Read Online The Princess and the Huntsman by Patricia Green - Free Book Online

her along. “So you have said.” It pained him that she was so stubborn and determined to make him out the rogue, but that did not prevent him from keeping her safe. It was a thankless job.
    They fought each other all the way back to the cottage where she threw herself into the chair, pouting mightily.
    “You persist in making things hard on yourself, Brandywyn,” he lectured, pacing in front of the hearth. “And you put yourself in direct danger, this day. What if kidnappers had found you in the forest again? Did you think of that? Did you wish to be raped in the dirt?”
    Her pout got a little shaky. “No. I wanted to go home.”
    “That was all you thought about, without thinking things through. You are not a princess, sweeting, and I shall not treat you like one. You deserve another spanking.”
    Brandywyn stood abruptly. “No! Do not touch me!”
    “Stand behind the chair and put your hands on the back. Do it or it will go harder upon you.”
    “I shall not! You cannot make me!”
    He arched a brow. “Are you certain of that?”
    She backed down, though her golden brows still dipped. “Beast!”
    “Your name-calling wears thin, Brandywyn. Do as I said.”
    Slowly, with exaggerated care and much dragging of feet, she did as bid and put her hands on the back of the chair.
    “Bend, woman, and offer your arse.”
    Her knuckles went white where they gripped the chair. “You ask too much.”
    Tom thought maybe this was true. He moved her into position himself. Her thin skirt went up over her bare bottom and Tom felt himself stir. It was such a beautiful bottom, unblemished—the marks from the kidnappers’ torments had disappeared with the passage of time—round and sweet. He paused to get a wooden hairbrush. Seeing it, Brandywyn gasped and began to plead.
    “Please do not beat me, Tom. I promise to think ahead more.”
    He stood at her side, gazing into her eyes, trying to determine if she was sincere. Certes, she was sincere about not wanting to be spanked, but thinking ahead… less so. He would have to spank some sense into her. “I shall ensure that you give matters more consideration.” Tom drew back his hand and Brandywyn cringed, her eyes closing tightly as he swung the brush at her bare behind. He did not swing very hard; ‘twas obvious that she was unused to being punished.
    The first spank caused her to squeak, but that was all. He watched her reaction to the next three spanks. Each time, she squirmed a little more.
    “You will be mindful of your safety in the future, Brandywyn,” he told her. Swatting her three more times. She gasped at each blow and went up on tiptoe. “You will stay near the cottage, where it is safe.” Four more smacks, and her chin was trembling. “You will not insist on being treated like a princess, throwing epithets and insults everywhere you go.”
    Brandywyn began to sob and a few tears ran down her face. Tom’s heart went out to her, but he had to make the point. Her bottom was bright red, unbruised, but definitely unhappy. “Do you agree?”
    Her sobs grew louder and he spanked her again several times. “I ask you, woman, do you agree to behave?”
    She nodded, her face red, her eyes dripping.
    “Answer aloud. I wish to hear it from your own lips.” He gave her two more swats, at the place where her bottom met her thighs.
    “Aye!” she cried. “Aye!”
    “Four more to seal the bargain.”
    Boo-hoos and sobs followed, but Tom held to his word and spanked her thighs two times each. He tossed the hairbrush onto the table, put Brandywyn’s skirt down and took her into his arms. “There, there. It is all over. You will be a good girl now.”
    She nodded, her face pressed against his chest, her tears wetting his tunic. He patted her back, waiting for her sobs to abate.
    “Give yourself leave to cry, sweeting. If anyone has earned her tears, ‘tis you.”
    “I am sorry, Tom. You have been nothing but kind to me and I have repaid you poorly.”
    He would