“Punishment,” he repeated the word as if it hadn’t occurred to him. “Punishment indeed.”

Electricity seemed to snap between them, filling the room with such heat that Penelope felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end while she grew uncomfortably warm all over.

Edward looked at her and walked slowly towards her, like a lion stalking its prey. Silently she chastised herself, Penelope watched as a feeling of self-preservation suddenly came over her. She wanted to take a step back, but something familiar told her not to move. It hit her in that secret part of her heart that Edward had opened on their wedding night when he had commanded her to kiss him. An old familiar feeling came over her then as he came towards her, the long forgotten invisible hook that held her to him, a vague wanting feeling to please him and take whatever he had to give and even though she couldn’t explain it, couldn’t put it into words, she knew he needed her to not retreat.

He stopped in front of her, taller and more imposing than ever and still she did not waver. The look in his eyes was smoldering and she allowed herself to lower her gaze, only to see him bend into her peripheral vision, his mouth at her ear.

“I should punish you, a thousand times over for what you’ve done,” he whispered in a tone that made her tremble. She closed her eyes, ignoring the sensation of his breath on her collar. Good heavens, did he remember how he could make her squirm when he touched his mouth to her neck? “I wouldn’t be thought poorly by anyone. I would be completely within my rights.”

She nodded, unable to speak.

“Speak,” he all but barked, making her flinch.

“I-I don’t know what to say,” she whispered, eyes clenched shut.

“Say I would be justified.”

“You would be justified,” she repeated.

“Say that I have been wronged.”

“You have been wronged.”

“Say that I own you to do with as I wish.”

She steadied her breathing and opened her eyes, desperate to see if his face held the same sudden passion she heard in his voice. His eyes were wide and she thought he rather looked like he was staring at a ghost.

“You own me to do with as you wish,” she said so softly and in a tone so submissive that he seemed to shake.

And so, he did. His mouth fell to hers, harsh and at the same time, yearning. She was a fool to think there was anything besides revenge behind his motive, but then it felt like home. He kissed her mouth, her chin and neck as tears rolled down her cheek, but she wasn’t crying out of pain or sadness. It was relief. His mouth had been the breath she hadn’t realized she had been starved for. It was as if she had been living in a fog for the past five years and he had just shocked her back into life.

He moved her back until his hips pinned her to the wall. His thigh shoved roughly between her legs, so that she couldn’t move. One hand went to her bodice, fingers splayed beneath the roundness of her breast. A noise escaped her mouth and she blushed at how wanton it sounded.

Penelope arched against the wall, pressing her chest out in a desperate attempt to be touched. She needn’t bother, though. Edward’s hands were desperate and rough. He pulled at the sturdy fabric of her bodice, yanking it down crudely as his mouth fell to the tip of her breast. Penelope gasped as he sucked, his teeth grazing her nipple. The threat that he might bite her only seemed to heighten her sudden need for him.

Penelope grabbed at the back of his coat as she kissed his hair, pulling him against her breast. A growl seemed to escape him as she did and his one arm dropped, settling around her waist as the other grabbed at the hem of her skirts below. His fingers dug into her lower back, as if he meant to hold her with one hand as the other moved its way up between the seam of her legs, searching for the opening in her drawers.

Penelope bit her lip and looked towards the ceiling as his mouth continued its assault on her. This was madness. She had to stop, had to put some distance between them before he realized that she had ached for him for five long years. Before he discovered just how much she wanted this.

Without warning, Edward’s finger slipped firmly into her, causing Penelope to pant and shiver with desire. She felt herself tighten around his finger as he held himself deep within her.

“Bloody hell,” he whispered roughly as he looked at her. “Tight as the day I first felt you.”

Penelope shut her eyes tightly, desperate not to hear his words. She didn’t want to remember how gentle he had been, how kind he once was to her. Not now when all she wanted was to be in his arms, used by his body.

Edward nipped at her jaw as he began to move his hand, gently pulling out and pushing back in until she was liquid, melting in his very hands. He was building her up, forcing her towards an edge she hadn’t experienced with him in years and she was torn. She didn’t want him to know that he still held such power over her and yet it was all she wanted in that moment.

“Look at you,” he whispered, though her eyes were firmly closed. “So close.”

She didn’t want to speak to him, not now, but his hand stilled.

“Open your eyes,” he commanded, his voice suddenly stern.

Convincing herself that she was desperate for him to continue and nothing more, she opened her eyes and looked at him.