The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,76

had arranged themselves in chronological order, so she kissed Tanner on his cheek and hugged him, then Nick, thanking him very much again for all of his sage advice, which made him blush.

Then it was Ryan's turn, and the rest of them politely drifted away from the door to afford them some privacy.

Just before he kissed her, he whispered, "Hello there, wife." His kiss was low and slow and left her a bit weak kneed when he finally surrendered her to Jace.

He drew her slowly against him. "I want you to have a wonderful time and don't think about anything but having lots of fun, okay, Mrs. Rule?" he cautioned huskily.

"Yes, Sir, Mr. Rule," she whispered, seconds before his mouth claimed hers with great love and passion that made her glad that Adam was right there when Jace finally let her go. She literally had to cling to him to manage to stay upright, between the two of them.

Adam did his best not to scowl at them as they nattered at him about having "warmed up" their wife for him. But then he remembered the advantage he had over them, and that toned down his jealousy considerably. He would always be the one everyone knew as her husband. Jace and Ryan would always be in the shadows any time they were in public, never able to claim her as their own, as most men would want to.

At least she would bear their common name, and when they weren't here, where everyone knew them, they could act as the husband and wife they were in their hearts.

He had to give it to them. As much as he would have wanted to be that kind of man, he wasn't sure he could do it with as much grace as his brothers did, so a little teasing from them was something he was going to consciously just slough off.

Adam's SUV was already packed and had been thoroughly decorated by the same people who had helped them with that, such that when they drove off, cans clattered behind them and streamers billowed out from the sides of a car that was emblazoned with "Just Married!" all over it.

As he drove, Adam reached out to take her hand in his, the one that was closest to him, that was wearing his—their—ring.

"How're you doing, my dearest wife?" he asked, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing the ring.

Laurie turned to face him more, using both of her hands to hold his. "I-I can't even believe this. It's like a dream—every bit of it!"

"Well," he began, and she recognized that sound of his voice.

She was in trouble, somehow. She wasn't sure what she'd done, but it was something, and she was sure he was going to inform her.

Forget informing.

He was going to punish her.

She was going to spend her honeymoon sitting on a hot seat! That wasn't right!

"Some of it might not feel like a dream once we get to the site."

"I knew it! What'd I do?"

Adam chuckled as he eased them onto the highway then returned his attention to her. "You don't know?"

"No, I don't! And don't play twenty questions with me, either. I don't like that."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew she should never have said them.

And as soon as they were out of her mouth, her new husband pulled well over to the side of the nearly deserted road, put the emergency brake on, and reached for her. He managed to maneuver her so that she was lying on her stomach, over the knee of his closest leg, and Laurie knew she was going to soon regret having gone with the summer weight shorts instead of the heavier ones.

He began to spank her—left handedly, which was just as bad as the right, as far as she was concerned, the ambidextrous bastard—long before he began to scold, but they were both horrible! And there was precious little room, even in the front of his big vehicle, for her to squirm in protest, either!

She wasn't used to such silence when she was being spanked. It made her dwell on what she'd done wrong more than usual, which she really didn't like.

But it wasn't until she was sobbing as if her heart was broken that he chided, in a tone that made her feel much worse than she already did, "I do not appreciate that kind of attitude, Laurie."

"Yes, Sir," she mewled.

He gave her another fifteen or so smart swats.

"I