Angeline stroked her cheek and kissed her lips, teasing the seam of her lips with a searching tongue. "Sweet girl, you're being very good for me. I shall even tell Richard how well you've behaved. Your pretty collar and chain are only there to remind you of your place."
Straightening her shoulders, Angeline tugged on the chain, pulling Elizabeth forward. "Are you ready to go to luncheon?"
Elizabeth couldn't help her sigh of relief as she nodded. "Yes, my lady."
The servants lowered their heads as she passed, led by the silver chain. Their stares were discomfiting, but Elizabeth ignored the veiled glances, too happy that she'd pleased Angeline to pay them any heed. She raised her chin, walking proudly despite her lowered gaze. She would be happy with whatever Angeline and Richard wanted from her. This pleased them and that was all she cared about.
The metal atop her sex distracted her. All the bells Angeline had given her chimed, but the one between her legs rubbed on the sensitive nubbin with every step. By the time they reached the dining room, Elizabeth was panting in need and could feel wetness trickle down her thighs, clear evidence of her arousal.
Elizabeth started to walk toward Richard, but a jerk on the chain drew her up short. Angeline pressed down on her shoulders. "On your knees, pet."
She sank to the floor, looking up at Angeline for approval, sighing happily when Angeline quirked her lips into a smile and nodded.
Richard stood and pulled out a chair, grinning at them. Angeline bent down to whisper, "Crawl to the red cushion between the chairs. If you are good, you will get a treat." She dropped the leash, letting it trail across Elizabeth's back, and she crawled toward the pillow, careful to avoid snagging her stockings on the bare floor. The bells chimed as she moved, making Richard grin.
"Our pet is indeed lovely, my dear. You've done wonders with her." Richard kissed Angeline and held her chair as she seated herself. He stroked Elizabeth's head when she reached the cushion, and she leaned into his touch.
"Was she good for you?"
"She questions things overmuch, but she is very obedient." Angeline leaned over to kiss Richard. "You did well in choosing her, darling."
Elizabeth flushed in pleasure at their words as a pair of footmen entered, bearing the first course. Her belly growled at the odors emanating from the serving dishes, but she held her peace, hoping they would allow her to join them at the table if she behaved.
Yet minutes passed as Richard and Angeline ate. Elizabeth's belly rumbled once more and Richard laughed, making her face grow hot with mortification.
"I'd nearly forgotten to feed our pet." He stroked her hair and bent down to set a plate on the floor in front of her, filled with cut up bits of meat and winter vegetables. Angeline put a folded linen napkin on the floor next to her but neither offered her silverware.
Elizabeth stared down at the plate and shrugged inwardly. They must mean for her to eat with her fingers. It would be a bit messy, but she didn't care so long as they were happy. She picked up a piece of potato and put it between her lips. A whistle of sound preceded a burning line of fire across her backside and Elizabeth cried out, choking on the food.
Angeline scowled down at her, a cane held loosely in one hand. "That is not how pets eat," she barked.
Tears welled in Elizabeth's eyes and she lowered her head in misery. "Please forgive me, my lady," she whispered.
Bottom aching anew, she bent down and put her face close to the plate. She should have known better. Pets ate from a dish. They did not use their hands. Her belly roiled at the knowledge that she'd disappointed them so badly, but she ate everything she'd been given as Angeline and Richard conversed softly over her head.
Elizabeth tried to eat as neatly as she could, yet gravy covered her face, dripping slowly down her chin. Thankfully, the child's braids kept her hair away from the mess. "May I wipe my face, my lady?"
Her heart leaped with joy when Angeline looked down and smiled. "Of course, pet. You're such a good girl for asking first. When you're finished, I want you to crawl between Richard's knees and pleasure him with your mouth while we have our coffee and dessert."
As Elizabeth crawled between his knees and unfastened his trousers, that tiny voice in her head tried to remind her of something she'd meant to tell him. It had seemed important, but she couldn't recall what it was. That idiotic voice made her head ache, and she refused to listen. The pain eased as she took him into her mouth, relishing his taste as she banished that annoying clamor to the deepest recesses of her mind.
Richard groaned above her head as she took him deeper into her mouth. His hand clenched in her hair, pressing her face into his groin as he thrust into her willing throat. The taste of him, all musky sweet, made her drool around his thick member as she sucked him, massaging the vein on the underside of his cock with her tongue.
Elizabeth kept her hands firmly in her lap, knowing without being told that she would be punished if she used anything but her mouth. Those naughty hands twitched toward her cunt, though. She wanted to rub her own flesh as she pleasured her husband, and it was all she could do to stop rubbing her damp thighs together. They would hear the bells if she moved.
Yet she couldn't stay still for long. Richard continued to thrust, filling her throat until she couldn't breathe. The lack of air spiked her arousal, and the bell chimed when she closed her thighs.
Angeline hissed out an angry breath at the sound and Richard jerked her head away from his flesh before he pushed her away. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she let them fall, hating that she'd displeased them.
"Bad pet!" Angeline tugged the chain hard, dragging Elizabeth from under the table as she sobbed in desolation. "Get up, naughty thing. We'd planned a lovely afternoon, but your disobedience has spoiled it. Your delight is at our command, and you will not have it unless we say so!"
The cane in Angeline's hand flashed in Elizabeth's vision, but didn't connect as Angeline pulled her from the room and up the stairs, leading her into the lady's chamber. Her feet stalled when the door opened.
Richard had told her the chamber was being renovated. And Elizabeth supposed it had been. A massive bed rested against one wall, but was incongruous in this room. Furniture she didn't recognize surrounded it, but the few pieces she knew made her blood chill.
There was a pillory set in the middle of the room. Metal objects hung on hooks above the hearth, stained with rust. Whips and riding crops decorated another wall, along with neatly coiled ropes and leather hobbles one might use on a horse. Chains dripped from bolts set into the walls and ceiling, each culminating in a cruel iron shackle. The room smelled of sex and leather.
It was uncomfortably similar to an etching she'd once seen of a torture chamber. The memory of the etching came to her, and she recognized the objects above the hearth. Her stomach clenched as a scold's bridle resolved itself, followed by a breast ripper and a pear of anguish. There were pincers and prods, barbed hooks, and all manner of objects more suited to a dark museum than a country home belonging to a lord of the British empire.
She pulled her gaze away from the relics of a cruel age before she lost her luncheon. Angeline's violet eyes turned black, glittering with malicious fervor and Elizabeth gasped, stepping backward as a chill coursed down her spine.
"Don't worry, naughty pet. I require you in good condition. Those things won't be used on your sweet body." Angeline shrugged and her eyes lightened to violet as she muttered, "More's the pity."
The collar dug into Elizabeth's neck as Angeline pulled her toward the pillory. Leather stirrups hung underneath the wooden cross bar and she obeyed when Richard stripped off her stocking and slipper then lifted her knee, positioning it into the leather cradle. Angeline did the same with her other leg, and Elizabeth leaned against the wood as they tightened straps around her thighs.
The position exposed her bottom and wet cunt to their ministrations and Elizabeth shivered as cool air touched the damp flesh between her legs.
"Put your head and wrists into t
he slots."
Elizabeth obeyed Angeline's barked order and Richard closed the pillory, trapping her with wood and leather, rendering her helpless against them. Tears fell from her eyes as wetness seeped from her cunt. Despondent that she'd disappointed them, she couldn't help her arousal, even knowing this punishment would be far worse than what she'd experienced earlier.
"Open," Richard barked harshly. When she obeyed, he slipped a wooden ring behind her teeth. It looked like a tiny embroidery hoop and her jaw stretched wide to admit the object. Spittle leaked from the corners of her mouth. With her jaw stretched wide, she couldn't swallow and she lowered her eyes in mortification.
"You're going to scream around my cock, bad girl." He thrust into her mouth as the first blow fell to her bottom. It wasn't that vicious cane and only hurt a little. Elizabeth settled down into her confinement, rejoicing that Richard used her mouth as her bottom grew warm under the blows.
Wetness seeped from her cunt, but she ignored it, concentrating on pleasing Richard. Angeline laughed then delivered a lash to her aching core, the leather slapping wetly as Elizabeth cried out in pain.
"Little slut, you like the pain, don't you?"
Elizabeth nodded as well as she could, hoping it would please them. She'd wanted to disagree, though. She didn't like the pain, but she would bear it if it brought them joy.
Angeline moved away, but Elizabeth couldn't see what she was doing. Soon enough, she returned, her heels clicking against the floor. "I think twenty will suffice." She stroked Elizabeth's hot backside, pinching the flesh cruelly. "I would make you count them but it appears your mouth is full." She laughed at her own joke, the sound like music to Elizabeth.
Searing fire lit up her bottom as the cane fell against her flesh. She screamed, desperately wanting to move to avoid another blow, yet the pillory held her tight.
Richard growled low as he thrust into her mouth. "God, I wish we could do this all day. Her screams are lovely around my cock."
Elizabeth screamed again as the second stroke of that wicked cane landed on her vulnerable flesh.
"Slower, Angeline," Richard muttered. "Draw it out."
"Of course, Richard."
They fell into a rhythm. Richard kept his cock lodged in her throat, stealing her air until a few seconds before the cane fell. After she screamed, he would return to his place, stopping her breath all over again.
It was agonizing and went on forever. Yet Elizabeth soared with pleasure, knowing she'd brought them joy. Too soon, the thrashing ceased and Richard pulled the wooden ring from her mouth.
She breathed hard, the air catching in her throat as she coughed. "Please punish my naughty bottom hole, my lord." The words were a bare whisper, but Richard heard them and wiped the spittle from her chin with a soft cloth.
"You are such a good girl for us."
He moved behind her, and she felt his fingers pulling moisture from her dripping cunt to her back passage. Cool liquid joined in to lubricate his entrance, but he gave her no time or warning before he thrust into her.
Elizabeth held back her scream of pain. She knew it would soon ease, and focused her attention on Angeline's bared flesh in front of her. As Richard punished her bottom, she sucked and licked as she'd done earlier. Angeline's squeal of pleasure and a gush of musky slick rewarded her efforts as Richard groaned behind her.
Yet he pulled out, making her cry out at the loss. She'd desperately wanted to feel his seed bathing her back passage, washing her clean of her disobedience. He moved to join Angeline, his wet cock bobbing lewdly bare inches from Elizabeth's nose.
"Clean me. If you do well, you'll be rewarded."
Angeline giggled and she kissed Richard ferociously as Elizabeth took his cock into her mouth. It tasted dark and sinful after being in her back passage yet she sucked everything away, cleaning him gently with her tongue as he swelled inside her mouth.
With a snarl, he pulled away, spilling himself on the floor. Tears filled her eyes as they let her free and she collapsed to her knees, her head bowed.
"Look at the mess you've made, naughty girl!" Richard's soft whisper tickled her skin and she shuddered. "You must clean it up before you get your treat."
Elizabeth looked up to find Richard pointing at the viscous puddle on the floor, and then lowered her head obediently, leaning forward on her elbows to lap at his gift. Angeline knelt behind her as Elizabeth attended to her duty. Angeline’s fingers sought Elizabeth’s wet cunt, and Elizabeth held in her gasp of pleasure as her lover worked the metal over her nubbin.
Elizabeth kept her focus only on the gift of seed in front of her, denying the pleasure until she'd lapped up the last drop.
"Such a good girl. Give us your pleasure, pet."
And as Richard stroked her face with gentle fingers, Elizabeth dropped the reins on the beast clamoring for freedom in her body. Unseeing, she cried out as Angeline curved her fingers inside her to stroke that magical place inside her channel. A wash of fluid escaped as she stiffened, crying out once again as she collapsed, spent and overjoyed that her pain had brought them happiness.
∞∞∞
Days turned into weeks of companionable happiness and pleasure. Elizabeth learned the rules she was expected to follow without question.
She was not to wear clothes in their presence. She would always crawl on her hands and knees unless she was being led somewhere. Food would always be presented in her own crystal bowl, which she would consume like the cherished pet she tried so hard to be.
Yet the hardest rule for her was lying in her soft nest on the floor as they slept in the bed above her. Pets were not allowed on the furniture, but she desperately wanted to sleep between them, or even at their feet. They allowed her to rest at the foot of the bed on occasion if she'd done a very good job pleasing them, but never let her spend the whole night.
The distance broke her heart, though she tried to hide it from them. She'd thanked them for the comfortable nest they'd given her, and even for the chain that secured her collar to the bedpost, linking her to them even in sleep.
The punishments were severe, yet Elizabeth tolerated them as best she could, knowing that they would wash the slate of her disobedience clean, and they would find pleasure with her once it was done.
The hours between luncheon and supper were her own, aside from serving their tea. They allowed her to dress and manage the household and callers without interference. The servants continued to work hard and their diligence pleased her. She'd even complimented Sarah once on how lovely the floor in the foyer looked after the maid had waxed it, making her blink in surprise and give Elizabeth a grateful smile.
She attended church every Sunday, though the sermons made her impatient, and she always hurried away before the vicar's wife could press her into service to the congregation. She put enough into the collection plate to ease her guilt over shirking her duty.
Sometimes, if the weather was pleasant, they allowed her to ride. Yet she found no joy in the stable. Roland, once a confidant of sorts, had become distant and uncommunicative. The horses, while obedient, were stiff and unwilling. Perhaps it was simply malaise from the lingering winter. She felt sure everything would turn right when spring arrived.
Even her studies failed to draw her attention, and the books in the library became dusty with disuse. She continued to play chess with the vicar from her childhood home, using letters to make their moves, but the game had palled and no longer held her interest. She continued only because she knew the elderly man would worry if she didn't respond.
The little voice became softer and less audible, though it still plagued her at night. It told her there was something she was forgetting. The irritation made her head ache, and she always pushed it away. Whatever she'd forgotten would come to her in time. Such things often proved elusive if one thought about them overmuch.
Chapter 9
The one charm about marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties.
Oscar Wilde
She knelt at Angeline's feet, eating her breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. The toast had been cut into pieces, allowing her to eat it without her hands. She sat up without finishing the meal and rubbed at her rounded belly. She was getting fat and hoped to lose the extra weight before it got out of hand.
She really ought to spend time outside with the horses. Exercise would serve her well in that endeavor.
"Why aren't you eating, pet?"
Elizabeth sighed and lowered her head. Richard had left for London a few days past, leaving her alone with Angeline. She missed him terribly, but was glad he wasn't here for this conversation.
"I'm afraid I'm getting too plump, my lady. I have a rounded belly now."
"Nonsense. You're simply increasing." She petted Elizabeth's hair before tapping her nose sternly. "Now finish your breakfast."
She lowered her head to her crystal dish, eating mechanically as her mind raced. When had she bled last? It had been weeks, if not months. More importantly, how had she been so brainless as to ignore the signals her body had given her? Nausea in the morning, her afternoons spent asleep on the library sofa during her free hours, and her voracious appetites for sex and food.
She tried to calculate the time. The last monthly course she remembered had been in late November, meaning she was at most four months along. Four months would certainly explain the hard bump in her lower belly. She stroked it with gentle hands, awed and wondering at such a thing.
"Bloody hell," she murmured softly.
"Are you displeased, pet?"
"I have no idea."
Angeline's eyes flashed dark for a split second then returned to violet. "You may have the day to yourself, darling. It's stopped raining, so you may go outside. Perhaps a change in environment will help." She touched her lips with a linen cloth. "You will attend me at tea, don't forget."
"I won't, my lady." Elizabeth rose to her feet, collecting her crystal bowl and setting it on the table with the rest of the dishes. "Thank you."
Wicked Deception (Wicked Magic Book 1) Page 10