“Marriage thing?” Lach parroted her, pure astonishment in his voice.
“We have our answer, Lach. It’s time to go,” Shim said.
She was surprised at the disappointment she felt with Shim’s utter reasonableness. It was wrong, but she’d wanted a bit of a fight. Her stomach was in knots. She was in a corner, and she had no idea how to get out. She wanted to sleep with them, wanted the comfort of their big bodies surrounding her, but she didn’t want the responsibility of making the choice. It wasn’t fair. She was being exactly what Dante called her. She was a brat, but she couldn’t make herself turn around and ask for what she wanted.
“You’re right,” Lach said, his voice a grave finality.
She wasn’t going to cry. Damn it all. She wasn’t. This was what she’d wanted. She’d wanted time to sort everything out without the distraction of lips and tongues and hands and cocks.
She gave a little shout as Lach hauled her up and tossed her over his shoulder. “What?”
“You gave us your answer, princess. We’ll do this the hard way.”
She screamed a little as Lach’s hand came down on her ass. “How dare you!”
“Oh, I dare, princess. You’re going to find out just how much I dare. And don’t you even start saying this isn’t exactly what you want. You broadcast so loud I’m surprised the damn squirrels can’t hear you. You want us to take you. You want to be able to wake up in the morning and go right back to believing you can get out of this. Well, I’m going to tell you that you’re getting what you want. We will take you, but you’re going to know you’re ours by morning, love.”
The fact that his words were so very true did nothing to assuage how angry he made her. “Put me down now, you overgrown idiot.”
Another smack. “Every time you curse me, I’m adding five to your punishment. You’re at thirty right now. Thirty smacks to that sweet ass of yours. Do you really want more?”
She wasn’t getting any reason from an overly possessive vampire. She looked toward the fire hoping to find a vampire more amenable to her cause. “Roan. Roan, my brothers are paying you, right?”
Roan never even looked up from the fire. “Not at all, princess. Your brothers don’t have a single piece of gold between them. Your father-in-law is paying me. And he’s paying me quite handsomely. I would advise you to take your very well-earned spanking with dignity and then attempt to please your husbands. I think you’ll find you have an enormous amount of power over them should you choose to use it wisely.”
Damn mercenary. “You aren’t going to be any help at all.”
Now the mercenary looked up, and there was a grin on his face. “On the contrary, Your Highness, I think you’ll find I’ve been very helpful. After all, I’m the one who gave them the kit I think they’re about to use on you. It has all sorts of helpful items in it.”
Gillian stood up, her eyes flickering between her brothers and Bronwyn. “Can’t we talk about this?”
“Sit down, princess,” Roan said in a deep voice that he more than likely used on soldiers to keep them in line. “You are not going to come between husbands and their rightfully bonded mate. They won’t hurt her. They’re bonded. They feel what she’s feeling. Do you think your brothers would enjoy her pain?”
Gillian sat back down, wiping at her eyes. “It seems I’m the villain at every turn with you, Bron. I know you won’t believe it, but I do love you. And so do my brothers.”
Lach strode past Shim, his long legs eating up the forest floor.
“Is this really what you want, Bron?” Shim asked. “Because we can be gentle.”
“She doesn’t want gentle.” Lach kept right on walking.
Bron held her head up. It was either that or watch Lach’s perfectly formed backside move. “Fuck you, Lach. And you can fuck yourself, Shim.”
Lach stopped. He set her on her feet, but she didn’t stay there long. He got to one knee and flipped her neatly over. She found herself facing the grass, her ass in the air. Oh, goddess, she’d pushed him. She’d known what she was doing, and she’d done it anyway because she wanted this. She wanted to see what made Kaja moan, but she didn’t want to ask for it.
“You know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you, Bron?” Shim sounded a little tortured. “This doesn’t mean anything to you.”
“Shim, there’s no use talking to her. She knows what she wants, and she’s figured out how to get it.” Lach’s big hand steadied her. “One last chance, princess. We can play this the way we would prefer. We would prefer to simply love you tonight. There will be time enough for games later. We want to bond. We want to know you inside and out.”
And then they would know how to handle her every single time. She was already at a disadvantage since they seemed to be able to read her thoughts. No. She couldn’t let them in. This was all she could give them. For now. Maybe forever. “Fuck off, Lach.”
His hand hit her ass with a loud crack, and tears sparked from her eyes. The pain was sharp and cut through her. Lach barely gave her time to process the first one before he struck again. Ten times his hand rained down. Bron couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think past the feel of Lach’s hand on her ass.
And the feel of his cock hardening. She could feel it rising against her side, but more than that, she could feel it as Lach felt it, jutting out from his core, his cock filling with blood. There was a primal anticipation taking him over. This was a good place for Lach. This was a place he loved, and it was so much sweeter because she was here with him.
His hand came down again, but he’d eased up. Not on the strength, but on the pace. This time the pain jarred her, making her jump, but Lach’s hand stayed on her ass as though keeping the heat in, allowing it to sink into her skin.
“Not so bad.” Lach rubbed the spot he’d hit.
Damn him. He could feel her, too. How was she supposed to stay distant? “You’re not the one who’s going to have a red ass tomorrow.”
“I’m not the one who ran away and put everyone in danger. I’m not the one cursing you at every turn. I’m not the one being stubborn about a marriage that’s been in place for most of our lives.”
Every accusation was punctuated with a smack and a long caress.
“And even if you did, what would I do about it?” Bron forced herself to concentrate on the unfairness of it all. But it was hard because she really, really wanted to focus on how soft and wet her pussy was and how long and thick and hard Lach was getting.
“If I do any of that, I promise to present my ass to you. I’ll take whatever punishment you see fit, love.” He cracked his hand once more. “Now, I know you can feel what this is doing to me, but maybe I should put it in words, so you can’t mistake what’s happening. I love having you over my knee. I love having your ass in the air waiting for my discipline. It makes me feel ten feet tall. I love how the sight of you gets me hard and ready to fuck. You’re my mate. You’re the reason we both waited thirty years. No other women, Bron.”
“None for me.” Shim got to one knee, his hand on her back. “I’m a virgin because I belong to you. Does that make me less of a man? Many in our kingdom think so. Women have been thrown at us for years because we’re not a delicate people. We fuck and we fight and our people admire kings and princes who do so as well. Do you know how many times we’ve had our manhoods called into question? But we wouldn’t sway because we belong to you. Tell me that means something, Bron. Tell me I didn’t wait thirty years for a woman who doesn’t really want me.”