Chapter Six
Jean-Michel took a shower and got dressed to go downstairs. Darby was curled up in the window seat ignoring him. He walked over to her and stroked her hair. She pushed his hand away. He responded by bringing her off the window seat, sitting down, and pulling her across his knee.
“Naughty mate. Haven’t I warned you about pushing at my hands when they stroke you?” He quickly spanked her ten times as she tried desperately to get away from him. His hand reignited the heat he had created earlier when spanking her. “Answer me, Darby.”
“Bastard.”
“Mate. Answer me or do you need another reminder?”
“No,” she said quickly. “I’m not to push your hands away.”
“Good girl.” He stood and grinned as he saw her nipples were quickly hardening with arousal. He leaned down to give each of her nipples a quick kiss. “Give me a kiss.”
She stood naked in his arms. She truly despised him and her body’s response to him. Her nipples were getting hard and she could feel she was getting wet. He quirked his eyebrow at her; the question and threat of another quick spanking did not need to be verbalized.
“Fine,” she said and kissed him. She’d meant it only to be a light pressing of her lips to his, but he caught her behind her head and pulled her close so he could deepen the kiss. She hated the way her body acted in response to his physical presence.
When he’d finished his leisurely plundering of her mouth, he let her step back. He was grinning from ear to ear. She deliberately drew the back of her hand across her mouth.
He shook his head and laughed. “Naughty mate. I will address that behavior tonight when I return. I will have something sent up to you.”
“I don’t want anything but to get away from you.”
“But you will never get away from me. We are fated mates. I will always find you. And remember what I told you. Run from me and resist my call? You will find yourself with a welted bottom for your trouble. Now be a good girl. I look forward to having the wanton vixen I had beneath me earlier present when I return.”
Jean-Michel crossed the room and went out the door, locking it behind him. Darby looked around and could only find his clothes. She slipped the shirt back on and went back to the window seat.
* * *
Jean-Michel stopped in the kitchen on his way to where the guests were gathering. He spoke quickly with Dylan’s excellent chef, asking him to ensure that the two men guarding Darby were fed. He asked that Darby be given whatever she wanted.
His men and his mate’s needs seen to, he joined the others. He made his way to Skylar to introduce himself and to assure her of his mate’s well-being. He also asked to speak privately with Dylan and Skylar after the party broke up.
His beta, JD, had spoken with him at dinner and told him that he felt called to Megan. When Jean-Michel had congratulated him, JD had reminded him that the girls of Bae Diogel were to go to different packs and to alphas if at all possible. Jean-Michel had laughed and reminded him that their pack had been kidnapping willing women for hundreds of years and that he saw no reason to stop now if the need arose.
After dinner, Skylar offered to show him to Dylan’s study. He followed her into the study and closed the doors behind him.
“Let us be honest with each other,” Jean-Michel said, hoping to allay her concerns. “You are not happy about any of this, save maybe finding your own mate. You are concerned for your girls and most likely at this moment for my Darby.”
“How honest would you like me to be?”
He laughed. “As honest as you want. This conversation and the way it is delivered goes no further than me.”
“Then yes, I’m quite concerned about Darby. The bastard she was previously mated to beat her repeatedly. You should have taken care with how you disciplined her. Did anyone tell you any of her background?”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Not until this afternoon. I know that the bastard to whom she was mated before beat her. Dylan sent detailed dossiers on each of the girls to those of us who were invited. I must confess, I only scanned them. Having gone back and read Darby’s, there is mention of her abuse. But she is not the delicate, traumatized victim you would make her out to be. She took her spanking quite well. Oh, she kicked and cursed and carried on like you girls are wont to do, but she never showed an ounce of fear. She knows she deserved to be spanked for her little escapade this afternoon. She heard me call to her. She ran anyway. She is my life mate. Seeing that bastard’s mark on her is repugnant to me, but I know being marked by me is repugnant to her so I would ask for your insight on whether or not to mark her tonight as my own.”
“And if I were to tell you that she would hate you forever if you forced your mark on her?”
He laughed again. “I would tell you that was impossible. No one can hate me for long if I choose to be charming. And I assure you, I will use all of my charm on my mate. She said it would not, but I would ask you, would it make her heart more at ease to know the bastard who harmed her was dead?”
“Would you kill him for her?”
“Within the space of a heartbeat.”
After a brief discussion that Jean-Michel found informative, Dylan joined them. “My apologies for keeping you waiting. I see my mate has been entertaining you.”
“Enlightening as well as entertaining. You are well matched to your mate, my friend. She will be an excellent addition to your pack as my Darby will be to mine. To that end, I wondered if you had given any thought to placing another of your girls within my pack? I thought perhaps with a member of her former pack, it might make transitioning back into a more traditional pack easier for her.”
“The Ruling Council wouldn’t care for it, nor would a number of the men here. As it is there aren’t enough to go around.” Dylan leaned over and kissed Skylar. “And I know, your girls aren’t candy to be passed around. But you didn’t find the rest of them objectionable, did you?”
“No; quite the contrary, with the exception of that rogue from New Orleans, they seemed a rather likeable lot,” Skylar said.
“You wound me, mistress,” Jean-Michel laughed.
Dylan chuckled as well. “I can’t get them right all of the time.” Then he sobered. “Did you have anyone in mind?”
“I would be open to any of them. They’re all lovely. Some a bit more spirited than others, but nothing that we can’t handle. I brought three of my unmated men with me but have another five at home.” He smiled. “I must say that all three of the men with me have expressed a strong interest in being gifted with any of these girls, but one I think may have heard a calling.”
“Your beta?”
Jean-Michel nodded. “Indeed. I would choose to see him mated. As you well know, a strong beta is an alpha’s best asset notwithstanding a beautiful mate. And the strongest beta is one well mated.”
Skylar laughed at him. He grinned at her. “But a good beta keeps his alpha safe.”
“But what is safety compared to her who loves you and keeps you warm at night?” asked Jean-Michel in a voice dripping with honeyed molasses.
Both Dylan and Skylar laughed out loud. Dylan turned to Skylar. “Darby doesn’t stand a chance. He’ll win her over in no time.”
Skylar nodded in agreement. “So, who has he set his eye on?”
“Megan.”
Jean-Michel made his case for his beta being allowed to take Megan as his mate. Dylan asked leave to discuss the matter with his mate as well as the ranking members of his pack. Jean-Michel was not unaware that allowing this might well cause Dylan trouble.
Jean-Michel went to find JD and apprise him of the situation. They were out on the patio and saw one of Dylan’s men fetch Megan to his study.
JD immediately became concerned.
“Have a care, mon ami,” said Jean-Michel. “If Megan answers them truthfully, I am confident we will have their blessing. And if not, we will simply abscond in the night with our mates and they are welcome to visit us in New Orleans.”
JD laughed. “You really do have pirate blood in you!”
Jean-Michel smiled. “I do indeed. But I wish they would get on with it. I feel my mate needs me.”
“Are you that far gone that you can’t be parted from her?”
“Partly, yes. But more to the point, she’s up there alone in our room. She’s already proven capable of slipping her leash.”
“Perhaps you should have left her naked and tied to your bed.”
“The thought does have a certain appeal. But I’m trying more to persuade her rather than force the issue.”
“And you paddling her backside… is that your idea of persuasion?”
Jean-Michel laughed. “As a matter of fact it is… and it worked very well, I spent a most enjoyable afternoon between my mate’s thighs hearing her call my name. Gods, is there anything sweeter?”
“No, my friend. I am very happy for you. I only hope…”
His thought was interrupted by Matthew, who was searching for them. “Dylan would like to see you both in the study.”
Both men accompanied him back to Dylan’s study. JD looked visibly concerned until they entered the room and Megan beamed at him and flung herself across the room and into his arms.
Jean-Michel laughed and clapped his hands together. “I take it, my friend Dylan, that you have granted my request to allow my pack to claim two of the lovely ladies from Bae Diogel?”
“I think it’s that or they run off together.”
“God, I’d hate to have to look for another beta. This one has had my back since we were boys.” He turned to Megan. “I take it the idea of being mated to this great sot you have your arms around is not totally reprehensible to you?”
“No, Alpha. Thank you.”
“Jean-Michel, little one. And ‘tis my pleasure to welcome you into our family. Dylan, would you like to make an announcement in the morning and have them wait until then to have JD claim her?”
“No, Jean-Michel. I would have the girls that were of Bae Diogel know that if their heart is called to someone here, I would see them happily mated.”
JD disengaged himself from Megan. He approached Dylan. “Thank you. I will keep her safe and well loved.”
Nick laughed. “You should also see her well spanked. Don’t let her fool you, she did not exactly settle in without a fight, did you?” he said, grinning at her.
“Perhaps it was the wrong beta who was trying to tell me what to do,” she teased.
Skylar excused herself and went to find something with which to celebrate. As they left the study, Jean-Michel said, “Do not worry about the shift you were to take this evening, my friend. See to your mate’s well-being… and see her marked. It may make some of the alphas accept your pairing more easily.”
JD embraced his friend. “I have no words, Jean-Michel.”
“That’s because none are needed.” He leaned down and kissed Megan on the cheek. “Best you learn to mind your mate.”
Megan took his hands in hers and rubbed her cheek along them. “Yes, Jean-Michel. I won’t give you cause to regret this. Thank you.”
He smiled and watched them head to JD’s room. He turned back to his own, anticipating the night ahead. He began to suppress the knot that had formed. Normally it would be difficult for an alpha to fight both the need to mark his mate and to bury his knot deeply within her, but for now, the need to reassure Darby that she was his beloved and not just a vessel for his pleasure was his most pressing need.
He greeted his man outside the door to his suite and sent him to bed, assuring him that he would handle his feisty mate now that he had returned. Jean-Michel opened the door and immediately felt and smelled the ocean breeze through the open window and saw that the sheets had been knotted together to make a rope. He couldn’t decide whether to laugh or rage at her ingenuity.
He crossed the room quickly and looked out. She had not made it very far. She had the makeshift rope she was using gathered up around her, only letting it out as she needed to scale down the wall. Jean-Michel took hold of the other end and began to pull her back in, shouting to his man on the ground to guard the ground in case she jumped and tried to make a run for it.
Darby wailed “No!” as Jean-Michel began to reel her back in. Once he had her safely in the window and the window locked, he turned to her.
“Naughty mate. What did I tell you about trying to run from me?”
“I hate you and I will escape from your clutches.”
In spite of his annoyance with her attempt to leave him, he couldn’t help but laugh. “My clutches? You are a most entertaining mate, even when I’m not enjoying myself by making use of all you have to offer,” he said as he ran a finger down her body from the hollow of her throat to just above the apex of her thighs.
“Don’t do that,” she said and slapped at his hand as her nipples hardened in response.
The smile on his face told her that her response had not gone unnoticed.
“And now in addition to having to punish you for your foolishness with the window, it seems we will have to revisit you pushing or slapping my hands away when I choose to touch you. You, my mate, will find that even an aborted attempt to flee will result in a welted bottom for you.”
“No.”
“Yes. Take my shirt off and go stand in the corner.”
“No, Jean-Michel.”
“Did you think that I would not punish you for going out a window on a makeshift rope, which could have caused you grievous injury?”
“I didn’t really think about it.”
“Well, a good welting should ensure that you’ll think before acting foolishly in the future. I told you to get naked and go stand in the corner. I will not tell you again without you incurring additional punishment.” He pointed to the corner. “Go.”
Darby was finding it hard to reconcile the stern man before her with the man who had brought her so much pleasure earlier in the day. She walked forward and mimicked his gesture of running her finger down his body. She smiled seductively.
“Isn’t there something you’d rather be doing with me?” she said as she moved closer to him and offered her mouth to his.
He bent his head and kissed her deeply, enjoying both the taste of her and her response. She wrapped her arms around him and molded her body to his. His body responded as his already hard cock began to throb. He wanted nothing more than to sweep her up in his arms, take her to their bed, and make love to her for the remainder of the night. However, he knew that she needed him to be strong enough to correct her behavior regardless of how much he wanted her.
As their mouths parted, she was smiling. That was her undoing. He knew that she believed she could seduce her way out of a punishment. He would need to prove her wrong. He began to slowly unbutton her shirt. She purred and nuzzled his neck and brought her hands up so she could bring his mouth back to hers.
He slid her arms out of the sleeves of his shirt and removed it from her body. Once again, his beautiful mate was naked in his embrace. He ran his hands possessively over her buttocks. She winced slightly but rubbed herself along his groin. He growled low in his throat. She was a seductive minx.
He grabbed a handful of her blonde hair, tilting her head back. “I can’t wait to bed you again, mate, but let us first see to your welting.”
“Wh… What?”
He chuckled. “Does my mate think so little of me that she believes I would forego her need for correction to see to my own needs? Fear not, my beloved, I am no such man. Your need for me to prove my love and devotion by seeing to your punishment before seeking my own pleasure will not go unmet.”
He walked toward their bed. Once he sat down on its edge, he pulled her struggling body across his knee.
“No, Jean-Michel. You can’t do this to me.”
“I can and will.” He brought his hand down on her already sore bottom.
“You bastard!”
“Mate!” he corrected her. He continued to spank her—harder with each strike. She thrashed and kicked, trying to get away, but again could not get away from him. “I warned you earlier that if you tried to run from me, I would welt your backside for your trouble. I do not make idle threats.”
He spanked her with both care and strength. Her already sore bottom colored more deeply and swiftly than it had this afternoon. Heat radiated over her entire backside. Again and again he struck the fullest part of her cheeks. Her bottom bounced under his hand. The pain he was inflicting increased as he continued to spank her. She squirmed and struggled, trying to get away from him, but it did no good.
Darby realized that her fighting him was futile. She longed to be able to go to that dark place where nothing could touch her. She was beginning to understand that somehow, she was joined to Jean-Michel and that she might never be parted from him while she drew breath.
Jean-Michel could feel her surrender to his punishment. He stopped striking her bottom and allowed her to catch her breath as he rubbed her backside. She began to cry, silent tears of anguish. It was all he could do not to gather her in his arms and make love to her to assure her of his heart and her place within it.
“I hate you,” she said softly.
“No, mate, you do not. In time you will be able to admit as such, but for now I will take no offense at your words given in grief at what you think you have lost.”
“I have lost everything…”
“You have lost nothing, my beloved, and gained everything. The sooner you allow yourself to believe that and embrace your new future, the sooner our time on our bed will be spent in more pleasurable pursuits.”
Darby felt his hands leave her body and hated that she longed for them to remain. She heard him unbuckle his belt and the belt slide from its loops.
“No, Jean-Michel, please.”
She started to get up but was stopped when he put his one hand on her upper back, gently pushing her back down.
“No, mate. I promised you a welting should you try to run again. You not only tried to run away, but you could have seriously injured yourself with your thwarted attempt to do so out the window. I cannot allow you to continue these foolish stunts of yours.”
“Jean-Michel, please don’t. He used to use a belt on me. He beat me so hard that I could barely move and it took my back weeks to heal.”
Jean-Michel growled in his throat. His mate might not want her former mate dead, but he did. He would see to it once he had Darby settled in New Orleans with him.
“You will never be beaten. Spanked, yes, when you misbehave and welted when it is deserved, but only on your pretty bottom. And you do have a lovely bottom. But you need to learn that when I tell you something, you can believe it. I understand you are afraid, but you need to learn to trust that while I may punish you for misbehavior, you will never be harmed again.”
“You bastard.”
He laughed enjoying that her spirit had returned. He far preferred the spitting wildcat over his knee. “Mate. You are going to learn to use my proper designation when referring to me. Either mate or alpha.” She began to try to wrestle away from him. He swatted her once more with his hand. “Settle down, Darby. I am going to welt you. But if you behave and accept your correction, it will only be five. Continue to fight, and I will give you a full ten.”
“I will never forgive you.”
“I am doing nothing that needs your forgiveness.”
“You’re going to deliberately give me welts.”
“Yes, for misbehaving after I specifically told you that I would should you choose to misbehave again. I do not want to have to keep you under lock and key, but I will do so until you show me that you have accepted that we are fated mates and will cease trying to flee. Do you want to accept the five strokes or do you need me to give you all ten?”
“I hate you.”
“You do not. Choose, Darby. If you don’t, I will choose for you. I will assume that you need the full ten to assure you of my devotion.”
“All right, you win. Just the five.”
“Good girl. See? That wasn’t so difficult. Such a pretty bottom, I hate to have to lay welts across it, but you need to learn before you injure yourself.”
Without any further warning, he brought his belt down across both of her butt cheeks. She screamed in fury as much as in pain. Jean-Michel did not wish to draw out her punishment and delivered the remaining four in rapid succession. Darby writhed as each strike wrapped across both of her butt cheeks and laid down a line of fiery agony. Darby was spent and crying when he’d finished. He gathered her up and brought her into his lap where she collapsed against him and allowed him to comfort her.
“I know, mate. I wish you had chosen to behave so that I did not have to do that to you. If there is a next time, I will not be as lenient. I should make you go stand in the corner and think about why choosing to behave is always a better idea than choosing to be naughty.”
He rocked her in his arms, cradled against him. He stroked her back and held her, murmuring words of comfort and love to her until her crying stopped.
“Feel better, mate?” he asked softly.
“I hate you.”
Instead of getting angry, he laughed out loud. “At some point, mate, I’m going to take offense to that and you’ll find yourself with a mouth full of soap to go with that sore bottom.”
He reached up and took her nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
“No,” she said, hating that her nipple was responding as was the rest of her body. She prayed that he would not put his hand between her legs. She was highly aroused and she was drenched.
Jean-Michel leaned her back and took her nipple into his mouth, sucking and nipping it lightly. He smiled as she moaned in pleasure. She began to struggle anew as he reached down between her thighs and stroked her clit, chuckling at the sharp intake of her breath. His finger continued down to her pussy and was pleased to find how wet she was.
He stood up with her in his arms and set her on her feet. Running his hand down the front of her body, he reached between them to play with her clit while suckling on her nipples. She moaned and fought halfheartedly to get away from him. He slid his other hand down her back to rest lightly on her derriere.
“Shit, Jean-Michel. Don’t start something you can’t finish.”
He laughed. “You’re standing close enough to me to know that I am more than able to finish what I’m starting. And you will always be fucked when I’ve finished punishing you.”
She shook her head. “There’s no way I can lie on my back or ride you.”
He kissed her and smiled. “You will only be allowed to ride me as a special treat. You do not need to get any silly notions about your place in our bed. It will most always be beneath me or in front of me. The latter of which shouldn’t prove too uncomfortable for you. Certainly less uncomfortable than I will be without easing my need for you.” He led her back to their bed. “On your knees, Darby.”
“Jean-Michel, no.”
“Darby, yes. You are my mate and you will not fight me on my giving us both the pleasure and release we need that resulted from your foolishness. I said on your knees.” He gave her a push toward the middle of the bed.
Darby crawled onto the bed on all fours. Jean-Michel got on the bed on his knees behind her and opened his fly. His now fully erect cock pointed right at her glistening pussy. He wasted no time in sinking balls deep into her warmth. As he made contact with her welted bottom she tried to move away. He grasped her hips and pulled her back.
“That hurts,” she gasped.
“I’m sure it does,” he soothed, “but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to have you or that I will not make you call my name in your pleasure.”
He began stroking her none too gently. He watched as she struggled between trying to move away from the contact he made with her welts when he surged forward and the pleasure she received as he did so. He moved within her and relished her response.
He stroked her hard and felt her pussy begin to contract around him. He groaned in response. Darby was incredibly responsive and he gloried in it. He could feel her begin to orgasm and stroked her harder. The strength of her climax caused her to crumple beneath him. It was only his grip on her pelvis and his cock buried deep within her that prevented her from totally collapsing. Without giving her any respite or chance to recover, he stroked her faster to bring her to another. He increased the frenzy of their coupling so that he could finish with her the second time she came calling his name. Then he withdrew from her and she fell onto her belly. Jean-Michel quickly stripped out of his clothes, sprawled on his back beside her, and pulled her to him.
He pushed her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ears. He was surprised to see tears on her cheeks. He leaned over her and wiped them away. “What troubles you, beloved?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“But you are my beloved, and you will see in time that I am yours. Talk to me, Darby. I would have us share all things.”
“No,” she said as she lay on her side, turning away from him.
He snuggled up behind her, careful now not to press too tightly against her welts. He draped one arm around her middle and held her close as he nuzzled her neck. “In time, beloved, you will turn toward me when you are in distress instead of away. Until then, I will hold you close so that you know I am here.”