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“Why should I apologize for creating a dinner that all of our guests and I enjoyed?” she asked haughtily, trying to stifle the vestiges of her guilt. It was hard to be haughty when she was completely nude and Edwin was not, but she did her best. Crossing her arms under her breasts she lifted her chin, pretending that she didn't notice and didn't care about her lack of clothing. “If you don’t like the way I plan a menu then perhaps we shouldn’t share meals. Or a house.”
Edwin stiffened. Where had this come from? He’d rather thought that he and Eleanor were doing quite well together, other than her apathy when it came to taking any responsibility towards running the household. But he thought their relationship had been growing, that she was actually beginning to feel some affection for him as he felt for her, despite the circumstances of their marriage. She certainly hadn’t had any reluctance about sharing his bed every night once he got her there, although she admittedly required some coaxing, but he'd thought that had been a show of maidenly virtue. Which was quickly shed once her passion was aroused.
“Is there something about our marriage that leaves you unsatisfied?” he asked softly, his voice almost a warning. Since deciding upon Eleanor for his wife he had known that he would not take a mistress, he saw it as disrespectful towards her and he certainly wouldn’t countenance her taking a lover, no matter how discreet. Was that what tonight’s dress had been about? Did she want a house of her own so that she could meet a lover there?
“Not unsatisfied,” she said slowly. The flash of hurt she’d seen on Edwin’s face had surprised her, but she didn’t want to add to it. “But this is not the kind of marriage I had imagined. I don’t think I should get a birching just for planning a menu that you didn’t like!”
Something tense inside of Edwin relaxed. Just more manipulations. That he could handle. He wasn’t as surprised now; Eleanor had wanted her way when it came to getting married, which he had some sympathy for, and now she was lashing out because she hadn’t gotten what she wanted. Still, he couldn't let her behavior go unacknowledged, especially since she'd piled insult onto injury tonight. He'd obviously been too lenient with her, curious as to what she was planning; that ended now.
“You aren’t getting a birching because you planned a menu that I didn’t like, you’re getting a birching for deliberately disrespecting me by purposefully choosing each dish to ensure that it was something I wouldn’t enjoy eating. You did it willfully and maliciously after having an entire conversation with me about my eating preferences. I realize that this might not be the marriage that you would have chosen for yourself, but instead of trying to work on our relationship – which I think could be quite enjoyable for both of us with very little effort – you are wallowing in self-pity and doing your best to sabotage it.” Eleanor's jaw worked, but no sound came from her mouth. The expression on her face showed both guilt and a stubbornness to hold to her position. "From now on things are going to change. You have had plenty of time to accustom yourself to being married and I have tolerated your behavior for long enough. There will be no more handing your responsibilities onto Mrs. Hester, you will behave yourself with propriety and you will dress as behooves your station. When you do not, you will be punished."
"That's not fair!" She pouted her lower lip at him, although it was almost ludicrous looking as she was obviously more furious than upset. It was hard to look like a victim when every inch of her body screamed her desire to wring his neck.
"It's more than fair and you know it." Grimly, Edwin gestured with his hand, twirling it and indicating that she should turn about. The hot flush of anger on his wife's cheeks, the glittering sparkle in her bright blue eyes and the sight of her naked body was having its usual effect on him. He was going to enjoy giving her bottom a well-deserved thrashing and then indulging in their usual evening's pleasures. "Turn around and bend over the bed Eleanor, or I will tie you in place and your punishment will be much worse."
Looking at the determination on her husband's face, Eleanor knew that he was speaking nothing but the unadulterated truth. Now her lower lip truly did tremble as she finally realized that she may have pushed him too far, although even now he wasn’t reacting from anger. She'd expected a spanking, but nothing more than that! And he would tie in her place?
It suddenly occurred to Eleanor that perhaps she’d misjudged Edwin; the hard look on his face made it clear that he was more than willing to follow through with his threat. This was certainly more than she’d bargained for! Yet she was no longer the same young woman who had acceded to the punishments her father deemed necessary and Edwin certainly treated her differently in other regards. Perhaps she could convince him towards leniency or even distract him entirely.
"Please Edwin, I am sorry," she said, putting the small amount of guilt that she actually did feel into her voice to convince him of her sincerity. Looking up at him pleadingly, she stepped forward, her hands dropping to her sides and revealing her body, hoping to distract him with her nudity. She’d had plenty of time to learn how appealing she was, physically, to him. "Truly, I am, it was malicious and wrong and I wasn't really thinking." Placing her hands on his chest she peered up at him through lowered lashes, feeling triumphant as she felt his body shift under her hands, saw the flash of arousal as he looked down at her.
"Apology accepted," he said, his voice tight as he controlled his impulse to forgo the punishment, throw his wife down on his bed and ravish her senseless. It seemed Eleanor had found a new way to be manipulative; it hadn't taken her long to go from innocent to seductress apparently. In other circumstances he would have been quite pleased to have her approaching him this way. "Now turn around and go bend over the bed."
"But Edwin!" she protested, shock clear across her face that he wasn't taking what she was offeri
ng.
"Just because you have found it in yourself to admit that you did something wrong doesn't mean you won't have to reap the consequences for it," he said sternly. It was so close to something that her father had said to her before that Eleanor gaped at him, unable to think of a single rebuttal. "And tempting me with your delightful body just shows that you are still trying to manipulate the situation rather than showing any true remorse. If you want to convince me that you truly regret your actions then you will do as I say and take your punishment like a good wife."
Now she was truly torn. Eleanor didn't want to be a good wife because if she pleased Edwin then he would be less agreeable to living apart from her. Already he'd shown himself to oppose such an arrangement and she knew that she hadn't been a very good wife at all. Yet she also didn't want more of a punishment that she'd already earned.
Deciding that there was no point in antagonizing him further at present, which would only increase this punishment, she slowly turned and walked towards the bed with her head down to show her contriteness. Truly, however, she was contrite that she'd thought Edwin would be this easy to handle. There would be no quick agreement from him, this contest of wills was going to be a long and drawn out affair. She would have to prove over and over again that she would not be managed by him or deterred by his discipline before he would accept that she would not be the wife he wanted and would allow her to go her own way. Obviously the idea of living separately did not yet appeal to him. It would be easier for her to do so if she avoided incurring any particularly large punishments.
The sight of his wife - finally - moving obediently to take her punishment had an effect on Edwin like he'd never experienced before. It wasn't that he wanted to punish Eleanor, at least not to the level that he felt was needful for today's transgressions, but he didn't think any man would be unaffected by the vision Eleanor presented. Completely nude, bent over the bed and braced on her forearms, her hair still in its elaborate coiffure so that the long line of her back was displayed, and the creamy swell of her buttocks being offered up for his pleasure and punishment; the throbbing in his cock was becoming painful as he struggled to control himself.
Although unintended, the wait for Edwin to move towards her was having a rather salutary effect on Eleanor. Tense anticipation wracked her and she heartily wished that she'd decided earlier to take the long road, rather than try to rush her goals with the demonstration she'd made that evening. Or she could have been more subtle. Thrown in a few dishes that she had known he liked. But no, she'd been impatient and overconfident, and too impetuously sulky to thoroughly think through the consequences of her actions.
When she finally heard the rustle of clothing as Edwin moved towards her she actually felt relieved. Waiting for her punishment was torturous, especially since she couldn't help but spend the time castigating herself and Eleanor certainly did not like to dwell on her failures. Not that she'd ever had many. She'd even handled her father better than she'd managed Edwin; what was it about the man that threw her mind so badly off center?
A finger stroked down the center of her back, making her shiver - and not with fear or cold.
"Just get it over with," she said waspishly, feeling a little flare of anger that he would try to arouse her at a time like this.
"Very well," he said, sound rather amused. Eleanor didn't dare look at his face because if he did look amused she wasn't sure she could keep a hold of her temper. Her husband's hand curved over her bottom, squeezing the flesh hard, just on the edge of roughly and she tried to ignore the heat that it kindled at her core. "First you're going to get a spanking for that dress - which you know was inappropriate. If the rest of your new wardrobe is anything like that then you will make the gowns more decent with a fichu."
Biting her lip Eleanor glared at the bed cover beneath her face. Her body was feeling rather conflicted at the moment. The way Edwin was palming her bottom was quite arousing, she felt angry all over again as he dictated how she would dress, and yet she also felt ashamed of the way she'd looked tonight in front of their guests. Despite knowing that he was correct she resented that he felt the need to inform her of what she already knew, what she'd already decided. Now it would look like she was doing it to follow his orders and not because she was intelligent enough to realize that the dress hadn't had the effect she'd intended.
"I had already decided that anyway," she muttered, unable to keep the words in even though she was sure he wouldn't believe her.
"I'm glad to hear it." There didn't seem to be any insincerity in his voice, but the approval grated on her anyway.
Blast him, she didn't need his approval.
SMACK!
Eleanor gasped and rocked forwards on her arms as Edwin's hand came down hard on her right buttock, followed by a quick cracking spank to her left.
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
