“This can’t go on.” Lysa rapped her knuckles on the table. “We should all be friends.”
“What I want is Millicent to get what’s coming for her—a thrashing would teach her,” said Jen.
“Too risky. There has to be a way for all of us girls to come together.” Lysa pursed her lips. She’d promised Blake not to stir up trouble and Jen’s attitude didn’t help. “I’ll think of something. Let’s talk about other things. Have you heard any news from Earth?”
The conversation shifted to other things, and the tension lifted as laughter returned.
Chapter Nine
The door of the pod banged shut. Lysa jumped. Slowly, and with some trepidation she turned to face Blake.
Attitude adjustment. The two words echoed in her head as she lay the tablet on the table and attempted to smile at her sour faced husband. He glanced over towards the kitchen, where the worktop lay bare and the dishes empty. A load of dirty work suits still piled before the washer untouched. Scanning around the room, he stared at the sheets on the bed left ruffled and rammed to the bottom. He shook his head and planted his hands on his hips.
Boy, did he look sexy when he was cross. She rose from the sofa, aware that she needed to greet him, but nervous about his intentions.
“How long have you been logged on?” he asked.
“Oh, a little while, I suppose.” She swivelled the ball of her foot on the floor. She kept her eyes down. The sinking feeling grew stronger. She might try to entice him with charm or playfulness, but his mood told her otherwise. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t warned her.
“Three days this week you’ve failed to keep on top of things. I checked your hours for the Green Dome and you’re close to missing out on that, too.”
She shot her head up. “I am?” She’d no idea things had gotten that bad. “I’ll go first thing tomorrow.” She didn’t want to risk being called up before the adjudicator.
“What about me, Lysa?” He took a step forward. “Promises to me.” He pointed at the dirty clothes.
“I may have gotten carried away with looking at the mining data.” Two hours a day had blossomed into nearly six. “I’ve found some discrepancies in the gas venting figures, did you know—”
He held up his hand. “Tell me about that later. First we’re going to talk about your behaviour. What did I tell you yesterday when I came home to this mess and you glued to the computer?”
“You’d give me an attitude adjustment,” she muttered under her breath.
“Didn’t hear you,” he snapped.
“Attitude adjustment,” she piped up, rocking on her toes.
Blake moved forward again. “Did I tell you what this would involve?”
She cringed at the memory of what he described to her. “Yes,” she squeaked.
“And it clearly hasn’t impacted you, has it. Perhaps the threat of the strap was not sufficient. Maybe all this fun spanking we’ve been doing over the last few weeks has made you too comfortable, too willing.”
She bit down on her lip. She’d thought she would detest the strap the first time he used it, but he’d swung it without force and it had kissed her buttocks, making a resounding thwack, but not as painful as she envisioned. What was he suggesting? Something harsher? Her pulse quickened. Maybe, she’d been lax with her chores, however, did her attitude warrant a punishment?
“I don’t think I’ve been disobedient, a little distracted perhaps, but it won’t take long for me to sort this all out.” She picked up the bed sheet and swept it back over the mattress, tucking it in.
Blake coughed. “You’re missing the point, Lysa. I asked you to do it yesterday, and three days ago and each time you promised to stay on top of things. You haven’t. This is disobedience. In fact, I would call it defiance.”
She straightened up. “Defiance. Don’t exaggerate. I’m not that bad.” She attempted to placate him with a flutter of her eyelashes. “Naughty, maybe?”
“That’s enough!” He stepped forward and grabbed her arm. “This stops now.”
To her mortification, he pulled the dress off her shoulders, stripping her bare. She covered her breasts with her arms. “Blake, please don’t punish me.”
“Needs must. And you need it.” He went to the closet and gathered a few items in his hands.
Lysa’s eyes widened as she saw what he held. The strap she expected, it was what he’d threatened to punish her with, but the shackles!
“Lie on the bed, spread wide,” he commanded.