Her Lord's Claim (The Forbidden Saga #4) - Maggie Ryan Page 0,34

soap shavings?” she asked. After Molly nodded again, her face flushing, Anna said, “You may prepare the bed.”

Lucy saw Molly’s eyes dart toward the bed.

“Oh. Ummm… I-I forgot…” Molly said, her hands fluttering at her sides.

Anna sighed heavily as she stood again. “Gracious, Molly, sometimes I think you’d forget your head if the good Lord didn’t attach it to your shoulders.” Dropping the second stocking on the bed, she began to unbutton the first of many tiny buttons of Lucy’s chemise in preparation for its removal. “Run upstairs and get the items, quickly now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Molly bobbed her head and actually ran to the door.

Once her chemise was removed and the ribbon to her drawers was unfastened, Lucy realized she would soon be completely nude, and her confusion reached its peak.

“Why must I bathe again?” she asked. “I’ve done nothing to get dirty.”

Anna shook her head and simply drew the drawers down Lucy’s legs. “Step out,” she ordered, and Lucy obeyed. She shivered as she stood nude, lifting her arms to cross over her chest, but she saw the older woman shaking her head. Flushing in embarrassment, Lucy let her arms drift down to her sides.

“That’s better,” Anna said, grasping her arm and guiding her to the chair. Taking a seat, she pulled Lucy to stand between her thighs and reached for the sturdy wooden hairbrush.

Chapter 10

As Lucy tried not to grimace while the bristles of her hairbrush were worked to remove the tangles from her hair, in the room above her head, Louisa lay quietly on her changing table. Edward had positioned her on her stomach, and she shivered when he patted her bottom as he knew it was still very tender. He’d chosen to punish his little one with a rigid leather paddle that had dozens of small holes drilled through it. Each stroke of the leather had left raised echoes of the holes all across the surface of her rump. Even a light brush of his fingertips across a few of the raised marks earned him a shudder, though it was a silent one. Moving to a spot situated in the extremely sensitive area beneath the gentle curve of her right buttock, he traced around the rim of the circle. It was a shame that it had taken a blistering for his little lady to remember her lessons, but he was of the mind that she’d remember to hold her tongue… at least for a little while. Dipping his finger into the jar of salve, he began to apply the soothing gel to the same spot when the sound of a timid knock had him turning his head.

“Come,” he said. The door slowly opened, and Molly stepped into the nursery. Her eyes flew to the table and then away as if to offer the manor’s mistress a bit of privacy.

“I'm sorry to bother you, my lord,” Molly said quietly. “I-I forgot some things for Mrs. Bremmer.” Edward nodded and wiped his fingers free of the salve before pulling a key from his pocket. Molly walked forward to accept it, her cheeks flushing a bit at the unavoidable sight of the evidence of Louisa’s punishment. Edward watched as she knelt to take a few things from the shelf beneath the table. He nodded as he again dipped his fingers into the jar of salve before moving to his wife's bottom.

“That's fine, Molly,” he said. “Take whatever you need, though it appears that Lord Huntington will need to make some purchases of his own.”

“Um… yes, my lord,” Molly managed though he hadn’t expected a response. The maid walked to the large cabinet that looked far different than the one in Edward’s study yet held the same variety of implements. She unlocked the doors, her eyes widening at the large array displayed before her. Quickly finding what she needed on the bottom shelf, she took the items and then gave him a glance.

“You may just leave the key in the door,” he instructed.

“Thank you, sir,” she said gratefully before practically running from the room.

Edward chuckled, knowing that her quick flight was more likely due to Anna being perturbed by the girl’s forgetfulness than for any embarrassment over the condition of Louisa’s bottom or the items filling the shelves of her punishment cabinet. After all, Molly had been in his employ for several months and her role as Lucy’s lady’s maid involved far more than simply helping with his ward’s wardrobe. Displacing Lucy from his mind, he returned his attention to