‘But you knew you had this coming?’
‘I wasn’t sure what the judge meant by corporal punishment.’
‘Ah.’ Allyson exchanged a significant look with Richard. ‘This is what comes of banning the cane in schools. None of them know the right terms any more.’
Richard shook his head, reaching inside a cupboard in the Welsh dresser to remove the implements Allyson had called for.
‘You will be answerable to all three of us, thirty nine, and so each of us is going to give you an introductory punishment, just to give you a taste of what you have to come. Unless, of course, you behave absolutely impeccably. But nobody ever does, alas.’
Allyson almost winked and Emma found herself slipping out of role, her lips twitching upwards. The sight of Richard with the strap, paddle and cane was mouthwatering. She thought of his strong, suited arm, reaching back, stopping for a quivering moment then speeding down with its special delivery.
Deliver me to evil.
She smiled in earnest at the stray thought, eliciting an immediate frown from Allyson.
‘Something amuses you? See if you find this funny.’ She took the wooden paddle from Richard and slammed it down on the desk so Emma jumped high in the air and clamped a hand to her mouth, suppressing a shriek.
Blake re-entered the room, carrying a kind of padded step-ladder affair with leather cuffs attached at strategic points.
All attention was turned to him as he set it down in the middle of the room and beckoned Emma towards him.
‘You’re really going to?’ said Emma haltingly.
Blake laughed. ‘Didn’t you know?’
‘Apparently she thought “corporal punishment” was something to do with the army,’ drawled Allyson. ‘But realisation is dawning, isn’t it, thirty nine?’
‘Yes, ma’am, but—’ She turned tragic eyes to her lover, but received only a pitiless stare in return.
‘If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime,’ said Allyson softly.
‘Maybe prison after all?’
‘Uh-uh. Too late for that. You’ve signed the consent form.’
‘But I didn’t know!’
‘Oh, come on,’ said Richard. ‘You would have had all of this explained by your lawyer. Trying to wriggle out of it now because you’ve changed your mind won’t wash. I know a spanking compared to a prison sentence seems like a good deal at the time, but when you’re faced with the reality of it, you lose your nerve. It happens to everyone, thirty nine. But they have to be dealt with. It’s summary justice. And it’s for your own good.’
He said the last sentence with a smile that chilled Emma’s heart.
She really ought to stop stalling. She could barely wait to feel his familiar strength and firmness as he laid th
e strokes on her.
They all liked to pretend otherwise, though, so she shot one last desperate glance at the door, as if expecting a dramatic, last-minute reprieve, then stepped forward with a heavy heave of her chest.
Blake ordered her to kneel on the lower step and bend with her stomach on the upper. The padded leather was at least comfortable, though the straps buckled around her knees weren’t so much.
‘By the time you leave, you might be able to take punishment without being strapped down,’ said Blake, pulling tight. ‘But we don’t take chances with the new girls.’ He looked over at Allyson. ‘Do you think she’s a screamer? Should I gag her?’
Allyson took Richard into a corner and conferred with him in a low voice.
Emma couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but she gathered they were discussing the safety or otherwise of a gag. Allyson thought that she knew Emma’s limits so well that she could stop before she got close to safewording. But Richard pointed out that the situation and role was unfamiliar and might affect her tolerances. Allyson conceded this.
‘No,’ she said to Blake. ‘Let’s sound her out first. If she’s a screamer, we can gag next time. Besides, I don’t mind a few howls of pain, do you?’
‘Not at all,’ said Blake.