started and ended her period. She’d had no idea why at the time, but the first time she called him at work with those embarrassing two words “I started”, she understood why.
His whispered “Good girl” had made her both shudder and sigh. It was mortifying, but his making her inform him was just another subtle aspect of his control, a sliver of her independence taken away.
He shook his head, his fingers catching each of her nipples in a firm clench. The thin fabric of her top offered scant protection.
“When.”
She craned her head back at him. “I’m not — sure.”
“Try again.” His fingers squeezed and she gasped in pain.
“Two… maybe three days ago.” She wasn’t really sure, but she feared her hesitation might look like deception.
His fingers tightened further, her nipples screaming. She bit her lower lip, stifling her yell. “What did we agree you would do, Lacey?”
Oh God, don’t make me say it.
“Troy, please. Can’t we just—”
“Say it, Lacey,” he said, steel creeping into his voice.
She swallowed, the humiliation almost too much to bear. “I’m to tell you when my menstrual period begins and when it ends.”
“And if you don’t?”
“I — If I don’t, I’ll be punished.”
He lightly slapped both of her breasts, and walked around her, shaking his head in mock concern. She felt like a mouse in a cat’s jaws as he crossed his arms over his massive chest, his dark gaze boring into her — relentless, demanding. “Did you think it would just be taken care of on Maintenance Night?”
“No! I wouldn’t—”
“Be quiet.” He waved a hand in front of her. “The time for explaining is done. This’ll be extra.”
Her eyes went wide. “Troy!”
His hand grasped her throat and she caught her breath. He stepped closer, speaking into the hair above her temple. “Be quiet, Lacey.”
She dropped her eyes, nodding miserably.
“Good. At least you can still follow some directions.”
She tried to suppress the trembling she knew he could feel through her body. Extra meant more pain, more humiliation, and more disapproval from her husband.
Lacey hated his disapproval, but she detested the humiliation of calling to inform him her pussy had stopped seeping blood.
Now, as she stood there, his hand around her neck like a living collar, she knew how stupid she’d been.
Maintenance spankings were bad enough — and now she’d gone and made it worse.
He leaned in close, his dark, piercing gaze freezing her in place. “You asked for this. You need this. So why do you still disobey me?”
She couldn’t bear to look, her gaze sliding away. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
“Look at me, Lacey.”
Her gaze reluctantly met his, and her breath caught at the possessive lust in his eyes, a look that had her pussy moistening even as she shivered with dread.
“You like it, don’t you?”
She looked down once more, the blush on her face burning bright.
He pressed his lips to her forehead, the cool smell of his cologne washing over her. “Then we’ll get you plenty of what you like, little girl.”
Troy was still a moment, his hand squeezing her neck uncomfortably before he stepped away, saying, “Come into the living room, Lacey.”
Chapter Two
Troy sat casually on the leather ottoman. It was an incongruous image, considering how many times she’d been sprawled face down across the ottoman’s smooth, cool planes.
He leaned forward, elbows on his thighs, his eyes dancing under the dark brows. “You know what to do.”
Her hands trembled as she unzipped her skirt. If she deviated even one iota from the strict somatic dance of the ritual, she’d been punished. He’d insisted she perform it until it was rote memory, but she still trembled before him during every performance.
She lowered the skirt’s zipper slowly, turning her hip toward him so that his avid gaze could follow every movement. She skimmed the tight skirt
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