Prologue

 

The Queen of Hearts.

 

She stared at the card, her heart hammering against her chest. Somehow she had known what card would be revealed - as if fate herself were staring over her shoulder.

'Congratulations.'

She heard Nash and then suddenly, with no pause, the whip was there in his hand, offered to her like some ceremonial dagger. Perhaps that's what it was.

'I can't do it,' she said, her voice sounded a long way off.

His sounded further away when he said, 'Yes, you can.'

His eyes were almost warm as she stared at them. She saw - for the first time in so long - a glimmer of the man that she had once admired and aspired to please. But now that fatherly pride and coaxing was far removed from anything she had known before.

'Then I won't do it,' she heard herself say and that glimmer disappeared from his eyes and he became the snarling monster that she had come to recognise. She felt genuine fear as she watched him toss the table and chairs aside. That fear kept her immobile, unable to do anything but watch as he unchained the black-haired slave and hauled her to the centre of the room. He chained her again, with her hands over her head, her feet barely touching the floor. He snatched up the whip and pointed it at her, speaking so quietly that she hardly heard him - but she knew what he was saying and she shook her head. A heated exchange of words - him furious, her terrified and pleading. And then everything stopped as he threatened to beat the slave himself. The slave was even more terrified than Leigh and her plea was rewarded with a vicious blow that sliced her back and sent tendrils around her breasts and stomach. Further threats - far from empty. She listened to him, knowing that he would enjoy unleashing his fury on the slave. But she also knew that she would watch and enjoy it too. She had accepted her voyeuristic nature but now he was demanding more. And after she gave more - what then? Would she be content to just watch? More than she feared him, she feared her own slide into the darkness. She could feel her need to surrender to that darkness within and that terrified her more than anything. She knew that she had unchained her innermost desires but in so doing she felt that he had condemned her also. Condemned her to suffer the fear of losing herself. But even so, her fear for the slave was just as great. There was only one way to save the slave from his hand but could she do it? Could she sacrifice all she believed of herself to save the slave who had opened her eyes to the very darkness that now threatened to consume them both? But she could fight the darkness, couldn't she? She didn't have to surrender completely. She had fought against it so far, she could fight on. She looked at the slave once more and knew that to save her she would risk it all. She had to, if only to prove to herself that she was still capable of putting others first. Deep inside her a tiny voice laughed triumphantly and twisted in the spun cords of her logic.

 

'All right!' she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. She moved in a dream, nothing seemed real. The battered, marked skin, which should have brought feelings of pity, brought an altogether different response. A response that made her fingers tighten around the handle of the whip. That beautifully marked skin seemed to cry out for more punishment. She never felt her arm rise but she heard the shocking retort and his calm response,

'One.'

The power that had coursed down the whip and into her was almost too much to bear and she stumbled backwards. And so the seed was sown - small at first, it would grow over time, changing her from within. And when, eighteen months later, she and the slave met again, that seed would have become her core.

Chapter 1

 

The scream was pitiful and so terribly familiar, even though she had never heard the young slave scream in pain before. Claudia turned to the sound and she was drawn in through the door of the huge mansion. She tried to get away, to fight back but the sound of the slave's pain pulled her in like a rip-tide. And then there she was. There they all were. On the raised dais, hanging by her ankles from a sturdy wooden frame, was Phoebe. On one side was the Fourth Mistress, on the other, her special slave Colette. Phoebe was sobbing between cries, her tears spilling into her sweat soaked hair. Her skin was covered in a sheen of sweat that sparkled along the purple welts that lined her most sensitive areas. On her breasts the welts looked thin, different from the rest and as Claudia stepped closer she could see the cause. Two small gold rings shone from her pierced nipples that were stretched and pulled downwards by the chains attached to weights on the floor. Her position meant that it was the, so smooth, underside of her breasts that had suffered beneath the thin cane that the Third still held in her gloved hand. She was running the cane up and down the outside of Phoebe's thigh as Colette worked diligently to force a spreader bar between the hanging slave's ankles. As her legs were spread, Claudia caught sight of tiny clamps pinching her clitoris. One held the hood back, its chain stretching down her body to meet the piercing at her nipples. The second clamp held the shiny nub beneath and the attached chain disappeared between her buttocks where it was fixed to the end of something round and blue that was forced into Phoebe's tighter passage. For the moment her vagina was empty but Claudia knew that wasn't to last when Colette suddenly appeared with an impossibly large dildo, the thickness of her forearm. Phoebe saw it and screamed in terror, begging for mercy. They ignored her and the Third gave a tiny nod. Phoebe didn't scream as the dildo was forced into her, she seemed too shocked to vent her fear and pain. At the end of the dildo was a small, hooked nub that rested against her exposed, clamped clitoris. Another nod from the Third and Colette raised a slim remote control and turned the vibrator on. Phoebe screamed. She screamed as the pain and then the pleasure, engulfed her hanging body. She pissed herself and came at the same time, ejaculating her juice that mingled with her urine to run down her body and into her open, screaming mouth.

 

Claudia closed her eyes. She couldn't bear to watch anymore.

 

'You know you're dreaming, don't you?'

Claudia opened her eyes. Everything was as it had been but the Fourth Mistress and Colette were frozen, as if time had paused for the moment. She looked at Phoebe still hanging upside down but calm and relaxed, as if the frozen moment had frozen her pain too.

'This is all in your mind.'

'Really?' Claudia asked hopefully.

'Of course,' Phoebe laughed, 'It's not this bad.'

Claudia smiled.

'No - it's far worse.' Phoebe laughed again but it was the laugh of the Third Mistress. Behind her, Colette was slowly thrusting the anal phallus in and out of Phoebe, stretching her clitoris horribly and making Phoebe scream in a mixture of pain and intense pleasure.

'Pathetic little whore.' Colette laughed at Claudia, 'Your imagination can't even come close to imagining what we're doing to her.'

 

And then it was like a door slamming shut, propelling her from the dream with a cry on her lips.

 

Hands gripped her shoulders and she tried to fight them off, twisting and turning in an effort to get away. The movement caused pain to lance through her battered body.

'Easy, easy.'

The familiar voice calmed her and as she regained focus, her pain eased a little.

'Phoebe,' she gasped, 'we have to help her.'

'We've talked about this,' Mel whispered as she helped Claudia to sit up.

Claudia remembered - they had done nothing but talk about it since she had got home two days previously. Two days since the Mistress Faith had secured her release from Kelso. She put the thoughts of her not-so ex­-lover out of her mind and turned to Natalie who was sitting on the edge of the bed, 'Do you agree with her?'

Natalie glanced at Mel with a look that Claudia had seen often since she had returned. There was a tension between the two submissives that Claudia noticed but didn't know the cause of. 'I think she's right,' Natalie announced, 'Phoebe might well be there voluntarily, she is like ... she is a submissive, after all.'

'I know that.' Claudia sighed.

'But can we take the risk that she isn't?'

There was anger in Mel's eyes, something that Claudia had never seen directed at Natalie before.

Natalie continued, 'Would it hurt for someone to check it out?'

'Someone like you?' Mel demanded.

'I didn't say that.'

'But that's what you want, right?'

'Who are you to say what I want? You have no idea what I want or -' she stopped herself.

'Or need?' Mel finished for her. She shook her head with disgust, 'I know what you need, we feed from the same dish, remember?'

'And which one of us is the hungriest right now?'

'Okay, time out!' Claudia said loudly. 'Let's just concentrate on Phoebe, eh?'

Mel moved to lean against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. Eventually she said, 'Okay, so we need to check that Phoebe is okay. How?'

All three of them knew the answer but no one wanted to voice it. They were saved by a knock at the door.

'I'll get it,' Mel said.

 

Claudia waited until Mel had left before she asked quietly, 'What happened while I was away?'

Natalie sighed, 'I don't know.'

'You must.'

'I don't,' Natalie hissed angrily, but her anger wasn't directed at Claudia. 'Something happened, but I don't know what, all I know are the consequences.'

'It's not just Mel though, is it?'

Natalie shook her head, 'I think we love each other too much. Does that make sense?'

Claudia nodded slowly.

'I like pain,' Natalie announced suddenly. 'You know I do. I'm a submissive, I like being forced, sexually. It's what I am. I accepted what I am long before Mel did and I've had longer to get used to it, I guess. I want pleasure, my kind of pleasure.'

'And Mel can't give you that.'

'Of course she can't. It never mattered before. Before we had our Masters and Mistresses to dish out the pain and humiliation, more than we could bear some of the time. We took comfort in each other. But we don't need that anymore, do we?' Natalie's eyes filled with tears as she voiced the fear that had been eating away at her, 'Oh, God,' she whispered. 'She doesn't need me anymore and I ...' she couldn't bring herself to say it and stood up to walk towards the window. She stared out and took a deep breath, perhaps to say something further but she heard Mel coming and quickly wiped her eyes.

 

'Who was it?' Claudia asked as Mel entered the room, distracting her from Natalie.

Mel seemed reluctant to answer. 'It was ... someone from Faith.'

Both Claudia and Natalie visibly paled.

'They're gone now,' Mel added quickly.

'But she knows where we are,' Natalie gasped, sounding frantic. Mel went to her and gingerly put her hand on Natalie's shoulder. Natalie responded to her touch and sank into her embrace, for the moment at least, she needed Mel again.

'I've got to find somewhere else to live,' Claudia announced suddenly. 'I can't bear the thought of her knowing where I am. I'm not ready for that.' She looked up in time to see Mel and Natalie share a fearful look. 'You're both welcome to come with me ... until you sort something out for yourselves. I said you could stay as long as you liked and I meant it.'

'Thank you,' Natalie replied, visibly relieved.

Mel cleared her throat and for the first time Claudia noticed the bundle of clothes that she had tucked under one arm, 'What do you want me to do with these?'

Claudia recognised her clothes and realised that Faith must have got them from Kelso's place. Trousers, a jumper and the jacket that she wore when she went out anywhere. Just clothes but when she looked at them all she could see was Kelso and Max undressing her, readying her for punishment. 'Get rid of them ... please,' she whispered.

Mel looked at her, 'The bin?'

'No, just throw them in the corner, I'll burn them myself.'

The dark-haired woman nodded and collected the clothes together to carry them to the corner of the room. As she dropped the bundle a small white sheet fluttered out of the jacket pocket. She picked it up, 'Is this important?'

Claudia glanced at it, remembering the night that the pretty young woman had given it to her - it seemed a lifetime ago. She managed half a smile, 'A lovely looking woman gave it to me when I met her at Faith's club. She said to give her a ring if I ever wanted to talk.' She shook her head, 'Could you put it in the bin?'

'You sure?' Mel half smiled and unfolded the napkin, 'Sometimes it's good to -'

Claudia and Natalie looked at her when she fell silent.

'You okay?' Natalie asked and moved to take the napkin from her. She looked at it and her eyes widened. 'Jesus,' she whispered and then smiled warmly.

Mel smiled at her and for the first time in quite a while, Claudia saw the love between the two submissives that had helped them survive so much.

Mel looked at Claudia, 'Did you say that you met this woman at Faith's club?'

'Yes - why?'

She smiled, 'We might have found someone to check on Phoebe for us.'

 

Chapter 2

 

Mel found herself praying for the hundredth time that night that Faith wasn't at the club tonight. Nearly every night since she had met Faith at this very club to talk to her about Claudia, she had dreamt of what Faith had done to her. And every night she had awoken wet and desperate for release. Sometimes Natalie had awoken with her and they had found pleasure in each other. Other times she had stayed in the grip of her own tormented dreams and Mel barely managed to satisfy herself. The need that Faith had reawakened was eating away at her and she knew that Natalie was feeling the same. But she couldn't deal with that now. Right now she had to find a way to check Phoebe and there was only one person who she could hope would help. Suddenly, as if called by Mel's thoughts, she was there. The milling crowd of dominants and slaves parted and Mel caught a flash of familiar blonde hair. Smiling to herself, she forced her way through the crowd until she could position herself in the shadows and watch the blonde Mistress without being seen herself. Her hair was longer than Mel remembered, her clothes and make-up harsher, more dominant - it suited her. She leant against the wall and watched as Leigh Goldman beckoned a lithe slave to her table.

 

The slave was one of the club's dancers and she moved with a grace that swung her hips provocatively while remaining submissive.

'Mistress?' the slave asked as she knelt beside Leigh, 'What would you have of me this evening?'

'Sit on the table, spread your legs.'

The slave did as she was told, hitching the short leather skirt up higher so that she could climb onto the sturdy table. She turned to Leigh, resting her heels on the edge of the table and letting her knees drop. She wore no underwear beneath the skirt and her pussy lips glistened.

'A little horny, aren't we?'

'If Mistress permits it.'

'Whether I permit it or not, you're fucking soaked.'

'Mistress, I was fucked by three men just a few minutes before you beckoned me.'

'So, it's their juice, is it?'

'Yes, Mistress.'

Leigh slowly leant forward to run her finger up the crease of the slave's vagina lips. She stood slowly and approached the slave's head, 'Tongue.' The slave quickly opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. Leigh smeared the juice that she had collected on her fingers across the slave's tongue. 'Well?'

'Mistress?'

'What does it taste like?'

'It is sweet, Mistress.'

'Sweet like honey?'

'Yes, Mistress.'

'Does it taste like the come of three Masters?'

The slave swallowed, 'No, Mistress.'

'And why is that, I wonder?' Leigh didn't wait for an answer, 'I was watching you. I saw the three Masters have their fun.' A thin cane appeared in her hand and the slave gasped fearfully. 'I watched one of the men fucking your mouth.' she tapped the slave's cheek with the cane and then lifted it to her shoulder. 'Lift your legs.'

The slave did so, holding her knees against her chest.

'The second Master had your pretty arse to fuck.' Without warning she sliced the cane across the slaves curved buttocks. The slave cried out, jolting under the blow and squeezing semen out of her still distended anus. 'Put your legs back.' Leigh waited until the slave had put her heels back on the table before moving back to her side. 'I saw you lying much like this. A Master enjoying a hole at each end.' She ran the cane over the small round bruises on the slave's inner thighs where the Master who had fucked her arse had pulled her legs around his thrusting hips. 'And the third Master, well, he looked after himself while he enjoyed the sight of your abuse.' Leigh used the cane to flick open the thin leather waistcoat that was the only covering on the slave's upper half. Beneath the leather were large, nicely shaped breasts and rounded nipples hidden within circular clamps. 'Care to tell me what this is?' Leigh asked as she flicked at the drying semen that had been spread across her breasts.

'It is my Master's come, Mistress.'

'Yes, it is, isn't it?' Leigh replied and brought the cane down smartly, just above the slave's nipples. She cried out, squeezing her eyes tightly shut as she tossed her head. Another blow and then another fell to the same place, making the slave cry out and whimper in turn as each blow stung her sensitive flesh.

'Please, Mistress!' she cried suddenly, 'I beg you.'

Leigh rested the cane against the redness that she had wrought on the slave's breasts and studied the crying slave for a moment. 'You lied to me.' Leigh announced, her voice quiet, dangerous.

'Mistress, I'm sorry, I'm -'

'Shut up!' her voice was like the snap of the cane and the slave jolted with fright. She knew Leigh, had seen and had been enjoyed by her before, it was unusual for her to raise her voice.

'Did you come as they fucked you?' Leigh asked quietly, stroking the cane over the tight clamps.

'Yes, Mistress.'

'I didn't see you come,' Leigh announced as she sat down, pushing the end of the cane against the slave's swollen labia lips. She reached down to her side and lifted a beer bottle. Lifting it to her lips she drank down the last of the beer and then slammed the bottle down on the table between the slave's feet. The slave jumped again, lifting her head to try and see what had happened.

'Put your fucking head down,' Leigh growled. She pushed the beer bottle with the end of the cane until the cold glass was pushing against her quivering pussy. The slave groaned as the cold made her cunt lips throb and her lust was immediately reawakened.

'Do you want to fuck yourself with that bottle?' Leigh asked.

The slave swallowed, 'Yes, Mistress.'

'Do you want to be tit whipped?'

The slave was stunned by the unexpected question and was unable to answer immediately.

'Now I shall give you five lashes anyway,' Leigh announced calmly. 'I suggest you answer the question. Do you want to be tit whipped?'

'No, Mistress, please ... no.'

'Then the bottle shall stay there until you agree to a tit whipping. I won't allow you to slide that smooth glass into your hot cunt until you agree.' Leigh lit a cigarette and waited patiently.

A few minutes later the slave gave a sob, 'Mistress, may I speak?'

'Just tell me how many lashes you are willing to take and I will see if I agree.'

'Five, Mistress.'

Leigh snorted as she flicked hot ash at the slave's inner thighs.

A few moments later the slave said hesitantly, 'Ten?'

More hot ash found her inner thighs as Leigh replied harshly, 'I will agree to ten and add five for not asking permission to speak and another five for failing to address me correctly.'

The slave gave a tiny whimper but that was her only protest. Leigh realised that the slave had become so worked up that it was impossible to say whether she had agreed to the tit whipping in order to receive the reward that was to follow, or for the sake of the whipping itself. Leigh stood up and dropped her cigarette into the bottle pressed against the slave's cunt. For a moment the slave's glistening lips glowed before the last dregs of fluid in the bottle extinguished the embers.

'Hands behind your head, arch your back,' Leigh ordered angrily, as if the slave should have known what to do without being asked. She did as she was ordered, watching Leigh as she moved to stand beside her, studying her now raised breasts. She raised the crop and brought it down smartly across the centre of the breasts. The slave cried out, her arms closing either side of her head as if to trap any further cries. Three more blows landed on the plump mounds and the slave managed to stifle her cries until the fifth blow found the clamps that cruelly bit her nipples. The cry that the blow wrung from her lips caused several people to look in their direction and a few of them started to drift over. The onlookers gave Leigh plenty of room, after all, there was no point in crowding her and spoiling the show. The slave sensed the eyes on her and she lowered her arms slightly to survey the growing circle of bodies around her. Whether it was the sight of all those eyes or the build-up effect of several sharp blows to her sensitive breasts, her cries became louder and more pitiful. Or perhaps it was the knowledge that with each blow she was being drawn inexplicably closer to the reward that she would now be unable to refuse. Her cries became deeper, less pained as the blows passed fifteen. Her breasts were glowing red with thin lines of raised-white criss-crossing the otherwise smooth flesh. When the twentieth blow flattened the centre of her breasts, it was impossible to say whether she was relieved or not.

'Well?' Leigh asked as she lifted the crop from the wounded mounds, watching them spring back into shape, 'You make take your reward.' She tossed the crop onto the seat where she had been sitting, 'Fuck yourself you filthy whore. Fuck yourself and make yourself come in front of all these people. Show them what a filthy slut you are.'

If the slave wanted to protest, the need to relieve her lust was too much to fight and she sat up to grab the bottle. Leigh watched as she turned the neck of the bottle towards her cunt and then, closing her eyes, she slowly slid the ribbed end into her welcoming pussy. Leigh delivered the final five lashes and then watched the slave fucking herself until she could see her climactic juices sliding into and around the bottle. She would have spent some more time with the girl but too many people had gathered and she wasn't one for putting on that kind of show. Instead she just left her to be enjoyed further by the crowd. As soon as Leigh was gone, several men launched at the slave as if she were prey. One yanked the bottle from her cunt and quickly shoved his cock in as a replacement while his companion tipped her head back and shoved his cock down her throat. Leigh glanced over her shoulder as she heard the slave gag and couldn't help but wonder if she should have left her to the mercy of the crowd. But then she saw the slave's hips bucking upwards to meet the violent thrust of the man fucking her cunt and continued on towards the bar.