Chapter 30


    Xavier watched Mae shift nervously as she stood beside the wooden horse, which he’d moved into the


    middle of the room. The top was a two-by-six piece of cherrywood that was turned on its side so the


    upper surface was the narrower two-inch face. There were rings set into the underside of the


    crosspiece and along the edges of the nted legs. Xavier left the cuffs on her wrists and ankles, but


    decided against binding her to the convenient tie points on the horse. It was time to see exactly what


    Mae could handle, and how obedient she could be.


    “Do you know the difference between a hard and soft beating?” he asked.


    Mae opened her mouth, but closed it.


    “No?” he prompted.


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    “I can only think of sassy things to say.”


    “Why don’t you say them?”


    Mae eyed the flogger in his right hand. “Maybeter.”


    Xavier chuckled. She was fun. It had been a long time since he’d had fun with a sub.


    “All right, Red. I want you to face the horse, bend at the waist, and rest your arms on the top. You can


    fold your arms if that’s morefortable.”


    He helped position her, having her step back until her body made a ny degree angle and her cheek


    rested on her folded arms atop the wood.


    “Very good. Legs together.”


    The metal on the ankle restraints nked as she brought her feet side by side. Once he was satisfied,


    he swung the flogger against his own leg, letting her get used to the sound.


    “Do you want to know the difference between a hard beating and a soft beating?”


    “Yes, Master Xavier.”


    Thwack, thwack, thwack.


    The flogger’s steady rhythm was like a metronome as he spoke. “The difference is in how long the sub


    wears the marks. A flogging is a light beating, because your skin will be red for a few days. Paddles,


    canes, a tawse, and whips are hard beatings.”


    “What’s a spanking?” Her words were slightly muffled because of the way her face rested on her arms,


    but he understood.


    “A spanking is forey. A spanking is what little girls get when they want to pretend they’re being


    punished.”


    That wasn’t exactly true—spanking was an art form in itself and a well-administered one could have


    longersting effects than a caning, but he was guessing that those weren’t the kinds of spankings


    Mae got.


    “Are you punishing me? Is that why you’re beating me?” Her question was soft, and when he looked,


    her eyes were wide and dark, fixed on his face.


    “No, Mae. I’m going to beat you because I want to. Because I need to. And because you need to be


    beaten.”


    He’d kept up his steady movement of the flogger. Without breaking rhythm he raised his arm, this time


    striking Mae’s ass.


    She yelped, jerking upright with her hands braced on the horse.


    “Back in position.” He struck her ass again, this time with more force.


    She cried out in either shock or pain, looking back at him with wide eyes. Her hair fell in soft waves


    around her face. Her lower lip was wet and pink, trembling slightly. Her eyes pleaded for mercy,


    pleaded for him to stop and kiss her, hold her.


    Xavier understood how she’d managed to go so long without being properly mastered. He understood,


    but he wasn’t so blind to her real wants as others had been. She was going to ept her beating, and


    nothing she did or said would change it.


    Holding her gaze, he struck her ass again, even harder thanst time. This one had to hurt, and there


    was a sh of anger in her eyes.


    That’s right, Red, you’re mine, and you’re about to find out exactly what that means.


    * * *


    “Back in position, Mae. I won’t tell you again.” Master Xavier pulled the flogger back.


    Mae was frozen, the tension in her arms, back, and legs seemingly turning her to stone. The first blow


    had taken her by surprise, the second stung enough that she’d jumped, and the third one hurt.


    Thwack.


    Pain set fire to the back of her thighs and ass as the hardest blow yetnded. Jolted from her paralysis,


    Mae yelped and took two steps forward, turning so that Master Xavier’s flogger couldn’t reach her ass.


    “Mae, you’re making me angry.”


    “Master Xavier, that hurts.”


    He tilted his head. “Of course it hurts, Mae. It’s meant to hurt.”


    “But I don’t want it to hurt.” He swung the flogger towards her and Mae pressed herself harder against


    the horse, staying just outside its reach.


    “I understand that you don’t want it to hurt. But that doesn’t matter.”


    Unexpectedly, tears of frustration filled her eyes. “It should matter.”


    “It doesn’t.”


    “Why?”


    “Because it’s not up to you. I decide if you get pleasure or pain. I decide how much pain. I’m your


    Master.”


    His words flipped a switch inside her and Mae shuddered. Her outrage and anger faded, reced by a


    dark need. The need for pain, the need to give up all control.


    She couldn’t stop herself from trembling, but Mae turned around, presenting her back.


    “Back in position, bend at the waist.”


    Mae resumed her position, hiding her face against her forearms. Part of her was amazed that she was


    doing this, that she hadn’t walked out. Arger part of her desperately wanted to know how far he


    would take it, how much he would do to her.


    Master Xavier tugged her panties down until they pooled at her ankles, leaving her totally naked for the


    first time.


    Thwack. This time the blownded on the back of her thighs, avoiding her ass. The reprieve was short-


    lived, as the tails of the flogger once morended on her sensitive ass.


    She was tensing before each blow, whole body drawn tight in anticipation. For what felt like an hour but


    could have been no more than five minutes, he kept up a steady rhythm, the strength and cement of


    them alternating. At first she tried to keep quiet, but was soon gasping and whimpering.


    “Rx, Mae. You can’t control this. Can’t stop this.”


    The words freed something inside her. Mae let out a little sob, and the tension faded from her body.


    When the next blow came she epted it, her soft flesh taking in the pain more readily.


    The fiery ache in her ass and thighs grew until she was moaning steadily.


    “Open your legs.”


    She didn’t question, didn’t hesitate. She stepped out of her panties and spread her legs, wide as she


    could while keeping her bnce. She wanted him to have ess to her sex, wanted him to use her in


    whatever way he wanted.


    The tails of the flogger came up between her legs, smacking her pussy. The gentle blow had only the


    barest hint of sting, hidden under a jolt of pleasure. Or maybe it was that she was so aroused it didn’t


    matter what kind of attention her aching pussy got.


    Master Xavier alternated gentle swats to her inner thighs and pussy with harder floggings of her ass.


    Her whole body was trembling, and Mae didn’t know if it was pleasure or pain that made her shake.


    “Can youe from pain alone?”