AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So you are.”
“You can’t possibly…”
His eyes narrowed on her grimly.
“But what about Jolie?” She tried again.
“What about Jolie? Your sister didn’t come home last night either.”
This was not good news—her sister could be as full of mischief as her brother. She hardly needed that now.
“But what if she does come home and sees me like this?”
“Then she can take a turn beside you—after I give her a good caning.”
Her alarm could not have been greater as Daniel led her by the arm out of the shed and into the yard, to a post that had been anchored into the ground just off the side of the front porch. Its purpose was for tethering horses, but it would serve another purpose now. Once before she’d been hauled there to serve penance in the open, but that time she’d been fully clothed. The idea of exposing herself this way was too outrageous for words; what kind of man had her husband become? Oh, yes, the farm was far enough from civilization that there was little chance anyone would see her, but the shame of the situation could not be minimized.
“Daniel, please! You can’t do this! What if someone sees me like this!”
“Then someone sees a disobedient wife getting the punishment she deserves.”
He wrapped the rope about her wrists, tying them tightly together and securely knotting the
two loose ends. Raising her hands high above her head, he then drove the long spike through the center of the thick knot and into the wooden post, leaving her there to dangle in the morning air unable to free herself.
“How can you be so cruel!” she cried in desperation.
But he turned on her, eyes flashing with the same ruthless gleam she’d seen earlier that morning.
“How can you be so cruel,” he spit back. “This is an eye for an eye right now, until I’m ready to forgive you. I don’t take my pronouncements lightly and neither should you. It’s a matter of trust between us, wife. And you, not I, have broken that trust. This may be crude and humiliating, but perhaps you’ll finally get the message. You’re the one to mend this breach that keeps tearing no matter what lengths I take to mend it.”
She shrunk back from the powerful charges against her. She had no idea that his ire could reach as far as this. Daniel strode off as she watched. Deep in her groin the tickle of arousal that she had needfully submerged played a cruel game of leapfrog with her insides. How could she want him now more than ever? How could her desire rise above this humiliation? How could her heart pine for him so, even now?
A half-hour passed with the minutes ticking by so slowly that Hannah could have sworn it was nearly half the day. For a while, her arousal was so great that she rested her torso against the post and moved her hips into the wood seeking relief. She could never climax this way, and what a shameless thing to do, but she could hardly help herself. In time, however, discomfort overtook her arousal. Her arms ached and she twisted this way and that trying to relieve the strain. Not once did she see Daniel, although she suspected that he was furtively watching her from the barn. Perhaps it would be better if he saw her suffering rather than finding some obscene pleasure in this punishment. Perhaps he would see her terrible distress and set her free.
Although she could turn around, Hannah remained as originally placed the entire time, with her hands above her and her backside facing the path that led to the road. As her discomfort increased, time seemed to stretch out forever.
Her mind drifted thoughtlessly. But what was that? The sound was so unexpected as it suddenly pulled her from her reverie. She listened carefully as it grew in volume, until she recognized with some horror its source. Briefly turning her head, she peeked at the scene behind her, all the while praying that her worst fears had not been realized.
But indeed they had!
Riding on horseback, as was his custom, Judge Boone entered the yard, stopped his mount and stared at Hannah for some seconds. In shame, the penitent wife turned into the post and shuddered with humiliation as she felt the man’s curious eyes rest on her punished bottom.
“So, what have we here?” she heard Judge Boone ask Daniel when her husband moved out of the barn to greet him.
“A foolish wife who needs to be taught a lesson,” Daniel returned.
The men approached her and she froze.
“Humph! It’s been many a recalcitrant I’ve tied to whipping posts and soundly punished,” Judge Boone said, while he studied Hannah’s fair but wounded flesh. “I trust the offense warranted such measures?”
“I think Hannah should turn around and tell you herself,” Daniel said coolly.
Hannah heard a trace of triumph in her husband’s voice, as if this was what he was waiting for all along.
“You heard me,” Daniel said, when she didn’t move.
“But, sir!” she quietly pleaded.
