Thwack! Ashley grunted and breathed in again.
The flogging continued. The fierceness of it finally broke her silence and she cried out. She had resolved herself to the abuse before it had even commenced. She knew she deserved it, and knew it was her master’s right to whip her at any time. Being flogged was not something she desired, but she understood the inevitability of the act.
“I am his slave…his pain slut…his whore,” the suspended woman thought as she waited for the next blow to land.
Ashley began to block out the over-all pain of the lashings and focus on the wonderfully warm feeling the heavy leather strands were creating all over her body. She wanted more. She needed more. She longed for the heat.
Thwack! Thwack!
Ashley’s head went back. “Thank you Master,” she moaned. “More please.”
“You want more? Is that what you said?” Trent brought the flogger back further than he had previously held it.
“More please,” the tortured woman said more loudly, her desire and her need evident in her plea.
Thwack!! Thwack!! Thwack!!
Trent knelt on one knee and began to direct the blows against her crotch. Most of the weight of the strands struck her lower abdomen, although more than a few punished her crotch.
He reached up and delivered several lighter lashes to her sides and then several glancing blows across her breasts. Her breasts bounced and jumped with each lash.
Ashley moaned and made little yelping sounds as the flogging continued. She responded to her punishment with a mixture of thanks and pleas for more.
Trent stood and took the flogger in both hands and swung it around like a baseball bat, laying a hard blow to his slave’s lower back. He saw Ashley rise up on her toes, arching her back so that her deliciously firm ass stuck out even further.
“Thank you Master!” Ashley pushed her breath out through clenched teeth. “More please!” She turned slightly to present her raised ass to her master. “Harder please, sir!”
Desire swept through Trent like a wildfire in a drought. He moved in to hold Ashley’s suspended body, the heat emanating from her promising to scorch his hands. One arm went around her torso to hold her. He felt her sweaty back - firm and well toned. His other hand felt the firmness of her hot, raised, ass. He saw her move against him, offering herself to him, spreading her legs for his pleasure.
The paperback book fell from Melanie’s hand and onto the bed as her fingers slid down between her legs to her pussy. The arousal the passage had provoked was immediately evident.
Holy shit! The naked brunette rubbed her slit harder, feeling a surge of lust spreading outward and causing her to take a deep breath.
Images of the passage she had just read flashed through her mind, only now she imagined herself in the role of “slave in training”, and was pressing herself against her Master. He would enter her and fuck her roughly and she would say, “Harder Master…fuck me harder!”
Melanie’s fingers rubbed her engorged clit and she arched her back as her orgasm crashed down upon her like a violent surf. It surprised her that she had climaxed so quickly, and she moaned as she would if Trent…her Master…had been ramming his hard shaft into her.
Thank you, Master! her lust soaked mind called out as the fingers of one hand continued to massage her moist slit while she used her other hand to grasp an aroused nipple and pinch. The young attorney was no masochist, but with Ashley’s story so fresh in her mind, she pinched her stiff little bud harder and harder.
The conflicting sensations just made her hotter and hotter, sending another wave of self-induced pleasure rippling through her soul.
As the orgasm began to fade, Melanie’s analytic mind was already busy separating fantasy from reality. The pain and lust was all well and good in the book, but in reality...she knew it must be quite different. How could anyone trust another like Ashley trusted Trent? Once a person was bound, what was to prevent the "Dom" from going too far; from causing too much pain?
Wishing she could continue reading, Melanie reached over and turned off her bedside lamp and hugged her pillow a little tighter. She had an important meeting in the morning and she knew she couldn’t stay up all night reading.
As her breathing began to return to normal, Mel thought about the chapter she had just read and wondered about whether she could ever stand to be flogged like the character in the book had been. While she had fantasized about it many times, she knew her fantasies were nothing like the reality of such an act. Still…
Turning over onto her back, she gazed up at the ceiling and thought of her friend, Emelia, and wondered how many times she had been flogged?
Melanie and Emelia had met, and become close friends, at the Stanford University School of Law. It was there that they had, quite by accident, come across a BDSM oriented website one night while browsing the Internet. While funny at first, Mel later admitted to her friend that she found herself fantasizing about what they had read, and had even returned to the website to read more.
Emelia laughed and confessed that she had too!
They continued to explore the Web for arousing sites, experimenting with some of the things they viewed, and expanding their knowledge, as well as the scope of what they searched for.
By the time they were in their third year, they had arranged to room together, and their bondage games were elevated to a new level of excitement. Taking turns tying each other up, and even trying some coordinated self-bondage scenarios, they fantasized about being everything from damsels-in-distress, to slave-for-the-week.
During their final year, Emelia began dating James, an older man who was in his last year of obtaining his MBA. Melanie could see right away the appeal this man held for her friend; he was worldly, handsome, and above all else, dominant.
In their games together, Mel could tell that her friend was most happy when she was the one being bound; the one being humiliated in some way; the one being stuck by a crop or a flogger. They only played at those things, though, and after a couple of months of dating, Emelia confided that her boyfriend was quite accomplished with the tools of BDSM. She had lifted her blouse to proudly display the red marks across her back, the product of the previous evening's 'fun'. Delivering blows that hard was one thing neither woman could do for fear of hurting the other.
After graduation they had promised to stay in touch, and had managed to do that, albeit sporadically. Melanie was confident that her college friend was safe in James' hands, and that she was happy in her new life with him.
Melanie was happy with her own life, even though her love life was pitifully lacking. Graduating near the top of her class, she had received employment offers from half a dozen prestigious law firms. Electing to pursue corporate law instead of criminal, Melanie chose a well respected firm based in Chicago where she quickly rose through the ranks to become a junior partner.
It was due to that position that she had the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles to represent her firm. A prospective client; a very large west coast company, had contacted her firm to assist them in a complex merger with a European company. Melanie had instantly recognized the new client as the company Emelia worked for, and saw it as a chance to visit her friend.
Turning onto her side, Melanie tried to suppress the butterflies in her stomach and go to sleep. She wasn’t as anxious about the business meeting as she was about seeing Em again. She missed her so! But beyond that...she wanted to know how things were going with James. She wanted to know if Emelia still served him as his slave, and if so...she wanted...oh, she could barely believe what she wanted...and she wasn't even sure she'd have the nerve to ask.
Her thoughts went back to the adventures of Ashley Bennet as she drifted off to sleep. What was Ashley going to do now that Trent had become her Master? She couldn’t wait to read more of her novel.
When Melanie arrived at her meeting the next morning, she was surprised to see Emelia sitting at the far end of the long conference table. She knew Em worked for the corporation as an attorney, but hadn't expected her to be involved in a meeting at this level. She'd been told she would be meeting with the top lawyers and a couple of Board members. Had Emelia risen that far since they last spoke?
These thoughts flashed through her mind as she was being ushered to her seat. As introductions were being made, Melanie was thinking back two years to when her friend called to tell her she had gotten this new job. If she had climbed to this level in two years, Em was a better lawyer than she was!
The sight of her friend caused her pulse to quicken. In college, Emelia could be described as "cute", but now, she was nothing short of beautiful. It wasn't just a physical beauty, though, but an aura about her that radiated beauty from within.
Oh, what a bunch of crap! She was still madly in love with Emelia. The thought made her blush, and she had to fight to regain her composure before she made a fool of herself and bungled her presentation.
After the lead corporate attorney made some opening remarks the meeting was turned over to Melanie. Having gotten control of her emotions, she glided easily through the PowerPoint she had prepared, highlighting the experience and expertise of her law firm in negotiating large international mergers.
During the conversations that followed, Melanie couldn't help but to notice that those around the table would sometimes glance at Emelia and receive a nod before or after commenting. It seemed that they were either asking permission to continue, or looking for approval for what they had just said. For her part, Emelia had not said a word, yet Melanie felt she was somehow running the meeting.
By lunchtime there was a consensus in the Boardroom to retain her firm to handle their international business dealings. After yet another nod from Emelia, Melanie was asked to return in the afternoon to help draft the appropriate contracts.
The two college friends had agreed to meet for lunch at Via Alloro in Beverly Hills. Melanie was a little surprised Em had picked a sports bar for lunch, and judging from the crowd waiting for tables; a very popular one. She looked around for the petite blonde as she made her way to the maître d' stand, but after not seeing her she decided it was best to leave her name. It was going to take forever to get a table!
"Ah, Miss Grayson, welcome," the man behind the podium said with a slight bow when he heard Melanie's name. "Miss Davis has been seated. If you would follow me please."
Melanie was ushered through the packed restaurant to a short hallway that led to a quiet dining area. Here, the lighting was subdued and the booths were deep, assuring a certain degree of privacy for their occupants. The man walked along until he came to the booth he sought, and then stood to one side to allow Melanie access to her seat. He raised his hand to a server, and the girl disappeared into the kitchen.
"Mel!" Emelia gushed, patting the seat next to her.
Melanie saw that the seat was one continuous cushion that surrounded the table in a U-shape. Her friend was sitting at the back of the U, and she was being prompted to sit beside her. As she scooted along the cushioned seat, Mel took in the sight of her friend. Having come directly from the meeting, Emelia was still wearing the same charcoal-gray, well tailored, business suit she had been wearing earlier. The light-weight white turtleneck sweater she wore under the blazer hugged her torso tightly, showing off her slender frame.
As Melanie slid in next to her friend, Emilia put her arm out and pulled her close, embracing her warmly.
"God!" she said, her voice low and sexy. "You look fantastic! I could barely contain myself in that fucking meeting!"
Melanie pushed away from Emilia and looked into her smiling face. "You couldn't contain yourself!? I nearly crawled the length of that table to get to you!"
Both women laughed and then looked up as the server appeared at the table to fill their wine glasses. Several minutes later, she returned with an appetizer platter.
"I hope you don't mind a lite lunch, Mel. My owner asks that you join us for dinner tonight. Say you'll come, please?"
Her owner? So her friend was still playing the slave. Melanie's heartbeat quickened.
"Of course, I'd love to come." She purposely drew out the last word in the sentence, an inflection that made Emelia look up and grin. Yeah, she got it...
"My owner will send the car around to pick you up at 5:30, if that's okay."
It seemed to be all arranged. Melanie just hoped the afternoon meeting wouldn't last too long, she wouldn't want to keep Em's owner waiting! She was amused by Emelia's use of the term. Was she forbidden to use the word, Master? That's what she used to call him. It didn't matter, in fact, she found it even more exciting. Owner...Emilia was James' property, to do with what he wanted. Wow!
They chatted quietly as they ate, discussing their lives and how they had each progressed in their careers. Melanie was surprised to learn that Emelia was the CEO's personal assistant and attorney. That explained why everyone kept looking to her for approval. She had the authority to make decisions on behalf of the CEO.
"And what about your life with your owner?" Mel asked, playing along with the use of the term.
The pretty blonde reached up and pulled the neck of her sweater down to reveal a tightly fitting white leather collar. The word "PET" was stamped in pink block letters in the front, a small o-ring hanging just below it. Emelia flashed her white teeth, "I love my owner," she whispered, and then watched her friend's face blush.
"Look at you blush!" she giggled. "You know how I live. Don't tell me you're embarrassed about it after all this time."
"Were you wearing that all morning?" Melanie asked. The thought of her friend sitting in the room with all of those high level attorneys and Board members while wearing a collar under her sweater was so frikkin' hot!
Emilia pulled the sweater back up to cover the collar. "Of course, silly. It's locked on. I'm my owner's pet. I can never be allowed to forget that."
Melanie was still blushing, but not because of her friend's collar. She looked down at her plate, unable to meet Emelia's eyes.
"What is it, Mel? Is something wrong?" Emelia reached over to hold Melanie's hand. "Tell me."
"It's too embarrassing," Mel whispered.
The two sat silently for several seconds before Melanie finally took a breath and said, "Do you think your owner would flog me?"
"You want to be flogged?"
Melanie looked into her friend's eyes. "I've been thinking of the fun we had in college; the times we used the flogger on each other..."
"The purple suede one we bought on Amazon!" Em chuckled. "I still have that, you know."
"We never really hit each other very hard with it, even though it was soft. So I've never really felt any real pain, or..." Melanie searched for the words.
What was it she wanted? Was it pain? Or was it something else?
"The desperation?" Em asked. "The helplessness?"
"Maybe that's it. I want it to hurt enough to make me scared...to...to make me scream." There! She said it. That's where her deepest fantasy lay, and maybe she hadn't even realized it until that moment.
Now Emelia looked at her friend more seriously. "Mel...there's, um..." the young blonde seemed lost in thought for a moment, as if there was something she wanted to say, but couldn't decide how to put it. Finally she squeezed Melanie's hand and said, matter-of-factly, "My owner can do that, but are you sure about this?"
Melanie just nodded. She was sure.
"I can ask." Emelia looked up and motioned for the server to bring the check. "I doubt the answer will be no."
When Melanie arrived back at the corporate offices, she found that Emelia was not present for the afternoon meeting. While fully engaged in the drafting of the contracts, her concentration was split between her work and what she had asked of her friend.
That she had actually brought it up surprised her in a way. She had thought about it; fantasized about it; but hadn't really planned on vocalizing it. It just sort of came out. What had she done?! Did she really want this?
She imagined that Emelia was already asking James about it...telling him she wanted him to flog her. What would he think of her? What if he said no? Now she was embarrassed to go over to their house. Oh what a mess! But Em said he would probably not say no.....
These tumultuous thoughts had to be pushed out of her mind for now so that she could concentrate on the wording of the contracts. She'd worry about her impending humiliation later!
'Later' came more quickly than she might have liked. Most of the work on the contracts had already been done, as if the new client company had expected things to go well at the morning meeting. Melanie wondered how much Em had to do with that.
Before she knew it she was sitting in the back of a sleek black limo, being whisked away to Emilia's house. She felt as though she was a bullet, being shot down a dark barrel towards an unseen target. Was it her fantasy or her fate that awaited her at the end of the ride?
That question would soon be answered as the limo turned off the main road and onto a tree lined avenue. Melanie gazed out the tinted windows as they drove past some very large estates, amazed by the size and beauty of the properties. In college it had been plain to see that James was a man who had not only come from money, but would go on to have greater success. Judging from the neighborhood, she had underestimated just how successful he would be.
Finally, the car turned onto a driveway and followed a long curving path though a well manicured lawn to the front steps of a sprawling mansion. She had hoped that Emelia would come out to greet her, but as the limo drove off she was left standing alone on the front steps.
The significance of the moment was not lost on the shapely brunette as she looked up at the large white double doors. She was not being invited in; she was being made to make a decision. Knock, and have her fantasy fulfilled, or walk away.
Putting on a brave front, she knocked.
When the door opened a few seconds later the real reason Emelia didn't come out to greet her became obvious. Except for her collar, and cuffs on her wrists and ankles, her friend was naked.
"Come in!" Emelia gushed, holding the door open for her friend to pass through, and then closing it behind her. "I'm so happy you're here, and guess what? I'm to take you directly downstairs!"
Melanie looked around at the large open foyer and took hold of Emilia's outstretched hand. The house was certainly as grand inside as it was outside. What a place to live!
"Downstairs? You mean..."
"Yes! My owner has agreed to flog you!" Em said, her beautiful smile radiating that welcoming charm that had always melted Melanie’s heart. "You are so lucky...I haven't been flogged since I became a pet." The petite blonde opened a door and led Melanie down a flight of stairs.
"Wow, this is pretty impressive," Mel said as she looked around the room at the assortment of bondage equipment. There were several frames, a wooden saw horse, padded benches, iron poles, and an adjustable pillory, not to mention racks with an assortment of canes, whips, and paddles.
"Isn't it?" Em said as they stopped between two poles that were bolted to the floor and to the ceiling. "I'm just the luckiest slave in the world!"
Melanie looked at her naked friend and saw that cute smile, and those lovely blue eyes, and was thrown back to their college days together. How she missed seeing Emelia like this! Her enthusiasm was sexy, and maybe that sexuality was what it was she radiated. She loved being the slave, and now Melanie almost wished she could use some of the equipment on her, just for old times sake.
Emelia's hand waving in front of her face brought her out of her daydream.
"Hey, come on, start getting undressed," Emelia said. "My owner will be home any minute, and I'm supposed to have you secured and warmed up."
"I like the sound of that."
"Yeah, well, I'm going to enjoy the sound of you screaming," Em said as she took Melanie’s shoes and placed them on a nearby table.
"Stop! You’re making me more nervous than I already am!" Mel hissed. She handed the nude slave her skirt and then began to unbutton her blouse.
Emelia took the skirt, and then waited for the blouse. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."
Melanie stood in her bra and panties, suddenly feeling very exposed. James had never seen her naked and, although she had been naked in her fantasies, she was having a sudden bout of shyness. She stood with her legs together and her arms crossed over her chest.
"Okay, Missy," Emelia said teasingly as she reached over to a table and scooped up some leather cuffs. "You put these on and I'll take care of your ankles."
Mel took the leather cuffs and began buckling them in place around her wrists. While doing that she could feel the cuffs being pulled tightly around her ankles. This was suddenly getting very real! Did she really want to be flogged? Things were moving faster than she thought they would...she thought there'd be more time...for what? To back out? Or to get comfortable with James first?
Mel felt her ankle being tugged and she stepped to the side. There was a little 'clink' sound and she looked down to see that Emelia had clipped a plastic coated cable to the ankle cuff. The naked woman leaned the other way and grasped a similar cable and guided her free leg towards it.
Emelia must have the felt the resistance because she used a little more pressure to force her friend's foot where she needed it in order to clip the second cable to the ring on the cuff. Melanie found herself reaching out to the side to hold on to the vertical poles for balance. Looking down, she saw Emelia looking back up at her, smiling. Oh...she remembered that smile. It was her devious smile; the smile that said she was up to something. But what?
Rising to her feet, Emelia's hands roamed up along Melanie’s body as she stood. It felt so good! Not that Melanie considered herself to be a lesbian, because she certainly was not, but she was not adverse to sapphic relationships. As it was, Emilia was the only woman she had ever kissed...or gone to bed with...or made love to...
Those thoughts, and her friend's hands holding her, caressing her, roaming her flesh, was definitely having an effect on her. She stood there, mesmerized, as Emelia's hands ran up along her arms, raising them upwards towards the ceiling. Melanie had seen the cable hanging there, but she was enjoying the sensations of Emelia's caresses so much that it still came as a surprise when her wrist cuffs were clipped to it.
Looking up, Mel saw the clip attached to the cable and tried to work her fingers to get a hold of it.
"Go ahead, sweetie," Emelia cooed as she moved around her friend to stand behind her, "try to unhook yourself." The petite blonde pressed up against Melanie's bare back and put both hands around her waist. She whispered, "I've tried many times, and have never been able to work that clip." She began kissing Melanie's neck and shoulders. "I don't think it can be done."
Leaning over towards the table, Em picked up a red rubber ball gag and brought it around in front of her bound friend.
"Open wide, my little toy," she said as she brought the ball up to Melanie's mouth and pressed it against her lips.
Melanie shook her head. She hadn't expected to be gagged. "I don't know about...hey! Oo ahh! Aaaayt!" Her words were stifled by the ball as it was pulled into her mouth from behind. Her head was pulled this way and that as Amelia pulled the straps tight and buckled them together.
"Toys don't talk, sweetie," Emelia cooed. "They just get played with."
"Mmmmpphh! Eeeee! Op! Op!" Melanie tried to twist away from Emilia's tickling fingers as they roamed over her exposed underarms and then lightly down her sides. She was terribly ticklish, a fact Emelia was well aware of.
Thankfully, the assault quickly stopped, but the reason for the cessation made Melanie twist to try to see behind her. Footsteps could be heard on the floor above, and then she heard a slight squeak from the door at the top of the stairway door.
"I'm home, pet!" a female voice called down. "Is your toy ready?"
"Wooof! Woof woof woof!" Emilia barked in reply.
"Good girl! I'll be right down."
Melanie’s head was spinning. What the hell was happening?! As she struggled to release her wrists from the cable overhead the image of Emilia's devious little smile flashed through her mind.
Knowing she'd been tricked in some way, Melanie called out through the gag to Emelia, but only heard panting from behind her. She looked up at the clip attached to her wrist cuffs and tried to get her fingers on it, but with her wrists so close together she couldn’t find the right angle to get a proper grip. She was going nowhere.
"Shhh," came a soft whisper from behind her. "Settle down and think."
Melanie stopped struggling. Think? Think of what? Her answer came a second later.
"This is what you wanted, sweetie. This is what you need. Trust me."