Hugh dug into his pocket and pulled
out several notes, slapping them down into Edwin's palm.
"So what did you do?" Edwin asked,
curious. "Whatever it was, it definitely set her on
edge."
The smile that stretched across
Wesley's face was pure, smug, male satisfaction. "I just used
the little implements that I brought back from India. There's
nothing like filling a woman's bottom to make it quite clear who
the Master of the House is."
Edwin guffawed as Hugh shook his
head.
"I don't need that to assert myself as
Master of the House," Hugh said. "Other than the oils, I
haven't used your wedding gift at all."
"You don't know what you're missing,"
Edwin said, his eyes gleaming as Hugh pretended to try and cover
his ears, a useless exploit since he refused to let go of his
brandy while he did so. Before Edwin had married his sister,
Hugh hadn't minded hearing about his exploits, but now he preferred
not to know the details. Laughing, Edwin leaned towards
Wesley, whispering loudly as Hugh pretended temporary deafness.
"I haven't used the dilators yet, but I've gotten a bit of
use out of your other gifts."
"At least someone is,"
Wesley said, grinning. Although he wasn't entirely surprised.
Hugh had been the one to first introduce himself and Edwin to
the idea of feminine discipline, when he'd invited them to watch
Eleanor receive a birching from her father, but in many ways he was
a prude. Edwin was far more adventurous, even if he hadn't
reached the level that Wesley had yet. While it was strange
to think about Edwin and Eleanor together that way, it didn't
bother him the way it did Hugh.
"I don't need such sundry
instruments to discipline my wife," Hugh said loftily. "All
Irene needs is a spanking now and then to keep her in
line."
"This coming from the man who wanted a
wife he didn't have to discipline at all," Wesley reminded
him.
"Well... I have found that
it does have some benefits." Hugh smirked and gave them a
significant look. "After all, disciplining a wife is very different
from disciplining a family member."
"I should hope so," Edwin
muttered, considering that it was his own wife's bottom that Hugh
had learned on. But, he still remembered how unaffected Hugh
had been when he'd brought Wesley and Edwin in to watch Eleanor's
birching. Not having a sister of his own, Edwin couldn't
quite imagine what it must be like to discipline someone he wasn’t
interested in sexually, but he knew how shocked Hugh had been by
his own reaction when it was Irene under his hand instead of a
family member.
All three men sipped at their brandy,
contemplating their marriages. Hugh was smugly happy, having
received everything he wanted and more from his marriage to Irene.
His redheaded goddess was sweetness and passion, and he
enjoyed slowly breaking through her demure walls. Still
uncertain over Eleanor's behavior, Edwin had been much happier with
his wife since their retreat to Bath; she seemed to have calmed
down considerably after their first few days in town. The
atmosphere here seemed much more conducive to their happiness than
London had. He was in alt over her conception, and was
looking forward to when she finally confirmed it and they could
celebrate.
Wesley, like any
soon-to-be married man was thinking about his upcoming wedding
night, as well as what life would be like once his little hellion
was his wife. Dark fantasies shifted around his head, all of
which had sprung up since he'd belted and buggered his fiancé and
she'd so obviously enjoyed it.
None of them wanted to share their
current thoughts, however, so the conversation quickly turned to
Wesley's company and the trade with India. Much safer topics
altogether.
******
The Countess reigned supreme over the
conversation between the ladies, which meant that only socially
conventional topics were discussed. Irene, like her husband,
was somewhat disappointed by Cynthia's decorum. However,
unlike Hugh,