Valerie Ch. 06

Catching in her throat once, she managed to get out a weak, "Yes, Mistress. Please punish me."

"Master has reserved the stage for us next. Your punishment is to be public, as is your confession. Everyone here will know exactly why you're to be punished, by your own mouth."

Valerie gulped. It helped that Francine had warned her that this might happen. "Yes, Mistress. May I speak, Mistress?"

"Yes, so long as it is not to ask for mercy."

"No, Mistress, not mercy." Val turned around, seeing that Marcia was in a mask that totally hid her face, but was otherwise as naked as Valerie. She knelt before her Mistress of the night and said, "Mistress, I wanted to promise you that I won't ignore my limits. No matter how guilty I feel, and I feel so guilty it hurts, I'll use my safe word if it becomes too much."

Marcia, having been a part of the initiation process, understood the significance of this promise. Lifting her chin with a finger, she looked at Val's eyes and replied, "Your promise means very much to me. Tell me, how contrite are you? How badly do you want to be punished?"

"Mistress," she answered, tears forming as she plunged into the depths, "punish me to my limits. Don't stop until I safe word."

Before Marcia could reply, the speaker system came on and the master of ceremonies spoke. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention? We have a special event tonight." As the noise died down some, she continued, "A slave has failed her Master. She has failed so egregiously that only a public discipline will suffice. Master Charles has sent his slave and his representative before us tonight, to give confession and punishment with the assembled Masters, Mistresses, slaves, and civilians to bear witness."

A spotlight illuminated the pair. Trembling, Valerie let herself be led onto the stage where a heavy wooden frame was being rolled. A bag was set beside it. The spotlight followed them as they stood at the center of the stage, the frame right behind them. Marcia whispered, "No names tonight. You are simply your Master's slave and I am simply Mistress."

The MC attached a small microphone to Valerie's collar, handed a larger one to Marcia and stepped back. Marcia looked at the crowd, hushed in anticipation. "Slave, confess your sin to the crowd so that they can understand the magnitude of your offense."

Valerie's stomach knotted and she felt like she was going to throw up. Swallowing hard, she spoke, haltingly, "I had spent 48 hours serving my Master in his house, being well and truly used." Tears began to flow from her eyes as her guilt crashed in on her. "Less that six hours after I had left, I failed in so basic a task that I…I…I can scarcely believe it myself." The tears had become sobs, punctuating her speech. "I had been (sob) instructed to (sob) check my messages (sob) for instructions before (sob) sleeping. I didn't do that."

There was a gasp from the crowd and murmurs that she couldn't make out. She felt Marcia's hand grip her shoulder reassuringly. Controlling her sobs briefly, she got the last part out.

"Because of that failure, I didn't follow the simplest of instructions, to sleep with my hands bound before me that night." Standing up straight, she looked out into the crowd, unable to see them from the glare of the spot, and finished, "I failed my Master, letting him down in the most basic of commands. I begged Master to punish me, harshly and without mercy. Part of my punishment has been to be denied contact with him for the rest of the week."

A collective gasp went up among the submissives, followed by murmurs. She could make out a few of the comments. "That's so harsh…" "How can she stand…" "She'll never repeat…"

As they died down, she finished. "I deserve that and the other part, which is to stand here, confess to all of you and take whatever my Mistress deems to give me."

"Slave, if you were given a choice, what would you ask for punishment?"

Tears once again streamed down her face as she stepped up to the gauntlet and answered, "Mistress, I want no choice. It's not my place to choose. I would ask, no beg, that my punishment, whatever it is, last until I use my safe word."

A cry went up from the crowd, many unbelieving that anyone would ask for such a harsh punishment. Then someone started clapping. More added their hands to the applause. Soon the entire club was cheering Valerie on, encouraging her to go to her limits with their clapping hands. Marcia waited until the applause died down and walked in front of Valerie and looked her in the eye. "Slave, your wish is granted. You shall be clamped and whipped until the words, 'red light,' utter forth from your lips."

She handed the mic back to the MC and had the one on Valerie's collar removed. Leading Val to the frame, a simple rectangular affair made from six by sixes with eye bolts in several strategic places. "Slave, how's your shoulder?"

"It hasn't bothered me all day. I can be stretched."

Cuffs were added to Valerie's ankles. Her legs were stretched as far apart as they could go and tied off to bolts on either side. Her arms were lifted up and out, stretched tightly, but not painfully (Marcia was taking no chances of reinjuring that shoulder, no matter what Val said). Clamps were put on her nipples, taking the entire areola in their bite. They were tightened until Valerie winced in pain. Two more clamps were placed on her pussy lips, drawing cries from her.

Marcia leaned in close and whispered, "Are you ready, Val?"

"Yes, Mistress. Mistress, I have three days off, so mark me freely," came her reply.

"I'm going to start with my hand and work my way up to more painful instruments. I know what you can take to some extent, so the crowd is in for quite a show. Just because it's punishment doesn't mean that we can't enjoy ourselves. Remember, this will purge the guilt and leave you as fresh as snow for our Master."

"Thank you, Mistress."

Marcia started by slapping Valerie's ass cheeks with her hand. The first few were barely registering on Val's pain scale, but they got increasingly harder. Soon each hand left a red imprint on her rump. The crowd could see, glistening in the spot light, pussy juice running down Valerie's legs as she was turned on by the blows that came regularly at three second intervals. The force increased at a steady pace as well until Marcia was putting her whole body behind each blow. All through this first stage, Valerie was moaning in a mix of pain and arousal.

Suddenly the blows on her ass stopped and Marcia walked around in front, stunning the crowd into silence as she seemingly violated every rule of safety and slapped Valerie's face over and over again, drawing cries of shock and pain from the bound woman. Unbeknownst to everyone there, Charles and Marcia had practiced this hand slap technique for months, intending to use it in a demonstration scene soon. Marcia knew exactly how much force she could use and be well within safety margins.

Until her face, Valerie had not felt like this was a punishment. But to be slapped on the face over and over was so incredibly humiliating that she began to bawl out loud, feeling truly like a punished slut. Where the crowd saw tears of pain and listened for a safe word, Marcia saw tears of contrition and release, as the pure punishment of this scene sank into her. For five minutes, Marcia's hand went back and forth, actually quite gently, the slaps seeming to reverberate in the silence surrounding the stage.

When she stopped, the crowd had trouble believing that Valerie had taken such a beating to her face. Marcia pulled her next instrument out, a paddle, and returned to behind the frame. The loud smack of the paddle against the already sore bottom echoed in the room. The relative gentleness was gone and now there was simply the pain of punishment. Tears flowed freely down Val's face and she sobbed with abandon. For 10 to 15 minutes, blows rained down on the already pink ass cheeks, turning them flaming red. The paddle had been picked carefully. Sanded totally smooth, all potential slivers had been ground to nothing, leaving just the impact of the wood against flesh.

That zone she had been looking for earlier had come to her. Valerie could feel the blackness of her failure being driven out of her with each blow. The pain, the horrible pain, became both torment and salvation, driving her back into the arms of her Master. She wanted more, knowing she had more guilt to drive out. Marcia's slow steady pace mesmerized both Val and the crowd, drawing them together. Breaths were held and released, everyone wanting her to take more, a little bit more.

The paddle was returned to the bag and the cat held up. Marcia held the cat up to Valerie's lips and the submissive instinctively kissed the next instrument of pain. The clamps were removed, the sudden rush of pain pulling four screams from her, one for each clamp. Marcia took the opportunity to whisper to Val, "Get ready to scream, dear."

The first lashing landed on her legs. Valerie screamed in pain, then shocked everyone by crying out, "One!" As the next stroke landed across her upper back, she screamed, "Two!" Valerie wanted to give more than was being taken from her and she committed herself to counting each and every blow from the cat. The only sounds in the club were the impact of the lashes against Val's body, the numbers being cried out, increasing one by one, and Valerie's unabashed sobbing from the pain. Arousal was gone, only the pain and the punishment remained. The submissive clung to the pain, embracing it as a cleansing force.

The count climbed. 10. 20. 30. 40. Marcia watched Val carefully. She trusted Valerie to use her safe word, but wanted to be sure that when it happened, it happened under the crop. At 61, she detected a subtle change in the cries and stopped. She took her time putting the cat back and getting the crop out. She walked around the woman, seemingly admiring the marks and welts on her back, legs and breasts. She could see that Valerie would be wearing long sleeves and dresses for at least a week. She rubbed her hand across the marked parts of the submissive's body, feeling the heat and amazed at Val's ability to soak up punishment. Both their bodies were covered in sweat. Valerie tensed in pain as rivulets of salty perspiration dripped into the welts.

Satisfied that Valerie had regained some tolerance, Marcia began with the crop. Unlike the previous efforts, these were not measured in pace. With seemingly blinding speed, the crop swished back and forth across her legs and ass. Front to back, left to right, the crop dealt paired blows after paired blows. Soon the crowd picked up on the new rhythm. Slap-slap. Slap-slap. Ass, back, belly, thighs, breasts. The little red commas left by the crop appeared over and over again. Valerie was screaming and sobbing at the same time. Her limit was in sight now, the pain overwhelming in strength.

At the edge of the cliff, Marcia stopped and lightly, too lightly for the crowd to hear, called Valerie's name. As Valerie watched, fear clouding her countenance, Marcia bent down level with Valerie's pussy. She held the tip of the crop back, taking aim at the frightened woman's pussy. Their eyes met and Marcia waited. An occasional cough could be heard in the silence. Everyone knew what was to come. Would she safe word? Would she take punishment directly to her pussy?

Loudly, Valerie cried out, "Thank you, Mistress. May I have another?"

Swat! Directly onto her pussy lips, the crop forced a wail out of her throat. The wail lasted for several seconds, followed by sobs. Marcia pulled the crop back again, looked at Valerie and waited.

Valerie knew that she had reached the edge of her precipice. So little left to give, she poured the last of herself out. Slowly, sobs between each word, the crowd gasping as they realized what she was saying again, Valerie spoke, "Thank… you…Mistress…May…I…have…another?"

Swat! Directly onto her clit. Valerie's wail was joined by others, crying in sympathy with her, their own clits and cocks throbbing in sympathetic pain.

"Red light! Red Light!"

The crop dropped to the floor, and Marcia reached up and ran her hand across Valerie's face. "You have done so well. Master will be so pleased. Let's get you down from there." Pulling the Velcro straps, she let the legs and then the arms free, catching the submissive as she collapsed, unable to stay up or stop crying. Francine was there, helping Marcia carry her to one of the private rooms. No one they passed reached out to touch her, respecting her need for space. But many muttered words of encouragement that registered on Valerie without being truly understood. Through the pain that lingered, and in fact would linger for a few days, a feeling of contentment flowed into Valerie. The guilt she had carried all day had vanished, driven out by the beating she had endured.

The room they had reserved for afterwards had a bed with a soft pillow top mattress. Carefully they laid her down on her stomach. The last item from Marcia's bag was a bottle of soothing oil for massaging. A topical pain killer and antibiotic had been mixed in to sooth and protect in just such occasions. Gently the two women rubbed the oil into Valerie's back and legs. Her back pleasantly numb, they rolled her over and repeated the process on her front side.

Francine knelt down next to her friend and asked, "Val, how are you feeling?"

"Exhausted. Fulfilled. In agony. Happy. Those don't make sense, do they?"

Marcia replied, "Dear, they make perfect sense. Being punished for a true failure, and we all have been, is a cathartic experience. It leaves us completely drained, of both energy and the misery of failure. Do you know how rare it is for a submissive to beg for a safe word punishment? The depth of commitment you showed Master is tremendous. He'll treasure this gift for all time. You know that he had this recorded?"

"He did? I'm so happy. I want him to see me submit to everything he demands. I want to please him so badly. Did I please him?"

"Yes, you pleased him." Marcia answered with a chuckle. She could remember asking the same needy question herself at one time, actually several times. "We never get tired of hearing that, do we, Francine?"

"No, never. I'm going to get your clothes, Val. You rest."

Valerie became aware of the smell of sex. "Mistress, do you require pleasing from Master's slave?"

Marcia laughed; a deep laugh from the gut. "Valerie, you're amazing. No, I have a loving husband who is going to get his brains fucked out tonight."

"I'm glad. Mistress, is your last name Walters?"

"Yes, it is. Why do you ask?"

Valerie chuckled. "My secretary's kid is in your class. He's apparently looking forward to the field trip on Friday. It's a small world I guess."

"You're right, it is."

Francine returned with her clothes, followed by a couple of familiar faces. "Val, I have someone you've met before. They wanted to say a few words."

Looking, Val recognized Fred and Daphne. "Mistress and Master. It's so nice to see you."

"No, not Mistress or Master, at least not until we win you in auction next time. We wanted to share how impressed we are at your willingness to accept punishment. That was truly impressive."

"Yes, you can tell Charles that we're officially jealous of him. If only we had found you first."

"I can't say I'm sorry you didn't, though I know I would've enjoyed being your submissive. But I'm so happy with Master and my fellow submissives. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"I imagine not. Now you take care of those welts. A scene like this can leave permanent marks, if you're not careful. We've given your escort a web site with some care instructions in it. We've used them ourselves to good effect. We hope to see you in a couple of weeks."

After the couple left, Marcia had a few words to say. "Master said to tell you that there'll be no instructions for you tonight, nor tomorrow morning. You're to rest, taking the day off if you can. Look tomorrow night for new instructions. Francine, will you need help getting her home okay?"

"No, thank you. I can manage. Thank you for giving Valerie the punishment she needed to feel purged."

"You're welcome. Now I need to get home and fuck my man."

After she left, Valerie noticed that Francine had not gotten her clothes, but instead had an oversized trench coat. "Uh, Francine?"

"I knew you would be covered in oil afterwards, so I brought something that I've used to get subs home with before. There's no need to ruin your outfit."

After a little more rest, Francine helped her to the car and got her home, tucked into bed. The exhausted lady was asleep within minutes. The dominant woman checked her feet, seeing that she had a little bleeding from getting Val upstairs without using her crutches. Francine used the next couple of hours to set herself up to work from the apartment and then went to bed herself.

********

"Oowwww. Oh, my God!" Valerie's cries woke Francine up, just as she expected. Grabbing the oil Marcia had left them, she hobbled to Valerie's room to find the woman sitting up in bed, trying to find a position that didn't hurt. There didn't seem to be one.

"Val! Lie down so I can put more oil on you. Yes, I know it hurts, but you've got to lie on one side so I can rub into the other. Now lie down!" Francine said in her dominant voice.

"God damn. This is horrible. I didn't think it could hurt so much."

"Val, you big baby. It hurt 100 times as much last night."

"But I was psyched last night. Now I was just sleeping and, ''Pow!' I'm in agony. Oh, that feels so good. This stuff is incredible. We could sell it and get rich."

"If we did that, we'd go to jail for peddling drugs. There's a prescription strength topical anesthetic in this stuff, along with a strong antibiotic. If we were to be raided right now, we could go to jail."

"Ahhh," she sighed as she rolled over and the other half of her body was numbed, "it would be worth it. I understand now why painkillers are so popular. It feels sooooo good. You do realize that I'm not going to wear a thing today. Clothes would just kill me right now."

"Oh, I see your plan. You want to seduce me and make me yours. Well it won't work. I'm the dominant and you're the submissive. If anyone is to be had, you'll be mine. Bwa ha ha ha ha," she finished with her best evil villain laugh. The two women laughed so hard it hurt, their friendship having been strengthened enough in the last couple of weeks to allow them to joke about such things safely.

Val was true to her word. She went naked the entire day, keeping clothing off of her sensitive skin. The web sight that Daphne had given them was a wealth of information on caring for whip marks of all sorts. In many ways the red marks shared features with sunburns and bruises, but were different from both. Welts were actually akin to small cuts and had to be treated differently to prevent scaring. It wasn't difficult, but was easy to neglect since they looked like they needed no special care. There were even care instructions for dealing with open wounds caused by intense beatings with bull whips and canes. The article made the assumption that such wounds were accidental, as opposed to intentional play. The author made it clear that such intentional play fell outside the bounds of 'safe, sane and consensual'. Seeing that the sight was a wealth of information on all sorts of treatments for incidental injuries, from allergic rashes to burns, they both bookmarked the page. The only disappointing section was the links to doctors willing to treat BDSM injuries confidentially. A national listing had only seventeen names.