behind my
back? I remember."
“Then do it."
Chapter
Ten
It's going to happen.
It really is going to happen. Susanna dipped her head, inordinately pleased at his
murmured, "Good girl, Xiao Māo ." She turned her back on him, and he chuckled
huskily.
"Soon you'll leave by facing me. No turning
your back on me unless at my command. Unless of course it is
an invitation to test my riding crop on your arse."
She spun round and pressed her legs together. Her
dress, no longer held together began to slip down her arms and back.
"R…riding crop?" She wasn't sure how she felt about that.
"Don't worry, we'll
work up to it gradually, perhaps on our honeymoon."
Susanna blinked and gulped. She would never understand
how the thought of pain could bring such pleasure. Would the reality live up to
her imagination? "Yes, Sir, perhaps." She
sounded unsure.
Tony chuckled. "It will be good," he said.
"If not you have your safe word. However, for now we'll do something I
feel you are well ready for. Move. You have three minutes or my hand will tan
your arse, for punishment not pleasure, and I assure you they are two very
different things in my world."
She moved. Some imp encouraged her to step backward,
and hope she made it though the doorway without banging her elbow on the
doorjamb, or stubbing her toe on the wooden skirting board.
To her relief she succeeded without any mishaps, and
found herself in a most unusual room. As much as she wanted to take her time to
stare, Susanna was mindful of Tony's words. A pleasure spanking interested her.
A punishment one did not. She well remembered the way her father punished her
brother. Susanna spared a brief thought for Simon, her sweet and gentle brother
who perished at Waterloo. He hadn't deserved his punishments or his early
demise.
Now though, she couldn't allow herself to remember
such sad things. She had other things to concentrate on. What was it Tony had
demanded of her? Ah yes, stripped and on her knees.
It took Susanna scant seconds to shrug out of her
dress and let it slide down her body to pool in a heap on the floor. She looked
at it doubtfully, but her governess's diktat rang in her head. " Pick it up, shake it out, hang it carefully.
Good materials cost good money. " With an inward grimace she did so,
using a rail along one wall to hold the garment. Susanna glanced around. She
let her eyes skip over some contraptions, which were alien to her. Goodness
knows what they were used for, but hopefully she'd get the chance to find out
at some point.
A soft cushion in front of a large, and somewhat unusual chair took her attention. The chair had thick material
wads pointing away from it in various places and long padded arms. The cushion
however curled up at each side, and was long and rectangular. It looked as if
it would allow her lower limbs to be pillowed.
Should she face the chair or
away? Was it indeed where she needed to be? Stop
second-guessing yourself. Tony will make allowances for your ignorance this
time. Mind made up, she knelt on the cushion facing the chair and let her
head, and her hair, fall forward. Once she was settled as best she could,
Susanna clasped her arms behind her over the base of her spine, and took a deep
breath to try and calm her nerves, and slow her racing pulse.
The loud sonorous tick of a clock somewhere nearby, seemed to match the beat of her heart. A faint smell
of beeswax tickled her nostrils and Susanna froze. Tony had mentioned wax on
her skin. Surely not? The last time she'd
inadvertently dripped her candle over her arm it had hurt like Hades, and left
a scar. Absently she scratched the spot, just above her wrist where a faint red
mark still remained.
"Don't do that." Tony had entered the room
unheard and unnoticed by her. His voice was harsh. "I reiterate: the only
person to mark you is me. And I will do it in such a way you will beg for
more."
Susanna jumped and let go of her arm. She moved her
head and his next command stopped
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