The intoxicating scent of sweat was enhanced by the hot blood pulsing close beneath the thin, beaten surface of flesh, rising under the lashing whip. I paused to admire my work. Mariette was a wonder. Her body still thrashed against the restraints anticipating another strike. I'd have loosened the bonds, tying her hands and feet to the cross beam, had I been working over a slave. Mariette was a special case, my little project. The leather biting into the delicate skin of her joints only added to her mounted pain, ergo her mounted satisfaction. That is what she craved, what she needed.
Her naked body was marked with years of shelf imposed-physical abuse. A lover of pain, Mariette had been assigned to me by a personal friend sharing my fascination with giving pain to those who sought it. This friend had tried, but failed to satisfy Mariette as Mariette had no desire to be governed over. She was not a slave to pleasure or to any Master.
Mariette would never love me as my slaves did, I knew it from the first, but her penchant for pain intrigued me. I wanted to teach her that extreme agony could be achieved without extreme torture or lasting damage, that I could fulfil her needs without even breaking her skin unless the occasion called for it. She would be safe and cared for.
Sessions with Mariette were an education for us both. She crossed barriers that took some slaves months to even approach without looking on in fear. Her pain threshold was astounding and her hunger for it insatiable. Neither man nor woman inspired lust or desire in her. Whips, canes, blades and fire were all she desired.
For this session she wore a blindfold as it heightened her sensitivity, making it easier for her to separate her mind and body and concentrate on the rhythm of the whip. Selfishly I wanted to remove the tear and sweat stained fabric from her eyes, forcing her to look upon her tormentor, witness that it was I who stimulated her like no one else could, hoping she would become as devoted to me as my slaves. To Mariette I was merely a tool to her pain like the whip in my hand.
Standing in my undergarments I paused to take a breath, admiring the body I longed to possess. Masses of black ringlets clung to Mariette's sweat slicked skin. The red, wet lips that I only kissed in greeting had swelled from her biting into them against her screams. Her high breasts tipped with their dark nipples, and her heaving stomach were all marked from far more than the lashes I had inflicted, with matching scars on her thighs and calves. The bonds on her wrists hid her juvenile, self-inflicted scars.
I reached out to feel the hot, heaving flesh under my fingers, but remembered myself and instead let the whip fall heavily on the welts already erupting on her thighs.
"Enough for today. You did well."
"No. Please. More." Mariette managed, "I can handle it."
"I know you can beautiful, but enough. I need you in the right state of mind for Mistress Merrick's visit." I proceeded to loosen her straps and helped her to her feet. I half dragged her to the once boiling, now cooler water filling the copper bathtub in front of the lit fireplace. A handler appeared as if from nowhere and assisted me in lifting her. She barely winced as the water splashed against her blood heated skin.
The handler handled her carefully but efficiently. Mariette detested the feeling of another's skin against hers unless it was violent. She was not ashamed or disturbed by another seeing her naked body. Nothing more but an instrument to her pain as I was.
"Leave us." I instructed.
With a bow the handler disappeared as he had come.
"Must I attend?" Mariette asked of the impending visit, already recovering with nothing more but a tremble in her voice and her heavy limbs limp in the water.
"Not if you do not wish, but we have already discussed this. Besides you will not be serving, you shall be my equal."
"Not trying to convert me then?"
I turned and smiled at her, "Never. You are perfect as you are beautiful. Why would I want to change you?"
Mariette didn't respond. She had only recently started accepting compliments from me, before they would have sent her into a rage. Surely she knew she was beautiful.
I stripped off my own sweat soiled garments. The warm air was wonderfully refreshing on my skin. I sat myself at the head of the bath. Placing my hand on the back of Mariette's neck, she lifted her head and I threaded my fingers through her wet hair. Even heavy with water her hair held its natural waves. I combed through the tangles. To Mariette this intimate contact was clinical, something that needed doing.
Mariette closed her eyes. "I will attend."
*
Mistress Merrick was announced and led to us by a handler serving as the footman. Her regal elegance was overwhelming. Had I not felt the safety of being within my own house, with Mariette stood reassuringly beside me wearing an elegant pale blue gown worth as much as the golden dress I wore, I'd have felt the urge to cower at Merrick's great beauty. She wore a dress of mostly olive green silk, with billowing gold and black lace sleeves from her elbows and matching petticoat. Her wild curled hair had been pinned up in elegant, complex knots, with loose curls shaping her pretty face.
Behind Merrick stood her slave of almost equal beauty, Georgiana, dressed as a male servant. Her eyes were lowered and she seemed to perforate sensual obedience in her every action. She wore the same green as Merrick. Her costume was accurate in every detail but one, her breasts were free from any bondage and her nipples evident through the cotton shirt and silk waist coat. Her long, dark hair was tied back in a simple ribbon resting against the nape of her slender neck. The high shirt collar and cravat no doubt hid the silver collar that showed her rank, name and owner.
"Good evening, Mistress Merrick. I trust your journey was pleasant." I said with a small curtsy to which Merrick reciprocated and her slave followed her example with a bow.
"It is good to see you Lady Blackmore," Merrick turned her approving gaze to Mariette, "and your charming companion."
"Yours also. Is that one of Lady Leopold's designs?" I gestured to Georgiana's costume.
"Yes. She does love to play dress-up and offered it to me as a gift. I must say it does allow me to travel more conveniently with my slaves. Allow me to introduce Georgiana. She will be assisting in the entertainment tomorrow evening." Georgiana bowed again, "I see your pet does not wear a collar. Is she new to your household?"
