Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
I smirk, open the bottle, and pour her a small glass.
“My dear sir,” she says through thick lips. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you’re trying to get me drunk.”
Drunk, no. Relaxed and in good humor? Yes.
“Just be sure you drink a glass of water in between each glass of champagne,” I tell her.
“Then looks like I need a six-pack of water,” she mutters.
“Are you serious? You drank that much already? Did you take more when I wasn’t looking?”
She bites her lip and puts her fingers out, counting clumsily. “Maybe,” she mutters. “I can’t exactly remember.” She frowns. “I never drink much. I promise. I just didn’t know it would taste that good and help me feel so nice. Did I drink too much?”
I reach for her wine glass, because it’s time I cut her off, but someone comes to say hello, and after we’ve spoken, I see her polishing off yet another drink.
“Caroline!” I say in surprise.
She tips her head to the side, like a little curious puppy. Her hair falls in her eyes. So fetching and innocent. “What? You have your angry face on.”
I grunt. She’ll end up earning good spanking if she doesn’t stop.
“You shouldn’t have had so much to drink. You’ll give yourself a hangover.”
“What I’ll do is give myself courage,” she says. “Courage, said the lion!” She pitches off in a sing-song voice, “If I were king of the forr-ressst…”
I blink in surprise. She’s quoting something but I don’t know what.
Excellent. My new wife is accidentally drunk. I should have been more careful.
At that moment, Lev comes over to us. Caroline greets everyone readily. She’s damn near sociable. Lev whispers something in my ear about a rumor involving a party crasher. He says someone assumed it was her brother, or someone in his group, but there are more guests than we’ve accounted for.
The local governor is here, and other major power players. I don’t want to cause a scene, but this concerns me.
“I don’t fucking care what you need to do. Find out,” I tell him. We get the guest list and I look it over, but everything looks kosher, and there are too many people mingling for us to track down who’s here unexpectedly.
“What is it, husband?” she asks in her tipsy voice. “You seem… pler-plexed. No. Perplexed.”
I have to admit, I like the tipsy Caroline. She smiles more easily, cracks jokes, and isn’t anywhere near as self-conscious as before.
“I’m not happy with my wife, because she’s had too much to drink,” I tell her, raising a stern brown in her direction.
“Oh,” she says with mock repentance. “Will that earn me…” she drops her voice and bites her lip before she continues, her finger delicately tracing her collarbone. “A spanking?”
I swallow hard. “It does,” I tell her sternly. “A bad girl spanking. The kind that hurts.”
Sticking her lower lip out in mock repentance, she looks at me from beneath lowered lashes. “Over your knee, sir?”
Jesus, I like drunk Caroline. My dick’s already hard at the thought.
“Over my lap.” I brush her hair off her forehead and bring my mouth to her ear. “I’ll strip you first. Then your ass feels my palm tonight.”
She fairly purrs in my ear. I have absolutely no control over my wife, but I’m enjoying this, because she forces my hand. She gives me reason to exert my dominance over her and coquettishly bows to meet my demands.
“Let’s go,” she whispers in my ear. “I’ve been a very bad little girl who needs to be punished.” It surprises me that she’s flirting from this angle, but I’m not going to miss my opportunity.
Lev nods to me and gives me a thumbs up. He’s done a head count, and all is well. No one’s come here who shouldn’t. We’re safe.
“Back to the room,” I growl. Now that we’ve talked about what will happen, I need to have her alone. The clock is ticking on my need to consummate our marriage, and the more intimate we grow, the easier that will be.
“The groom has to cut the cake!” Someone shouts out. I squint at the crowd but don’t see who it is. I wave them off, but Caroline takes me by the hand.
“I’ve always wanted to do this!” she says. “And oh, Tomas, it’s chocolate.”
“Is that good?” I’m not a cake eater.
“I love chocolate. Oh my God, I need some.”
I definitely need to get Caroline drunk more often.
They’re playing some kind of crazy song as we approach the table, and Caroline’s laughing her head off. I shake my head and make her wait while I cut a large wedge of cake, then hand her the knife to do the same. She cuts a large slice and swipes her finger through the chocolate center.
“Mmm,” she says. “Oh God this is the best.”