A Season for Scandal by Golden Angel
Chapter 31
Josie
Stifling a shriek, Josie bucked against the first application of Elijah’s hard hand to her backside. She had thought he would wait until they were back at Stuart House before beginning her punishment!
“Elijah! Not here!” She reached back to cover her bottom and give it some protection, but he quickly grasped her wrists and pinned them to the small of her back.
“Yes, here.” His tone was as grim as it had been outside the carriage, and he punctuated each sentence with a short, sharp slap on her bottom that made her bite her lip against shrieking. “If you can go gallivanting at night, out in the open, putting yourself in danger, then you can be punished here as well. You should be glad I waited ‘til we were in here to punish you.”
“The coachman! He’ll hear!” She did not manage to stifle her cry as his hand came down on a spot he had already spanked. The fabric of her breeches did even less than her skirts to shield her bottom from his hard swats. Few times, she felt her skirts had an advantage over breeches, but this was one of them.
“He will hardly care.”
Elijah did not care if he heard as he rained down swats in earnest on her bottom. Josie did her best not to cry out, wishing she had not tried to cover her cheeks when he first spanked her. At least then, she could have used her hands to quiet herself, but now all she could do was bury her face against the thin cushion on the bench as her tears poured into it.
The wet fabric rubbed against her cheeks, annoying but hardly a distraction from the painful heat growing in her rear. Her legs kicked, but Elijah easily hooked his own leg around them, pinning her even more in place and leaving her entirely helpless to his stern discipline.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
“Elijah! Please! I am sorry!”
How many swats did he mean to give her? It seemed unending, and he did not slow down even a little, no matter how the carriage turned and jostled them or how she bucked on his lap. The stinging fire across her skin was growing exponentially, turning into a raging inferno, and they were not even home yet!
Elijah
“Are you sorry, Josie? Or are you only sorry you were caught?” The question grated out between his teeth.
His temper was tightly reined—he would never punish her in anger—but that did not stop him from giving her exactly what he thought she was due. And when they arrived home… Oh, yes, his little minx’s punishment had hardly begun.
Elijah realized he had been holding back with Josie. She had never been given the true measure of what he was capable of when it came to disciplining her. Part of him had been worried about turning her against him, about her continuing to prefer his brother over him, and that leniency had led to this.
No more. He did not know if she loved him, but he loved her and would not tolerate her putting herself in danger. As angry as he had been, deep down, she had frightened him. Thinking about all the things that could have happened to her was utterly paralyzing. Elijah did not know what he would have done if anything had happened to her. He would have been devastated.
“I am sorry!” There was more defiance in her voice than anything. Elijah did not hear any true repentance, but they would get there. Another sharp swat to her bottom had her squealing and squirming again.
The spanking was hurting his hand. As soon as they got home, he would use far more interesting ways to punish her so she would not forget it. The breeches she was wearing were already giving him all sorts of ideas. His cock rose, swelling against her soft, wiggling curves.
“You do not sound particularly sorry.” He brought his hand down, moving back and forth between each hot cheek. Even through the fabric of her breeches, he could feel her skin was getting hot, and he intended to make her cheeks glow. “Perhaps you should work on your sincerity.”
“Perhaps you should work on not being such a hypocrite,” she shot back. “I was only doing the same thing you were!”
“The hell you were,” Elijah scoffed with another swat to her bottom. “I was going to a destination I was well acquainted with and would have had an escort back. You were following me through streets you do not know at all, would not have been allowed into the Den without my presence, and exactly how were you planning on getting back home?”
Her position changed slightly, slumping, and Elijah felt as if he might have finally gotten through to her. Yes, he admired her bravery, but he was determined to curb her impulsiveness.
“You left me no choice!” She bucked on his lap, sniffling. “You were going to leave me at home after telling me we were partners.” There was a sadness in her tone that had not been there before, and Elijah softened. His hand was beginning to hurt, anyway. The rest of her punishment could wait until they were home.
Hauling her onto his lap, he felt her surprise when he cuddled her in close. She snuggled in easily enough, though she squirmed a bit on his lap, trying to find a comfortable position on the bottom he had just chastised. He could feel the heat emanating from her across his thighs and cock.
“We are partners. That does not mean you can merrily go your way into danger. I would have come home and told you everything without you having to risk yourself.”
“You might not have known everything without me,” Josie scoffed. “The only reason he told the truth so willingly was I surprised him.”
There was enough truth, Elijah hesitated, but only for a moment.
“It was not worth putting yourself in that kind of danger.” He would hold to that. There was no information, no piece of knowledge worth her life.
“Then next time, take me with you, and you will not have to worry about it.”
“Next time, I might get my father to watch you, so I do not have to worry about you,” he threatened.
“Then I will tell your father about you coming home after being attacked because you were out wandering without your guard.”
“If you think that will stop me from protecting you, you are very wrong.”
Josie
The realization Elijah was willing to face his father’s disapproval and wrath if it meant keeping her safe had even more of an impact than his hand on her bottom. It warmed her from the inside out in an entirely different manner than the spanking. While she disagreed such measures were necessary to keep her safe—after all, she had made it through tonight unscathed—she knew what a large concession that was from his perspective.
Even as she wanted to rail against his overprotectiveness and determination not to include her, part of her liked feeling small, safe, and protected against his chest.
The coach came to a halt, and Elijah got them out. He’d had the jarvey bring them around to the side entrance of the house. The hour was late, but there would still be lords and ladies arriving home, and if they saw Elijah leading a grubby youth up to the front door… Josie could only imagine the speculation.
Which was why she was surprised when Elijah swung her up into his arms rather than letting her descend from the carriage on her own.
“Elijah!”
“Hush.” The command made her bite her tongue.
Why was it sometimes, when he bossed her around, it drove her wild, and when he bossed her around other times, it really drove her wild in such a disparate manner? Maybe because her bottom was sore and throbbing, and she did not want to provoke him into punishing her further.
Truthfully, she was a little surprised she had gotten off so lightly. Yes, it had been a long, hard spanking, and she’d been embarrassed, knowing the jarvey probably heard every little shriek and cry, but she had gotten through it well enough.
By the time Elijah carried her up to his room, Josie was feeling warm, aroused, and more than ready for their particular brand of making up. So, she was shocked when Elijah carried her to the corner of the room and set her down, turning her to face the wall.
“What?” She started to turn around, but he put his hands on her shoulders and forcibly turned her back to face the corner.
“You are going to stand here and think about all the things that could have happened to you tonight. When I get back, your true punishment will begin.”
Shock, fear, and a shot of pure lust rippled through her, and she squeezed her thighs together. Her true punishment? More than the spanking? Why did some part of her find that so exciting?
Elijah held her in place for a moment before he was satisfied that she was going to stay there. Then his hands dropped, and she felt him tugging on her pants. A moment later, he pulled the hem of her shirt up.
“Here. You are going to stand with your bottom exposed while you think.”
Red heated her face, probably turning it as bright as her lower cheeks, as she realized the position he meant to leave her in. Incongruently, the pulsing need between her thighs grew hotter. The hem of the shirt was rolled above her waist, held there by her hands, the top of her pants just below the curve of her buttocks, leaving the entirety of her reddened cheeks on display while the rest of her was decently covered. Being naked would have been less embarrassing. This put all the focus on her chastisement, and the cool air wafting across her hot skin would not let her forget why she was standing there.
A little slap to her sensitized skin made her shriek, going up on her toes before she settled back down.
“I will be right back. Do not move.”
Staring at the corner, Josie did not understand why she felt compelled to remain standing there. Should she not argue her case? Tell him to stuff his discipline?
She squirmed uncomfortably, still holding up her shirt to keep her bottom on display.
Except… part of her knew she had earned some punishment. If she was going to argue her case, should she not have done it before sneaking out after him? Instead, she had pretended to give in, knowing he would think he had won the argument, so she could do as she pleased.
Had she wanted him to punish her? There had been a touch of disappointment when she thought the spanking in the carriage was the climax of her discipline, and he had given in so easily.
Pressing her lips together, Josie reflected that part of her had not minded being caught. She had been happy to have his protection rather than following him without his knowledge and had wanted to see what he would do.
That was the least comforting thought of all.
