Birching His Bride (Domestic Discipline 1) (9 page)

Now Eleanor
hesitated.  She knew very well that Hugh was already more than a bit smitten
with his bride to be, on the other hand smitten didn’t exactly denote
love
. 
Perhaps he could be content with a wife who wanted nothing more than companionship
or friendship? But then what if he wanted something passionate, something
intense, something… something like what she and Edwin had? Or what if he wanted
an adoring wife like their mother?

Unfortunately, before
she could think of how to answer Irene, the drawing room door opened to admit Banks
with the tea and the men following behind. Edwin entered in the middle of the
pack, immediately drawing her eye. He looked every inch the handsome gentleman
in his claret waistcoat and evening dress, a small smile on his face as he
scanned the room.  Seeing that Eleanor was seated with Miss Chandler and Lady
Grace was on the other side of the room he gave his wife a small nod of
approval, which for some reason only grated on her.

The whole point of
this evening, after all, was to make him angry and force him to realize that
his disciplinary tactics weren’t working.  She wasn’t supposed to be doing
things to get his approval, but at the same time she realized that part of her
wanted to.  Which just frightened her even more. Was she already turning into
her mother after only a few weeks of marriage? Did this mean that she loved
him?

It couldn’t. Surely
she’d know immediately if she’d fallen in love.  The tingling feeling just
underneath her skin was just a symptom of the sensual desires that he’d awoken
in her, the ones that he fed every night.  Perhaps part of her was reluctant to
give up the pleasures of the bedroom, but that wasn’t enough for her to cease
in her efforts to gain control over her life and marriage. 

Before tonight Edwin
hadn’t always appreciated the time after dinner when the men and women would
separate.  Often he’d been more interested in talking to the ladies but this
evening it had been almost necessary to his equilibrium to have that time away
from Eleanor. And also to discreetly send Banks to get him a sandwich so that he
wasn’t quite so starving. A glass of port and a cigar, some friendly banter
with the gentlemen, and he was feeling much less murderous.

Not that Eleanor
wasn’t going to pay for her transgressions, in fact he’d realized that the many
antics of this evening called for a much harsher punishment then he’d ever
given her before, but he was now going to be able to approach her discipline from
a place of tranquility rather than anger. And he certainly never wanted to be
anything but calm and disciplined himself when he was punishing her.

Following Hugh, who
veered straight for Irene, Edwin sat next to his wife and spent the rest of the
evening doing the pretty from Eleanor’s side. He didn’t allow her to move more
than a foot away from him once all evening, which obviously only increased her
anxiety and trepidation. The more he smiled, the more jittery she became. 

Finally they were
able to sweep their guests out the door, the small party a success as far as
all of them were concerned.  Lady Grace and Miss Chandler had managed to
stay separated for the entirety of the evening following dinner, which made for
a much more amiable gathering overall and Hugh had been quite happy to dance
attendance on his soon-to-be bride while Conyngham had kept Lady Grace quite
distracted.

“I’m going to go
speak with Mrs. Hester,” said Eleanor as soon as her parents had said their
farewell and left.  “I’d like to have her opinion on the evening, what she
thought worked well and what we might improve upon next time.”

While Edwin was sure
that was true, and he was pleased to know that Eleanor was assuming her duties
in regards to being his hostess, he also knew that she was trying to avoid
being alone with him.  Obviously she knew that she was in trouble.

"You may speak
with her tomorrow," he said firmly, grasping her by the elbow with a firm
hand. He looked at Banks. "Tell the staff that we are done for the evening
and we should not be disturbed for the rest of the night."

"Very good, my
lord," said Banks with a little bow-like movement as Eleanor let out a
small whimper.  

The expression on her
face flitted back and forth between fear and a kind of determination, making
Edwin wonder exactly what she had been thinking by serving all food that he
disliked if she was so anxious about being disciplined.  Sometimes he
wondered if women's minds worked anything at all like men's; living with
Eleanor he was beginning to come to the conclusion that they didn't. If she
didn't want to be punished, why had she gone out of the way to do something she
knew she'd be punished for? Not only had her menu been malicious, but the
inappropriate dress she was wearing was another point of defiance. She could
have made it more modest with a fichu but instead she'd chosen to flaunt
herself before their family and friends.  He still got a flash of jealous
anger whenever he thought about Conyngham eying the creamy swells of her
breasts, despite the fact that the man had done nothing more than look at what
Eleanor was offering.

As Edwin pulled her
along towards their bedroom Eleanor remembered that she was trying to show him
that she wouldn't be cowed by his discipline, that no matter what he did she
would keep doing what she wanted to.

Unfortunately that
determination was somewhat undermined by the fact that she felt rather guilty
about how little he'd truly been able to eat during dinner. She'd seen him
manfully forcing himself to taste some of the dishes.  Only someone who
knew him well, who had studied his face while he'd eaten dishes that he'd
enjoyed, would have noticed the tightness around his mouth and eyes, the slight
grimaces.  Although she'd done her best to pretend she wasn't watching him
she hadn't been able to keep herself from sneaky little glances.  It
wasn't in her nature to be intentionally malicious, especially when she wasn't
truly angry with Edwin, and so she rather felt as though she deserved some kind
of punishment for that mean trick. The guilt that had quietly been growing all
night now felt fit to bursting.

So it was with mixed
feelings that she entered their bedroom, half-defiant and half-guilty. 
Edwin didn't seem angry anymore, although she knew that he'd been enraged by
the end of dinner. Either he had better control over his facial expressions
than she thought or he had calmed down.  However she knew that calm didn't
equate to forgiving.

Turning to face her
husband Eleanor's body language was a study in contradictions. Her chin was
high and her hands were fisted at her sides, but her shoulders were hunched and
her eyes were wary, her face flushing and paling by degrees.  Alone,
standing in front of him, she couldn't help but notice how attractive he
looked, despite the blank expression on his face. Part of her fervently wished
that she hadn't deliberately ruined this evening; she was quite certain that if
she had behaved then they'd been finding wondrous, glorious pleasure together,
the way they did almost every night.  At least if she'd just worn the
dress then she wouldn't have merited more than a spanking.

Looking at her
husband's forbidding countenance she was sure that her punishment was going to
be much more severe.

"Take off your
dress," he said in a short, clipped voice, before turning away from her to
go into his dressing room.

With trembling
fingers Eleanor did the best she could but she couldn't reach all the buttons
in the back.  When Edwin returned he was wearing only his breeches and
shirt, his hand wrapped around a birch rod.  She felt her knees weaken and her
mouth dry as she stared at the slender branches, tied with a pretty blue
ribbon. The color matched her eyes exactly.

"Please, Edwin,
no," she begged, unable to take her eyes off of the disciplinary instrument.

"Turn
around," he ordered.  Closing her eyes, the defiance leaking out of
her, Eleanor did as he commanded.  She could feel his fingers moving
against her, undoing the last buttons of her dress. He helped her shrug it off
and then he threw it to the side of them with a violent movement.  With
his help it only took a few more minutes before she stood completely bare and
vulnerable.

"Pretty
Eleanor," Edwin murmured, putting his fingers under her chin and tipping
her head up to look at him.  She let tears fill her big blue eyes as she
pressed her hands against his chest, staring pleadingly into his dark ones
which were as hard as stone.  "Pretty wife.  Why are you so
naughty?"

She bit into her
plump lower lip.  Because this wasn't the marriage she wanted. Because she
was slowly losing control, not just of her life but of her emotions. Because if
she didn't make herself hate him, she might start to do more than care for him.
She might start to
love
him.  Then she would be just like her
mother, bending to the will of a dictatorial husband who didn't have a care for
what she might want.  Even if Edwin cared for her she couldn't imagine him
giving up any power in a relationship; he would use her love, the way her
father used her mother's, to arrange the life that
he
wanted.

So she had to be bad,
bad enough that he'd realize his disciplinary measures didn't work on her, bad
enough that he would let her go away and stay with friends or family, live the
life she wanted. 

Edwin watched a
strange array of expressions flicker over his wife's pretty face, too quickly
for him to interpret any of them.  He truly did want to know why she'd
gone out of her way to make tonight miserable for him, it wasn't something he
would have ever expected of her.  That kind of antagonizing stunt wasn't
in Eleanor's usual personality.  It had been a calculated ploy but for
what benefit? She had to know that she would be punished.

"Are you going
to apologize?" he asked.  Not that it would stop him from
disciplining her. She deserved it, nay needed it.  Hugh had been right,
let her get away with little things and she would run with the freedom. Eleanor
needed constancy, she needed to know where the line was and that she would
always be disciplined for crossing it - or in this case for playing complete
havoc with it.  But if she apologized he would go a little lighter on her.
Just a little.

But the obstinate
creature shook her head, her teeth releasing her lip as her chin jutted
forward. "I know of no need to apologize."

"Really?" He
took a deep breath and raised his eyes to stare at the ceiling for a moment in
exasperation. "Unacceptable Eleanor.  Even for a prevarication I
expected better from you."  Especially since it was quite clear to
both of them that she knew exactly what she needed to apologize for, now she
was just being obstinate.

The tension that
Eleanor was feeling was almost overwhelming.  She didn’t know what to do;
she owed Edwin an apology because truly her behavior had been rather abominable
when it came to the dinner menu she’d planned. But she also felt like she
should continue her defiance, show him that she wasn’t just going to give in
because he’d brought out a birch.  No matter what kind of punishment,
spanking, birching, she couldn’t give up if she was going to convince him that
it would be less trouble to just let her go her own way.

Which meant that she
was going to have to take the birching and then keep up her behavior. Not a
pleasant prospect but surely that would show him that he should be the one to
give up.  Maybe if she brought it up now he would give in.

“Why should I
apologize for creating a dinner that all of our guests and I enjoyed?” she
asked haughtily, trying to stifle the vestiges of her guilt.  It was hard
to be haughty when she was completely nude and Edwin was not, but she did her
best.  Crossing her arms under her breasts she lifted her chin, pretending
that she didn't notice and didn't care about her lack of clothing. “If you
don’t like the way I plan a menu then perhaps we shouldn’t share meals. Or a
house.”

Edwin stiffened.  Where had this come
from? He’d rather thought that he and Eleanor were doing quite well together,
other than her apathy when it came to taking any responsibility towards running
the household. But he thought their relationship had been growing, that she was
actually beginning to feel some affection for him as he felt for her, despite
the circumstances of their marriage.  She certainly hadn’t had any
reluctance about sharing his bed every night once he got her there, although
she admittedly required some coaxing, but he'd thought that had been a show of
maidenly virtue. Which was quickly shed once her passion was aroused.

“Is there something about our marriage that
leaves you unsatisfied?” he asked softly, his voice almost a warning. 
Since deciding upon Eleanor for his wife he had known that he would not take a
mistress, he saw it as disrespectful towards her and he certainly wouldn’t
countenance her taking a lover, no matter how discreet.  Was that what
tonight’s dress had been about? Did she want a house of her own so that she
could meet a lover there?

“Not unsatisfied,” she said slowly. The flash
of hurt she’d seen on Edwin’s face had surprised her, but she didn’t want to
add to it.  “But this is not the kind of marriage I had imagined.  I
don’t think I should get a birching just for planning a menu that you didn’t
like!”

Something tense inside of Edwin relaxed. Just
more manipulations. That he could handle. He wasn’t as surprised now; Eleanor had
wanted her way when it came to getting married, which he had some sympathy for,
and now she was lashing out because she hadn’t gotten what she wanted. Still,
he couldn't let her behavior go unacknowledged, especially since she'd piled
insult onto injury tonight.  He'd obviously been too lenient with her,
curious as to what she was planning; that ended now.

“You aren’t getting a birching because you
planned a menu that I didn’t like, you’re getting a birching for deliberately
disrespecting me by purposefully choosing each dish to ensure that it was
something I wouldn’t enjoy eating. You did it willfully and maliciously after
having an entire conversation with me about my eating preferences. I realize
that this might not be the marriage that you would have chosen for yourself,
but instead of trying to work on our relationship – which I think could be
quite enjoyable for both of us with very little effort – you are wallowing in
self-pity and doing your best to sabotage it.”  Eleanor's jaw worked, but
no sound came from her mouth.  The expression on her face showed both
guilt and a stubbornness to hold to her position. "From now on things are
going to change. You have had plenty of time to accustom yourself to being
married and I have tolerated your behavior for long enough.  There will be
no more handing your responsibilities onto Mrs. Hester, you will behave
yourself with propriety and you will dress as behooves your station.  When
you do not, you will be punished."

"That's not fair!" She pouted her
lower lip at him, although it was almost ludicrous looking as she was obviously
more furious than upset.  It was hard to look like a victim when every
inch of her body screamed her desire to wring his neck.

"It's more than fair and you know
it."  Grimly, Edwin gestured with his hand, twirling it and
indicating that she should turn about.  The hot flush of anger on his
wife's cheeks, the glittering sparkle in her bright blue eyes and the sight of
her naked body was having its usual effect on him.  He was going to enjoy
giving her bottom a well-deserved thrashing and then indulging in their usual
evening's pleasures.   "Turn around and bend over the bed Eleanor, or
I will tie you in place and your punishment will be much worse."

Looking at the determination on her husband's
face, Eleanor knew that he was speaking nothing but the unadulterated truth.
Now her lower lip truly did tremble as she finally realized that she may have
pushed him too far, although even now he wasn’t reacting from anger. 
She'd expected a spanking, but nothing more than that! And he would tie in her
place?

It suddenly occurred to Eleanor that perhaps
she’d misjudged Edwin; the hard look on his face made it clear that he was more
than willing to follow through with his threat.  This was certainly more than
she’d bargained for!  Yet she was no longer the same young woman who had
acceded to the punishments her father deemed necessary and Edwin certainly
treated her differently in other regards. Perhaps she could convince him
towards leniency or even distract him entirely.

"Please Edwin, I am sorry," she
said, putting the small amount of guilt that she actually did feel into her
voice to convince him of her sincerity.  Looking up at him pleadingly, she
stepped forward, her hands dropping to her sides and revealing her body, hoping
to distract him with her nudity.  She’d had plenty of time to learn how
appealing she was, physically, to him. "Truly, I am, it was malicious and
wrong and I wasn't really thinking." Placing her hands on his chest she
peered up at him through lowered lashes, feeling triumphant as she felt his
body shift under her hands, saw the flash of arousal as he looked down at
her. 

"Apology accepted," he said, his
voice tight as he controlled his impulse to forgo the punishment, throw his
wife down on his bed and ravish her senseless.   It seemed Eleanor
had found a new way to be manipulative; it hadn't taken her long to go from
innocent to seductress apparently.  In other circumstances he would have
been quite pleased to have her approaching him this way.  "Now turn
around and go bend over the bed."

"But Edwin!" she protested, shock
clear across her face that he wasn't taking what she was offering.

"Just because you have found it in
yourself to admit that you did something wrong doesn't mean you won't have to
reap the consequences for it," he said sternly.  It was so close to
something that her father had said to her before that Eleanor gaped at him,
unable to think of a single rebuttal.  "And tempting me with your
delightful body just shows that you are still trying to manipulate the
situation rather than showing any true remorse.  If you want to convince
me that you truly regret your actions then you will do as I say and take your
punishment like a good wife."

Now she was truly torn. Eleanor didn't want
to be a good wife because if she pleased Edwin then he would be less agreeable
to living apart from her.  Already he'd shown himself to oppose such an
arrangement and she knew that she hadn't been a very good wife at all. 
Yet she also didn't want more of a punishment that she'd already earned.

Deciding that there was no point in
antagonizing him further at present, which would only increase this punishment,
she slowly turned and walked towards the bed with her head down to show her
contriteness.  Truly, however, she was contrite that she'd thought Edwin
would be this easy to handle.  There would be no quick agreement from him,
this contest of wills was going to be a long and drawn out affair.  She
would have to prove over and over again that she would not be managed by him or
deterred by his discipline before he would accept that she would not be the
wife he wanted and would allow her to go her own way. Obviously the idea of
living separately did not yet appeal to him.  It would be easier for her
to do so if she avoided incurring any particularly large punishments.

The sight of his wife -
finally
-
moving obediently to take her punishment had an effect on Edwin like he'd never
experienced before. It wasn't that he wanted to punish Eleanor, at least not to
the level that he felt was needful for today's transgressions, but he didn't
think any man would be unaffected by the vision Eleanor presented. 
Completely nude, bent over the bed and braced on her forearms, her hair still
in its elaborate coiffure so that the long line of her back was displayed, and
the creamy swell of her buttocks being offered up for his pleasure and
punishment; the throbbing in his cock was becoming painful as he struggled to
control himself.

Although unintended, the wait for Edwin to
move towards her was having a rather salutary effect on Eleanor.  Tense
anticipation wracked her and she heartily wished that she'd decided earlier to
take the long road, rather than try to rush her goals with the demonstration
she'd made that evening.  Or she could have been more subtle. Thrown in a
few dishes that she had known he liked. But no, she'd been impatient and
overconfident, and too impetuously sulky to thoroughly think through the
consequences of her actions.

When she finally heard the rustle of clothing
as Edwin moved towards her she actually felt relieved. Waiting for her
punishment was torturous, especially since she couldn't help but spend the time
castigating herself and Eleanor certainly did not like to dwell on her failures. 
Not that she'd ever had many.  She'd even handled her father better than
she'd managed Edwin; what was it about the man that threw her mind so badly off
center?

A finger stroked down the center of her back,
making her shiver - and not with fear or cold. 

"Just get it over with," she said
waspishly, feeling a little flare of anger that he would try to arouse her at a
time like this.

"Very well," he said, sound rather
amused.  Eleanor didn't dare look at his face because if he did look
amused she wasn't sure she could keep a hold of her temper. Her husband's hand
curved over her bottom, squeezing the flesh hard, just on the edge of roughly
and she tried to ignore the heat that it kindled at her core. "First
you're going to get a spanking for that dress - which you know was
inappropriate. If the rest of your new wardrobe is anything like that then you
will make the gowns more decent with a fichu."

Biting her lip Eleanor glared at the bed
cover beneath her face.   Her body was feeling rather conflicted at the
moment. The way Edwin was palming her bottom was quite arousing, she felt angry
all over again as he dictated how she would dress, and yet she also felt
ashamed of the way she'd looked tonight in front of their guests.  Despite
knowing that he was correct she resented that he felt the need to inform her of
what she already knew, what she'd already decided. Now it would look like she
was doing it to follow his orders and not because she was intelligent enough to
realize that the dress hadn't had the effect she'd intended.

"I had already decided that
anyway," she muttered, unable to keep the words in even though she was sure
he wouldn't believe her.

"I'm glad to hear it."  There
didn't seem to be any insincerity in his voice, but the approval grated on her
anyway.

Blast him, she didn't need his approval.

SMACK!

Eleanor gasped and rocked forwards on her
arms as Edwin's hand came down hard on her right buttock, followed by a quick
cracking spank to her left. 

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

It was as if he'd separated her buttocks into
quadrants, his hand coming down on each of them in turn. Lower right, upper right,
upper left, lower left.

Digging her fingers into the bedclothes as
her bottom began to heat, the hard smacks stinging and burning, Eleanor
couldn't stop the small distressed sounds that her husband's spanking
elicited.  His hand was very strong, very firm, and as powerful as a
board.  Bending over the bed like this was much less intimate than being
over his lap, removing the distraction of having his hard body pressed against
her. 

SMACK! SMACK!

The slaps to the sensitive crease between her
thighs and buttocks rocked her forward again and she gave out a little cry,
burying her face into the bed sheets.  That bloody hurt! And yet...

As Edwin rubbed his wife's buttocks, admiring
the pinkish hue they had taken on, he also noticed that beneath those rosy
cheeks her womanhood was beginning to dew with wetness.  Knowing that she
couldn't see his face he grinned, thanking whatever saint was responsible for
his luck in having Eleanor to wife.  Still, she would feel roundly
disciplined by the end of this session, of that he was determined. Digging his
fingers into her flesh, he almost groaned at the soft sound she made, a cross
between pleasure and pain as he further abused her bottom.