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CHAPTER 31: CHOICES
The next day Mariah was called up again, forced to whip a slave named Annie while Falud stood behind Mariah and finger fucked her.
It was the third day in a row Mariah had been called up. Mariah faced the possibility that Mistress Dominique would not soon lose interest soon in this game. She spent that afternoon and night and the next morning steeling herself. When, after lunch, Mistress Dominique called her up yet again, Mariah took a deep breath and fell to her knees before Mistress Dominique, touching her forehead to the ground.
"You may speak," Mistress Dominique said, amused.
Mariah looked up. "I beg you, Mistress," she said. "I would rather be whipped than . . ."
Mistress Dominique raised her eyebrows. "Surely you're not a pain slut?" she asked. When Mariah looked merely confused, Mistress Dominique said, "No, of course not, you're just out of the factory, you've had no time for such training." She shrugged. "As you wish," she said. "Lower the trapeze."
As Mariah, shaking, turned a wheel on the wall to bring the trapeze down from the ceiling, Mistress Dominique looked speculatively at the slaves kneeling in front of her. When at last she called Roberto Mariah was somewhat relieved. Roberto was tall and strong, but she was friendly with him and had spent a night with him. He would surely be gentle.
But when Mistress Dominique ordered him to attach Mariah to the trapeze, Roberto grabbed Mariah's wrist roughly. As he raised it he bent slightly so he could whisper in her ear, "There's nothing more disgusting than a kiss ass." He straightened up and cuffed her firmly to the rod overhead, her hands in position to grab it. Mariah tried to protest Roberto's words, his roughness, but Mistress Dominique had walked over to inspect his work. Mariah's eyes stung, but she would not wipe them with Mistress Dominique, and everyone, watching.
At Mistress Dominique's instructions Roberto cuffed Mariah's feet to a spreader bar about 18 inches wide.
Mistress Dominique turned the wheel until Mariah's arms were straight above her head. "There, now," she said. "I'm leaving your feet flat on the ground."
"Thank you, Mistress," Mariah said, genuinely grateful for this unexpected kindness.
"Nonsense," Mistress Dominique said. "I want you to have room to dodge, so you'll feel the lash in every crevice." She turned again to the slaves kneeling in front of her, considering. "Harold," she called.
Mariah's heart sunk again. Two males, and neither of them gay. She had observed that females, no matter what their preference, could relatively easily experience pleasure from anyone with skill. Not so with males; only with massive effort and concentration could they block out their lack of interest in the wrong type of person.
Somewhat to her relief, Mistress Dominique proffered the flat, wide whip to Harold. Roberto kneeled before him. They two men looked at each other dubiously. "Well, go on ," Mistress Dominique said.
Harold raised the whip and brought it down onto Mariah's chest. Mariah cried out as much at shock at its power as in pain. The whip struck her again. Through slitted eyes she saw Roberto lean in towards Harold, distaste plain on his face. Harold shuddered and raised the whip again. He was clearly practiced in the art. He slashed at the underside of Mariah's breasts. Without thinking she tried to twist away, twirling on her left feet until her back was towards Harold. He slashed at her butt. It burned.
Mariah had been whipped many times. She knew the fear was the worst part -- that it would never stop, that she would be permanently damaged. She tried to calm her thoughts between hits, but they came too fast, and too hard. Her butt, her back, her thighs. When she spun around again, Harold aimed for her abdomen. Facing front, Mariah saw that he was barely hard, although he stood widestanced, trying to give Roberto as much access as possible.
Harold aimed the whip lower, to her inner thighs. Mistress Dominique suggested, "Try slashing up. You might enjoy that more." Mariah braced herself for the shattering pain. It came, once, twice, three times. Each time Mariah shrieked. Blinking her eyes open, she saw that Harold was now hard, and that Roberto had put his mouth on him.
She spun again, and Harold aimed over and over again at her buttocks, until they were raw. She did not want to turn around again, but then Harold slashed up again, from behind, the whip curling around her crotch. She screamed this time and twisted until she was facing front. Harold nodded. "Good, look at me," he said hoarsely to her. "I need to see you." Deliberately he lowered the whip and swung up from the bottom. Mariah screamed in anticipation. Just as the whip hit her, Harold grunted, and shuddered, and came in Roberto's mouth.
***
After dinner Rose cleaned up as always. She was humming and had an odd little smile on her face that she blankened when she became aware of it. Animal was sketching, seemingly intent, glancing at Rose as his hands flew over the page, but he held the pad at an angle where neither Rose nor Mariah could see what he was drawing.
Mariah felt unsettled and incomplete. She did her exercises, adding the stretches that Jordan had showed her that day. When she finished, she stood for a moment, then headed for the sliding door to the courtyard.
Animal looked at her sharply. "Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.
Mariah stopped, almost relieved. "To my master's apartment, my lord," she said.
"He's not there," Animal said shortly.
Mariah knew that. "What would you have me do, my lord?" she asked, somewhere between sarcastic and worried.
Animal sighed, and threw down his sketchpad, sketch page down. He frowned at the door, then turned to Rose. "Go with her," he said.
"My lord?" Rose asked softly, the closest she ever came to protesting her master's order. She exchanged a glance with Mariah.
Animal frowned. "Don't backtalk me," he said irritably.
Mariah looked uncertainly from one to the other. Gabriel always led Mariah away this time of night, with no protest from either Animal or Rose. Rose had told her that she and Animal fucked every night, and that she liked it. She assumed Master Animal did too since, as he had told her, he enjoyed no other slaves.
Then she understood. Hot embarrassment filled her. She turned to Animal, widestanced, her arms crossed below her chest. "Do you really think that Rose could keep me from running away?" she asked him.
Animal's frown deepened. "Hoping your conscience will," he said, "since if you run, Rose will suffer for it." His hand went to the handle of his whip. "And if you don't want to feel my lash in your master's absence, I suggest you remember how to address me."
Mariah colored but did not stand down until Rose put her hand on Mariah's arm. Mariah saw her eyes were filling with tears. "My apologies, master," Mariah muttered.
Animal nodded. He turned to Rose. "Wake me when you come in," he said to her. Rose looked at him gratefully, but he turned abruptly away and stalked to his bedroom.
Rose went to a cabinet and took out silver serving utensils, which she placed in a basket and brought with her. When she and Mariah entered Gabriel's apartment, she unloaded them onto a cloth on the dining room table and began polishing them.
"Why are you doing that?" Mariah asked peevishly. "The hall mistress just did her inspection, and Master Animal won't notice or care if his pie server is a little tarnished."
Rose started to protest, but then stopped herself. She took a deep breath and said calmly, "I'll notice and care. I live there too. I like things to look nice."
Mariah was silenced by that. She sat opposite Rose and picked up a large spoon, turning it so it reflected the light from the lamp. Bored, she put it down. She watched Rose for a while before asking, "You know how some slaves believe that after we die we'll come back as humans?"
Rose nodded, picking up a sugar tong.
"Do you think it's true?" Mariah asked her.
"I hope not!" Rose said fervently, shuddering.
"Why?" Mariah asked. "Wouldn't you like to be free?"
Rose focused on polishing the tong, that, as far as Mariah knew, had never been used in Animal's apartment. After a minute Rose said, so quietly that Mariah could barely hear her, "I don't think I'd be strong enough to be a pansy. I would never want to face that test."
Mariah laughed. "Pansies aren't strong, they're just lazy," she said.
"You're wrong." Rose looked up, certainty written on her face. "Master Animal's not lazy. He gets taunted and teased all the time. He had no true friends until Master Gabriel came along." She dropped the tongs with a clatter. "You think it doesn't take courage to endure that, when he could put a stop to it with the flick of a whip?"
Mariah snorted. "So what? I would take his choice over being a slave any day."
"You're stronger than me," Rose said. She picked up the tongs and began polishing again, rubbing so hard that Mariah wondered if she would warp the metal. "I couldn't bear it."
***
Mariah barely slept that night. She had searched for a position where she was not placing her weight on her new wounds, finally putting her knees under her and bending over them. Her whipped breasts pressed into her thighs, which were softer than the floor. But she soon cramped up that way.
She stood slowly, grateful that the soles of her feet had not been attacked. Such torture was rare, because it made slaves unfit for most work, but not unheard of.
The door to the washroom was open, shedding dim light into the sleeping area. Taejon was sitting up against a wall near it, awake, and unusual for him, alone. He seemed far away, lost in thought. When he saw Mariah he gave her his slow smile. "Girl, she's got you doing hard time," he said. "The vet look at your wounds?"
Mariah shook her head. The vet had made her weekly visit today, but a whipping wasn't enough to warrant her attention.
Taejon regarded her for a moment. Then he sighed. "Come on," he said. He led her to the door to a supply cabinet in the bathroom. He reached up to the trim above the door and brought down a key which he used to unlock the cabinet. He brought out a bottle of ointment.
"Turn around," he told Mariah. He spread the ointment on her back. The relief was so immediate that Mariah sagged.
When Taejon finished, he handed Mariah the bottle. "You can reach everywhere else," he said. "Just lock up when you're done." He left before Mariah could thank him.
Mariah coated her body with the balm, which left a greasy residue. When she put the bottle away, and the key, and left the bathroom, Taejon was gone.
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