by Golden Angel
"Good. You may go."
It only took her a moment to pull up her drawers and then she practically ran from the room. Wesley grinned as he watched her swift flight. She might be a recalcitrant female, but he knew how to deal with those. The chit just needed a firm hand. Surely he could have her whipped into shape and married off within the next month or two and then she wouldn't be his burden anymore.
Trying to forget how delightfully wriggly she'd been against his body and the way her pussy had dripped as he'd punished her, Wesley moved behind his desk to go through the pile of papers that he'd had set there for him. As he sat, he adjusted his cock to a more comfortable position. At least, as comfortable it was going to get until he could find a willing woman in Bath.
******
Humiliated and shockingly hot and aching between her legs, Cynthia fled to her room. That did not go at all the way she had expected. She was even more embarrassed when she saw more than one of the servants witnessing her flight and snickering.
How loud had she been when Lord Spencer spanked her? Had they heard her yelling? Begging?
When she finally reached the safety of her room, Cynthia slammed the door and locked it. That wasn't unusual for her. Most of the servants knew to leave her alone if her door was locked, unless the Countess was looking for her. There were moments when a girl needed her privacy so that she could do the naughty things she wasn't supposed to be doing.
Hurrying over to the mirror, Cynthia lifted up her skirts and dropped her drawers. Hissing at the sight that confronted her, Cynthia gently touched the bright red skin with gentle fingertips and found that it was hot to the touch.
"Ouch," she muttered under her breath.
Touching the swollen heat of her buttocks made the tingles between her legs even stronger and Cynthia nearly moaned. How could she be feeling that way when she'd just been spanked?
Maybe it was because of Lord Spencer himself. Cynthia wondered if his hands would be as rough touching her if he wasn't delivering a spanking.
Another swipe of her fingers over the heated flesh of her bottom and Cynthia couldn't take it anymore. She let her skirts drop and scrambled over to the bed. Lying on her back hurt, but lying on her side didn't give her the access that she wanted and lying on her stomach made it too hard to move her hand.
With her skirts up around her waist again, Cynthia planted her feet into the bed and lifted her weight off of her poor bottom, arching her hips up so that it hovered above the bed sheets. Reaching one hand into the low bodice of her dress, she squeezed her breast as her other hand immediately went to that forbidden area between her thighs.
This might be her very favorite "don't" in all the world, she thought as she began to stroke and fondle the soft folds she found there. They were already wet, soaked in fact, from her spanking. At least his Lordship hadn't known that little secret!
Cynthia moaned as her weight trembled, her thighs burning from the effort of holding her up, and her bottom came into contact with the bed for a moment. The discomfort and burning sensation reignited, but it felt almost good now that she was touching herself. Teasing the hard little bud amidst her folds, she gasped and moaned a little louder as a flash of pleasure sizzled through her.
Her hips began to move, letting some of her weight rest on her flaming bottom before lifting it again, the pain a sharp and intense counterpoint to the ecstasy she was creating for herself. Picturing herself back across Lord Spencer's knee, she began to fantasize a very different ending to her spanking. One where, once her bottom was red and burning, his hands would go wandering.
One would slide into her bodice and begin to play with and pinch her nipple, the other would seek out the hot, wet, folds between her legs and begin to stroke her. His fingers would rub that swollen little nubbin to hardness, tweaking and pulling at it, until she was bucking across his thighs for an entirely different reason.
Letting out a high cry, Cynthia spasmed, her legs giving way as the waves of rapture rushed through her. The pain of her bottom coming down hard on the mattress only fed into her fantasy and she writhed with the intensity of her climax, so much more satisfying than any she'd had before. Moaning, her fingers finally slowed, the little circles she was making growing more languid as she moaned and panted in satisfaction.
That had been... amazing. Better than she'd ever experienced before.
Obviously this was going to be something she needed to explore. Cynthia smiled. She was quite sure that she could find plenty of reasons to earn a spanking. Then she winced as her bottom throbbed slightly painfully, and rolled onto her side. She’d earn another one eventually. Once this one didn’t continue to sting so badly.
Chapter 2
Ensconced in his study, Wesley was steadily working his way through the correspondence with his estate managers. It was taking a bit longer than usual because his concentration wasn’t what it normally was.
He’d spent the evening yesterday with his Mother and Cynthia, ostensibly to learn more about his ward. What he’d found was that she was even more distracting than just physically. Sweet, overly curious, and naturally cheerful, he’d been shocked when she’d been flitting around the house only an hour after receiving her spanking, acting as if nothing had happened. In fact, she’d been sitting quite cheerfully, gossiping with two of the maids about the doings of their next door neighbors.
If it hadn’t been for her slight wince when she sat down to dinner, he might have thought he’d imagined the entire episode. During dinner she chattered quite brazenly and familiarly with him, despite his disapproving scowls and his mother’s attempts to divert the conversation. Cynthia treated him just as casually as if he was one of his brothers, whom she obviously got on well with. They'd apparently sent more letters to her than they had to him, or at least more descriptive ones, as she knew far more about their recent doings than he did.
When Manfred came to announce the arrival of Lord and Lady Hyde for a visit, Wesley welcomed the break with relief. "Set them up in the drawing room please, and let Mother know they're here."
Since he knew that she'd declared herself "not-at-home" today, stating that she wanted to rest before they went out that evening, he figured he had a good half hour before she would be ready to make an appearance. There was no way she would miss out on seeing Edwin and Nell, even if she wasn’t at-home, but it would take her at least that long to clothe and ready herself for receiving visitors.
Which was all to the good because he had a proposal he wanted to put forth to his friends, before his mother joined them. Especially as she would probably bring Cynthia with her.
Putting his signature and seal on the document in front of him, Wesley stood and hastened to the drawing room.
******
Sitting in the elegantly decorated room of cool blues and grays, Eleanor should have felt calmed. Instead she watched her husband warily. Edwin had been incensed when he'd first declared that they would join Wesley in Bath; yet since that original confrontation he'd acted as if nothing upsetting had happened. She'd had to endure a rather uncomfortable carriage ride to Bath, because of her red bottom, but she thought that she'd have to endure uncomfortable dinners and silences with him as well.
Instead he was somehow warmer with her than he'd been in London. He'd always been passionate, from the very beginning of their marriage, but now his entire demeanor towards her was warm and affectionate at all times. Blatantly so, although in a decorous way when they were in public. Yesterday a few of their neighbors had stopped in to see who had rented the house and Edwin had danced his attendance on her, keeping her rather distracted with tiny touches and gestures of affection until she could barely keep her head on straight. It had her decidedly off balance because it wasn't at all what she had expected from him; he'd been so very angry with her and now he was... not.
At least not as far as she could tell and she found that confusing. Even though she'd been punished, she hadn't expected such an immediate reversion to typical behavior. Alth
ough, his behavior wasn't quite typical, truly.
It was more.
Now he was examining the room, while Eleanor sat rather stiffly on the ornate settee in the center of the room, and she examined him from the periphery of her vision. Handsome as sin, darkly commanding, the way he moved was almost a prowling as he inspected the room and the dainty, feminine decorations.
When he turned and caught her eye he grinned, looking almost like the boy she'd once known. "I wonder how comfortable Wesley feels in this room."
A small smile split her lips. Out of the three men who were best friends, Wesley, Edwin and her brother Hugh, Wesley had always been the most rambunctious and, as such, the most dangerous to the small glass collectibles his mother favored.
"One would hope he's outgrown his affection for hearing glass shatter," she replied. Their eyes sparkled in a moment of fellow feeling and memory.
"It was never an affection, just a tendency," said a deep voice from the doorway. Wesley stood, grinning at them as he shut the door behind him.
Eleanor laughed and stood as Edwin strode forward to greet their friend. Despite the fact that Wesley had only been in his mother's house for a bare twenty four hours, Eleanor thought he looked rather harassed. She wondered if his mother or his wayward ward had done the harassing. Normally Wesley was the most easy-going of the three men, but his mouth had a rather pinched look as did his eyes.
They asked the obligatory questions about his mother, whom Wesley assured them would be joining them shortly.
"Actually, I have a favor I would ask of you, before my mother joins us. Ask of Nell, really," he said, looking at her. "My ward is..." His lips flattened and he looked almost censorious. Not a usual expression for him. "My ward has been more of a burden on my mother than I initially realized. I don't wish to hurt my mother's feelings by insinuating to her that she can't handle Cynthia on her own, but I don't think some help would go amiss. I was hoping that, as someone closer to Cynthia's age..."
"That I might be able to influence her behavior?" Eleanor said, a little smile twisting her lips. "Are you sure you want to ask me for such a thing?"
She wondered, again, how much of her transgressions her husband had shared with his friends. Surely if Wesley knew how unbecoming some of her conduct had been then he couldn't think her a proper role model for his wild ward... on the other hand, she knew that he must know some of it.
"Oh, you're slowly turning into quite a presentable young lady," he teased, dark eyes glinting with appreciation for her trepidation, as if he could read her thoughts.
Eleanor stuck her tongue out at him and then immediately pulled it back in as she felt her husband step up behind her. Fortunately he hadn't been able to see her face, and she knew that Wesley wouldn't tell on her. The pinched look had disappeared from his eyes, which were full of amusement as they flicked back and forth between husband and wife. One of Edwin's hands came down on her shoulder, like a gentle caress.
"She's more than presentable," Edwin said warmly. “I’m sure that Nell will be happy to help with Cynthia.” Eleanor twisted her neck back to look up at him, surprised by the obvious and genuine affection in his voice, but even more so by the sound of approval in his tone. Considering the reasons for why they were both in Bath, and how infuriated he'd been by some of her recent antics over the past months, she was rather shocked to hear that he thought she would be a suitable influence on a wild and misbehaving young woman.
She always thought that he still saw her as a wild and misbehaving young woman. And, admittedly, she had certainly acted in ways that would support that belief.
******
The beautiful blonde woman was staring up at the very handsome man behind her. Cynthia couldn't quite see his expression, unfortunately they keyhole she was peering through didn't allow that. Or see her guardian's expression.
But she rather liked the look of the woman. She was very beautiful, for one, and the way that she'd stuck her tongue out at Lord Spencer said that she wasn't stuffy. Actually, she was quite surprised that Lord Spencer hadn't reacted with anger at such impertinence, but he hadn't. That was one moment when she truly wished she could have seen his face.
With his friends he didn't seem to be nearly as stuffy as he'd appeared to her yesterday. He was much more relaxed, even teasing and amiable as he explained that he'd like Eleanor take Cynthia under her wing and befriend her. Something which Cynthia certainly had no objection to. It would be nice to have a female friend around her age.
Especially a married one, as she surmised the beautiful blonde was. Cynthia had a multitude of questions that she'd like to ask her, if she was truly someone who could become a bosom bow.
"Cynthia!" The Countess' aghast voice had Cynthia bolting upright, her lips forming the word 'damn' although she didn’t voice the vulgarity aloud. It wasn't worth the lecture and fainting looks that followed. Turning, she tried to look properly chastened by the time she faced the Countess.
Looking as intimidatingly regal and elegant as ever, the Countess was dressed in a gown of dark blue cambric with burgundy trimmings that accentuated her statuesque bearing and excellent style. One day Cynthia hoped to be as forbidding as the Countess, she thought it would be quite a bit of fun. But she didn't wilt under the woman's hawk-like glare, her own mother had perfected that look as well, and Cynthia had become quite immune to it in her younger years. It seemed to be a side effect of indulging in "don'ts." If she'd been affected by the condemning looks and punishments that she received, Cynthia wouldn't have had half as much fun as she normally did.
Behind her the door was yanked open and Cynthia could feel the dark, brooding stare of her guardian on the back of her neck and she shivered, wondering if eavesdropping would garner her another spanking.
While that had been one of her goals, because she wanted to explore the new sensations it had aroused in her, she didn't want one yet. Her skin was still tender after the punishment she'd received the day before.
"Mother," he said in acknowledgment, stepping past Cynthia as if she wasn't there at all. She bristled at his indifference. Wesley offered the Countess his arm before turning back, his disapproving gaze landing on Cynthia. Her bottom tingled, as if in response. "Come in with us and behave."
The Countess looked a bit startled, possibly at his invitation or possibly at his manner towards Cynthia, but she didn't gainsay her son. For once, Cynthia felt like being obedient, mostly because she needed at least another good night's sleep before she was going to risk getting another spanking. Preferably more. And also because she wanted to meet the pretty blonde woman and see her guardian acting like a something other than a stuffed shirt.
Cynthia could behave when she felt she had good reason to.
When they entered the room, both the man and the woman came forward to greet the Countess. Cynthia hung back, studying them more closely now that her vision wasn't partially blocked by the keyhole. Up close the man, Lord Hyde, was even more impressive looking, with handsome chiseled features and arresting dark eyes. His own coloring was darker than Lord Spencer's, except for his skin which was much lighter, but that just made his hair and eyes even blacker by contrast.
The woman had a warm smile, sparkling blue eyes and the most amazing porcelain complexion. For once Cynthia was a bit jealous, and more than a little aware of the golden tint to her own skin which came from spending quite a bit of time outside without the protection of a bonnet or parasol. Eleanor, as the Countess called her, must be what people called a Diamond of the First Water. Something Cynthia had never aspired to be, but then she'd never felt so awkward in another woman's presence before. Normally she felt quite assured that she was the most attractive woman in the room, but next to Eleanor's angelic hues, her own coloring seemed dark and earthy by contrast.
Once they'd greeted the Countess, Eleanor turned to Cynthia, glancing at Wesley in an obvious demand to be introduced. He sighed as if it pained him and Cynthia bit her tongue to keep from saying something tart.
"Edwin, Nell, this is my ward Miss Cynthia Bryant. Cynthia, this is Lord and Lady Hyde."
"But you must call me Eleanor," said the blonde woman, stepping forward to take both of Cynthia's hands to greet her. "There's no need to be so stuffy, Wesley, I'm sure we're all going to be good friends." Those sparkling blue eyes tipped with amusement towards Lord Spencer, before settling back on Cynthia, inviting her to share in Eleanor's amusement.
Despite the insecurities that this beautiful woman had roused in Cynthia, she couldn't help but respond to that open, friendly gaze. It had been a long time since any of the women she'd met had looked at her with anything other than disapproval or jealousy, she realized. Not that Eleanor needed to feel threatened by her; so perhaps there was a benefit to having such a beautiful friend.
"And you must call me Cynthia. I'm delighted to meet you. My Lord," she said, directing her gaze at Lord Hyde as she bobbed a quick curtsy. He studied her, looking at her so intently with those dark, brooding eyes that she reddened. The man had the kind of look that made a woman squirm, as if he could see every naughty thing she'd done and might do in the future. How did the bright and cheerful Eleanor deal with such a man?
Then again, he seemed the perfect friend for Lord Stuffy.
Cynthia's mouth almost gaped open when Eleanor turned back towards her husband and his gaze immediately softened, making him look far more approachable and almost gentle. The last time she'd seen a man look at a woman like that... it had been her father with her mother. Certainly none of the men she ever teased or flirted with looked at her quite like that. It caused a very curious ache in her chest.
"Let's sit down and I'll ring for some tea," said the Countess, smiling broadly. "Cynthia come sit by me. And you two must tell me everything about the wedding and the honeymoon, you did honeymoon didn't you?"
"Oh yes, we spent a wonderful month in Paris," Eleanor said as she settled her skirts around her, glancing up at Lord Hyde. The little smile that he gave her, along with the look of almost adoration, made that little ache that Cynthia was feeling give another twinge. Although as soon as his eyes turned away from his wife, his expression hardened again.
