Technically it wasn't Serena's fault that they were here. Alexis was the one who'd made a scratch into the rear view mirror of Mistress' car when they'd been washing it. Didn't make much of a difference. They'd shared the assignment, so naturally they also shared the punishment for fucking it up.
Both Serena and Alexis were strung up naked in the garden, their wrists spread wide above their heads, fixed to a grid with leather wrist cuffs that allowed them to just barely stand on their tiptoes. Even though those restraints were minimal, it was impossible to wriggle away without hanging uncomfortably by their arms and it was especially impossible to protect their upper bodies. Which was concerning since Mistress had assigned Tara to dish out the punishment and Tara was infamous for her fixation on breasts.
"Well then, ladies, who of you wants to begin?" Tara swirled her tool of punishment around as she grinned at them. It didn't look like much at first glance: A single thread of thin rope. Not the whip or the belt Serena would've expected, but in the right hands it could surely be made to hurt just as much.
Serena exchanged glances with Alexis. Her fellow slave girl was clearly nervous. Alexis was still pretty new and hadn't experienced many punishments yet. Add to that the guilt of bringing someone else into this mess and it wasn't surprising that her nerves would get the better of her.
"I'll start," Serena said.
"You sure?" Alexis asked.
"Why not? It doesn't make much difference either way." Serena wasn't sure if she was doing Alexis a favor by postponing her punishment, but maybe if she could take hers in grace, it would show Alexis that it wasn't so bad after all.
"Very well. Let's start it slow. Twenty lashes across your tits."
Serena swallowed. Of course Tara would go for it right away. But still, she'd made it through much worse already. "I'm ready."
"Okay. Alexis, it's your job to keep count."
Tara let the rope fly. It connected straight across Serena's breasts with a nasty snap. Serena sharply sucked in air. It stung, but at least the rope didn't have the sheer impact force of a whip.
"One." Alexis' voice was shaky.
Serena turned her head and smiled at Alexis to reassure her. The smile twitched for a moment as the rope connected again, but she managed not to let her pain show.
"Two." It was hard to say if Alexis sounded more steady now, but it had at least been worth a try.
Serena managed to stay silent for two more lashes, but the fifth one already made her gasp. The rope might not have the same force as a whip, but it was deceptively fast and it had an irritatingly rough surface. Every lash drew a red line across Serena's breasts that kept burning long after the initial pain had faded, leaving the skin irritated and sensitive.
"Five."
Serena winced as the sixth strike hit her right areola. She looked down to see the angry red of the welt blossom right next to her hard nipple. It was only a matter of time before Tara hit that target spot on.
"Six."
At least Alexis knew to count slowly, making sure Serena had time to collect herself again after each strike.
Serena grunted through the next couple of strokes. The rope stung like a bitch, but it was an extremely unsatisfying kind of pain. A whip might've objectively hurt more, but as the impact knocked the air out of your lungs, you could let yourself fall into the sensation, empty your mind and embrace your suffering. The string didn't have any power to get swept away by. It only made you jump when it bit the skin, followed by a couple of agonizing seconds during which you tried to convince yourself that the burning was actually not that unbearable.
By strike ten Serena's vision blurred. She didn't waste her energy trying to hold back the tears. One of the first things she'd learned as a slave girl was that everyone cried during punishments. There was only so much pain the human body could cope with in silence and if punishments stayed within this comfort zone, then they wouldn't be punishments.
The first time Serena had tried to fight the tears and she'd ended up so distraught and humiliated by her failure to do so, that she'd had to safeword out. Thank God both Mistress and the other slave girls had supported her that day, or she might've quit right then and there. Once she'd learned to just let the tears flow, she'd been able to appreciate what punishments could do for her. Sure, they might hurt more than she ever thought possible, but it was also cathartic to know that the whip washed away all the guilt, that nobody would hold her mistakes against her once the punishment was over. And, looking back, it was hard not to feel proud of what she'd been able to make it through.
"Eleven." Alexis' voice had taken on a high pitch. She must've also noticed Serena crying.
"Don't worry about me." Serena did a good job of keeping her own voice steady. It would take more than that to get her to the point of uncontrollable sobbing. "I'm okay. Really."
She managed to keep it together until strike fourteen. That was one Tara first managed to snap the rope right across her nipples.
Serena shrieked. Her feet briefly left the ground as she instinctively contracted all her muscles, lifting herself up in the process. She needed to reach for her burning nipples, soothe them, protect them, but she knew that she couldn't. There was nothing she could do but grit her teeth and hope that at some point that searing sting would ebb down into something that didn't make her feel like she'd piss herself any second now.
After a few seconds she managed to catch her breath. Breathe through the pain, that was the trick. Just... breathe. Calm down and try to enjoy it. As perverted as it was, she'd signed up for the life of a slave girl knowing full well that there would be pain, and while she didn't consider herself a masochist (at least not compared to those real pain sluts who looked as if they could orgasm just from getting whipped), she did like challenging herself and she did enjoy proving to herself and others that she could do something. Even if that something was to survive getting lashed right across her nipples.
"Fourteen"
There must've been almost a minute between the strike and Alexis' counting, but Tara didn't comment on it. She might've been a sadistic bitch, but she was also a sadistic bitch who knew when her victims needed a moment to get it together. Not that there had to be anything altruistic about it. If she pushed Serena too far, she'd only break and safeword out and it wouldn't be fun for anyone. But if she made sure to stay just within Serena's limits, she could have fun making her suffer for pretty much as long as she wanted.
There were no more direct nipple hits, but with her skin already being a network of inflamed lines, every lash was enough to make her cry out, especially that lower aimed one that flicked her sensitive underboob area. By the time Tara was done, the tears were freely dripping down Serena's chin. The red lines had a nasty itch to them that made it clear that it would stay for a long time, especially with her being totally unable to soothe her breasts. Still, she was proud that she'd made it through.
"Very well. For the next part, I'll give you a choice. I can either strike Alexis fifty times across the thighs, or I can strike you twenty times. What do you say?"
Of course. Tara wouldn't go for normal areas like the back or the ass. No, she'd go exclusively for the parts that really hurt. Serena looked at Alexis.
"I... I... I can take it. Don't worry. I..." Alexis muttered.
It was obvious that Alexis didn't believe she could take it. And Serena didn't blame her. Fifty strikes was a lot, and across the sensitive thighs nonetheless. It would be a challenge for everyone but the most seasoned pain sluts.
"Don't be stupid. It's much easier if I take it."
