Just as the thought that it hadn’t hurt was about to cross her mind, the pain hit. A sharp, stinging sensation raced in a diagonal stripe across her right cheek. Much to her pride, she didn’t yell or scream. She just pulled in a sharp breath and screwed her eyes shut, breathing in and out slowly and steadily, trying to work her way through the pain.

She’d just about dealt with it when the next blow came, this time on her left cheek. Gripping her hands tightly around the edge of the desk she was bent over, she watched as the knuckles turned white, determined to let nothing but the most negligible of noises pass her lips. Again, as the white-hot fire burned through her nerve endings, she sucked in a breath and bit her bottom lip. She would not cry out. She would not.

‘And you’re not the only one. I’m tempted to stick my cock inside her cunt right here and now. Never mind the spanking!’

‘In that case, I’d better get on with it, hadn’t I?’

‘Probably wise.’

Jeremy stepped back into Alice’s peripheral vision, presumably to give Ethan room for manoeuvre. His expression was perfectly sober, but a glance down told her that he hadn’t been exaggerating about the erection – it tented his smart jeans and made her wish he had just stuck it inside her, like he’d threatened to.

She didn’t have too much time to think about being fucked by Jeremy, though, as she heard a small whooping noise – the sound of the wooden ruler rushing through the air – then the slap of it hitting her arse.

He seemed lost for words now; a rare occurrence.

‘Beautiful,’ Ethan supplied. ‘She looks beautiful, mate. My cock is rock hard already, and all I’ve done is stroke her bum.’

Her face grew hot. The two men were examining her, and far from finding her lacking, they thought she was beautiful. And Ethan had admitted to having a hard-on caused by the sight of her naked arse and pussy.

Jeremy laughed.

Jeremy handed the ruler to Ethan, who stroked his big hand over her exposed skin once more. It took all of Alice’s willpower not to clench her fleshy cheeks. She may be nervous, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let them know that.

Both men were right behind her now, and one of them let out a low whistle. From the words that were spoken next, she gathered it was Jeremy. ‘That’s quite a sight, isn’t it, comrade? Our Alice bent over, arse in the air, slit on display. She looks …’

She’d always thought of Jeremy as the ringleader and assumed it would be him. She was about to have her arse turned red, though, so it hardly mattered who was going to do it.

Alice became aware of Jeremy moving to the front of the classroom and retrieving something from the teacher’s desk. He didn’t bother to hide the item as it was an integral part of the task, and therefore she already knew what it was.

A wooden ruler. Watching Jeremy – and, more specifically, the ruler’s journey – from the corner of her eye, her resolve slipped a little. It was wood, for goodness’ sake! It would hurt if a weakling swung it at her bare cheeks, never mind a muscular giant of a man. Fuck.

‘Alice,’ he said, firmly but softly. ‘Bend over a desk and pull your dress up around your waist.’

Alice was extremely glad that she’d obeyed her orders and not worn knickers that day. She’d have been caught out very early on if she hadn’t. Moving to the nearest desk, she did as Ethan asked.

‘Good,’ Ethan said, moving close behind her and caressing her bare buttocks. ‘These won’t be nearly as pale when I’m finished.’

Alice was surprised that Ethan was going to be the one doing it.