Her Lord's Claim (The Forbidden Saga #4) - Maggie Ryan Page 0,32

and was rewarded when Lucy immediately turned and ran toward him. He opened his arms, and she flung herself into them. He held her close, his arms wrapped around her as she buried her face in his jacket.

“I’m sorry, please forgive me,” she said, her voice threatening to break into tears again.

“You are forgiven, kitten,” Lucas said, moving his hands to cup her face before he kissed her. “I love you, Lucy.”

Her lips were the most amazing thing he’d ever tasted, the skin so soft, so welcoming as his pressed against them. Her moan of need had him pulling her closer, kissing her harder, claiming her with a ferocity that only broke with their need to breathe. Lucas pulled away and saw the raw need on her face. He knew he could easily allow himself to forget his own rules in order to satisfy that need. He forced himself to be strong as he set her away.

“Come, kitten, let’s get you back into your drawers, shall we?” he asked, loving the blush that immediately colored her face when she realized she was still half-naked. She obediently stepped into her drawers. She’d removed them herself but Lucas pulled them up her legs and earned a sharp gasp as he bent to place a kiss on top of those tantalizing little curls between her thighs before pulling the drawers up and over her bottom. After tying the ribbon around her waist, he reached behind her and tugged the fabric free of her waistband, adjusting it to fall to cover the bottom he’d just punished. He finally took her hand and led her to the door. At the threshold, she hesitated, pulling back against his hand. Lucas looked down to see her face flushing anew. He was willing to wager she was thinking about the fact that anyone who’d passed through the lower level of the house over the past half hour would know that she was being paddled behind the closed doors of the lord’s study.

“There is no need to be embarrassed, Lucille,” Lucas said gently as he drew her closer to his side. “Naughty little girls should be very ashamed when they are misbehaving, but once punished, they have no reason to feel anything but relief that they’ve atoned for that naughtiness.” She nodded and after dropping a kiss onto the top of her head, Lucas led her out into the corridor.

Chapter 9

Edward and Louisa were both seated, their luncheon half-eaten. Lucas helped Lucy into her seat. She was grateful that he didn’t say anything when she couldn’t contain a small wince or a soft moan as her weight settled onto her well-spanked rear. She knew it would continue to ache for several hours but understood that she’d earned every throb and pulse of that ache by acting so horrid.

Lucy ate her lunch also grateful when no mention was made of her punishment. Relaxing a bit, she chose a freshly baked roll from the covered bread basket. Smiling when she and her twin both reached for the pot of jam at the same exact moment, she met Louisa’s eyes and with an ability neither understood but never questioned, she understood that she wasn’t the only one at this table sitting on a tender bum. Pushing the jam toward her sister, she allowed her to take the first spoonful as Mrs. Bremmer approached the table with a pitcher of milk.

“Thank you,” Lucy said politely after her glass had been filled.

“You are welcome, Lucille,” Anna said with a smile, standing by Lucy’s chair until the glass had been picked up and Lucy took the first sip.

As Lucy continued to eat, Louisa placed her napkin beside her plate. Lucy watched as Anna moved around the table to assist Louisa from her chair and her gaze shifted to her guardian when Edward lifted his hand to stop his housekeeper.

“I will put Louisa down for her nap,” Edward said.

Louisa’s look mimicked Lucy’s own confusion as the older woman always put what she considered to be her girls to bed. Looking between the housekeeper and Edward and then back at her sister, Lucy suddenly understood that while Louisa was still required to take a nap after luncheon, evidently Lucas agreed with his wife that daily naps were unnecessary. Sympathetic but grateful for her new freedom, Lucy gave her sister a smile even as she considered how she’d fill the hours, her heart speeding up a bit as she could now include her husband in various scenarios of