The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,43

down at her. "After she was expressly told not to?"

"Uh oh," Tanner and Nick both said at the same time. Laurie glared at them, but then there were three big men standing around her looking none too happy that took up her attention.

But before they were able to get into it with her, Nick and Tanner both fought their way through the wall of outraged male flesh to hug her. "I think we're going to make ourselves scarce. We're going out with some friends tonight, anyway, so…" Tanner hugged her hard.

Nick did the same, whispering, "It's been nice knowing you."

She smacked him, of course, and soon she was alone with the three of them.

It was worse than she could ever have imagined to have them standing around looking disappointed in her. Laurie wanted to start crying already.

"In my defense—"

Adam interrupted her sternly, his chin lowered as he looked down at her from under his drawn brow. "No, there is no defense. Were you, or were you not, told that you were not go to into that building by yourself?"

"Yes, I was, but—"

Of the three of them, Ryan—the firefighter—was probably the least thrilled with her at the moment. "No 'but'. We didn't make that rule for the fun of it, you know; we made it for your own safety. That's why I went in and got your stuff, rather than you or Adam, for that matter. It's my job. And if there was something else you needed, you should have come to me and asked me to go get it with you."

"No, but I—" she tried to explain.

Jace took her hand and led her to the family room, where the three of them sat down on the couch in a row, and Jace took no time at all in bending her over his knee. She was wearing a full, flouncy skirt, so he flipped it up and brought down her panties quickly and efficiently, leaving her bare from the waist down. Just the thought of that had him at full attention, his big bulge pressing up into her tummy.

He reached across her back to curve his hand around her hip so she wouldn't be able to get away from him and began to spank her, each swat crisp and distinct.

Distinctly painful, this was.

She kicked, squirmed, and tried to angle herself away from the relentless rise and fall of that hand from very early on in the spanking, but she couldn't get anywhere.

Especially since the other boys weren't merely spectators. Adam was sitting closest to Jace, so he gathered her hands in his, holding them out in front of her to prevent her from reaching back. Then Ryan got up and held her ankles both together and down, so that she could no longer kick up.

It was horrendous. All she could do was lie there and get spanked. It was unbelievably horrid.

And when he finally stopped, it wasn't over. He just passed her down the line to Adam, who was sitting in the middle, and they all changed places—Jace held her legs, and Ryan, her hands, and it all began again for her. Only this time, her butt was already well tenderized, and she was crying from the very first smack Adam delivered, all the way through to the last, while she was held completely still for her punishment by his brothers.

And the same went for Ryan when it was his turn to punish her. His was the worst, because of the condition her bottom was in already when he got to it—not that he let that influence how hard he swatted her. He was the most concerned about her disobedience of all of them, and he scourged her backside but good, paying absolutely no attention to her begging him to stop or the way she was sobbing as his hand cracked down on her.

When he was done and she still lying there over his lap, Jace got up and motioned the brothers over to him. Ryan transferred her to the couch and headed to him, warning sharply, "Don't move."

Seconds later, while she hadn't even moved—not necessarily because of his command—but because she was too busy wailing into the couch cushion, Jace put his hand down to her.

"It's not over yet, I'm afraid, honey. We mean to teach you a lesson."

Before she could say or do anything, Laurie found herself bent over the back of the couch, and each of the three of them tugged their belt from around their waists.

"No—you can't