The Locket [The Rotherham Hall Mysteries] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Clair de Lune

  “Well, we are waiting,” he said.

  “You have no right to issue orders to me,” she said, and flounced over to a sofa and sat down upon it. She was trembling and a little afraid but very aroused by their proximity.

  “I think you will find that, in our house, we have every right.” said Angel

  “Now we are going to teach you that lesson in a way you will not forget so that in the future if we tell you to do something you will do it.”

  Rafael’s voice was all steel, and she knew she would not be disobeying him. Her nipples were hard little pebbles under her gown, and she could feel the moisture gathering in her pussy.

  “Over my knee,” Rafael said. “We will each give you five smacks this time.”

  “No, of a certainty you will not.” Her voice rose in panic as her predicament dawned. Three large men and fifteen smacks. Never!

  “You have just earned yourself an extra.” Rafael said, and he smiled as she met his gaze, lowered hers, and capitulated. She could not fight the three of them, and truth be told she knew she was in the wrong. She had gone against their orders, which had been issued for her protection, and in so doing had risked being taken by those ruffians. Now she had a choice. She could try and fight them or give in gracefully. She would be getting spanked in the end, she knew that, and if she kept up the resistance it would earn her more smacks. If they took control of her it would be more undignified. She decided it was time to cut her losses and at least keep a measure of her dignity. After all it was to be with their hands, so not so bad. She had endured worse at the hands of her deceased husband.

  She gathered herself together, stuck her nose in the air, and haughtily went and placed herself over Rafael’s knee, seated as he was on a straight chair which had been placed in the centre of the room. He arranged her so that her hands were on the floor, and then he placed one leg over hers, holding her in place.

  “Here is how it will be. You will not move out of place or put your hands in the way or extras will be awarded.”

  She knew all about that, and said in a low voice, “Very well, get on with it,” and received a swat on her bottom for her pains. Even through petticoat and gown it stung, but she could bear it. She would bear it.

  “I have not finished. Punishment in this family is given on the bare.”

  Whatever did he mean in this family? She wasn’t part of his family. At that, she strove to get up, but he easily held her in place. Flipping up her skirts, he remarked,

  “No underdrawers I see. All the better. Do you know why you are being punished, Lady Alicia?”

  She knew all about this formula, so she answered,

  “I disobeyed your orders.”

  After a sharp swat upon her bare behind, she added, “Sir.”

  “Let us begin.”

  Rafael’s hand was large. And he did not hold back. Six times his hand descended on her plump little bottom, making it dance and smart, and she squirmed and squealed and swore at him.

  “Damn you!”

  She earned herself another extra.

  “Foul language is not worthy of you, my dear.”

  All very well, but it wasn’t his bottom that was on fire, and still two men to go, she thought. He rubbed her bottom with his large, warm palms and felt between her legs and found her pussy. She felt she was very wet, and his fingers would be covered in her cream. She heard him breathe in her scent then unbelievably lick his fingers as he remarked,

  “Delicious. You taste so sweet, and you seem to be enjoying this, Lady Alicia.”

  She did not reply as he helped her to stand. Her skirts fell back into place, but he handed the chair and her person over to Antonio, who arranged her in the same way as his brother had done and flipped up her skirts.

  “Such a delicate little bottom, deep, glowing pink now and soon to be red.”

  As he said it, his large hand connected with her globes and, in the position she was in, her pussy. She squealed and tried to get up, but he held her in place. Evidently, his usual sunny nature did not appear under such circumstances,

  “We are all angry with you. We told you why we wanted you not to venture out alone, and still you did.”

  As he spoke, his hand cracked down upon her bottom, and she began to wail. She could not help herself. She had wanted to take it in dignified silence, but it hurt her bottom and her dignity.

  “I am sorry. I am so sorry. Please no more,” she pleaded.

  He had reached his five, and he caressed her bottom with his strong, callused fingers. Then he ran them into her pussy and pushed two of them deep inside her. Like his brother, she heard him breathe in her scent and lick his fingers.

  She was so sore, and her bottom throbbed, and there was still one left. When she was handed to Angel, she hoped he’d take pity on her poor, sore bottom, but of course as she might have expected, he did not.

  “We will not tolerate your taking risks with your person.”

  Angel began to rain the five smacks down upon the crease where her bottom met her thighs. It was virgin territory, as the others had not smacked her there, but the blows stung more fiercely.

  When had finished, he, too, inserted his fingers in her cunt, breathed in deeply, and then sucked them into his mouth.

  He helped her up. At last it was over. She had managed it, and now she could get away and nurse her hurt pride in the privacy of her own bedchamber. Damn them! Damn them all to hell and back!

  She was mistaken. It wasn’t over. Angel took her over to the corner.

  “You will stand facing the corner with your skirts raised so that we can see the effect our efforts have had.” Rafael said. She blushed a fiery red, turned to the corner, and raised her skirts a little.

  “All the way, madam. We want to see that delicious, red little bottom,” Antonio said and chuckled.

  The devils kept her there for half an hour sitting, watching her squirm and making conversation. They wanted her to think over what she had done. She was sorry. She had said so. She was shaking with frustration. She had been so aroused by the spanking and then by their attentions to her cunt. Her cream ran down her legs and she pressed them together to ease the ache in her pussy. Tears of rage and frustration coursed down her cheeks by the time they allowed her to drop her skirts. She knew how stubborn and stupid she’d been to disregard what they said, and if the gardeners had not been there, what would have happened to her? She could see why the triplets were angry. She was angry with herself. She tried for icy dignity and curtsied and swept out of the room. Soft chuckles followed her, for they had seen through her. How was she going to sit down for her lunch? The warning gong for luncheon was sounded, and she debated staying in her room, but did not think they would care if she sulked. In any case, that was cowardly, and she was no coward. She’d show them what she was made of! Consequently, she got up and washed her face, brushed her hair, and changed her crushed gown. She was not looking forward to the taunting, though it would be discreet, as Lady Gwendoline and the girls would be present and they could not be allowed to know of her humiliation.

  She put her chin in the air and walked slowly down to the dining parlour, where luncheon would be served. Lady Gwendoline was still languishing in her room and needed her daughters to minister to her so their luncheon would be taken up to them. Alicia wished she’d stayed in her room, as now only the three brothers and herself would partake of luncheon in the dining parlour, and she was sure they would take every opportunity to make her squirm.

  She was mistaken. No mention was made of the incident. Someone, Angel, she’d wager, had placed a cushion on her chair, and they all stood as she entered. Angel seated her and sat by her side. They ate a handsome luncheon of consommé, cold meat, cheese, and fruit. They chatted to her about the estate and the people living on it, Rotherham Hall, and the staff. She looked at them in bewilderment.

  “What troubles you, Lady Alicia?” Rafael enquired.

  “Before, you all…”

  She could say no more,
but she looked down at her plate and the unfinished peach from their succession houses.

  “Yes?”

  “Well, I expected you all to tease me about it, and you have not.”

  “No, my dear. We will not tease you about it. You disobeyed and were soundly spanked for it, and there’s an end to it. It will never be mentioned again by any of us. On that you have my word,” Rafael assured her.

  She looked from one to the other in amazement.

  “What is it?” asked Antonio.

  She was bewildered.

  “My late husband used to spank me, but then he would taunt me for days about it.”

  “That will not happen here, my dear.” Antonio took her hand and stroked her fingers. “It is all over and forgotten. The slate is clean.”

  She was confused. She had eaten all she was going to eat and was playing with the food on her plate, pushing it from side to side. Antonio said, “Will you come and see some of the estate with me this afternoon? Do you ride?”

  “Yes, but I have not ridden for a few years.”

  “Then we will find you a docile mount for today and see how you get on. The grey mare, Jess, will do nicely. Go and put on your habit. I will wait for you in the libary. You have twenty minutes.”

  She smiled at him in relief. It was not going to be like her old life. She had been spanked, but it was not going to be gone over endlessly, and she had enjoyed the spanking. Maybe later there would be more.

  She went up to her bedchamber and summoned Bessie to help her put on her amber velvet habit, with the frogged coat and wide skirts. It was a few years old, so not in the first style of fashion, but not at all worn and she was glad she had brought it with her. The little pill-box hat with the curled ostrich plume that was dyed to match the habit sat atop her curls, the feather curling down about her ear, and the gloves of amber kid completed her outfit.

  Bessie beamed and said,”You look a picture, Lady Alicia.”

  Alicia smiled and patted Bessie’s cheek as she looked at herself in the cheval glass and turned around and around to admire the rich velvet. Old it might be, but quality and cut certainly showed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  In the library, the brothers sat and talked. They discussed the plan to catch the elusive “swell cove.”

  Antonio listened as Angel said, “If he is to meet them tomorrow at the crossroads, we will be there. If he has only seen them in the dark, we can disguise ourselves. No, that will not work. We are all much taller than Higgins.”

  “One of us can go with Higgins perhaps. He must be made to see it is in his own best interests not to betray us. We take Lady Alicia as if she is a prisoner. The other two will be conceal themselves an hour before the time of the meeting. There is plenty of cover in those bushes, and we will go armed.”

  Having thus decided what they were going to do, Rafael and Angel went off to tell Higgins what his part would be, and Antonio waited for Lady Alicia.

  The door to the libray opened, and the vision that met his eyes took his breath away. The amber velvet habit, although not precisely in the current fashion and certainly not new, was of good quality and had been made by a modiste of the first stare. It clung to her curves and caused his cock to swell and his mouth to water. The little ostrich plume flirted about her cheek and her ear, inflaming his passions even more, if that were possible. His plans for the afternoon were going to be fulfilled in a very pleasurable way. He was impatient to be gone.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Alicia saw with gratification the effect her habit had upon Antonio and smiled.

  “Am I late, sir?”

  “No, indeed, Lady Alicia, you are in good time and a vision of loveliness into the bargain.”

  “You flatter me, sir.”

  “That I do not, and believe me, Lady Alicia, I and my brothers will always tell you the plain, unvarnished truth.”

  She was a little taken aback by that statement. She was unused to hearing such from the people in her circle, but looking into his eyes was well able to believe he spoke the truth.

  “Jess awaits. Let us be gone.”

  So saying, he escorted her out of the library and to the rear of the house where the stables were situated. He threw her up into the saddle after she had spent a few minutes getting to know the docile grey mare. He mounted his own horse, a high-bred chestnut, with easy, fluid grace, and then they cantered out of the yard and through the archway between the stables and the west wing of the main house. Lady Alicia noted the huge oak doors well studded with black nails, open now but obviously able to be closed at will, enclosing the courtyard and the back of the house in a secure compound. Antonio must have been observing her closely because he said,

  “Sometimes it is necessary to have the gates closed. We then have a square bounded by the back of the house and the stable block. It is secure and private.”

  She did not really understand why it was necessary but could see it would be easily done.

  They cantered along the drive, and he took her down as far as the lake. Looking back, Rotherham Hall was perfect in its setting. The facade of the house of mellow old stone was all that could be seen from the lake. She knew that at either end of the facade and at right angles to it was a wing making the house like a capital E with the centre stroke absent. It was an imposing and elegant facade. The terrace that ran along the front had a low stone balustrade and was broken in the centre by a double set of stairs leading left and right down to the sloping lawn that in its turn led to the lake. Mature oaks, elms, and beeches graced the far side of the lake, and the whole picture was one of peace and tranquility.

  They took the bridle path that ran to the left of the lake close to the flowering bushes she had walked out in the morning to see. Lady Alicia blushed at the memory, but, casting a sidelong glance under her lashes at Antonio, saw no consciousness of what the place meant in his face. So it was true, then. All was forgotten. She breathed a sigh of relief. She realised that he had known how disturbed she was at the spanking, because she expected it to be as it used to be with her husband. He had offered the ride to amuse and distract her from her worries, and she was grateful to him. She was also very attracted to him and wondered how the rest of the ride would go.

  They rode to a distant outlook point, and she felt that he was watching to see how she handled the mare. It was not difficult, as Jess was very responsive and showed no tendency to try and go her own way, and Lady Alicia was soon feeling her confidence returning. Antonio, too, seemed to relax when he saw how she handled the mare. He pointed out the boundaries of the estate and told her about the families whose cottages and small farms could be seen. He had amusing anecdotes to recount about them all, and soon had her laughing and at ease, as usual with him. Then they approached what she thought at first was a folly but soon saw was much more practical. It was a sort of gazebo but larger and more substantial. It had a tiled conical roof and large windows to the front overlooking the view. They dismounted, and he led her inside.

  The inside was furnished with a chaise longue in dark green velvet and a couple of matching armchairs. There were footstools and a couple of tables, and it looked as if it were often used.

  “My mother had this built. In the summer when the nights are short and we have daylight until ten or eleven o’clock, she likes to come here to watch the sunset. Sometimes she brings a picnic.” So saying, he drew from the saddlebag he carried in his hand two packets which he laid upon one of the tables. He opened one to reveal grapes and strawberries. From the other he drew a bottle of white wine and two glasses. She was surprised and delighted.

  “Do sit down, my dear Lady Alicia, and allow me to pour you a glass of wine.”

  She sat on one end on the chaise longue, removing her gloves and laying them on the table. He gave her a glass of wine and held out a strawberry. When she would have taken it in her hand, he dipped it into his wine and set it to her lips. She bit into the sweet fruit, savouring the taste of it combined with the wine. As som
e of the juice escaped from the corner of her mouth, he wiped her lips delicately with a snow-white linen napkin. He began to feed her more strawberries and then dipped a small bunch of grapes into his glass. allowing her to take them with her lips one after another from the bunch. She enjoyed his feeding her and found it aroused her, too.

  Abruptly he put down his glass and took hers from her by now nerveless fingers and, placing it beside his, he took both her hands in his and raised her to her feet. She looked into his eyes and was lost. His mouth descended on hers in a surprisingly tender kiss. In the split second before he kissed her she had thought he would be firm and forceful. She knew he was aroused, and his feeding her the fruit like that had left her in a parlous state. She wanted him, oh, how she wanted him, but she had made love to Rafael, who seemed to want her more and more, and now she was with his brother. She had to clear her mind and think, but then he kissed her tenderly and delicately, nibbling her lips and licking along the bottom one, and all power of coherent thought left her. He lifted one hand and pressed lightly on her chin to open her mouth and she offered no resistance. Oh, but she was wanton, she thought. This was not Rafael, but she could not stop kissing him.

  “I want you!” He growled, and at the words, moisture flooded her pussy and her nipples pebbled.

  He gathered her more tightly into his arms and settled to taste her, seemingly at his leisure. His tongue explored every inch of her mouth, and he tasted so good. The wine and fruit tastes mixed with his own essence, and she could not get enough of him. She pressed her swollen and aching breasts to his chest. Lifting one arm, she took the nape of his neck in her hand, held onto his lapel with the other, and kissed him back. He responded with ever-increasing ardour, pressing his thick erection into her soft body and tightening his hold on her. He rubbed her back in gentle circles with one hand and fisted the other in the curls that had escaped her fashionable top knot. He sat down upon the chaise longue and drew her onto his lap, all the while continuing the sinuous dance their tongues were engaged in. She felt his hand move to her breast and moaned into his mouth as his fingers lightly caressed her nipple then more firmly pressed and flicked it. She felt her bodice slowly open, revealing her chemise, which was easily lowered, and her breasts were exposed to the air and his questing hands. His fingers circled the nipples then brushed over them, and she arched her back, pressing the tips into his hands. She felt rather than heard his sigh of satisfaction. His hands began to play, moving from breast to breast and from gently brushing strokes to firm pinches, flicking first one then the other and at last squeezing until she cried out in pain, or was it pleasure? The one was so close to the other. He raised her to her feet and had her kneel on the chaise longue. She held tight to the back and tried to open her legs but found she could not. He stood straddling her thighs, pressing her knees together.