like them with my belt, or my hand?”
“Hand, please,” I begged, tears stinging my eyes.
Deo tossed his belt onto the bed, the buckle inches from my face. “Count them for me.”
One by one, his hand came down onto my sore bottom, covering every inch of my tender skin. He paused between each one to hear my voice quiver out the number we were on. Tears fell from my eyes and my hips started to squirm into the bed. My bottom was on fire. When I finally called out the number eight, Deo quickly gathered me up into his arms.
Carrying me like a baby, he crossed the room. Seated in his spanking chair, he cradled me in his lap.
His arms were wrapped around me, his words soothing me, his hand stroking my hair. “Shh, baby girl. I will do whatever I must to protect you. Even if it hurts.” Pulling away, Deo looked as if he was trying to read my expression. “There is pleasure in the pain for you though, isn’t there?
Grasping his crisp shirt in my fists, I buried my face in his chest. I couldn’t speak, answering my husband with a nod of my head.
He chuckled. “You are a special woman. You only truly know you are mine when I control you, when I punish you, is that right?”
I gave another silent nod.
“You have wanted this for a long time, baby girl. A loving keeper to spank you when you are naughty? To treat you like his little princess when you are good? To spoil you?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
“All the boys you like to look at, but I am the one man you want. Am I right?”
Wrapping my arms around Deo’s neck, I whispered, “Yes.” The desires I had longed to expose for ten years were finally confirmed by a single word crossing my lips.
“You fought me all of those years of our marriage. You couldn’t tell me what you wanted. You thought you would no longer be a strong woman if you gave into your softer desires.”
It was true, but I hadn’t known it until that moment when Deo put it into words. The fights, the screaming, they were all me showing my frustration. Not knowing how to tell Deo that, within him, was the man whom I needed, whom I craved, who made me complete. The one who cherished me, protected me—his to spoil and spank.
“Then I will be your loving husband, and you will be my baby girl.”
The sound of the taboo words was so natural. So, ‘us’. Who we were meant to be. “Thank you, Deo,” I whispered.
“It will be my pleasure,” he answered, his voice choked with emotion.
I had only seen tears in his eyes once, on our wedding day. Looking up from my nest, I saw the evidence of water in my husband’s eyes.
Chapter Four
Perched up in the window seat of the turret, I watched as the Escalade returned. It pulled up the rocky drive, under the arcading, parking in the same place it had when I’d first come to the castle. I could barely sleep the night before, an
d as soon as the first rays of sun peered into my window, I had sprung from my bed. This was the morning Cynthia would come, and Deo would reveal his secrets.
I could just make out my friend’s face through the dark glass. Cynthia’s jaw could not possibly hang open further than it did now as her wide eyes took in Ravensloft. I would have laughed had I not felt so guilty about the reason for her presence.
Moving as lithe as a panther, Baal was out of his side of the Escalade, and holding Cy’s opened in a flash. The grin that spread on his face told me that he had not minded escorting my exotic friend through the winding roads of the New York mountains.
Teetering on velvet leopard-skin pumps, Cynthia emerged from the car, and to Baal’s obvious pleasure, grabbed onto his strong arm. She wore a skin-tight purple satin dress that was better suited for a club, but looked amazing against her sable skin. Fluffing her already puffy curls, Cynthia puckered her freshly painted lips, looked right at me, and blew a kiss. Caught. I loved that my best friend knew I would be watching for her arrival.
After giving a quick wave, I hurried down from my perch in the window seat, rushing down the hall.
Draco caught me in his arms at the top of the stairs. He had come from nowhere. I hadn’t even seen his movement out of the corner of my eye.
“Slow down, Cassandra,” he said, his arms holding me firmly in place. “No running on the stairs.” His tone was stern, but his eyes warm.
“Yes, sir,” I said, fluttering my eyelashes. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. With my relationship with Deo rapidly changing, and my newfound knowledge of Draco’s sexuality, I was much more comfortable around the guardian. Our bond was beginning to feel like that of an impish little sister and an overprotective older brother.
Releasing me, Draco raised one eyebrow at me in warning. He was a man of few words, but that look I could read loud and clear. ‘You may be cute but don’t push it.’ Stealing Cynthia’s moves, I blew him a kiss. Retreating down the stairs, I willed my feet to walk. There was no need to add Draco to the list of men who wanted to take me over their knee for disobeying them.
