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The little sniffles that accompanied her reply somehow made him even more aroused. "Because I threw things at you. And insulted you."
"You acted like a child, throwing a tantrum, didn't you?"
"Yes." It was said resentfully, but at least she admitted it.
"We need to talk, Grace. This wasn't quite how I planned on doing it, but since you've forced my hand - literally - I think this might be the best time."
Grace wanted to die. Not because her bottom hurt so much, although it did, but because she couldn't imagine a worse time for the discussion that they'd both known was coming. Hanging over his lap, with a freshly beaten bottom? She started to wriggle.
"Let me up!"
SMACK! SMACK!
He landed a blow on each cheek, making her shriek, although she immediately went still afterwards. Alex returned to running his hand over her reddened rump, patting and gently caressing the tender, red flesh.
"I think I like you right here, where I can make sure you listen. Now. Apparently you've talked to Peters. I will admit, I made mistakes when you left me. I was prideful and arrogant. I should have gone after you, rather than trying to make you jealous and trying to force you to come to me. I chose the wrong woman to make that point with, and when I became angry that you'd taken a lover, I chose wrongly, again. Not just in my choice of mistress, but in taking a mistress at all. Again, I should have come after you." He allowed his regret to fill his voice. "I cannot express how much I wish I had. I'm your husband. I should have never let you run wild the way you did and I take full responsibility for that. I am sorry for all the pain those women caused you. I wish I had never put them in a position to be able to do so."
His voice was so sincere, Grace found herself confused. She was also a bit peeved at his taking responsibility for letting her 'run wild,' even though it was his fault she'd taken it in her head to do so. Still, his apology about the women was entirely sincere. As was his admission that he should have come after her.
"It wouldn't have made a difference."
Alex's hand stilled. "What?"
"It wouldn't have made a difference if you'd come after me," Grace said, fighting against the part of her that wanted to give in and forgive him. The part of her that had apparently forgotten how much he'd hurt her. "You couldn't have said anything that would have made a difference."
"Why not? Why did you leave, Grace? I've never understood that. You called us foolish... told me I was a liar... and you've never explained." The frustration in his voice was accompanied by fingers digging into her flesh, sparking little flashes of pain in her stinging bottom. Grace wriggled, panting, and the tight grip of his fingers relaxed. "Why did you leave me, Gracie?" The pain in his voice set off her temper again.
"I didn't think you would care!" Bitter fury engulfed her again. Somehow it was easier to say everything when she couldn't see his face; when she was over his knee, her poor bottom throbbing from the spanking he'd given her, she could just shout out her emotions to the floor. "After all, one woman is as good as another, isn't she?"
"What the hell does that mean?"
"That's what you said to my father!" Grace started to struggle again, tears filling her already swollen eyes. She could barely believe that she had any left to shed. "You and my father, bastards, both of you, congratulating yourselves on your damned business deal... he got me off his hands and you got a wife. It wouldn't have mattered who your wife was, you didn't care, but at least you got some extra benefit out of marrying me because of that damned arrangement!"
Something clicked inside of Alex's head. The hazy memory of a conversation from so very long ago, when Grace's father had come to talk to Alex after they'd returned from their honeymoon. Although Alex had never particularly cared for the Duke, the deal they'd arranged had been highly lucrative on both sides. Yes, Grace had come as part of that bargain, but...
SMACK!
SMACK!
SMACK!
He spanked her already pained bottom until she stopped struggling again, taking the time to get his chaotic thoughts under control, until she hung limply again.
"I hate you."
Alex's heart contracted. "You listen to me, Grace Eileen Greville, and you listen to me good. Your father is an unmitigated arse. At times, I may behave like one too, but I definitely cared who I took to wife. I wanted you. Not any of your sisters or any other woman, just you. But when you're making a deal, you don't show your hand. You should know that from all the shopping you do. The less interest you show, the better off you are. If your father had known how much I wanted you, he would have wrung me dry in the financial part of the bargain. When you heard that conversation, the papers hadn't been finalized yet. I couldn't let him know how I felt about you because there were still some small details being worked out in the deal. You were the best part of that deal. No matter how much money I made from it."
Silence hung in the room, only broken by Grace's sniffles.
"Do you believe me?" Alex asked, after a few minutes, his chest tightening with worry. She didn't answer.
SMACK!
"Answer me, Grace."
"I don't know."
The sad, soft little voice was one he'd never heard from her before. Immediately, Alex had her pulled up onto his lap, cuddling her close. The heat of her bottom pressed against his erection, but he had no im
