by Delta James
Jean-Michel laughed. “I’m afraid the fair Lacey is meant for another,” he said to Dylan. Turning to JD, he said, “Did you happen to find my clothes?”
“I did, my friend.”
“If you would toss them to me and then all of you turn your backs so my mate may have a little privacy…”
Jean-Michel reached out and grabbed the long-tailed button-down shirt he’d had on. He wrapped Darby’s hair around his fist to keep her from running. He handed her his shirt as he helped her to her feet. She struggled but he used her hair to give her a gentle shake as he had when he’d had her by the scruff of the neck. “Put this on, sweet. I’d prefer it if the first time you met some of your new pack mates you weren’t unclothed.”
“They are not my pack mates and you sure as hell aren’t my alpha or my mate.” She made sure to say the last part loud enough where all could hear.
“Do not try my patience, mate. I am both; you will submit to me and call me such. If you continue to misbehave in a manner unworthy of your position, you will find yourself over my knee having your first taste of my displeasure with an audience. Now cover yourself.”
Darby took the offered shirt and put it on. Once she was sufficiently covered, Jean-Michel pulled her into his embrace, kissing her soundly and holding her close by slipping the hand not tangled in her hair under the shirt and cupping her buttocks. She struggled against him. He rubbed her backside, enjoying both the feel of her bottom and her passion. He patted her lovingly and in order to cup her cheeks more firmly. Jean-Michel smiled as he realized that he would need to accustom her to having his hands on her derriere—for pleasure, discipline, or both.
“Dylan, might I ask you to hold onto my mate while I get at least part of my nakedness covered?”
JD looked at his friend and his engorged cock with the rapidly growing and hardening knot and grinned. “That thing going to fit back in your jeans?”
Jean-Michel looked down. His knot was continuing to swell and becoming decidedly uncomfortable. He longed to have Darby on her back as he mounted her and claimed her fully.
Jean-Michel watched Darby’s expression as she got her first glimpse of him. Jean-Michel wasn’t as tall as Dylan, but he was well muscled and strong. He knew that his cock was large and well made. He watched as her eyes betrayed her panic upon spying the size of his knot. Jean-Michel knew she had been ill-used by her formed mate and concluded that the man had caused her considerable pain.
“Why do you think I brought my loose-fitting ones?” There was laughter from the men and renewed struggles from the girls. Jean-Michel handed Darby over to Dylan. He quickly pulled on his jeans and boots and took possession of Darby again. He kissed her and said, “I missed you, mate. You were gone too long from my arms.”
Dylan smiled. “I take it you are declaring your intention to take Darby as your mate?”
“I am. Apparently it was my Darby’s presence and then her intoxicating scent that called to me.” He turned back to Darby, smiling at her. “We have yet to make introductions. I, my beloved, am Jean-Michel Gautier… your mate.”
“I will not be mated.”
“You will, and we shall be very happily so for the rest of our lives.”
“I will shorten your life the first chance I get,” Darby growled.
Jean-Michel gave her bottom a hard swat. “Naughty mate. You do not growl at me. We will discuss that further tonight when I am punishing you for your foolishness this afternoon.”
“So, you mean to discipline her yourself?” asked Dylan cordially, knowing full well what the answer would be.
“No one but me will ever touch my mate again,” said Jean-Michel with a threatening note in his voice.
They turned back toward the house. Dylan and Jean-Michel were in the lead. After Darby rejected taking his hand, Jean-Michel had once again grabbed a fistful of her hair by the nape of her neck to keep her close to him. Dylan found it intriguing that he didn’t really seem to mind her trying to dislodge his hand or force him to release her.
“Tell me, Dylan, is my mate always this naughty?”
Dylan laughed. “She’s been the most misbehaved of the lot. She also has a nasty habit of encouraging others to join her in her misbehavior. This is the second time she’s tried to run.”
“I can tell she’s a spirited thing, but that isn’t a bad trait in an alpha’s mate, n’est pas?”
“I agree. As you know I took the alpha of Bae Diogel as my mate just recently.”
“And yet, it is my mate who causes trouble.” He laughed. “Apparently, you’ve marked and bedded yours to great success.”
Dylan laughed with him.
“So, who is the alpha who marked my mate and do I need to deal with him?”
Darby pulled at the hand holding her by the hair. “Let me go. And anything you want to know about me you can ask me, you arrogant sonofabitch.”
Jean-Michel stopped and faced his mate. The other men, especially those of his pack, held their breath. Jean-Michel did not release her. He smiled, but some of the amusement had left his eyes. He gently shook her.
“You, my beautiful mate, and I are going to need to come to an understanding about the manner in which you speak to me. Up until this moment you have been disinclined to say anything other than telling me what you will and will not do and calling me names. If you wish to tell me about this man who put his mark on you, you may do so once we’re adjourned to our room. I will be happy to listen to anything you have to say to me once we have addressed your misbehavior and nasty attitude… both of which I will curb you of.”
“Let go of my hair. You’re pulling and it hurts.”
“I offered you my hand earlier and you slapped it away. If you would prefer now to walk with me hand in hand, I would be happy to do so. However, you will need to ask me nicely to release my hold of you and walk with me like a good girl with your hand in mine.”
“Fuck you!” she spat at him.
He laughed and kissed her. “That too will come after you have spent what I fear will be a considerable amount of time over my knee getting your bottom spanked. As you once again seem disinclined to take my hand, we will continue on as we did before.” He turned back toward the house.
Dylan smiled. “She was mated to an abusive bastard. She ran from him—that seems to be her MO when dealing with unpleasant things. He tried to get her back from Bae Diogel and failed miserably. They sent him home nursing his wounds,” he said, laughing.
Jean-Michel laughed with him. “They are a spirited group of women. And they wonder why they are so highly coveted as mates?”
“I too find it interesting that they fail to see their desirability. In any event, she lived at Bae Diogel until we had to disband them. He came here to claim her but she declared me her alpha and asked for my protection at my Skylar’s suggestion. She has repeatedly told anyone willing to listen that she will not be mated again.”
“She has no choice.” Dylan nodded in agreement with him. “How did he abuse her?”
“He used to beat her.”
Jean-Michel stopped in his tracks and turned to Darby. “Do you wish me to kill him for you and bring you his head on a platter, my beloved?”
Darby searched his face and realized he was deadly serious. “No, that won’t be necessary,” she said in a meek voice.
“Are you sure? No man worthy of that designation mistreats any woman, but most especially his own. Any man, mated or not, in my pack who does not treat the women of our pack with respect and kindness answers to me.”
“And to whom do you answer when you beat me tonight?” she challenged.
Jean-Michel laughed and kissed her. “Naughty mate. I will not beat you tonight. I will turn that pretty bottom of yours a deep shade of red for your naughtiness this day, but never will you suffer abuse at my hands. Would you care to walk hand in hand the rest of the way with me?”
“I suppose it’s better than having you drag me by the roots of my hair.”
He l
aughed again. “Then ask me nicely to walk to the house with me and put your hand in mine.”
He waited. Darby stood rooted to the spot and once again tried to free his hand from her hair. Jean-Michel did nothing but wait. Finally, she let go of him.
“Would you please release my hair and hold my hand while we return to the house?” she said as she offered him her hand.
Jean-Michel took her offered hand, brought it to his lips to kiss, and then released her hair and put her hand in his. “See, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?”
Darby jammed her fist forward, punching him in the mouth. She hadn’t had much space and so the blow was ineffectual. Jean-Michel kissed her hand again before tucking it into his arm. She tried to jerk away from him but he held her fast.
He bid a good evening to their host and led Darby up the stairs and into their room.
Chapter Five
The closer they got to his guest suite, the more Darby tried to hang back. Jean-Michel did not seem to notice. He went to open the door to his—now their—suite and Darby tried to break away. Before she could even turn away from him, he once again had hold of her hair at the base of her neck.
“Naughty mate,” he said, chuckling as she struggled against him. “We are going to need to break you of the habit of running when confronted with something not to your liking. Although I must say that while I can understand you wanting to distance yourself from my discipline, I think you will find the pleasure you will receive from me will be something you want to embrace.”
“You arrogant jerk.”
“Your loving mate,” he corrected her. “As much as I’d like nothing better than to get you naked and on your back in our bed, there is the matter of your punishment for today’s misbehavior to be seen to.”
“You are not going to spank me. And you’re sure as hell not going to fuck me.”
Jean-Michel chuckled. “That is where you are wrong, ma choue. I am your mate…”
“I haven’t yet taken any vow… and I won’t.”
He still held her fast. “Ah, but you will… either voluntarily or in front of witnesses when I force the same from you. But you are my fated mate and you know it. You heard my call and naughty girl that you are, chose to resist me. But in the end, you couldn’t… could you?” He ran his hand down on her flank and cupped her bottom. “You are wearing entirely too many clothes.”
“All I have on is your shirt.”
“As I said, too many clothes.” He bent his head and kissed her.
She struggled against him. He held her close, wrapping one arm around her waist and allowing his hand to take up residence on her derriere. He brought his other hand up between them and again cupped her breast before rolling one of her hardened nipples between his thumb and forefinger.
Darby kicked at his shin as she pushed against his chest. His response was to pinch her nipple and swat her backside. She yelped in response.
“That had better be the last time you try to injure me, mate. I will allow that you’ve had a difficult few days and have never had a mate to hold you accountable.”
Before she could protest, he continued, “The bastard who marked you as his abused you—that is not holding one’s mate accountable. You will never be abused again. I will now hold you accountable. When I ran you to ground, you became mate to the alpha of New Orleans. You will learn to behave yourself in a manner that fits your position. When you do not, I will punish you.”
“As I said, you’re an arrogant prick and I despise you.”
“Calling me less than loving names, being disrespectful, and lying to me will all result in having your mouth washed out with soap in addition to the spanking you’ll be given. I’m going to turn you loose. I expect you to remove my shirt and let me gaze upon your loveliness. If you need some time to compose yourself before I discipline you, you may go stand in the corner. But then, mate, I will see to holding you accountable for your naughty behavior. That will be decidedly unpleasant for you but most likely highly arousing for me… as well as you.”
“I won’t allow you to beat me. And I would never be aroused by pain or violence.”
Jean-Michel chuckled. “Not beat, beloved, spanked. I can tell you are strong-willed and spirited. But my will is stronger and you will learn to yield to it. And the arousal, my sweet, comes not from the pain, but from knowing your mate cares enough to spank you when you misbehave so you can be the best version of yourself. Running away from an alpha who has sworn to protect you, not answering the call of your mate, and not surrendering when you have been caught are all things for which you need to answer. But do not fear, ma choue, I have just the cure for the problem of your arousal.”
“You bastard.”
Before she could even guess his intent, he once again grabbed her hair by the nape of her neck. With the other hand, he stripped her of his shirt and led her into the en suite. He turned on the water and laughed when he saw the soap.
“Having to wash out the mouth of misbehaving females must be a common occurrence. They have goat’s milk soap.”
Jean-Michel turned on the warm water and soaped his hand. Darby struggled against him, but he held her fast by her hair.
He brought the hand up to her mouth and said, “Open.”
She shook her head.
“Naughty mate. When I give you a command, I expect you to obey it. When you don’t you’ll be disciplined accordingly. Now open.”
Darby shook her head again. Jean-Michel rinsed the soap from his hand and moved that hand up to grasp her by the hair. He pulled her forward, bending her over the vanity and giving her ten hard, swift swats on her bottom. She yowled. Nick’s hand had been bad enough, Jean-Michel’s was far worse. And despite her words to the contrary, she could feel the stirrings of her arousal begin to form deep within her in sharp contrast to feeling nothing akin to that when face down over Nick’s knee.
Jean-Michel switched hands and re-soaped his hand. “Open.”
Darby was fighting back the tears. The man had a wicked hand.
“Darby, do you want another ten before I force your mouth open and get the job done? Keep in mind, beloved, I am still going to put you over my knee for a proper spanking for your misbehavior today.”
Darby tried to respond but the minute her mouth opened to do so, Jean-Michel used his non-soaped hand to immobilize her jaw. His hand entered her mouth and she could taste and feel the soap being transferred. He rubbed the insides of both of her cheeks and the front and back of her teeth. Darby shook her head and brought her hands up to try to pry away the hand that held her jaw open. Jean-Michel continued until the soap that had been on his hand was now in Darby’s mouth. When he was done, he took hold of her hair again, rinsed his hand, and gave her a final swat. He took note that her bottom was already showing a bit of color from his discipline.
He led her back into the bedroom and marched her into the corner. “You stay in the corner until I’m ready to give you your spanking.” He put her where he wanted her and then gave her a hard swat to her already smarting behind. “If you come out of the corner before I tell you, you will get a spanking just for that. Do you understand?” When she failed to answer, he landed three more sharp blows to her bottom. “Answer me.”
“Yes,” she whispered as a tear slid down her cheek.
Jean-Michel stroked down her sides and nuzzled her neck. “It will be all right, Darby. You have nothing to fear.”
“You’re going to beat me. I swore no man would ever beat me again.”
Jean-Michel took her by the hand. “Come here, sweetheart.” He led her out of the corner and over to their bed where he sat down.
She’d been willing to follow him but once he was sitting on their bed she began to struggle.
“Darby, enough. First, fighting against a spanking you have earned yourself will only get you spanked worse. Second, I just want to talk to you for a minute and want you to come sit on my lap.”
He held her hand but did not tug her in his direction
. Reluctantly, she complied.
“I am not going to beat you,” he said calmly. “I will spank your pretty bottom when you deserve it. But you will always know why you are being punished.”
He rubbed her back with one hand and placed the other on her leg with his fingers resting on her inner thigh. Not wanting to look at him, her eyes were riveted to the placement of his hand.
“After I’m convinced you’re sorry for whatever behavior got you put over my knee, we will make up. You will enjoy that,” he said, smiling. He nuzzled her neck again and kissed her shoulder. “You have no need to fear me.”
“I don’t want to be your mate. Choose another.”
He chuckled. “That’s not how it works with fated mates and you know it. We are fated to be together. I will not allow your fear to keep you from being mine.” He moved his hand up her thigh and deeper between them. She tried to push it away. “Naughty mate. You do not push my hands away… especially when they are trying to comfort or arouse. Do not do it again. Do you understand?”
She sat still for a moment and then nodded.
“There’s my good mate. Are you still afraid?”
“No, but I don’t want to be spanked. You already spanked me and it still hurts.”
Jean-Michel chuckled again. “Good girl for answering me truthfully. Unless I’m spanking you for erotic reasons, when I do so I will leave some sting behind to remind you for a day or two that you displeased me to the point I felt I had to punish you. And if you don’t want to be spanked, I suggest you learn to do as you’re told and behave yourself.”
He could feel her body stiffen as she started to rankle against what he’d said. His new mate was definitely a spitfire. He looked forward to bringing her to heel both in and out of their bed. “And who’s the arbitrator of whether or not I’m behaving?”
“That would be your mate and alpha… me. Has it been that long a time since you were held accountable?”
“You mean since the bastard beat me? Not long enough.”