Delicious Pain - a BDSM Collection Read Online Free Page A

as if it had been fashioned just for him.
    "Good grief," murmured Alice, unsettled by the clarity of the mind-picture and the effect it had on her. Weird. Did she really want Julian to keep her in line that way? Would he even want to? He was a take-charge kind of man, but he was also tender and considerate, and he abhorred violence.
    But still. This was different, she knew that. Something about the eyes of the man in the photograph seemed to tell a hidden story, and it was a tale that was nothing to do with domestic discipline and everything to do with dark forbidden pleasure.
    The matched photograph only seemed to confirm her suspicions. It showed a handsome and rather buxom young woman of about her own age, with a wickedly impish expression on her face. There was nothing cowed or fearful about her. The picture was old, but smiling woman almost twinkled with satisfaction.
    Alice continued with her treasure hunt.
    The next box revealed more goodies from the unknown bygone household. There was a small delicate china jug, presumably part of a tea set, and a large silver spoon which would be ideal for serving fruit or puddings. Alice added these to her hoard, and with them put a beautiful old book about the language of flowers.
    The last receptacle she came to was a substantial ironbound chest, an object both impressive and ugly at the same time somehow. It would look amazing in their hall, but Julian might draw the line at the price tag. Still, there might be something interesting inside it, so Alice unfastened its heavy clasp and heaved the lid up.
    "Oh my God!"
    Eyes wide, she grinned at the contents of the chest, then reached for the picture of the Edwardian gentleman again.
    It's the same one.
    Almost in awe, Alice lifted out a slender, gleaming rattan cane. It was a little discolored in places, but still supple and disturbingly whippy. It was almost certainly the one in the photograph.
    The mental images surged back into her mind.
    She saw the voluptuous, smiling young woman lying face down across a bed, quite naked but for her shoes and stockings rolled down to her knees. The gentleman, presumably her husband, was plying the cane across her full and rounded bottom.
    Oh Julian.
    Running her fingers up and down the instrument, Alice shuddered, imagining what her own husband could do with it. What would it feel like to have this laid across her own buttocks, perhaps with some considerable force? Out of control, her mind leapt ahead. Wouldn't this be the perfect way for Julian to express his displeasure with her extravagance? She seemed to see the slim length of rattan balanced in his elegant fingers. She wouldn't transgress again in a hurry after making the acquaintance of this beauty, no doubt about that.
    Don't be silly, you'd probably just transgress even sooner.
    For a moment, the cane hovered over Alice's growing pile of purchases, but with some reluctance she laid it aside. There was a big difference between fantasy and reality. She reached into the chest again, and drew out another item that'd caught her eye. It was a small book, bound in gleaming, well cared for burgundy colored leather, possibly a ledger of some kind. Alice flipped it open.
    The first page revealed its awesome purpose.
    Written in a large, flowing hand, in black ink, were the words Punishment Ledger and beneath that was the legend: Nathaniel Grayson, being the head of this household, and sworn to ensure its smooth running, and the chastisement of all those within it.
    The next page bore a name too -- Mrs. Prunella Grayson -- and beneath that were a number of journal like entries, each ruled off, one after another.
    The first read:
    Today, my dear wife, Mrs. Grayson, did speak rather improperly while we were entertaining the Vicar's wife, causing that lady to go dead white with shock. In punishment, I required my dear wife to present herself at bedtime, appropriately prepared for a beating. This consisted of her placing herself over the end of the