Maggie Mine (5 page)

More lashes? How many did he plan on giving her?
Dread
gnawed at the pit of her belly. She knew what to expect from her father or Anice.
But t
his man, this hardened
knight
who now watched her with such determination
? S
he had no idea what he would do, how hard he would strike her, or for how long.
She didn’t want to do this and she had a sudden wish that she’d put her arrow in his black heart instead of his leg.

The notion horrified her. Yes, she’d killed at least one of the English soldiers who had attacked her home. That had been justified. But Nicholas and his men hadn’t come here to battle her warriors, to take her castle. He’d come with a message about her father and brothers.
He had also come to Urquhart
to take her away from here as her guardian, appointed by King Edward.
She hated that. At the moment, that was beside the point. She must pay now for acting irresponsibly, for letting her temper once more get the best of her common sense.

He remained coolly watching her, a vein starting to tick in the side of his neck. Every second she delayed this was only making her situation worse. Swallowing hard, she
slowly made her way to him. She wasn’t a coward.
Foolish at times, but not a coward.

“Very good
,” he acknowledged and nodded at the desk. “
Now bend over, chest pressed flat.”

She took a last glance at the tawse and her mouth felt dry.
“I would not allow this if I didn’t know that I shamed my people.”
Memories of other thrashings passed through her mind
. Unpleasant times because she’d acted rebelliously or disrespectfully.
“
I let my bitterness toward the English overpower my thoughts. All I could think about was those I had lost earlier, the damage done to our home.
”

He gave a curt nod
. “I understand your distrust after what had happened here. ‘Tis not why you are about to experience a taste of the tawse.”

She looked him squarely
in the eye. “’Tis because I shot ye with my arrow. Because ye were embarrassed in front of yer men to be wounded by a mere woman.”

“Nay, ‘tis far more than you shooting me with your arrow.” He drew in a breath that made his broad chest expand, made her admire it in spite of the serious moment. “You endangered your men, your people by such a foolish action. You, as you claim, were their leader. And you let your temper, your irrational dislike for all Englishmen, get the better of your reasoning.”

“I….” What could she say? He was right. Her shoulders slumped.

“What if I’d had more men beyond the hill? What if I hadn’t been able to keep even the men with me from retaliating for your attack? Good men, loyal villagers, could have suffered greatly because you didn’t act responsibly.”

Tears of shame filled her eyes
. All the terrible things she could have brought on her people. Miserable at the realization, she didn’t answer him, simply
bent over the massive wooden desk
. She
shift
ed
forward until she gripped the far side with nervous fingers.
Whatever he did to her would not make up for what she could have caused.

“A thrashing’s lesson is best learned on a bare
bottom.” He stepped closer and reached down to pull up her long skirt and chemise.

“Nay, please! ‘Tis no’ proper,” she gasped in panic, craning her head around to look back at him.

He hesitated for a second and then
flipped the
garments
over her back.
She wore no braies as some of the women did. Her face heated even more as he stared at her bare backside. It had been humiliating enough when her father had disciplined her this way. But now…with this handsome stranger….

He blinked and appeared to force his thoughts under control. But she did see how his breathing had become ragged before she turned her head away again. His voice was husky as he said, “’Twill be a shame to mar such creamy flesh.”

“Then dunna,” she answered quietly, with little hope of changing his mind.

She sensed him moving to her side, still holding her
clothing
over her back.

“We both know it must be done, Lady Urquhart.” He lightly lay the tawse against her buttocks, making them automatically quiver in anticipation. “You acted irresponsibly, thoughtlessly. Suffering this way will be nothing in comparison to what could have happened at your rash action.”

Her cheek pressed against the desk top, she mumbled, “Aye,
I let my people down.
”
If her father from his grave had witnessed what she’d done, he would
be
ashamed of her. Her brothers as well. She held the far edge of the desk even tighter.

The first
lash
blazed across the center of both buttocks.

“Ohhh!”
She jerked forward, hissing. He had cut her no slack.
She felt certain t
he lesson would be sound and one she would
remember for days. Even knowing that, she would not fight him. She owed him, owed her people, owed even his men.

She hadn’t moved, but he said grimly, “There will be a dozen. You will stay in position for them all, understood?”

A dozen? As hard as the first one?
She’d suffered worse punishments, but knew she would have trouble staying still. “Aye, understood.” She would try her
best;
prove to him that she could accept her due.
E
ven though he was no longer among the living
, she would make her father proud
. She sniffle
d at that heartbreaking thought or her lost family.

The next lashes fell on one cheek. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! And then another stinging set on the other cheek. Thwack! Thwack! She danced up on her toes and fought to stay in place. In a strained whisper, she cursed him in Scottish.

He planted a hand in the small of her back, a sign, she knew, that the worst was coming. She sucked in a breath and squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation.
But s
he’d been
wrong
. He thrashed her fast
, but these
three
lashes were much lighter
.
Still, t
he tawse landed on every inch of her buttocks.
Although falling softer, over the first
hard strikes, they still hurt.

“Three more,” he said gruffly.
His focus shifted to the under curve of her bottom.

She hissed with each one
, each
slightly
harder. F
rom experience
,
she knew s
he would remember these every time she sat for at least a day
, which she knew was the purpose of them
.
Tears trickled down her
face;
her breaths
came in short pants
.

“’Tis done.”
He stepped back bare seconds later.

“Done?” she questioned in surprise, sniffing back tears.
It was over already?

“Aye. I said there would be only a dozen lashes.” He sounded odd, husky. “Do you wish for more?”

She remained in place, puzzled. She was in pain, but only minor pain really. She’d expected much more of a lashing. “Ye held back your strength
. W
hy?”
Why
did you ask
such a foolish question? And why
are you
still lying here?

Disgusted, s
he scooted off the desk. Her clothing fell over her throbbing bottom and she wanted to cover it with her hands, too, but refused to do so. When she looked up, he was watching her.
His eyes had darkened with a heat she didn’t fully understand.

“You needed to be punished, but after what all you’d been through…. Well, I couldn’t thrash you as soundly as you probably deserved.” He frowned, apparently as puzzled as she was at his decision.

The sting was settling in now. She dashed away the t
ears. “Are we good now?” She wanted to go to her bedchamber and
recover her dignity in private
.

“Aye, for this we are good.”

He was still studying her, his brow furrowing with his thoughts. It made her uncomfortable. “Can I go now?”

With a nod, h
e carried the tawse with him as he went to open the door. “We leave in two days. My leg will be healed more by then and you should be able to sit
well enough
.”

Ignoring the fact that he’d just disciplined her for being foolish, she
walked
right up
to him and glowered. “I
willna
go
with ye!
”

“You would go against King Edward? Against your own family’s wishes?”
He held out the tawse and met her eyes in challenge. “
Mayhap you need a lesson in obedience.
Because you
are
coming with me. It matters not to me if you can’t sit for a week of the journey.”

Maggie
wanted to resist and to stand her ground, but she could tell in his expression that he meant it. She would be going with him even if he had to tie her to the horse, as he’d already threatened. And he would certainly give her an
other
thrashing should she resist him now.
A real thrashing this time.

With a heavy sigh of resignation, she
grumbled,
“Verra well, I will go with ye. Know this, though, I am no’ in favor of what has been decided.”

He lightly patted her bottom as she swept by him and then had the gall to chuckle when she snarled at him.

“Two days.” He raised the tawse. “Oh, and I will be taking this fine instrument with us. Along with Anice’s paddle. I fear I will have much need of them in the future.”

*
*
*

They
ha
d been traveling for two horrendously long weeks. Maggie was driving him crazy. She
and
Fia, in truth. Fia batted her long eyelashes and smiled constantly at Gerald. The man could hardly focus on anything but the young temptress. In all the years they’d traveled and fought together, gotten drunk and eyed lovely ladies together, Nicholas had never seen his friend so besotted. It fairly turned Nicholas’ stomach to watch their awkward, flirty interplay.

Maggie, too, appeared annoyed at her friend’s behavior. On more than one occasion he’d heard her sn
a
p at Fia about behaving foolishly with an
Englishman
. The word “Englishman” was always said in distaste, with a curling of her lip. He’d tried to let it go, knowing after having her home attacked by a troop of English soldiers she deserved to be out of sorts with them. But he’d finally overheard one too many snipes about the English and taken her to a private spot away from camp last night to discuss the matter. Needless to say, the discussion had not gone well. He’d ended it by pulling her over his knee and whaling the blazes out of her bottom with his hand.

He flexed his spanking hand. It was still a bit sore this morn. Although he imagined Maggie’s bottom was tender as well and she’d probably been shifting about in discomfort on her saddle every now and again.
They were off to a rocky start with him having thrashed her
just before they left her home and now with this spanking.
Not that he regretted
either one
. The Scottish lass
was a trial
. She was going to try the patience of whatever poor man took her for wife. He thanked the Good Lord every day that he would be handing her off before too long.

Gerald rode up next to him as he led the group. “Mayhap we should stop for a few moments. The ladies need…” He looked uncomfortable. “They need to walk about a bit. I also suspect the men could use some time for personal matters.”

The sprawling grey-stoned curtain walls of Middleham were faintly within sight now. Nicholas was anxious to get there. He slowed his horse to glance back and saw the way both young women rode with pinched expressions. He hadn’t noticed Fia’s expression until just now. Maggie’s had been both pinched and annoyed every time he’d looked in her direction. She had
n’t appreciated getting spanked and then spending hours in the saddle.

He studied his friend. “Did you…
.
”

Gerald blew out a put-upon breath. “I put my hand to Fia’s bottom, yes. She got all sassy and upset when you took Lady Urquhart off to deal with her sour attitude. I tired of Fia’s attitude as well.”

Nicholas actually smiled at that. “This pair of Scottish women is proving to be much trouble.”

He reined his horse around and motioned for everyone to stop. “We’ll rest a few minutes here. Do whatever you find necessary.”