Punishing His Ward (5 page)

"That's wonderful," she said, leaning
into Hugh as she looked up at Brooke, the hopefulness in her
expression was almost heart-breaking.  Hugh felt his jealousy
melt away a little bit, replaced by warmth at her reaction.
 This had been the right thing to do.  A tremulous smile
crossed her lips.  "We're happy to have you, Lord
Brooke."

For a moment, tension hung in the air
and then Alex smiled back at her.  Hugh was struck by the same
sense of awe he always had at seeing such an expression on the
man's face, but he couldn't blame him.  Refusing Irene at that
moment would have been akin to kicking a puppy and he didn't think
that Brooke had it in him, no matter how hard he usually looked.
 

"I do hope that you haven't forgotten
my name, pet," Brooke murmured as he bowed to her.  Strangely
the endearment didn't bother Hugh at all.  It's not as if it
was a particularly romantic one.  

"Alex," she said, relaxing under Hugh's
arm.  He rather liked the way she snuggled against him even as
she and her childhood friend smoothed over their current
awkwardness.  "It's a pleasure to have you here with
us."

******

Dinner wasn't nearly as tense as Irene
had originally feared.  Hugh and Alex seemed to have come to
their own kind of truce and as long as she didn't think about the
fact that Alex had seen her being soundly spanked, or what a fool
she'd been when she'd thrown herself at him, then she didn't feel
anxious at all.  It was almost like old times.  And since
neither of the gentlemen would ever be so crass as to make mention
of her transgression, it was surprisingly easy to pretend like it
had never happened.

As the two men talked about the current
horseflesh being offered up at Tattersall's, with her occasional
input, Irene had the opportunity to really look at them side by
side.  They were such a study in contrasts, despite their many
similarities.  While they were both able Corinthians and
enjoyed the country life outdoors more than town life, Hugh's
mostly easygoing nature and ready laugh was in direct contrast to
Alex's much more serious mien.  They weren't light and
darkness in the visual sense, like Hugh and Edwin were, but Hugh
seemed like sunshine and Alex more like a void that sucked in
light.

It hurt to see her friend
brought so low.  No wonder she'd gotten her emotions all
confused; she absolutely cared about Alex and she'd wanted to fix
what was wrong for him.  She'd wanted to be
his
 sunshine and
bring some light to his life and she'd thought she was the right
woman for the job because she loved him and she could always make
him smile.  Now he didn't smile as easily at her and that was
all her fault too.  

She didn't quite know what to do,
however, as she certainly didn't want to attempt anything that
could be misconstrued by her husband.  Hurting Hugh again in
an attempt to help Alex was absolutely not acceptable to her.
 Not when things were starting to be so lovely between the two
of them.

Although she had to admit that she was
at least partially motivated by the determination not to give her
husband a reason to spank her again.

"Are you alright, darling?"  Hugh
asked, putting his hand atop hers.  

Blinking, Irene refocused on the two
gentlemen that meant more to her than anything else in the world,
and realized that she hadn't heard a single word they'd said for at
least several minutes.  "Oh yes... I'm sorry.  What did
you say?"

"I was telling Alex that after the
Season we would be heading out to the estates, although we might
stop by Bath to see Wesley, Edwin and Eleanor.  Perhaps he
could join us."  Hugh smiled at her and then Alex, warming her
insides completely.  It was so wonderful how Hugh trusted her
and loved her, despite the fact that she didn't truly deserve it
yet.  She hadn't earned it.

That was one benefit to being spanked;
the moment her punishment was over she'd been forgiven.
 Unlike when she'd lived with her mother and anything that she
did wrong was brought up over and over again for
weeks. 

"As much as I appreciate the
invitation, I'm not able to make any firm plans at this time," Alex
said.  "I've decided to reconcile with my wife.  And I
have no idea how long that might take or where I'll need to be at
the end of the Season."  Although his expression didn't
change, Irene could see the weariness in his eyes.

Anger rose up inside of her.  Not
that she could claim to be the best wife to Hugh, and her plans had
sounded alarmingly like the way Lady Grace lived her life, but she
couldn't have any sympathy for the other woman when she'd obviously
hurt Alex so.  Humiliated him.  Whenever he walked into a
ballroom, whispers tittered around the room.  He was a man
whose wife had left him and brazenly flaunted her affairs without
ever providing him with a heir.

While Irene was well aware that she had
thought of doing something similar, she had never planned to be
indiscreet or to hurt Hugh – even though she almost had been.
 Lady Grace's behavior seemed almost designed to be as painful
and humiliating as possible for her husband, on purpose.
 Irene just couldn't countenance it, especially because Alex
was such a good man.  She knew he would be a wonderful husband
to Lady Grace if the woman would just allow it.  

"Ah... do you think she'll be amenable
to that?" Hugh asked, looking rather doubtful.  He would have
greater insight on Lady Grace than most, Irene realized,
considering his sister's close friendship with the woman.  Not
that she blamed Eleanor for her loyalty to a friend, even if she
thought that her sister-in-law could have better taste in said
friends.

"Highly doubtful," Alex said, shrugging
his shoulder as if it didn't matter, but Irene could see that it
did.  Just because he didn't show his emotions very well
didn't mean he was without them; Grace's desertion and actions had
hurt him and Irene had always been able to see that.  "I
wouldn't be surprised if she makes me grovel."

"How can you even countenance that?"
 Irene cried out, infuriated on his behalf.  "She should
be grateful for another chance to be your wife and to redeem her
reputation."

"Perhaps, but if I ever want an heir
then I must play by her rules."

It was on the tip of Irene's tongue
that he should just divorce her, but she bit down before the words
could escape her mouth.  After all, she certainly didn't want
Hugh to think that she approved of something as shockingly
scandalous as ending a marriage, not when they themselves were so
newly-wed and she'd almost ruined their own relationship.
 Besides which, the indifferent pragmatism in Alex's voice
rather took her aback. 

Was that how he planned to broach the
subject to Lady Grace?

"I hope that's not how you plan on
approaching her," Hugh said, half-choking on a laugh as he echoed
Irene's thought.  He looked both fascinated and slightly
horrified.  "I can't imagine the lady appreciating your
reasoning.  Grace was always ah... quite romantic.
 Flowers or some other gesture might work better."

For the first time, Irene felt a small
spurt of sympathy for Lady Grace; she couldn't understand Alex's
reasoning either.  If Alex didn't care for the woman, why did
he want to use her as a brood mare?  Because that's all it
sounded like he wanted from her, an heir. Irene couldn't believe
that he had started out their marriage that way; although lately
she had begun to question her perceptions of Alex, she'd never
thought he would value a wife for nothing other than her ability to
bear him an heir. 

"I've sent her quite a number of
flowers over the years," Alex muttered. "It doesn't seem to have
made much of a difference."  

"I'm sure you'll think of something.
 Myself, in such situations, I prefer the stick over the
carrot."

Heat rose in Irene's cheeks; it was a
very oblique reference to the spanking that Alex had witnessed.
 At the time, he'd said he was thinking about using such
tactics on his own wife.  It had been shocking to know that
Alex didn't disapprove of such discipline, but despite his words
that night she still couldn't quite believe that he would ever do
such a thing.  Even to his wayward wife.

But then again, Irene had already
proven to herself that she didn't know Alex the way she thought she
had. She would have never thought he’d stand mildly by while any
man, even her husband, spanked her.

And when she'd first married Hugh, if
someone had asked, she would have never thought him capable of such
a thing either.  He claimed that Edwin was also a strict
disciplinarian to Eleanor, who had grown up with such punishments.
 It was all rather bewildering sometimes.  But she
couldn't deny that there were certainly worse things than being
spanked, and that she had certainly deserved some kind of
retribution for her actions.  Hugh was fair.  She was
sure that Alex would be too.

"I've been thinking about it," Alex
said, although the shortness of his tone indicated that he didn’t
want the conversation to go any further down that line of
thinking.

Irene knew her friend, if he was even
considering it than the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
 Alex was very decisive over the things he absolutely would
not do.  She wouldn't be surprised if he tried more
conventional tactics first, but if Grace proved to be as stubborn
as she had been over the past years, Irene had no doubt that Alex
would prove a strict disciplinarian.  In her youth she
wouldn't have been able to imagine it; now she saw that he had
hardened and grown jaded.

To her mind, Lady Grace deserved a
sound punishment, even if inwardly she winced with sympathy at the
thought of a spanking.

******

Alone in their bedroom, later that
night, Hugh indulged in his favorite routine - brushing Irene's
long, red hair.  The strands gleamed in the candlelight,
sliding against his palm like silk.  She always sat patiently,
watching him in the mirror, and allowing him to indulge for as long
as he wanted.  The way her eyelids would flutter, half-closed,
indicated her own pleasure in the act. 

"Stand up," he said suddenly, realizing
that he'd stopped brushing and was watching the rise and fall of
her breasts under the thin, silk night rail that she was
wearing.

No matter that she never slept in a
garment, she always insisted on putting one on before bedtime.
 It was fast becoming one of Hugh's fantasies to have his wife
walking around naked before him, covered in nothing but her shining
hair, as he prepared for bed.  

Her eyes fluttered all the way open in
surprise, but she stood without protest, a small smile lighting up
her face.  Hugh loved seeing the flashes of her passionate
sensuality through the modesty and propriety that had been hammered
into her over the years.  

Tilting her head back at him, her smile
grew.  "Thank you so much for bringing Alex here
tonight."

While Alex was certainly not something
Hugh particularly wanted to discuss right now, he did enjoy the way
that Irene was looking up at him.  As if he'd done something
noble and heroic.  Which made it all worth it.
 

"I assumed we'd be seeing more of him
in the future anyway, and I didn't want things to be awkward," he
murmured as he stroked his fingers along the silk covering her
shoulder, tugging it gently downward to reveal her creamy skin.
 

"You're an incredibly generous man,"
she said solemnly, placing her hands on his chest and looking up at
him earnestly.  Those guileless green eyes were completely
open to him, something that he savored as it had only happened
recently, after everything had happened with Alex.  Until then
he hadn't realized how much Irene had kept parts of herself hidden
to him; since then she'd been his, all his and he reveled in it.
 "I don't deserve you."

"I heartily disagree, Lady Stanley," he
said, lowering his mouth to hers for a kiss.

It was evident to Hugh that she still
felt a great deal of guilt over her actions a few weeks past, as
well as trying to run from him afterwards.  While he
understood that she hadn't liked being spanked, at all, it had
certainly brought about a pleasing change in behavior.  Hugh
had enjoyed spanking her much more than he thought he would,
although he didn't feel a pressing need to indulge unless she truly
deserved it.

Just Irene, warm and wet and eager, was
all he needed to be perfectly satisfied in his marital bed.
 

She welcomed his tongue into her mouth,
her body pressing against his so that he could feel her rounded
breasts flattening against his chest.  Normally she wasn't
quite so demonstrative right away; apparently good deeds came with
rewards.  Hugh wasn't going to complain.  

In fact it was all he could do to keep
himself from ripping off both of their clothes and having her then
and there on her dressing table.  But he managed the slow
journey across the bedroom, leaving a trail of his clothing along
the way, and allowing her to keep on her nightgown until they
reached the bed. Then he stripped the garment off so that he could
enjoy the dancing candlelight over her body.  He was quite
sure that Irene got a secret thrill out of being exposed by him and
never knowing when he was going to undress her.  Overcoming
her reluctance, heating her body to the point where she stopped
caring about propriety, was always a most enjoyable endeavor.