Expectations

The next morning, Catherin arrived at the living quarters of the three newcomers. Accompanying her were two people who introduced themselves as Daniel and Michele. He had a tailor ruler draped around his neck while she carried a clipboard. They were there to do the fittings for everyone's outfits. Alex was directed to stand in front of the tri-fold mirror while Daniel pulled out his measuring tape and wrapped it around Alex's waist. Satisfied with everything, Catherin left the trio to the two couturiers.

Jessica and Maria sat down on the vanity stools and watched the pair work on Alex. As Daniel read out the measurements, Michele would write them down. "So how'd you two end up working here?" Jessica asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Same as you, saw an ad online," Daniel answered.

"H&M didn't pay much so we figured, what the hell. We could go for some excitement," Michele added.

"Well this place seems pretty exciting if first impressions are any indication," Jessica said satirically.

"Yeah, first day's rough."

"Is getting dragged butt ass naked a typical thing here on the first day?" Maria asked.

"It's a little initiation we have here at the Palace. Every new employee that arrives here is pranced around the halls for all the House to see."

"We've all had to do it," Michele said.

"Even Mistress Catherin?" asked Maria.

Daniel belted out a laugh. "Yeah! The story goes that Lady Hereta walked her on her hands and knees through the halls of the Palace herself with a leash."

"I would've loved to see that."

"Me too. But that must have been ... ten years ago? Not many here at the Palace stays more than three or four years."

Michele turned her head as if trying to remember something. "I think May was there," she quietly said to herself.

"Who's that?" asked Jessica.

"She's Lady Hereta's slave," Michele said meekly.

"She has a personal slave?" Jessica looked around the room with its elegantly crafted trim, ornate furniture, and gold drapes. "Well, she can definitely afford it."

"Oh no, May's not a hired slave."

Jessica shot up with amazement and intrigue. "Wait, you're saying she's a full on slave? Like, collars and foot massages, sleeping in a cage and eating out of a dog bowl kind of slave?"

"The whole nine yards," Daniel answered.

Jessica was always fascinated by the idea of having a sex slave. Someone who is so devoted to her that they would suffer any humiliation and endure any punishment just for the chance to kiss her feet. "Wow, what's she like?"

Daniel and Michele looked at each other awkwardly. "May, um ... she doesn't talk much."

**********

After they were released from their fittings, and gotten some breakfast, the three all separated to begin their training with their respected Masters. Jessica was to meet with Jaune in the theater to start work on becoming a showgirl.

The theater was part of a large extension that reached out from the rear of the House. Leather seating stretched across the back wall while tables and chairs filled the floor. The ceiling reaching up two stories with spotlights that encircled the stage. The stage itself was built into a 'T' shape, with a short catwalk that extended out from a wide platform. A red curtain served as a backdrop, on either side was an entrance to a backstage area filled with racks of costumes and props.

Michele had given Jessica a pair of cutoffs and a white tank top that hung above her bellybutton to change into. When she walked up the stairs to the stage, she saw there were four other girls already there, dressed in similar cutoffs and tank tops doing stretches.

"So, you're the new girl that wants to be a stripper?" One of the dancer sneered.

"Nikki, be nice. I'm sure this is all very overwhelming for the innocent little thing," another said sarcastically.

"Innocent nothing, I saw her shaved cunt yesterday. She's a total slut."

Jessica didn't give them much mind. She knew that they were just ragging on the new girl. Putting her through the ringer to show her who's got seniority. To be honest, she probably wouldn't act much different if the roles were reversed.

Just then, the theater doors opened and in walked a thin black man dressed in blue jeans and a shirt. Jessica took it that this he was Jaune Robbins, the Master who would oversee her training. He called out for everyone to get to their marks. Small X's made with tape scattered the floor of the stage, the performers got up and stood on them. Jessica looked around and hurried to the one empty X just as music began to play over the stage's speakers.

Their instructor was a pretty blond woman who lead the group while Jaune paced back and forth across the stage, critiquing everyone's form. Their routine was a seductive, choreographed dance. A more modern version of a burlesque show with scantily clad women strutting across a stage, showing off their bodies to entice an audience. Jessica did her best to try and follow along. The dance was not overly complicated, but the music was too fast. She was having difficulty keeping up with the other dancers. For half an hour, Jessica bumbled her way through the rehearsal. She tried the best she could but she was self-conscious, she felt like an idiot on that stage.

"Alright, stop!" Jaune called out, sounding annoyed. The music stopped and Jaune marched to Jessica. "Are you even trying?"

Jessica held her hands to her side and clinched into a fist. "It's my first day, I'll learn it all."

"That's not the problem," Jaune said. "I know you can learn the set but I am not convinced you can entice anyone. You just go through the motions without any sex appeal."

Jessica looked at the floor. She could practically feel the judgmental stares of Nikki and the rest of the performers. "I'll get better," she said softly.

"Oh, really? Well if you want to prove me wrong then show me. Cum for me." Jessica, confused, looked up. "I want you to masturbate, right here, and show me what you look like when you cum."

"Yeah, work it slut! I wanna see if you're a squirter!" Nikki jeered.

Jaune stepped down off the stage into the seating area and took a chair. He sat down and crossed his arms while he waited for her to start. Jessica was determined to show him, and the rest of those bitches, that she had sex appeal. She was going to put on a show that would give everyone in the audience a hard cock and a wet cunt.

The instructor turned the music back on and Jessica began to sway to the beat. She ran her hands up her body and to her chest, lifting the tank top up over her head and tossing it to the side. Cupping her breasts over her bra, Jessica gave a cheeky smile before shifting he undergarment up and letting her pert tits slip out.

Jessica rocked her body. She unbuttoned her cutoffs and dropped them to the floor. Underneath she wore a sexy black thong. Pulled tight, the fabric clung to her quim and highlighted her delicate slit. Behind her the lining of the tong buried itself between her ass cheeks. Jessica dropped to her knees at the edge of the stage and gyrated her hips towards Jaune while she massaged her nipples between her fingers. She was confident she could get the stuck up man drooling over her in no time.

Jessica slid her legs around and laid on her back. She lifted her legs up into the air and gave Jaune a perfect view of her tight ass. Hooking her fingers around the waistband, she pulled the thong up. Discarding it, Jessica opened her legs wide and looked down at him over her mound before bringing her hands to her pussy.

She spread her labia wide with one hand and started to rub her clit with the other. Closing her eyes, Jessica worked herself into a rhythm. She started to moan as she felt her climax start to build. After a few minutes, she was on the verge and slid her finger in. Her hands raced as her body was consumed by an orgasm. She pressed hard on her cunt and humped her hand.

Jessica laid there as she recovered. After a few moments, she sat up and looked at Jaune with a smile. But rather than applauding he just sat there, arms still crossed as if unimpressed.

"Is that it?" The cold detached way he said it knocked Jessica off balance. What was he saying, how could he have not like her performance? Jaune stood up from his chair and started to walk to the stage. "That took you almost twenty minutes."

As Jaune made his way up the stairs to the stage, he continued, "You may have a cute ass and know how to dance but once you get going, the only thing you focus on is making yourself feel good. You forget that you're here to make everyone else feel good." Jaune now standing over Jessica, looking down with his crossed arms. "What I'm saying is: you're boring."

Nikki and the other girls laughed loudly. Jaune went to a toy rack that was just back stage and retrieved something. Walking back, he handed it to Jessica and told her to put it on. It was a pink, lace panties. It seemed ordinary except but for large bulge that would cover the crotch. Jessica stepped into the panties and pulled it up. As soon as she did, Jaune pulled out a small pink remote and pressed a button. Immediately, heavy vibrations emanated from the bulge between Jessica's legs.

The vibrator was perfectly placed over her clitoris. Fresh from her climax, Jessica was too sensitive for any stimulation. She pulled the elastic and moved vibrator away from her tender sex. Jaune swatted her hands away.

"Leave it. You are going to learn to stay focused on the audience while we practice this set until it's perfect."

The rest of the girls got up and went back to their marks. Jessica slowly went back to hers. She bit her lip and tried to push the vibrator's stimulations to the back of her mind. If it meant proving him and those bitches wrong, she was willing to play Jaune's little game.

**********

Elsewhere in the Palace, Maria was walking through the corridors of the East Wing, making her way to The Red Room. Mistress Catherin told her that, under the direction of Lady Hereta, she will be receiving her training from Masters Bourne and Takada. This had Maria more than a little nervous. The thought of being handed over to one master was scary enough, but two? If their idea of training was anything like her "initiation", she was in no hurry to get started.

Walking at a slow pace so as to delay the inevitable, Maria eventually came up to a set of heavy wood doors with a trim made of detailed carvings. Pushing them open she entered a large, softly lit room. The walls were painted a deep red and along one side was hung a huge mirror that stretched nearly the entire length of the room and tall enough to reach the ceiling, all framed in a gold ivy relief. Within the room, laid out across the hardwood floor, were all manner of frightening furniture. Crucifixes, racks, stockades, cradles, and wooden horses. In the center of the room stood a tall, heavy timber pillar with metal shekels that hung from a ring on the top.

Maria's heart raced, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Her mind filled with thoughts and images of being chained to those instruments and being subject to all manner of horrific torture. She wanted to get out but before she could react, the door closed shut behind her. Maria whipped around to see a large, muscular man standing a full head above her blocking her escape. He was bald, with sharp features and dressed in a black button up shirt. His stern facial expression and strong physique was frightening but when he spoke, his voice was soft and almost soothing.

"Hello Ms. Cadeo."

"Hello," Maria said submissively.

"You seemed to have taken your time getting here. We might as well get started."

The man then put his hand on Maria's back and gave her a gentle nudge. He guided Maria to the far wall on which hung an immense collection of whips, crops, paddles, canes, floggers, and cat o' nine tails. There, reclining on a leather chair, sat a young woman. She was about the same age as Maria and even had a similar wide, pear shaped body. She was Asian and her slick black hair was done in a beautiful bun held together by a long gold hairpin. A short blue kimono was all she appeared to be wearing.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ian Bourne and this is my partner. Nyoko, if you please."

Nyoko stood up and undid the knot of her kimono, pulling it over her shoulders and dropping it to the floor to reveal a leather harness underneath. Thick, studded leather straps wrapped tightly around her nude body in a spider like pattern. Around her waist was a kind of leather garter belt that hooked to studded cuffs that wrapped around her thighs. Her breasts were pressed up by straps linked to a pair of brass rings that encircled her pierced nipples.

"Nyoko and I will be in charge of your training. As you can probably guess, your education will be focused on pain."

Maria's stomach dropped to the floor. More images flashed across her mind. Thoughts of being strung up by her wrists with her body covered in welts and blood. Her screams for help left unanswered as her cruel masters took turns inflicting fresh wounds on her with a whip.

"Now Maria, I want you to go to the wall and choose a crop."

Maria froze with dread. She looked up at the collection of nearly a dozen different riding crops of various shapes and sizes. Did he really want her to choose her own implement of torture?

"Pick one, or I will pick one for you." Ian impatiently said.

Maria jumped, her eyes darted across the wall to try and find the least painful looking riding crop she could. She slowly reached out and pulled one off its hook. It was red, shorter than the rest with a soft leather tip. The shaft was a fiberglass rod attached to a leather woven handle. Ian, satisfied with Maria's choice, once again put his hand on her back and guided her to the timber pillar in the center of the room, Nyoko following close behind. Maria gripped tight to the crop, not wanting to relinquish it.

The pillar was about seven feet tall, 5 inches wide, and made of oak that was stained dark. Its metal shackles hung at about head level. At the base was a small wood platform just large enough for one person to stand on. Even more horrific thoughts raced through Maria's mind. But before she could even process it, Nyoko stepped forward and stood on the platform.

"Maria, if you could please bind her hands."

Maria was confused. "Wait, you ... you're not going to lock me up?"

Ian sighed. "Unfortunately no, that is not why you are here. The Good Lady has decided that you will instead be following my lead and train as a sadist." Behind his voice was an air of sorrow and disappointment. "It's a shame really. Your skin is a perfect softness and I would have left beautiful bruises."

Maria felt a rush of relief engulf her. She could suddenly breathe easy again. She didn't know the first thing about being a sadist, but at least her worst fears weren't realized.

Nyoko turned to face the pillar and held her arms up. Maria walked to the other side and brought one of her hands to a shackle. Ian leaned in close to Nyoko and gave her a passionate kiss. While she was distracted, Maria clasped the shackles shut with a click. After locking the other hand she stepped back. Ian was still kissing the cuffed woman, as he did he reached his hand around Nyoko and grabbed her ass. Ian ended the kiss with a hard slap on her rear end, leaving behind a faint red handprint.

Nyoko was now hugging the pillar, facing forward while her backside was left totally exposed. Maria stared at her, the riding held in front of her with both hands. She suddenly felt anxious. She had just narrowly avoided being tortured, she couldn't just turn around and subject someone else to that same torment.

"Go ahead. She's waiting for you," Ian coaxed. Maria turned her head and looked at her reflection in the mirror. "You saw what she did, she let you bind her hands all of her own accord." Ian brought his hand up and ran it through Maria's hair. "She's a masochist, she craves pain." He grabbed Maria's chin and turned her head away from the mirror to face Nyoko. "Now give her what she wants." Ian stepped behind Maria. He watched her draw her arm up and hold the crop in the air.

Maria took a deep breath and nervously counted to three in her head. When she reached zero, she brought the crop down. But as it flew through the air, Maria had a moment of hesitation and pulled back at the last second. The crop made contact with Nyoko's skin with a pathetic slap.

"Harder! She won't feel anything from that!" Ian pushed.

Determined to get it right Maria drew back again, took aim for Nyoko's round ass, and swung with all her might. However her strike landed wrong. The shaft was the first to make contact and the impact reverberated up the crop into her hand.

"No, you are striking too close." Ian pulled Maria back a step and put his hand over her grip on the crop. "When you strike with a riding crop you do so with the tip only, not the shaft. You use a cane for that, this will only break." Ian drew her arm back into a windup. "The pain you make must be a sting, like a hornet. Sharp and focused. Let me show you."

Maria relaxed her arm and let Ian pilot her into delivering a strike. Landing on the woman's flesh with an audible "THWACK", striking Nyoko across her rear end. She reacted with a yell and clinched her ass cheeks tight while arching her back. As her muscles spasmed, a red streak emerged on her soft white skin and grew into a fierce welt. Maria suddenly experienced a strange sensation swell in her stomach.

Ian ran his free hand along Maria's side and over her stomach. He leaned in close and spoke into Maria's ear with a soft whisper. "You feel it, don't you? That excitement building in the pit of your stomach? That beautiful euphoria?" Ian let go of Maria's hand and joined it with the other in a comforting hug. "Again."

Maria wound her arm back and delivered a second strike on Nyoko. As another audible thwack echoed the room, Nyoko cried out. That strange sensation returned, a little larger this time.

"Keep going" Ian whispered as he reached his hand under Maria's shirt, touching the bare skin of her stomach. Maria delivered a continuous series of blows. That sensation at her core started to grow and Ian was almost caressing it.

"Again," thwack, scream. "Again," thwack, scream. "Again!" thwack, scream. "AGAIN!!" Maria continued to assault Nyoko's backside with a flurry of blows. Nyoko's screams started to blend together into a long, drawn out cry. With one last strike, Nyoko let out a shuttered moan of pleasure.

Ian let go of Maria and walked over to Nyoko. He ran his fingers across her face, wiping away her tears. Then reached around her head and pulled her in for a forcefully kiss. Maria took the opportunity to continue the torment. Ian drove his tongue inside her while she moaned into his mouth.

Between her swings, Maria looked down. There running down Nyoko's leg, amongst the zebra like crisscross patterns of welts, bruises, and red streaks that covered her back, ass, and thighs, was a trickling droplet of pure passion.

Maria's heart was racing. That sensation in her stomach had surged to engulf her entire body in a warm glow. A wide grin stretched across her face as she continued her assault with a twisted excitement. She laughed because she could feel an identical droplet of passion trickle down her inner thigh.

*********

Seventeen times, seventeen times Jessica has climaxed. Her legs felt like jello, she was breathing heavily, and beads of sweat dripped down her face. The euphoria and pleasure Jessica once associated with an orgasm has, thanks to the relentless and continuous stimulation of the vibrator, been replaced with torment and agony. The constant contracting of her muscles from cumming made her whole body ache with cramps. Her clitoris, now painfully tender, was starting to go numb. But despite this, Jaune refused to release his hold of the remote. He made Jessica repeat the routine again and again and again.