‘Remove your clothes.’

Phillip’s voice was soft but the command was clear. She began to undress, handing her clothes to Phillip when he held his hand out. Once she was naked, he put her clothes on the floor and waved her towards the frame. She stepped into it and tried to relax as Phillip lifted her hands to the sides, fastening them firmly with leather straps. Her ankles were then fixed to the sides of the frame – fixing her in an x-shape that left her feeling open and exposed.

‘Open your mouth.’

She took a breath and then let her jaw relax, letting her mouth fall open. The ball gag slipped between her lips and she leant her head forward slightly so that he could fasten the strap behind her head. If he was surprised by her calm surrender, he didn’t show it. A blindfold was fixed over her eyes and she shivered in the darkness. Even after all this time, she hated to be blind – it made her heart race and her breath quicken just to be in the darkness. There was something so wholly helpless about being blindfolded that had always terrified her and despite recent experiences, that fear remained.

She was left in the fearful darkness for what seemed an eternity. Her fear had drained her strength and her head hung forward, tiny quivers rippling through her body that was covered in a thin film of sweat.

The sound of the door opening made her lift her head and she strained to listen, to get some idea of what was going to happen next. Fingers touched her hip and traced the line of the tattoo that stretched between her inner hip and pelvis. An ornate S – inked into her skin and marking her forever. She shivered as the fingers slid across her pelvis and then down to slide between her labia lips. Her thighs tensed at the sudden, arousing touch. A fingertip pressed against her clitoris and it hardened instantly as she groaned against the gag. The hand moved away and she kept her head raised – listening.

She heard the whine of the crop a moment before it found her buttocks. The blow thrust her hips forward as far as the bonds at her wrists and ankles would allow. She relaxed and moved back to her original position. A moment later there was the unmistakable noise followed by the snap! of the crop striking flesh. He waited between blows – giving her time to appreciate the last before anticipating the next. Each blow was to her quivering buttocks and within minutes they were burning with a familiar pain. She sensed that he was testing her. She had no idea what he expected or how she could pass his test and that scared her almost as much as the darkness. Another series of blows, all to the same spot. She could feel sweat running down her body, between her breasts and buttocks. Mia had never been one to count the blows – Kent whipped her until he had had enough and so Mia saw no sense in counting them unless to torture herself. More blows found her buttocks and she cried against the gag. Further blows to the bruised flesh brought tears to her eyes as she held herself tense between each blow. A few more minutes of the rhythmic whipping and it was impossible to feel any more blows as her buttocks, agonised and burning, could no longer distinguish individual blows. She tossed her head, tears rolling down her cheeks.

It was several minutes before she realised that he had finished whipping her – or had at least paused for the time being. Her chest heaved as she fought to gain her breath, the gag at her mouth making it difficult to breathe. She forced herself to calm, to ease her breathing before she started to panic.

The crop found her breasts and she screamed against the gag – fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. Another blow, this one an inch above the first but now that she was prepared for it she didn’t cry out. The next blow scythed across her nipples and she cried out, throwing her head back as hot pain radiated through her chest. More blows found her quivering mounds. Again he drove her to the very edge of what she could bear before he stopped.