My Wife, My Rules – 20. chapter

First time here? Start with Chapter 1.

Tess stood by the window without seeing what lay beyond it. She did not want to sit. Her backside still burned. And she had the sense that the worst was yet to come. It was not a feeling, really. It was certainty. She would rather take another beating than be forced among people. It did not matter that she had no idea how many there would be or what they would be like. Aiden was simply forcing her into it without mercy, and that alone felt wrong. Her chest rose and fell too quickly. Her fingers twisted nervously in a piece of the skirt of the evening gown she wore, a dress she was not used to at all.

When the door opened, Tess jumped, then turned at once toward Aiden. He wore a dark blue suit, his silk waistcoat gleaming, his dark hair smoothed back. He was the very image of aristocratic strength and elegance. Every fold of cloth, every step, every glance underscored someone no one defied. He ran his gaze over her as well. He knew exactly why she was standing. He felt no regret. Without a word, he met her eyes and offered his open hand. Not cruelly. Not sternly. Simply calm, certain, allowing no room for any outcome other than the one he had chosen. She placed her hand in his and let herself be led from the room and straight down the stairs. Her stomach clenched painfully. She tried to slow her breathing and failed. The doors to the salon stood open, and already she could hear the piano music drifting out. Unobtrusive. Precise. Perfect. So gentle it reached her even through the haze of panic. And it sounded strangely familiar. The corridor itself lay quiet, their steps muted by the carpet, each one to Tess like the tapping out of a sentence.

Aiden said nothing. He did not regret the spanking he had given her. The kitty had turned into a feral, furious cat, and he had needed to bring her back under control. But what he was doing to her now truly hurt him. Through her hand in his, he felt how wildly her heart raced with fear. Forcing her among people was brutally cruel. Yet he had no other choice. She had already formed her judgment. He could try to persuade her from dawn to dusk, plead, or strike her. She had already found him guilty. His options in that chamber were spent. Only seeing it for herself could convince her now. He could keep the wild creature obedient by strength alone, but that was not enough. He wanted his velvet, affectionate kitty back. And he was certain she wanted it too. The price was a quarter hour of her mad terror. In that moment, he hated himself.

Still, he led her into the room. He released her hand, stepped half a pace aside, and let matters unfold.

In the first instant, Tess realized there were only two strangers present. The worst of the panic eased. Through the fear, she was able to take in the room again. She could manage two. That was not a crowd. Her gaze swept the room to the piano, a huge grand by the window. She had not known such an instrument existed in the house. A man sat at it. Tall, lean, with sharp cheekbones and a carefully kept beard. Every movement was exact. He played with a lightness born of years of practice.

Where have I heard this music before?

On the sofa that had shattered her entire world days ago sat a beautiful woman with a slender neck and smooth waves of dark hair. She wore a blue gown with a lace bodice and a neckline at the very edge of propriety. It took Tess a single second to understand.

That is HER!

That exact woman from THAT image, the one that had destroyed her whole world. Panic left Tess for a moment, replaced by shock. Before Tess could recover, the woman noticed her. Her pupils widened, then her mouth spread into a broad smile, and she sprang to her feet.

“My goodness, you are beautiful!” she exclaimed, her voice high and warmly sincere.

Tess had no idea what she had expected from this woman, but friendliness had not been it. She had no chance to respond, because the music stopped. She turned toward the elegant man at the piano, who also rose, though considerably more slowly. He looked first at Tess, then at the lady in blue, and quickened his step toward her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and gave Tess an apologetic smile.

“My wife means that you are truly as lovely as Aiden has been saying.”

What? Wife? And you don’t know that she and Aiden are lovers? …or do you?

Tess stood utterly confused. Then Aiden spoke.

“Friends, my wife Theressa. Tess, my dear and close friends, Elias and Isadora Montellan.”

A hand. I am supposed to offer my hand. I think.

Tess stepped toward them, but Aiden caught her hand and held her in place. She yielded instinctively, though she did not understand.

“My dear, that is perfectly fine,” the beautiful woman said at once, her tone easy to believe. Friendly. Enthusiastic.

“Aiden speaks not only of your beauty. We know what you are like. You need not trouble yourself at all. Handshaking is an empty gesture anyway. We actually…” She cast a quick glance at her husband and then back at Tess. “We thought Aiden had told you. That you need not. Well, he told us you don’t wish to…” She spoke quickly, distractedly, her hands in constant motion.

Tess did not notice that Aiden, standing only inches away, watched everything with sharp focus. Outwardly calm, every muscle in his body was taut, ready to move the instant anyone came too close.

Elias needed no glance at Aiden to know this. He stepped behind his wife, wrapped an arm around her waist, and drew her a few inches farther from Tess.

“And we truly appreciate your honoring us with this meeting,” he added calmly, his voice slow and steady. “We know this is difficult for you. Aiden and we have known each other since childhood. We will adapt to whatever you require.”

He turned to Isadora.

“Will we not, my dear?”

“Yes. Of course.”

She flicked her gaze about the room, clearly unable to keep silent.

“You are stunning, my dear. You cannot imagine how glad we are that Aiden found you.”

Tess was not certain how ladies were meant to behave in society, but she suspected it was calmer than the bag of fleas standing, or rather bouncing, before her now. And she doubted this sort of woman would appeal to Aiden. At least not erotically.

Elias intervened again.

“Let us not scare her away from him, shall we?” he urged.

“Of course,” Isadora agreed, sincerely enough.

“Come. We shall give the lady of the house a little space to breathe,” Elias suggested, already guiding his wife toward the lower wooden table and sofa. Their movements were smooth, practiced, like dancers. A couple long accustomed to perfect harmony. Isadora laid her hand trustingly on his forearm and let herself be seated in an armchair while Elias returned to the piano.

Tess and Aiden stood close but did not touch. Both faced the room, toward the grand piano. Aiden stood noble and self-assured, hands clasped behind his back, waiting patiently as he had all along. And Tess slowly allowed herself to accept what she had known the instant she saw them. Elias’s fingers caressed the keys, and a melody warm and sweet as honey filled the room.

And Tess remembered where she had heard it before. Back then, when she had watched Aiden and Isadora and her heart had shattered into tiny pieces. Isadora’s husband had been in the room too. She simply had not seen him. He had been playing the piano. She had accused Aiden of something he had not done.

Aiden could not say how, but he recognized the precise fraction of a second when she understood the truth. Perhaps she closed her eyes in that instant of realizing her enormous mistake. For neither of them moved even a millimeter.

Tess, rigid with knowledge, despair, and shame, whispered:

“I’m sorry.”

Aiden had been certain the encounter would end this way. Still, the pressure that had weighed on his chest for days eased at once. He showed nothing. Did not blink.

The kitty is back. She only needs a little tap on the nose now, so she learns.

He did not look at her, keeping his gaze fixed ahead, somewhere into the room.

“For this,” he whispered carefully, each word slow and clear, “I will fuck you harder than I ever have. Until you beg for mercy. And then I will continue.”