Present - The Rules

'He had, after all, used the word "slave" out there on the balcony.' She thought, 'But, you know, I'd thought of it differently then, more as in "slave of love" or something equally silly.'

She hadn't thought of him seriously inspecting, evaluating the merchandise. Her face, and most of the rest of her, she guessed while flushing deeply, and she started to weep with humiliation. She was horribly embarrassed to be exposed as silly, shallow-missing meanings that should have been clear as day. Mostly, though, there was the obvious humiliation of being chained, helpless, open, obvious. Not only was she doing this, she was mortified to realize, but she was unmistakably turned on by doing this, soaking wet inside.

In fact, Nathan could even feel it. And she didn't even know if he cared one way or another. Finally, he let go of her ass and turned her back around. Then just leaned back and watched her cry, as though that were interesting, too.

When she calmed down a bit, he asked quietly, "Do you like to be looked at?"

"Yes, Nathan, I do," Regina sniffled, but she was surprised by the certainty that underlay her weepy voice.

"Good," he said and pressed the button to loosen the chain.

"On your knees," he continued, "but keep your back straight up and down and your chin up. That's a position I like." He pinched her nipples, hard, and then slapped her breasts.

"Have you ever been whipped or beaten?" he asked.

"No, Nathan," She said.

"You will be," he said. "Enough to leave marks for few days but not enough to scar or break the skin or injure you in any other way."

He pulled off his belt, doubled it, and stroked her breasts with it. He traced the outline of her mouth with it, and the smell of the soft leather was overwhelming. She drifted off into the sensations she was feeling, with her eyes started closing she began to moan.

"Quiet," he said sternly, "Get back here and pay attention." Regina opened her eyes wide, startled by the new tone in his voice. He looked at her for an instant and then continued in his polite voice, "That's the sort of thing you'll learn not to do. I'll teach you. I have canes and whips. You can trust me to give you just a little more pain than you think you can stand. I'll beat you if you break the rules or for any lapses in form or sensibility, and sometimes I'll just do it for fun."

"Now," he continued, freeing his hands, "crawl over to the other side of the room and make sure you keep your ass high in the air. Pick up that rattan cane from the chair over there in your mouth and crawl back over here to give it to me. And don't slobber over it."

"Yes, Nathan," She said and did what was said. The cane was about thirty inches long, just a flexible reed that was a little thicker on the end. He told her to kneel up again and to put her hand out.

"This is the most painful thing I'll be using and only when you make a mistake," he said, "to punish you. So I want you to know what it feels like."