Chapter 1 A Cairngorm Nine
          Considered more like a handshake, a Cairngorm Nine was not a punishment within
the Òrachan's realm.

          Distinctive in every way, the unique sound of impact barely preceded the
intense pain.  Within heartbeats, the agonizing reverberations began to excite sexual
receptors from clitoris to nipples. The anticipated roar from cane traumatized flesh built
to a crescendo of intensifying hurt that mixed seamlessly with her sense of carnal
pleasure.
          Her primary thought was that the stroke was a good beginning to build on; an
assessment the wielder of the cane evidently agreed with as he said, "That felt good
from this end.  OK with you?"
          "A perfect strike," Camilla answered to Lord Chieftain Joe Logan,
savoring a feeling of sensuous pride.
           The golden rod had found ready and sensually acquiescent flesh to welt-bite, a
mental and physical condition Camilla was determined to maintain for the following eight
cane strokes. Her status as a Pendant Queen demanded such fortitude, her inner sexual core
thriving on these and more intense exchanges of passion.
          "Then we can continue our conversation where we left off," Lord Logan
said, his voice strained with what Camilla recognized as a blend of frustration and lust.
Judging by the swelling sex filling a trouser leg, the latter emotion was in ascendancy.
          "Every indication tells me there is a Pendant Queen in Gyneth
Stirling's bloodline," Logan continued.  "I want her for Dedra."
           "Gyneth and Dedra are not a fit," Camilla firmly responded, calmly
waiting for the next stroke of the nine.
          One of the unattached crystals, the Pendant Dedra was held in safekeeping by
Joe Logan. With possession of the sacred crystal, he was the caretaker of an associated
vast fortune and headed an Òrachan Clan of thousands - but without a woman
acceptable to the crystal's Furies, a female to bear the stone for him, he was just a
man.  Serving at the pleasure of the Clan Elders, Logan was essentially a Lord Chieftain
in name only.
          "I have a different opinion," Logan stated with an equal amount of
purpose.  His words were punctuated with the delivery of the second cane stroke, cutting a
bar of damaged flesh slightly below the first.
          Internally dealing with the initial burning rush, Camilla judged the second
cane kiss equal to the first. The challenge of resisting an ever-increasing pressure to
orgasm threatened her intent to persuade Joe Logan that Gyneth was not available for his
use, a task that was sounding more impossible with each exchange of views.
          "You don't know her like I do," he continued with a growl. 
"She is appreciative of the passions I have provided, and will excel as my Pendant
Queen."
          "You fucked her," Camilla countered, well aware of her vulnerability
draped over Logan's desk, "among many more intimate exchanges of passion, all
violations of Òrachan strictures for a Possible."
          "It was time that she experienced life to its edges," Logan
responded, his voice raised. "And fuck the rules.  You damn well know that in spirit
Gyneth is already of the Òrachan."
          "Others were closely monitoring her well before you began to fuck with
her," Camilla said over her shoulder.  "They were the ones that made sure she
went to the right schools, had the money to live and grow independently."
          "Others who?"  Logan demanded, bringing the cane in low, long and
hard allowing the tip to bite into Camilla's upper left thigh, "The
Elders?"
          "Yes, the Elders and parties that are of no concern of yours,"
Camilla answered, her voice giving little indication of the havoc of passions taking place
within….
          
          ….before Camilla could respond, in one violent thrust Logan was deep inside of
her bowels. Fucking her bottom, his organ's breath and length rutted deeper and
harder with anger and lust, his rage rending her anus and rectum with near flesh-tearing
force. The unmerciful beat-rape was a brutal and bruising coupling that ended in an
inevitable ejaculation.  Camilla's fierce carnal release was equal in intensity to
that of the ravishing male, the battle little more than a skirmish with no clear winner.
          As the drained phallus slid from her bottom, Camilla glanced to the side to
watch Logan pick up a glass of whiskey, the anger in his eyes far from depleted. His words
were filled with combative promise.
           "Get out of here," Logan said, indirectly giving Camilla permission
to move.
           Rising with difficulty, Camilla hobbled toward the door. Her nudity elemental
in accepting a Cairngorm Nine, her dress and purse were in the adjoining reception room. 
Logan had denigrated the ritual with the tenth cane strike and the blows below mid-thigh,
welts that would show clearly below the hemline of her dress, violations she would not add
to.
          Turning to face him, Camilla looked Logan in the eyes and ritually said,
"This Òrachan cunt thanks the Lord Chieftain for a fine Nine."
          Logan struck back with a snarl saying, "Don't forget the tenth
stroke.  It was a down payment on what I will extract from you the next time we meet, for
there will be no quarter given.  Not for you, not for Stonefire, and with betrayal, not
even for Gyneth.  Not for anyone that stands in my way."
          "I consider myself warned," Camilla responded, "And Lord Logan,
don't you forget - the Pendant Furies may well be the ones standing in your
way."
          And she left, the sound of glass shattering against the closed door bringing a
smile to her face.  The crystal tumbler of whisky was no more.
          From what she knew, he would have a lot more to get angry about in the coming
months. The Clan war he threatened to initiate was becoming more of a possibility with
each passing day.
          As for the Possible Gyneth Stirling, she was presently arriving on Sabinus
Island by Camilla's yacht. Camilla would fly out to join her tomorrow. There on its
secluded beaches and tropical interior, Camilla would present the promising woman with a
challenge of passions only a few would dare entertain.  Should she fail to thrive in the
steamy atmosphere of raw sex and erotic sadism, Gyneth would not leave the island alive.
      While her demise might postpone an Òrachan Clan war, there were always
others waiting to take her place and vie for the honor of bearing the Cairngorm Pendant
named Astridd.