She looked at him, a thousand questions in her eyes, then bowed her head, obeying, no longer covering her breasts.
“Enjoy,” Caroline said before she and the two girls left the dining room.
“Go ahead, Evangeline,” Gabriel said when she hesitated. She looked over at Syn as if for confirmation, but he simply ate. She had become more afraid of Gabriel than of Syn over the last day or so. He could understand it. What had happened at camp when he’d punished her weighed on him, but she’d learn soon enough though that both brothers punished and both pleasured equally.
“Delicious,” Syn said, setting his spoon down and breaking apart a piece of bread. “Would you pass the butter, Eva?”
Gabriel took it all in, noticing how she’d barely sipped her stew. She set her spoon down and passed the butter dish to his brother.
“Nice shower?” Gabriel asked her.
She looked at Syn who merely glanced back at her.
“Yes,” she answered quietly.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Eat, Evangeline. Don’t be ashamed of your nakedness.”
“She comes beautifully,” Syn said the moment she had put a spoonful into her mouth, causing her to splutter on the stew.
“I can’t wait to see for myself,” Gabriel said.
“I left your preferred area unpenetrated.”
“Please!” Evangeline called out, dropping her spoon with a clang against her bowl, splashing stew over the white tablecloth.
Gabriel looked at it, then at her. “Manners, Evangeline. You’ll have to be taught them I suppose.”
“I don’t understand.” She covered her face and began to cry. “I want to go home. Please let me go home. My father will pay. Please. I won’t say anything about what happened or about you, I promise.”
Gabriel reached over and laid a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll talk after you eat. We’ll get everything sorted out once you’ve finished. We’re not here to hurt you, in fact, you’re as safe as you can be with us. But I don’t like talking to someone who isn’t listening.” He paused. “Are you listening?”
She kept silent, her hands still covering her face.
“If you’re going to act like a child, I am going to treat you like one. Now tell me, are you listening or do you need me to take you over my knee and spank you first to make you listen?”#p#分页标题#e#
At that, she pulled her hands away and glared at him.
“Better. In the future that sort of behavior will earn punishment, but for now, I’ll be lenient, given the circumstances. Pick up your spoon and eat, please.”
Without a word, she did as she was told and ate her bowl of stew. Once she took that first bite in fact, she finished it faster than either of the brothers did, and sat pointedly eyeing the bowl at the center of the table.
“Would you like more?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes, please.”
Gabriel stood and served her a second bowl of the rich stew and Syn handed her a buttered roll. She took it and ate the second serving, this time a little more slowly.
“Have you eaten enough?” Gabriel asked her when she sat back, her hand on her belly.
“Yes. It was delicious.”
“I’m glad. Let’s go into the library to talk.”
He stood, waiting for her to do the same, and with a hand at her back, guided her to the library.
I was naked. Everyone around me was dressed and I was naked. It didn’t even seem to matter to anyone that this was the case. My hands were at my back covering my bottom as best as I could while I walked, but I could feel their eyes on me, on my bottom. It was embarrassing to say the least. It put me on a different level from them.
The library was the last room down a long hallway. When Gabriel opened the tall doors to let me in, I paused, taking it all in. It was a big room with high ceilings and one of the walls was rounded rather than straight and made up entirely of iron-framed glass windows that arched from floor to ceiling. It was magnificent. Breathtaking.
“Go on,” Gabriel said, pressing gently at my back.
I stepped in and turned a circle, feeling like a child as I stared up at the stacks and stacks of books, many of which I’d have to use the ladder to get to. Two heavy, antique desks stood at opposite ends of the room and a large stone fireplace at another. The floor was covered with a rich, deep red carpet and large, worn leather chairs and two ottomans made up the furnishings.
When I was finished looking around, I turned back to find both Gabriel and Syn watching me. Looking at Syn made me blush, the memory of what he had done to me in the shower, at what I’d not even pretended to resist, still too fresh. And I had no doubt he was enjoying my discomfort.