Chapter One

 

It was three days before Claudia requested Mia's presence in the playroom. As she approached, she felt cold sweat spring out along her brow. Fresh memories of what Faith had done to her brought echoes of pain across her skin. Mia had suffered greatly over the years, at many different hands, there was no denying that - but Mistress Faith had a way of making her feel ... so much worse. Faith's anger and disappointment had only heightened those feelings. Her continued failure to behave as a dominant had left her feeling lost and desperately alone.

Mia was grateful that she had been allowed to dress but she was still nervous as she was led into the room where Claudia waited for her. She kept her eyes down as the door was closed behind her and the two women were left alone.

'Look at me,' Claudia announced.

Mia lifted her eyes but clearly struggled to hold the other woman's gaze.

'You want to ask me something?'

Mia had got used to people like Claudia - people who could read others like pages in a book. 'Are you going to hurt me ..?' she paused, struggling as ever to work out what to call Claudia.

Claudia gave a small laugh, 'No, quite the opposite in fact.'

Mia managed to hold her gaze, 'You want me to hurt you?'

'Is that going to be a problem?'

She laughed harshly, 'I think we both know that I struggle with certain aspects of what is expected of me.'

'Eloquently put,' Claudia smiled.

Mia wasn't amused, 'You want me to hurt you? And then what? Suffer Mistress Faith's fury? I don't think so.'

'I agreed to train you, Faith knew what that would entail,' she took a deep breath before continuing, 'In a few weeks we will be sending you back to your Master and you will be expected to treat your pet as she deserves.' Claudia took a step forward, her gaze fixed on Mia. 'You will hurt her and fuck her for ... not just your Master's pleasure ... but for yours as well. You will dominate her and make her submit to you ... in the same way as you have submitted to so many. You will be the dominant, she is the slave, the whore, the tool for your pleasure.' Claudia stepped closer, 'She is just a worthless fucking slut who deserves to be beaten and abused and should be grateful in return for the attention you give her.'

Anger and fear flashed through Mia's eyes, a reaction that Claudia had been aiming for because she nodded slowly.

'What is your pet's name?'

Mia swallowed painfully before whispering, 'Alex.'

'And who is she?'

'My ... pet,' she managed to say, the word sticking in her throat.

'And ..?'

'And what?'

'Why is she so special to you?'

Mia felt her heart hammer against her chest, these were dangerous questions and she had to keep her guard up. She was S, that was who she was now. S had no past, there were no friends who had returned to her life and made her feel loved again. 'She is just a slave.'

Claudia nodded, 'And I am Mistress Faith's slave.'

Mia seized the lifeline, 'You and Mistress Faith are ... are ...'

'What?' Claudia asked, her eyebrows lifting with amusement.

'Weird.'

Claudia laughed loudly, 'So eloquent one moment, so blunt the next.'

'I just meant that ... well ... I have never met a Mistress and slave like you two.'

'Because we love each other?'

Mia paused, she had believed once that Master Jake might have fallen in love with her, but deep down she knew that he only loved the slave S and what she could bring him. 'Yes ... I think. How did you get to where you are?'

Claudia shrugged, 'Faith and I have a history of saving each other. Our love has become the string around a very complicated parcel.'

'Or the chains ...' Mia thought.

It was clear that Claudia wasn't going to say anymore and Mia wasn't going to pursue the matter, as much as she wanted to.

'The past is dangerous, you know that, that's why Alex is your weakness. She is from your past, isn't she?' Claudia asked.

Mia stared back, refusing to agree or disagree. There seemed little point since Claudia already knew the answer. Instead she diverted the questioning, 'So, what is it that you are going to do for me that Mistress Faith couldn't?' She didn't try to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

Claudia was silent for a moment and Mia was starting to find her tiresome. 'You know nothing about Faith and I,' she announced eventually and slowly started to circle Mia who kept her eyes forward. She had circled Mia twice without speaking and now stood behind her. 'You might just see me as Mistress Faith's slave ... but I have seen both sides of the whip.'

Mia glanced over her shoulder, 'Am I supposed to be impressed?'

Claudia sighed angrily, perhaps as tired of Mia's sarcasm as Mia was of her apparent condescension. 'No, you are supposed to learn.' She returned to the front and locked stares with Mia, 'Why the sudden defiance?'

Mia stared at her coldly, anger glinting in her eyes. 'You were nowhere to be seen while your Mistress ... lover ... whatever the fuck she is ... brutalised me. And now I'm supposed to learn from you? I'm supposed to trust you?' Mia bit back a laugh, clenching her teeth instead and shaking her head with disbelief.

'Would you rather I send you back to Faith to continue your training?' Claudia asked, lifting her eyebrows.

Anger rather than fear flashed across Mia's features, 'Are you threatening me?'

Claudia's smile was small but her eyes glinted with amusement, 'Do you want me to? Would that make this easier for you ... for you to be the victim, to defend yourself by hurting me?'

'What would make this easier for me would be for people to stop expecting me to be something I'm not,' she replied angrily. 'I am not a Mistress ... I cannot dominate a slave. I could never do ...' she paused, swallowed and closed her eyes, '... what she did to me.'

'I will neither excuse nor explain Mistress Faith's recent behaviour towards you,' Claudia responded, 'But I will remind you that you were sent here. She did not request you. This was your choice.'

Mia seethed with anger, 'I didn't choose any of this.'

'Didn't you ask your Master for a pet?' Claudia countered, 'What? You thought your Master would just let you keep her somewhere safe and just bring her out to fuck when you fancied it?'

Mia stayed silent. She know that Claudia was right, based on the apparent situation. But there was no way that she could tell this woman that she hadn't actually been thinking that far ahead - that having Alex around was a complication she hadn't envisioned.

Claudia waved her hand dismissively, 'The point is that your Master sent you here to learn how to dominate, Faith agreed to that. There is no going back.'

'Then she has failed. Explain that to my Master.'

'No - she hasn't. Because when I have trained you it will be Faith's success and Faith who will return you.'

'Well then,' Mia sighed, tired and angry, 'good fucking luck to you.'

Claudia moved to the side of the room and retrieved a crop from the rack. She bent it between her hands and leant her leg against a large, square box. She ran her fingers along the edge of the wood, her eyes thoughtful. 'Why do you think I told you that I have seen both sides of the whip?'

Mia sighed. She was caught between a submissive need to submit to Claudia while at the same time feeling an unreasonable sense of hatred towards her - she had been the one to leave her to Faith's anger and cruelty. To have Claudia stand there now and tell her that she wanted Mia to hurt her brought a sense of flux. Mia did want to hurt her, wanted to somehow take revenge for what Faith had done to her. But she was Faith's lover. And now she was standing there asking questions and making statements as if anything she said would ever do could make a difference to Mia's impossible position. She shrugged, answering Claudia's question, 'I don't know why you told me. In my life, action has always spoken louder than words.'

Claudia smiled and nodded, 'I completely agree.' She bent and unclipped a small door at the front of the box. 'Out!' she commanded.

A pair of slim, female hands appeared, quickly followed by the lithe frame of a pretty young slave. For a heart-stopping moment, Mia thought that the slave was Jessica. But thankfully it was a slave that Mia hadn't seen before. She was young like Jessica with a similar lithe body and small breasts. Her eyes were a beautiful blue, deep and wanting. The slave crawled easily across the floor and Mia realised that, despite her age, she was experienced. Claudia told her to stop and then directed Mia to a soft chair by the wall, 'You will watch and - I promise - you will enjoy.'

Mia did as she was told, sitting down and studying the naked slave at Claudia's feet. She really was pretty and round in all the right places. She stared up at Claudia with such a look of desire that it warmed Mia's pussy instantly.

'What shall I do with you?' Claudia asked the slave.

'I am yours, Mistress, please ... do whatever you want to me.' Her voice was strong, excited, the voice of a submissive.

Claudia grabbed the slave's chin, 'What did you say?'

The slave swallowed, 'Mistress ... I ... I ...'

'I heard what you fucking said, you said that I could do whatever I wanted with you,' she pulled their faces closer together, 'And I need your fucking permission do I?'

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-'

'Shut the fuck up and assume the position!' Claudia yelled. The slave quickly moved to sit squarely on her knees, hands behind her back and her shoulders back, presenting her breasts. 'Open your mouth.' The slave followed the command and then closed her teeth on the crop that slid sideways between her lips. Claudia glanced over at Mia, 'Take a look at this, Lisa is such a little pain-whore, she can't wait for me to take that crop and slice her arse ... little bitch loves that. She loves the feel of the crop stinging her buttocks ... really makes her cream ...' Claudia smiled at Mia, 'Wanna see?'

Mia swallowed and nodded silently.

Claudia slapped the slave's cheek, 'Get over there.'

Mia watched the slave intently as she crawled over, the crop still held in her teeth.

'Put your head between her legs,' Claudia commanded as she took the crop from her mouth.

Mia raised her eyebrows but parted her legs so that the slave could rest her forehead against the cushion between Mia's toned thighs, thighs held even tighter in the confines of her tight leather trousers.

'Hands behind your back,' Claudia raised the whip and as soon as the slave crossed her wrists, she sliced downwards, making the slave buck under the blow. 'She takes the whip well ... little pain slut ...' another blow, '... she enjoys the sting because she can't wait for me to slide my fingers into her soaking snatch ...' the crop landed again, '... sluts like you make me sick,' Mia looked up sharply but Claudia ignored her, 'you just play at this ... if I really hurt you with this crop you would run for the fucking door!'