Westminster Academy (Part One)

seventeen

Being back in my beloved library felt weird. The last time I had come here was the night when Henry had caught me and all this chaos had begun. It felt years ago, even though it had only been this week.

I loved it here. The bookshelves were huge and majestic, and you needed a ladder to get to the highest places. It smelled heavenly, and the way the sun fell through the antique windows made the whole place look magical.

I made my way to one of the cozy seating areas - only in the female section, obviously. Sitting in a leather armchair surrounded by books calmed me. There were never many people here, because the other girls usually spent their time elsewhere. My favourite place to just be.

All the more annoying was the nervous feeling I had carried around in my stomach all day. I didn't want to apologise. Yes, my choice of words had been poor and childish, and the mature way would have been to have myself under better control. But Henry had deliberately provoked and humiliated me, and I didn't see why it was more excusable than me swearing.

I was aware that this whole dramatic situation wasn't really about me swearing. It was about him proving that he was in charge, and that he could tell me what to say and what not to say. He wasn't actually offended, he didn't actually want me to apologise. He wanted to force me into submission - again. I knew all that. Henry wasn't the only clever one here.

Nonetheless, I didn't have much of a choice. This was the most comfortable seat in the world, and I was still in pain. The spanking this morning had been bad, but it would have been okay if he hadn't done it only a few hours after the caning. Those marks were brutal. I just couldn't take another round of pain on the same day.

Once again, I had to admit that Henry had successfully managed to make me behave as he pleased, and it was fucking infuriating.

I tried to focus on my Spanish notes until he came here to destroy my peace. Just as I had totally immersed myself in the language, I felt his presence. I just sensed that he was here, intuitively, and when I looked up I saw him enter the library, walking right towards me.

This man is very handsome.

The way he walked and watched his surroundings made him seem so effortlessly authoritative. He didn't have to try to be dominant, confident, masculine. He just was.

I took a breath to prepare for my next performance. Henry wasn't easy to fool. So I had to do it well.

When he found me, he didn't say anything. He just pierced me with his eyes, as always when he was annoyed at me, and put his bag down. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and towered over me.

"So? Did you make your choice?"

I closed my eyes briefly at his demanding tone. Stay calm.

"Would you mind sitting down?" I asked in the kindest voice possible. I couldn't bear him looking down on me like that.

"Depends. Am I taking you over my knee again? I'd prefer not to do that here."

God, did he have to talk about it like...that? It triggered that stupid feeling in my abdomen, and it confused me.

I sighed. "Please, sit."

Henry gave me a look that said You'd better do it properly and sat down in the armchair next to me. Eye level. Much better.

"Okay. I'm genuinely sorry for how I spoke to you earlier." It didn't sound effortless, but at least a bit sincere. "I didn't do it out of nowhere, and I think it's not entirely fair to put the blame on me, but I admit that it's not right to treat you like that and I won't do it again."