Arabella's Taming

by Golden Angel

  A divided family in residence often meant a divided staff. It was human nature to take sides, therefore she and Thomas would both do their best to ensure the staff didn’t know what their current disagreement was over so they couldn’t become embroiled in it. She didn’t even have to ask if that’s what he was doing—she knew it instinctively.

  Actually, she was rather proud of herself for setting him so out of sorts that he’d shown any public airing of his temper at all. It was rather wicked of her… but he shouldn’t have left her this morning and he certainly shouldn’t have attempted to curtail her riding.

  Well.

  He would learn.

  They swept into the house together, his arm like a rod of steel beneath her fingertips. Arabella’s chin was lifted, ready to do battle as soon as they were alone. As she’d been shown around their wing yesterday, it quickly became clear that he was taking her to his study.

  On the whole, not a poor choice. There was only one stout door and it did lock, so they were unlikely to be interrupted or overheard—unless someone in the household had the same penchant for listening at keyholes as she did. It was unlikely, as such behavior by staff would hardly be countenanced.

  When he opened the door, she moved past him like a queen. She felt like Boudicca, and—indeed—was ready to fight him to the bitter end.

  So as soon as the door was closed, she rounded on him rather than waiting for him to speak first.

  “What on earth did you think you were about, ordering your grooms not to saddle my horse for me, ever?” She shot the words at him as they faced off, very much like duelers.

  Surprise shook his tongue loose; he answered immediately, without even thinking. “I was thinking you are my wife and it is inappropriate for you to be gallivanting about in the early morning. Especially as none of my grooms could keep up with you.” Realizing he answered her, he frowned. “Just what did you—“

  “You were out riding!” She retorted, interrupting him. “You can keep up with me. You should have woken me.”

  Keep up with but not catch, which was another reason for feeling rather triumphant. She’d been well aware of him and Brutus behind her, had seen him the moment she’d entered Hyde Park and had taken great joy in completely ignoring him and his attempts to hail her.

  Thomas glared at her, gritting his teeth. “I told you, it was inappropriate. Whether or not I can keep up with you is moot when you shouldn’t be doing it anyway, but certainly the situation is made worse when—“

  “I have been riding in Hyde Park for two Seasons now,” she snapped, cutting him off again. “The only person who has ever found me lacking for it is you.”

  He scoffed and Arabella found herself mightily tempted to throw something at his head. However, more than one of her friends had warned against doing something so dramatic with her husband. Apparently it could precipitate unpredictable reactions.

  “That’s because I’m the only one who knows.”

  Now it was Arabella’s turn to scoff, to his obvious surprise. “I’ll have you know I have encountered several members of the ton while in the park. You and I are not the only ones to enjoy an early morning ride, although we might be the only ones to do so regularly. No one has made anything of it and even Lady Davenport did nothing more than warn me against ruffians.” She rolled her eyes. “As if ruffians were out of their beds intent on wreaking mischief so early in the morning.”

  Thomas’ mouth opened. Closed. His jaw clenched. “That’s not the point! If you wanted to argue that point then you should have waited for me to return home and requested an interview. That’s how things are done.”

  “Contrary to your belief, I do not need your permission to go riding,” she said hotly. “I do not need your grooms’ assistance either, as I’ve demonstrated. I will not be confined to the house when there is no need for me to be. If you had not been so high-handed, if you had spoken with me before this morning about your intentions, then none of this would have happened. Whatever faults you feel I have committed this morning, are your fault.”

  Arabella was rather delighted with neatly turning the situation around on him.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t having any of her logic.

  “Whatever good points you make, madam, are undercut by your unthinking, selfish behavior this morning! Do you think Society and Lady Davenport would be so blasé if they saw you riding completely unescorted and riding astride? I assume you had Danny with you during your previous encounters and you were riding side saddle.”

  The absolute venom in his voice, the accusation of selfishness, actually took her aback a moment before her temper flared again.

  “I wouldn’t have been unescorted if you’d spoken with me beforehand, I would have been with you! And obviously I wouldn’t have ridden astride either if you hadn’t behaved like a stuffy autocrat!”

  “Do not think to blame your poor choices on me,” he said coldly, so coldly Arabella found herself stepping back. She hadn’t known Thomas could look like that. Hadn’t known he’d be able to shut down his own obvious temper so quickly. If anything, he no longer looked angry, just determined. It was rather disconcerting. “No one forced you into split riding skirts. No one else saddled your horse. You did so thinking to prove something to me. Well you did, you proved to me that you think of no one but yourself, that you cannot be trusted to make well-reasoned decisions, and that you blame anyone but yourself for your behavior.”

  “That’s not true!” she protested.

  But of course the reason it hurt so much to hear him say so was because she knew there was more than a kernel of truth in his words.

  It didn’t hurt as much as when he’d listed her faults to her brothers though, because today she had been trying to behave badly rather than the other way round. Today she’d meant to infuriate him and it appeared she’d achieved her goal.

  Although she still balked at being called selfish. And she thought her decision was quite well-reasoned, despite knowing she would never be able to convince him of such.

  “Did you think about how your actions today would affect my family’s standing? Mary’s standing? Your reputation is now no longer your own and, unlike you, Mary is not so closely aligned with a duke, however she is now very closely aligned with you and she still needs a husband.”

  Now it was Arabella’s turn to move her mouth soundlessly.

  Oh dear… she actually hadn’t considered Mary’s position at all. She’d actually forgotten about the other young woman sharing the household with them. While Arabella wasn’t particularly bothered if Thomas had to deal with whispers and giggles—if she’d even been seen—over his inability to control his wife, she certainly didn’t want to scupper Mary’s prospects.

  Mary was a dear. She was also a quiet, sober young woman who had every chance of having a happy marriage with a quiet, sober young man. Exactly the kind of man who might be put off if she were connected with someone too eccentric, too scandalous. For, despite her beauty, Mary was a bit of a wallflower because of her shy personality. She didn’t dazzle in company and she wasn’t the kind of young woman who could brush off gossip with confidence.

  That was something Arabella intended to work on before Mary’s next Season if she had the chance, but she certainly didn’t want everyone’s last remembrance of Mary this Season as being connected to the kind of woman who went galloping down Rotten Row astride. The men it would attract would be an entirely different caliber, which might not be too terrible if Mary wanted some excitement in her marriage rather than a like-mind, but Arabella didn’t know what kind of husband Mary actually wanted.

  “That’s what I thought,” Thomas said grimly, stepping forward.

  Arabella blinked in surprise as he grasped her by the arm and she found herself being moved. Too startled to protest, too ignorant of his direction, she did nothing to attempt to shake off his grip until she realized where he was putting her—over his lap.

  “Wait! Stop that!” Her furious protest came too lat
e as he undid the laces on her skirt and tugged it down—the split skirts didn’t allow for him to pull them up. Somehow, having them pulled down was twice as embarrassing, making her feel even more vulnerable and more than a bit humiliated.

  Her husband didn’t have to say a single word for her to know that this was not going to be at all like last night.

  Chapter 9

  The bronze of Arabella’s split skirts and fetching jacket framed her creamy bottom nicely, making the twin mounds appear even paler than normal next to the darker color. Sadly, given the circumstances, Thomas was in no real position to appreciate the view. His anger had subsided, forged into pure determination to discipline his lovely wife and ensure she didn’t behave so shockingly again.

  At the very least, that she didn’t do anything to bring shame to his family or scuttle Mary’s prospects.

  “Unhand me at once!” The shocked, angry tone of her voice was worthy of a duchess, but it moved Thomas not at all. “Don’t you dare spank me!”

  Her station was no longer higher than his own, after all, no matter how she sounded.

  There was also something very satisfying about completely ignoring her demand. Arabella was not used to being told ‘no.’ She was also not used to facing any consequences for her actions, as far as he could tell. That ended now.

  While she’d made a few pertinent points, and Thomas was willing to discuss them with her, she still needed to be punished for her willfully scandalous behavior.

  “I will not tolerate a wife who purposefully courts scandal,” he informed her, resting his hand on the curve of her bottom and rubbing to warm up the skin a little. Then he raised his hand.

  “Thomas, don’t you dare!” Her voice had changed, no long so self-assured, as if she was finally realizing how very serious he was.

  SMACK! SMACK!

  Two swats, one to each side of her bottom, and Arabella cried out. Thomas could tell she was more outraged than pained, however. That would soon change.

  “If you were upset, what you should have done was wait for me to return and request a discussion.”

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  “Thomas stop! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!”

  Although she was saying the correct words, Thomas nearly snorted his disbelief that she thought he would be taken in by such an insincere apology uttered so early.

  “If I thought you meant that, I might be more lenient,” he said. “But it still would not end your punishment.”

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  She howled in shocked outrage as his hand came down even harder, a response to her attempt to manipulate him. The two pink splotches on her bottom where his hand was smacking were already turning darker.

  “Some of the points you made would have been well taken if you’d presented them like a rational adult instead of as part of a temper tantrum following your initial poor choices.”

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  “Thomas! Stop! Please!” Arabella sobbed out the words, sounding almost as though she was dying.

  Frowning, Thomas looked down at his handiwork. Barely the color of a pink rose, the two spots on her backside weren’t even warm to the touch yet. He raised his eyebrows.

  For a moment he did stop, rubbing his hand briskly over the spots. Arabella slumped over his lap with relief. He nearly chuckled.

  “Just so you know, sweetheart, your bottom was pinker than this last night. I’m well aware you aren’t the least bit chastised yet. You can take much more, and by that time you will be very sorry for your impetuous choices this morning as well as trying to manipulate me.” He lifted his hand again.

  “No—wait!”

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  ******

  Kicking her legs, Arabella began to struggle as she realized exactly how in earnest her husband was. Unfortunately, his arms and legs were much stronger than hers and her struggles were entirely in vain.

  Even the times Isaac had used a paddle it hadn't hurt this much!

  Of course, when Isaac had used a paddle she'd started squalling and crying from the moment he smacked it against her bottom, her reactions far more dramatic than the pain he'd actually inflicted. Whenever her elder brother had spanked her, she'd put up a huge fuss as quickly as could be believed, and then spent the rest of the day sitting on a cushion and generally pretending to be subdued. Her behavior for the next week would be modified.

  Not because the spanking had hurt, but because Arabella had found it paid for Isaac to believe a very short bout of discipline to be effective.

  Thomas either hadn't been taken in by her theatrics or he was a brute... and she would swear on her life that it wasn't the latter. She almost wished it was because then she could hate him, but unfortunately she had a feeling he was just more insightful than Isaac.

  The worst part was that, again, his words had that little kernel of truth to them that made it so hard for her to argue. She had just tried to manipulate him. The swats he’d already laid down on her vulnerable bottom had definitely hurt, but she’d purposefully made herself sound more forlorn, more pained than she was actually feeling. How could she have realized her bottom had been pinker last night?

  It certainly had felt a lot more pleasant than this did!

  Isaac had always stopped as soon as she started to cry, but she’d put a little bit of sob into her voice already and Thomas had completely ignored it. Now real tears were beginning to roll down her cheeks—tears of anger, shame, humiliation, and, yes, from the very real burning pain that was growing in her backside.

  Being spanked hurt.

  Knowing she deserved it hurt even more.

  She had been thoughtless, although she hadn’t meant to be. She’d completely forgotten about an entire human being! Not only that, but she had acted rashly as well. There had been no thought in her head when she’d put on her split skirts and gone to saddle Mist other than how she was going to put one over on Thomas. Show him she wouldn’t be controlled.

  Dictated to.

  Prove he couldn’t just lay down arbitrary rules without talking to her first, because she would just ignore them.

  Well, she’d certainly done all of that.

  Now she was rather wishing she’d been a bit more circumspect.

  SMACK!

  But she’d feel a lot more sorry if he stopped spanking her!

  He was just making her angry all over again!

  SMACK!

  Wasn’t he?

  SMACK!

  A little cry tore from her throat, one she hadn’t wanted to let out, because she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to her.

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  Her husband had a hand like a wooden plate, maybe even less forgiving.

  Anger was all she had to keep her from giving in against uttering a true apology, in hopes that he would stop… but Arabella wanted to win this too. She still wanted to show him that nothing he did would make a difference to her behavior—even if she already knew she would think through her next move much more carefully. And she definitely wouldn’t forget that her behavior now affected Mary again.

  SMACK!

  SMACK!

  Arabella’s breath caught on a true sob. It felt as though her bottom was on fire. Like she’d stood in front of a hot oven for far too long, but only one portion of her body was affected by the heat.

  Yet he didn’t stop, he kept spanking her like the willful child she’d behaved as… yes, she could admit it. He’d been correct. She’d thrown a temper tantrum, behaving impetuously rather than thinking her actions through, and she’d lost this battle.

  Miserably.

  Several of her friends actually enjoyed this? They were as mad as she’d initially thought.

  “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She writhed on his lap, clutching at his ankle. “I truly am! I shouldn’t have gone out after you this morning! I sh
ould have waited until you returned and spoken with you then!”

  Arabella meant every word. There were other ways to make him miserable, sneakier ways. Ways which wouldn’t put Mary or anyone else at risk. She didn’t want any innocents becoming casualties in this little spousal war. It might have been enjoyable seeing his shock this morning, but it wasn’t worth unintentionally hurting someone else—and she was becoming very convinced it hadn’t been worth a spanking like this either.

  Next time she wanted to put one over her husband, she would do so in a manner which wouldn’t give him a reason to put her over his knee.

  ******

  Now that sounded much more sincere. Thomas was more than a little pleased. Not only was her bottom a nice, hot red—hot to the touch as well—but Arabella had submitted to her spanking rather nicely. He’d been a bit worried that she was stubborn enough not to apologize out of pure spite, and at some point he would have had to stop spanking her or risk feeling more like he was abusing rather than disciplining her. They hadn’t gotten anywhere near that point however.

  “Thank you for saying so,” he said calmly, letting his hand rest on her bottom. Her body shook a little bit and he could hear her sniffling. Real tears now, not the crocodile tears she’d initially tried to fool him with. No, these she was doing her best to hide from him, so Thomas was quite sure they were sincere. “I appreciate your understanding of what you did wrong this morning. I too realize that I could have behaved differently. I probably should have spoken to you about my expectations for your morning ride before giving the orders to the groom. However, that does not change the fact that your response was unacceptable.”

  There. He thought rather nicely summed up the events, and he had admitted to his wrong doing as well, so that should satisfy her.

  Instead, Arabella wriggled, turning her face away from him so he could hear her but not see her expression.

  “Am I to spank you now for being so high-handed?”

  Hearing her sass him in such a moment, rather than upsetting him, surprisingly made him grin. Fortunately she couldn’t see his expression either. His cock, which had been completely uninterested in the proceedings until now, stirred in response.