Chapter seven: That's a wrap!
Sally woke up first. The room was bathed in a soft light that eased its way through the curtains on the window. She smiled and draped her hand over the side of her lover and Mistress. Valerie stirred without waking. Sally fingered the collar around her neck and the chain that connected it to the headboard. It would be a simple matter to release it and hit the shower, but Valerie had said that she wanted Sally in bed until Val had woken up. Even the slight tension on her pussy lips from the locked rings could not dampen her joy.
"She's my Mistress. She owns me and it's so right," she thought to herself. "Last night was so hard, but it showed me she can take pleasure from me, even when I don't like what she's doing."
Sally was realizing that she had been afraid of Valerie being unable to dominate her 24/7. When they had first met, Valerie was one of the most submissive people Sally had ever met, at least to those she chose to submit to (towards others, Valerie could be a force to be reckoned with). Valerie had, however, thrown herself into being a full time dominant with the same vigor that she approached her work. Drawing on the experience and knowledge of practiced dominants and submissives, Valerie had been able to give Sally the ownership she needed and craved.
Valerie rolled over and opened her eyes. "Morning, lover."
"Good morning Mistress.
Valerie trailed her fingers across Sally's naked body. Sally moaned lightly at the attention. Her legs spread a little, inviting attention between them. Valerie brushed Sally's locked cunt before she rolled back over to climb out of bed.
"We have to get ready to go. We need to be at Sir Tom's house in an hour." Valerie thought for a moment, wondering why she was supposed to bring Sally with her. Tom had given neither a reason, nor specific instructions. A strange feeling of protectiveness came over her. "I'm going to unlock your pussy for this trip, slave. I may lock it again later."
Valerie opened the locks as she spoke. Since she had not been instructed to show up in any specific outfit (or lack there of) Valerie dressed both of them in casual clothes that showed their respective charms. Once showered and dressed, they headed out to the house Val had been at earlier in the week. Valerie clipped a leash to Sally's collar and led her to the door. Val was surprised when Master Hugh answered the door instead of Sir Tom.
"Valerie. Sir Tom was called away unexpectedly and asked me to fill in."
"Of course, Master. What service do you wish of me?"
"I'm to train you with your slave. Take her downstairs, strip both of you and bind her to the cross."
"Yes, Master. Come with me Sally."
Sally was led to the basement where both women removed their clothes. Valerie bound Sally to the St. Andrew's cross, her back facing out.
"I think I'm to receive training in giving you pain."
"Don't worry about me Mistress, practice as much as you need. Will you be okay?"
"Yes, my limits are expanding, I think."
Hugh joined them and examined the bindings.
"You have a good handle on how to bind. Tell me, why did you bind her torso tightly to the cross? You only needed to bind her wrists and ankles."
"I didn't want to have her actions as she was being whipped to injure her, Master. Much like one holds a rifle tight to your shoulder when you shoot it."
Hugh nodded. "What experiences have you had with whipping a submissive?"
"Very little, Master. In my first weekend with my Master, I safe worded at having to whip Sally. Since then, I've only given what I refer to slow motion whippings, ones that have several minutes between strokes. Since she has become submissive to me 24/7, I have lost control during a paddling once and have done a little bit of spanking. I am still very uncomfortable with inflicting pain outside of bite play."
"Bite play? I thought Charles did not approve of bite play?"
"In general, he doesn't. He hasn't specifically forbidden it though. Surmi enjoys it immensely and I enjoy giving her that pleasure."
"If you were my slave, I would punish you for that. A Master's preferences are as good as commands."
Valerie was shocked by the implied criticism of Charles. She thought this man was a friend of her Master. "I understand, Master," she replied. Valerie tried to keep the displeasure out of her voice.
Hugh looked at Valerie with scorn. "You should rethink how you serve your Master. Is there anything else you're doing with your Master's slave that he would not approve of?"
Valerie took a deep breath. "She has no safe word."
"What! How dare you! Place yourself over the bench."
Valerie moved to the padded bench, trying to explain as she did. "Master, my…"
The interruption was harsh. "Quiet. Do not speak. If you do, the punishment will be that much worse."
He pushed her over the bench and clipped her cuffs to the attachment points. He pulled a cat from a drawer and stood behind Valerie. Sally looked on in shock. She had wanted to warn Val, but Valerie had been looking the wrong way. Sally knew Hugh. His belief in safe words and safe, sane, consensual was even more extreme than Charles' views.
"Valerie, play without safe words is abuse, plain and simple. Charles did not give you use of this slave so you could abuse her. I will punish you now, and don't be surprised if your Master does so again when he finds out what you have done. Count the strokes."
With that, the first blow landed and Valerie cried out, "One!" Tears came to her eyes. Valerie realized that Hugh was not going to listen to any excuses and figured that she would simply bear up under the unfair punishment and let Charles sort it out later. She let herself cry and writhe under the whip. After 25 blows, her legs and ass were a mass of red stripes and hurting like the dickens. Hugh released her.
"Let's continue with your training. I want you to whip Sally with the cat ten times. You can use as light or as hard of strokes as you wish, but you must give her ten. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Master."
"Sally, you have your safe words back: red light for stop and yellow light for slow."
"Master, I don't…"
"Sally! You, of all people, should know better." Charles had had Hugh train Sally in the use of whips and crops. "A slave under bondage does not speak except when commanded to or to use a safe word."
Sally bit her lip, knowing she would not be permitted to explain the circumstances. So intent on not wanting a safe word, it never occurred to Sally to use a safe word to explain that she still did not have one. She reasoned that since she wasn't planning on using one, it wouldn't make much difference today. Sally realized that there had been a breakdown in communication. Charles would never have put Hugh in charge of Val's pain training, knowing his feelings about safe words.
Valerie walked over, gingerly, so as to not aggravate the lingering pain in her legs and ass. Taking the cat from Hugh, she flicked it against Sally's back. Valerie's strokes were so light that there was no pain involved at all. Sally smiled, thinking that she could have predicted such blows, or non-blows from her lover. Sally did not so much as flinch.
"That's lighter than I would have had you start at, but we can work with this. I've been told that whipping is a safe word issue for you. Is that still the case?"
"Not exactly Master. Inflicting pain other than with bite play makes me very uncomfortable. If I inflict enough, I have to stop, use my safe word if I'm submitting. If the pain is light enough or spaced enough, like at our hand fasting, I can do it."
"That's good to know. Now, whip the slave once, with all the strength you can bring to bear."
"Valerie tensed, but recognized something similar to what Surmi had her do when Val was preparing for the hand fasting gift she gave to Sally. The whip flew and Sally gave a yelp, red stripes appearing on her ass and legs.
"How do you feel?"
"There's a million butterflies tap dancing in my stomach. I really don't want to do that again."
"You are, however, going to do so. I want you to strike her with the same strength as many times as you can. Go until you reach your safe word limit."
Valerie gulped. "Yes, Master."
Five times Val's arm shot forward, leaving stripes on Sally's back side. Five times Sally cried out softly at the pain. Tears ran down Sally's face. She hoped Val could not see them. Sally, more than anyone else, knew how hard this was for Valerie. Sally's tears were as much in sympathy for Val as they were from the pain. After the fifth blow struck, Valerie gave a sob and stepped back.
"Oh God! No more please, Master." The look of anguish was plain on her face.
"I didn't believe Charles at first. You
are
on the verge of being physically ill at the thought of inflicting more pain on Sally, aren't you?"
"Yes, Master. It hurts inside to do this."
"How can you take submission from someone you can't punish?"
"I can punish her, Master. Just not this brutally, not for long. I love her more than anything. I can dominate her because I love her."
"No, love won't be enough. Without effective discipline, you'll be cheating her, hurting her actually. Submissives need structure. They need to know that disobedience will have consequences, and those consequences must be sufficient to create a desire to avoid them. What I'm seeing from you will leave Sally floundering and without a center. Only her dominant can give her the grounding needed to be a fulfilled submissive."
"You're saying that if I can't shake this aversion to giving pain that I'll hurt Sally. I'm sorry, Master, I'm not sure I buy that. I know couples that are in a D/s relationship where pain isn't a part of it at all."
"Those people are in a different type of relationship, not a true D/s relationship. I can assure you that Sally needs you to be able to give her pain, both in play and in punishment. Anything less will be harmful to her."
While Hugh talked, Sally was shaking her head. "Master, you're…"
