Chapter Fifteen
Cassandra
I felt like I was moving in slow motion, existing in another dimension. I’d learned of the existence of magical daggers and crystals. I had been living in a castle I’d not known existed, had met relatives of my husband’s that I already considered my family as well. Hell, I’d discovered that my husband had the ability to transform into a wolf—had seen it with my own eyes, but not a single one of those things had shocked me as this was doing. And yet, I didn’t know why it was so surprising.
The moment I’d met Deo, I’d known he was the man for me, the one I wished to spend the rest of my life with. Yet, the moment I’d met Draco, I’d felt something akin to that same emotion. There had been a spark, buried, but nevertheless, felt by me. Looking up and seeing the determination on his face told me he was serious, but it was the look in his eyes that had my hands sliding off my ass. No, I’d never imagined this scenario, but now, facing this very moment, something inside my very soul told me it was the only decision to make. With my hands at my sides, I nodded.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“I’m very glad to hear that,” Draco said, his tone a bit softer than before but the steel was still there. “Now, lower your pants, turn around, and bend over the chair.”
I might have accepted the inevitable, but that didn’t keep my hands from trembling as I hooked my fingers into the waistband of my pants. It didn’t stop the shuddering breath I took as I lowered my clothing in front of another man. Once they were at my knees, I twirled toward the chair and threw myself over the padded arm, laying my cheek down on the cushion. From this embarrassing position, I could see my husband watching me. There was no jealousy, no rancor, no judgment. With his eyes locked on mine, I could read the look in their depths. I saw approval—pride that I’d obeyed my guardian. The look allowed me to take a deep breath, to unclench my fists, calm my trembling. Until, that was, I felt a presence behind me. And when fingers hooked my panties, dragging them down and over the hillocks of my ass to join my pants at my knees, well… I knew that neither man could fault me when I held my breath, clenched my fingers, and began to tremble anew.
“I’m going to warm you up with my hand, Cassie, and then I’m going to give you twenty with the paddle. Place your hands around the cushion and keep your feet down. I truly do not wish to add to your strokes.”
I nodded, slipping my arms under the cushion and planting my feet firmly. I felt my top being pushed up further, held in place when Draco pressed his palm into the small of my back.
“Tell me why I’m going to spank you, Cassie.”
I had grown accustomed to hearing the request from Deo, but this was a different man, and he used a different name. I almost smiled. I was Cassandra to my more formal husband, and Cassie, to a man he considered closer than a brother. Somehow it made it easier for me.
“I disobeyed you, sir.”
“You also broke a promise to me, didn’t you?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, I promised to stay at the table and I didn’t. I-I didn’t even stay in the castle,” I confessed.
“No, you didn’t, but that is for Deo to address. For now, let this spanking teach you that when I give you an order, I expect you to obey it without argument.” I felt his free hand settle over my bottom, his fingers splaying to almost completely cover both my cheeks. “Notice I did not say without question, Cassie. I know you are curious. I understand you will have questions. I, along with everyone here will be glad to answer those questions if we can and at the appropriate time. But first, you must learn that your obedience is never to be questioned. You will obey or you will pay a price each and every time, understand?”
“Y-yes, sir.” I was finding it a bit hard to breathe; Draco’s voice so stern, so unyielding, so… dominant.
His hand lifted and then came down with a crack that startled me as it sounded like a gunshot. Before I could even gasp, the second stroke came. His hand was huge and hard. Where Deo generally paused between each stroke, Draco’s hand moved to rapidly cover every inch of my flesh. But despite the difference in application, the result was the same. My ass began to heat, the fire burning hotter with every stroke.
“Please!” I shouted, arching my head back. “It hurts!”
“Spankings hurt,” Draco said, not even pausing, his palm cracking down yet again. “Disobedience is a choice, and the wrong choice earns you a hot ass.”
I wailed when his hand changed direction, striking upward right beneath my right cheek, lifting the flesh of my buttock to smack against the sensitive area where my bottom became thigh. My foot kicked up, but when he barked, “Feet down!” I instantly lowered it to the floor. I clutched the cushion like a drowning victim would a life ring, praying that salvation would soon be forthcoming. When the spanking ended, I was blinking back tears, determined to accept my discipline with dignity. That was until I saw Deo move to open a drawer in the desk by the window… or to be clear, to see what was in his hand when he pulled it free. I’d totally forgotten my guardian had said his hand would just be used to ‘warm me up’. I’d forgotten about the paddling I still had coming. But it was clear that neither man had.
“Thank you,” Draco said, accepting the implement.
“You’re welcome,” my husband said, moving again but not back to where he’d been standing. No, he moved to squat on the other side of the chair in which I was so embarrassingly upturned.
“Give me your hands, Cassandra.”
Looking up, blinking to clear the sheen of tears from my eyes, I saw his hands on the arm of the chair, his fingers open, palms waiting. I slid my arms from beneath the cushion and placed my hands in his. As his fingers closed around mine, giving them a gentle squeeze, I felt a connection that didn’t just embrace him and me—it included the man still behind me, and it just felt right.
“I-I’m ready, sirs,” I said softly, addressing them both.
“Good girl,” Deo said, bending to press a kiss to my fingers of each hand before lifting his head and giving a nod.
“Twenty, Cassie,” Draco reminded. “Count each one and let them teach you that you are so very important to me. That I would rather die than to see you hurt, but I will never hesitate to set your ass on fire if that is what it takes to keep you safe.” He paused and I felt his fingers lift a strand of my hair to tuck it behind my ear. Turning my head toward him, I saw a look in his eyes that had my heart skipping a beat, memories of the first time our eyes met running through me. He smiled, gently running his fingertip down my face. “It is my duty to discipline you, but it is my greatest honor to love you, Cassie.”
I heard every word and knew without a doubt that each one was spoken truthfully. And while I had known there was something between us, I hadn’t truly expected it to be love… but it was. I’d never truly considered how a person could love more than one other to this depth, but I didn’t have to understand it to know it was exactly what I felt. “I love you too,” I said, laying my cheek down on the cushion, submitting to not only his discipline, but a shift in our very lives.
It was awful. Each time the paddle landed, I couldn’t help but cry out, squeezing Deo’s fingers with all my might, my count of each one coming more slowly, the numbers recited in an ever intensifying shaky voice, but I did accept each stroke, never missing a count. When I finally cried out, “Twenty!” I heard the paddle hit the floor and felt my hands being given a final squeeze.
Tears weren’t the only thing flowing down my face. My nose was runny, and I was sure I looked horrible. Yet, when Deo stood, bent forward to kiss my forehead and then stepped away, it wasn’t he who lifted me off the arm of the chair. It was Draco who helped me stand, but only long enough to turn me, to lift me up, and to settle me on his lap as he took a seat in the chair. I leaned against his chest, his arms tight around me as he allowed me to calm from the punishment.
“Shh, you’re fine,” he assured me softly, his lips pressing into my hair. “You took your paddling very well, Cassie.” After several minutes in which I ceased crying, my tears becoming sniffles instead, he set me up on his lap and pressed a handkerchief to my cheeks, wiping my tears away.
“Promise me you will not go outside of these walls again without Deo or me.”
“Okay,” I whispered softly.
Draco shook his head. “I cannot hear you. Speak clearly.”
“I promise, Draco,” I said louder.
His face relaxed. “Do not let this be a promise that you break.” Leaning in, Draco placed a chaste kiss on my forehead, hugging me close for a long moment. Sitting me up again, he smiled, and I returned it without hesitation.
“Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. “Be as good for Deo as you were for me and then your slate shall be clean.”
Oh, God! The fact that I still had to face my husband’s discipline had totally slipped my mind. All I could do was whimper, which earned me a soft smile.
“I promise, you will not only survive, but you will feel better,” Draco said.
“Easy for you to say,” I murmured, but knew he was right this time just as he had been that night when he’d first said those words. After another quick kiss to the top of my head, Draco stood and set me on my feet and when he released me, it wasn’t even a second before Deo’s arms were around me instead. Giving us both a nod, Draco left the room, the latch clicking behind him.