Claiming His Wife Page 26

  Baroness von Wender had followed Lady Clarissa Heathmore, and she'd been only slightly more discreet. She hadn't searched Grace out to taunt her, but when they'd run into each other, the thinly veiled innuendos and insults had come fast and thick.

  "I cut her too!"

  "Maybe you should have just stayed away from women altogether!" She tried to bite him, but the jacket he was wearing prevented her from snaring anything more than fabric in her teeth.

  Realizing that Grace was only becoming more hysterical, that she wasn't in any state of mind to listen, Alex gritted his teeth and decided to revert back to the only method that had worked in curbing her behavior so far. Besides, the way she was cursing and throwing things at him, she certainly had earned a spanking. Keeping his arms wrapped around her, so that she couldn't hit out at him - the kicking was bad enough - he lifted her and quickly walked over to the nearest chair. She managed to bang him a couple good ones on his shins as she shrieked and hurled insults at him.

  Grimly, Alex quickly flipped her over his knee, wrapping his leg around the back of hers to keep her from kicking and placing his forearm along her back as she struggled to push herself up.

  "Let me up, you jackass! Don't you dare!"

  She screamed in outrage as he yanked her skirts up and bared her bottom, cursing again as the first blows landed on her creamy skin. Alex didn't hold back, he spanked her hard and fast, barely letting her catch her breath as she starting yelping and shrieking for an entirely different reason. To his relief, he felt her starting to relax under his arm, her angry struggles melting away as she started truly crying.

  SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

  Every time his hand landed, her flesh flattened and then bounced back, rosy and bright, her bottom jiggling with the force of each blow. He was careful to cover the entire area, working his way over each cheek, the delicate crease beneath them, and then down her thighs. Despite the circumstances, he was becoming hard as a rock, watching Grace's bottom turn from creamy ivory to a hot, roasted red.

  The fight was going out of her, until she seemed almost defeated, slumped over his thigh, crying out as he spanked her. Slowly her insults and accusations melded into pleas for him to stop, she'd had enough.

  Alex kept his arm on the small of her back, keeping her in place, as he rested his other hand on her bottom. The heat of her skin sank into his palm, which was also a bit sore from spanking her. His arm had gotten tired as well. Maybe he should invest in a paddle or the like, that's what Wesley had recommended.

  "Do you know why I spanked you, Grace?" he asked, keeping his voice light, reasonable. He caressed her hot bottom, soothingly.

  The little sniffles that accompanied her reply somehow made him even more aroused. "Because I threw things at you. And insulted you."

  "You acted like a child, throwing a tantrum, didn't you?"

  "Yes." It was said resentfully, but at least she admitted it.

  "We need to talk, Grace. This wasn't quite how I planned on doing it, but since you've forced my hand - literally - I think this might be the best time."

  Grace wanted to die. Not because her bottom hurt so much, although it did, but because she couldn't imagine a worse time for the discussion that they'd both known was coming. Hanging over his lap, with a freshly beaten bottom? She started to wriggle.

  "Let me up!"

  SMACK! SMACK!

  He landed a blow on each cheek, making her shriek, although she immediately went still afterwards. Alex returned to running his hand over her reddened rump, patting and gently caressing the tender, red flesh.

  "I think I like you right here, where I can make sure you listen. Now. Apparently you've talked to Peters. I will admit, I made mistakes when you left me. I was prideful and arrogant. I should have gone after you, rather than trying to make you jealous and trying to force you to come to me. I chose the wrong woman to make that point with, and when I became angry that you'd taken a lover, I chose wrongly, again. Not just in my choice of mistress, but in taking a mistress at all. Again, I should have come after you." He allowed his regret to fill his voice. "I cannot express how much I wish I had. I'm your husband. I should have never let you run wild the way you did and I take full responsibility for that. I am sorry for all the pain those women caused you. I wish I had never put them in a position to be able to do so."

  His voice was so sincere, Grace found herself confused. She was also a bit peeved at his taking responsibility for letting her 'run wild,' even though it was his fault she'd taken it in her head to do so. Still, his apology about the women was entirely sincere. As was his admission that he should have come after her.

  "It wouldn't have made a difference."

  Alex's hand stilled. "What?"

  "It wouldn't have made a difference if you'd come after me," Grace said, fighting against the part of her that wanted to give in and forgive him. The part of her that had apparently forgotten how much he'd hurt her. "You couldn't have said anything that would have made a difference."

  "Why not? Why did you leave, Grace? I've never understood that. You called us foolish... told me I was a liar... and you've never explained." The frustration in his voice was accompanied by fingers digging into her flesh, sparking little flashes of pain in her stinging bottom. Grace wriggled, panting, and the tight grip of his fingers relaxed. "Why did you leave me, Gracie?" The pain in his voice set off her temper again.

  "I didn't think you would care!" Bitter fury engulfed her again. Somehow it was easier to say everything when she couldn't see his face; when she was over his knee, her poor bottom throbbing from the spanking he'd given her, she could just shout out her emotions to the floor. "After all, one woman is as good as another, isn't she?"

  "What the hell does that mean?"

  "That's what you said to my father!" Grace started to struggle again, tears filling her already swollen eyes. She could barely believe that she had any left to shed. "You and my father, bastards, both of you, congratulating yourselves on your damned business deal... he got me off his hands and you got a wife. It wouldn't have mattered who your wife was, you didn't care, but at least you got some extra benefit out of marrying me because of that damned arrangement!"

  Something clicked inside of Alex's head. The hazy memory of a conversation from so very long ago, when Grace's father had come to talk to Alex after they'd returned from their honeymoon. Although Alex had never particularly cared for the Duke, the deal they'd arranged had been highly lucrative on both sides. Yes, Grace had come as part of that bargain, but...

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  He spanked her already pained bottom until she stopped struggling again, taking the time to get his chaotic thoughts under control, until she hung limply again.

  "I hate you."

  Alex's heart contracted. "You listen to me, Grace Eileen Greville, and you listen to me good. Your father is an unmitigated arse. At times, I may behave like one too, but I definitely cared who I took to wife. I wanted you. Not any of your sisters or any other woman, just you. But when you're making a deal, you don't show your hand. You should know that from all the shopping you do. The less interest you show, the better off you are. If your father had known how much I wanted you, he would have wrung me dry in the financial part of the bargain. When you heard that conversation, the papers hadn't been finalized yet. I couldn't let him know how I felt about you because there were still some small details being worked out in the deal. You were the best part of that deal. No matter how much money I made from it."

  Silence hung in the room, only broken by Grace's sniffles.

  "Do you believe me?" Alex asked, after a few minutes, his chest tightening with worry. She didn't answer.

  SMACK!

  "Answer me, Grace."

  "I don't know."

  The sad, soft little voice was one he'd never heard from her before. Immediately, Alex had her pulled up onto his lap, cuddling her close. The heat of her bottom pressed against his erection, but he had no im
pulse to indulge in that right now. Holding her tightly in his arms, he snuggled her against his chest, tucking her head under his chin.

  "I'll pull out, if you want me to," he said softly. While both he and the Duke had made quite a bit of money together, over the years, there were other ventures he could make just as much money from. "We're secure. I don't need the deal with your father, I can find another. Grace? Do you want that?"

  "I don't know." The sad repetition made him feel almost panicked, because he truly didn't know what to do, but he took heart from the fact that she wasn't trying to get away. If anything, she was snuggling closer to him, seeking comfort from him.

  "You don't have to decide anything right now," he said, suddenly realizing that she must be wrung out. Not only had she been furious when she'd first come into the room, but he'd spanked her for quite a while. She was so limp in his arms... she must be exhausted. "I'm going to take you to our room."

  Lifting her up, he was both relieved and a bit worried when she didn't argue.

  As he'd expected, Peters was out in the hall, about a hundred feet away. Far enough that he probably hadn't been able to overhear much, but that he'd be able to warn others away from the hall. After a few quick directions to the butler, Alex headed for his room, Grace lying unmoving in his arms.

  In their room, Alex practically babied her. Not to make up for the spanking, she knew that... but she wasn't entirely sure why. Because he felt guilty? Because he'd been telling the truth and he cared for her?

  Peters brought food and drink, which Alex practically hand fed her, while holding her on his lap. To her surprise, she was both hungry and thirsty. Especially thirsty. She would have thought that she wouldn't be able to eat a thing, but once she got started, she devoured nearly the entire plate. Alex undressed her and tucked her into bed, before disrobing and crawling in behind her.

  She lay somewhere between sleep and wakefulness as he curled himself around her, his front pressed against her back. The thick ridge of his cock wedged between her sore buttocks, but he didn't press himself on her. Instead, he just seemed to want to stroke her. To be as close to her as possible.

  "Why didn't you come and talk to me?" she asked, her voice a mere whisper in the room. Facing away from him, yet surrounded by his body, it was once again easier to make herself vulnerable. To speak about the past that had hurt her so badly.

  "I don't have a good reason," Alex said, tucking her even more tightly against him as he buried his face in her hair. "Youth and stupidity are the best explanations I have. I was hurt you left me. Angry. I wanted to make you come back to me instead of going to you."

  His fingers stroked between her breasts, down to her stomach, up and down and up and down. It didn't feel sexual. It felt comforting. The kind of small, intimate touches that he'd used on their honeymoon, as if he just couldn't get enough of touching her.

  "If I'd known..."

  "I was too hurt to tell you." Although now she wished she had. Youth and stupidity indeed. Too hurt. Too proud. Too angry. Although, even if he had told her, would she have believed him?

  Maybe eventually. If he'd acted the way he was now. But she wasn't sure that he would have, back then. They'd both changed over the years. Matured. They were different people. Grace no longer saw the world as so black and white, she also no longer saw it as always rosy and good. Being in love didn't mean that life would automatically be easy and wonderful. Watching her friends had taught her that. Edwin and Eleanor's path had been particularly rocky, even though it was obvious that they loved each other.

  Was her and Alex's relationship something like that?

  "I don't blame you." Now Alex's voice was bitter. "If I had heard you saying something similar about me... I almost wish I'd never made the deal. I could have had you without it."

  Grace snorted. "You may be underestimating my father's lust for money. It's all he cares about."

  That was the difference, she suddenly realized. Her father only cared about money. If Alex was the same as her father, he might have faked his way through their courtship and wedding, maybe even their honeymoon, but once the deal was set, he would have turned his back completely. That was how she'd always interpreted Alex's behavior when they came back to London. He didn't need her anymore.

  But her father would have never protected his wife in such circumstances. While he might not have divorced her, he wouldn't have paid for her housing and clothing either. He would have used his money to force her back to him. And if he did go after her, he certainly wouldn't have done it in the same method as Alex. No, her father liked to shut his wife and daughters away when they caused him trouble.

  Alex didn't just let her see her friends, he took her to them. He stayed by her side. Allowed her to go out when she wanted, even without him. Showed her tenderness, caring. Spanked her to correct her behavior, rather than caging her in punishment. And after he spanked her, he comforted her. Held her. Like he was doing now.

  She couldn't remember if her father had ever held her in such a way. She'd certainly never witnessed him doing so with her mother or sisters.

  The offer to withdraw from business with her father floated through her mind. That was definitely something her father never would have done. Not for anyone.

  "Will you really end the agreement with my father?" Grace asked, twisting slightly so that she could look at her husband. When he answered, she needed to see his face. Her eyes felt swollen and gritty, and she was sure that she looked a fright, but this was too important to hide away from. Alex's face was serious, and at least he didn't seem repulsed by her tear-stained face.

  "Absolutely. I'll send a note to him first thing tomorrow morning."

  "Don't."

  "Don't?" he echoed, looking confused.

  Grace nodded. "I believe that you would, and that's enough."

  Her throat tightened, even though there were other things she wanted to say... but she just couldn't yet. It didn't matter. The look on Alex's face was almost euphoric, like she'd just given him the greatest gift in the world. Swiftly, he turned her, pulling her face against his chest and cradling her there. One hand stroked up and down her back, the other reached down to cup her still burning bottom.

  Strangely, even though it stung where his fingers pressed against her sore buttocks, it also made her feel safe. Loved. Closing her eyes, she nestled in. Exhausted, she found herself quickly dropping into sleep.

  ******

  Alex wasn't sure what eventually woke him. He and Grace had slept in a tangle of limbs, both of them needing it after the emotionally fraught afternoon.

  At first, he thought he'd be more frustrated that such a stupid miscommunication had kept them apart for so long. Then he'd realized it had been far more than that. Their relationship hadn't had the foundation of trust that it needed. If they had been more open about their feelings for each other, she would have felt more comfortable coming to him, questioning him, rather than running with little to no explanation. That was just as much his fault as it was hers. As was his conversation with her father.

  He'd never make that kind of stupid mistake again.

  Grace should always feel valued. Cherished. No matter whether he thought she could hear or not, he'd never disparage her again. She was worth far more than any deal.

  Perhaps it truly had taken losing her for him to realize how much he valued her, because he wasn't sure if he would have had those same thoughts before. If she had come to him, if she had told him she overheard, he would have expected her to understand why he'd done it. Now he understood that it didn't matter why, he should have never spoken like that to begin with. It didn’t mattered what her father thought, or how he did business, Alex should hold true to his own standards. Standards that didn’t include running down his wife, just because the man in front of him didn’t value her the way Alex did.

  Thankfully, it seemed that she had grown up as well, because she'd finally forgiven him. At least, he assumed that was why there were fingertips stroking sensu
ally down his chest.

  When he opened his eyes, she looked up at him. Although her eyes were still pink around the edges, and slightly swollen, she looked beautiful. Her face was no longer flushed, and she looked... lighter somehow. As there had been a measure of sadness in her eyes that was now gone.

  "Hello," he murmured, sliding his hand down to her bottom and rocking against her.

  She winced and a little whimper escaped her lips, but she didn't stop stroking his chest, even though he'd just reawakened the fiery sting from her earlier spanking. Her reaction just sent even more blood surging to his already hard cock as she squirmed against it.

  "Hello," she responded, almost shyly. Tipping her head back, she looked at him more fully, and he was overwhelmed by the trust he saw in her eyes. It was hesitant, wary, but it was there. "I'm sorry I threw that tantrum earlier... I should have just come to talk to you."

  "Yes, you should have," Alex agreed, but his voice was also soft and mild. He kissed her, gently, tenderly. "I'm glad that this time you came to me though, rather than running. I'd rather have you throwing things at me than leaving me again."

  Grace giggled, blushing as she thought about her childish behavior. She almost wondered if her display had been another test for him. To see what he would tolerate from her. Wanting to know how he'd react. If it had been a test, he'd certainly passed.

  "I won't run again," she said. Even though it was true, she could still hear the slight hint of uncertainty in her voice. This new rapport between them was still fragile, even if she was finally giving herself leave to hope. She wanted to think that she would stay and try to work things out... but what if he did something awful again?

  She squeaked as he rolled her onto her back, settling himself between her legs, pinning her to the bed. The position made her bottom throb a bit. Even though it had recovered somewhat during her nap, the surface was still quite sensitive. Still, she loved the feel of Alex's weight on top of her, solid and imposing. The head of his cock was brushing against her pussy lips, making her want to rock her hips and push him inside of her.