The Brand Ch. 02

"Was this before or after Mississippi?" asked Victria.

Melody looked up suddenly to peer into the woman's eyes, and seemed both strangely surprised and alienated by the fact that she had been paying attention.

"Before; New Mexico. She continued, "I had to hide in the attic, until after they'd gone off to sleep. So I quietly gathered up my stuff, and I guess I was a little mad about his showing up and her having a man and all, so I left my big boots there, for them to find, and I took this really nice pair of these black trainers she had; and I headed off into the cold night."

"Did she ask about your scar?"

A sudden fury deepened the shade of green in her eyes just before Melody nodded.

"And what did you tell her?"

"The same thing I told you; Ma'am." Melody answered flatly; her eyes blazing at her employer, her benefactor, her savior, her dome.

Victria studied her a moment more before swallowing her last bite of food and setting her fork down. Presently, she rose from her seat, withdrew to the dining room, and then returned with a bottle of Canadian whiskey. Victria made two drinks and set one of them on the corner of the kitchen table. Before leaving again, she instructed Melody to join her upstairs after she cleared the table and cleaned the dishes.

"Yes Ma'am" answered Melody; not without a lingering contempt in her tone, "but what about dessert? I made that brownie chunk cookie dough butterscotch toffee crumble thing I told you about yesterday."

"I'll have dessert later, thank you." Victria answered from the bottom of the stairs, "And if you're a good girl, you can have some too."

Melody eyed the drink Victria had left behind. It was a gesture, an invitation. She didn't take a sip, not until the table was otherwise cleared and the dishes washed. Melody took her first drink of the iced amber liquid as she went about returning the dried dishes, pans and silverware to their places. Ten minutes later, her drink nearly finished, Melody grabbed the whiskey bottle Victria had left on the counter, and then made her way upstairs.

Entering the master bedroom, she saw that Victria had changed into a paint spattered red T-shirt and a pair of faded, equally paint spattered, jean shorts. She turned to see Melody's approach and the bottle extended to her. With no clear sign of displeasure, Victria took the bottle and went to the emptied glass she'd left on her desk.

"You may kneel."

"Yes Ma'am." Melody agreed; resisting the urge to challenge the woman.

She knew that it would go much easier if she just continued to oblige Victria. She'd be a fool to just walk away from the opportunity of a free education and a decent paying full-time job with benefits, especially after she'd walked far enough away from what she'd left behind. Here, is where I'll stand my ground, no matter what this woman puts me through. Victria got to her feet, took Melody's empty glass and filled it. It might be alright, us using each other for a while.

"Tell me; Melody," asked Victria as she handed the glass back and pulled up her desk chair, "Do your instincts say to trust me?"

Melody took a drink as she regarded her hostess, and winced from the pure whiskey's bite. Briefly, she looked away before settling her eyes on Victria's for a time. We're strangers, she thought; on the surface, books and their covers, everyone's a mystery, anonymous souls in the asylum.

"Yes Ma'am." Melody answered finally.

"Why?" asked Victria; downing half of her glass.

Again, Melody glanced away and took another very small sip of her drink.

"Because I believe that when two strangers click, they make one clean slate together." She explained, "I'm a clean slate because I stopped living my last life so that I could assume another."

"Really now?" Victria laughed, "Then you're not a clean slate. You're more like one of those etch-A-Sketches; your guts full of old shaken away designs, all still in there, hoping that no one else ever re-draws any of those buried impressions of you,and waiting for someone new to come along and help make you an image that suits you."

Stunned, Melody stared at her benefactor. Victria took another drink, and then looked around her perfectly tidy, organized bedroom before training her gaze back on her girl.

"So." Said Victria.

"So." Repeated Melody.

They gazed at each other for a time; their eyes riveted, firery emerald green and warm yet nebulous brown.

"Give me your drink," commanded Victria; extending her hand, "Then get on your hands and knees and face your ass toward me."

"Yes Ma'am."

Once Melody had assumed the position, she felt the gentle sensations of Victria's fingers caressing her smooth buttocks and then venturing against her puckered anus.

"What can I expect will be inserted into my ass this evening Mistress?"

"Oh so I'm your mistress now."

"Yes Ma'am. I mean; yes Mistress."

Victria hummed with satisfied laughter.

"No Slave." She answered while carefully setting Melody's drink on the straightest plane atop her ass, "I won't be putting anything in there tonight. See to it that you don't spill your drink, will you?"

"Yes Ma'am." Melody answered uneasily.

"Tell me though; Outside of a doctor's digits, have you ever had anything pushed in here before this morning?" asked Victria; still gently playing with her slave's tight pink ass hole.

"Uh, just my fingers Mistress, and- And a brush handle; once."

"So you don't have any reservations about the prospect of a strap-on?"

"No Mistress. I know you will fuck me right with it."

Victria raised an eye brow.

"I will in deed fuck you right slave." She said, "And, for the sake of further clarity; what personal limits do you wish me to observe?"

"Well," answered Melody; suddenly very thirsty, remaining perfectly still so as not to topple her drink from her ass, "No blood, no surprise balloon popping and no kiddy fetish stuff. Mistress"

"Does that mean no diapers?"

"Diapers? Hmm. Sure, I'll wear diapers."

"Piss play?"

"I'll try it, but I don't think I'll be hot lunching."

"Fine then. How about fire play?"

"Fire play. That actually sounds; sexy."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. I mean; yes Mistress."

Melody then felt the glass removed from its perch, though she did not rise until instructed to. Seconds later, commanded to stand, Melody rose to her feet and accepted her drink. As she took two small sips, Victria's slave watched as her dome dragged the cold, wet side of her glass across her left nipple. Melody did her best to remain still and keep her excitement to a minimum. Glancing at Victria, she saw that her skin was flushed once more, perhaps from the alcohol, perhaps from something else.

"May I use your bathroom Mistress?"

"Yes, you may."

Victria politely took Melody's drink, and then set it on the edge of the desk. Once finished in the bathroom, Melody emerged to find no sign of Victria. But, a glance over her right shoulder proved that she'd stepped into the shoe closet, and was scanning the rows and rows of shoe boxes; each with notations written on the side of each box, indicating which outfit or outfits each pair could match with. Smiling to herself, Melody entered the closet, and before she could advise her benefactor that it was now as easy as putting the right shoes back inside the right box, Victria took her wrists and locked them in stainless steel cuffs.

"You didn't mention hand cuffs, Mistress." Said Melody, looking down at her manacled wrists.

"Neither did you; Slave." Answered Victria, "Now go kneel, facing the center of the foot of the bed."

Melody, though slightly hesitant, did as she was told. In the same instant, Victria stepped to the bureau, and withdrew items from the bottom drawer. Her eyes rivet to Victria's every move, Melody watched her dome return; a short length of chain with a lock at each end in one hand and a vicious looking cat o' nine in the other.

"You didn't say anything about whips either!" Melody anxiously remarked

"I'm playing the dome card." Intoned Victria as she set the flogging implement on the bed and withdrew a set of keys from her pocket.

"But why!?!"

"Because I saw that you looked perfectly lovely in that dress you tried on today." Answered Victria as she connected the chain from Melody's manacles to a thick metal ring that happened to be welded to the bottom center edge of the bed's steel frame, "And don't think I didn't see you put those red slippers on too Dorathy."

I'm so stupid. I should have realized. I just wanted to- Wait? I said no blood. This might; work out.

"Lay down on your belly and keep your legs close together." Victria commanded.

Melody didn't move right away. She tried to utter another protest, but was silenced by the surprise sting of the cat's tails across her back, to the left of her spine. She shuddered, huddled and tried to twist as far away as she could.

"Oh please Slave," said Victria, "I hardly hit you. Now do as I say: lay face down with your legs together. You said you trusted me, so just trust me. Come on Cowboy!"

She was right. It wasn't that bad; just really scary. And being scared lingered in Melody's pulsing heart as she hurried to assume the position she'd been commanded to. Settled, Melody covered her face with her chained hands and tensed for the next strike. Smack it came suddenly, to the right of her spine and no stingier than the last hit. Her heart racing, Melody clenched her buttocks tight, assuming it would be the best defense against any pain that might occur there.

"Relax girl." Said Victria; her tone mildly exasperated, "You're risking getting hurt that way. You have to ride the sting; you know, like rolling with a punch."

"Yes Mistress!" said Melody; her voice, though muted inside her cupped hands, pitched higher than usual.

Again came the cat, and Melody received it that time with slack muscle as the implement's tails were gently dragged down the length of her body. Then again it came, on her right, but lower and dragged smoothly down across her relaxed buttocks. Oh, thought Melody, that's sort of; nice. Six times more, Victria hit her with the same intensity and the same slow downward stroke, until Melody moved her hands from her face and settled into a posture that was more like one lazing on a summer morning at the beach.

Then there occurred a brief interlude: Victria stepping away, taking another drink, sifting through a drawer, and then returning. Next Melody knew, Victria had parted her legs slightly, drew out some of her pussy's juices and used them to work something smallish inside her lips. Melody's notion that it was a little vibe was confirmed when Victria pressed its on button, and then closed her thighs back around it.

The lashings resumed then, and were now almost exclusively restricted to Melody's ass, though Victria did get her on the back of her arms just to keep the element of surprise going. You dirty bitch, mused Melody; you cruel, hot sexy bitch. Melody clutched at the chain between her manacles and the bed frame, dragging herself closer, squeezing her insides against the little vibe and pressing the cool metal of the chain against her lips. Victria took in the sight of her; the redding welts on her ass, the pink glow of her back and the growing excitement in her face. Competent with her cat, Victria gradually poured it on, steadily increasing the power of each precisely placed stroke until her slave began to scream and moan and shiver into an eruption of pure, unrestrained delight.

"That didn't turn out to be such a bad punishment. " Melody remarked as she tried to catch her breath.

"Oh your punishment isn't over yet." Stated Victria as she lay down on the floor beside Melody; gently rubbing a layer of aloe and almond oil against her red striped buttocks.

She glanced at Melody's astonished face.

"Nope. Not by a long shot." Continued Victria, "For your disobedience, you will remain, fastened as you are, to my bed for the rest of the evening, and this is where you will find yourself waking up in the morning."

"You can't be-"

Melody stopped herself, no longer ready to take on any more lashing. Of course Victria was serious. But I thought- All I did was- And we were having such a good time- Oh great, now my ass is starting to throb. This sucks now.

"And what if I scream all night?" asked Melody; raising her head from the carpet.

"Oh, I'll just whip you until you realize that it's a better idea not to." Victria answered; as she snapped the cap back on the bottle of ointment, "I'll turn on some of that big band you like on so you can be inspired to saranade me when I come back in here."

"Your holding me against my will! " Melody exclaimed, "You can't do this!"

Victria rose from the floor, and then crossed the room to the desk. Glancing at Melody, she set the ointment down and then opened the desk's top drawer and took out a digital camera.

"This is a contractual relationship." She said; poised to take a shot of her bound slave, " I am not a police officer nor a criminal.

I can hold you against your will as long as I can break it."

Wide-eyed, Melody turned on her side in order to face her captor and winced from a sudden increase of pain. Turning back, she rested on her elbows, her legs slightly spread, her pretty toes turned inward. It was then that Victria snapped a shot. Melody sighed in defeat.

"You don't even know the slightest thing about me." She said, choosing not to look at her mistress.

"I know you like swing!" Victria replied; turning on the CD player Melody had brought up from the kitchen, "Then start sifting through that pretty little Etch-A-Sketch head of yours and fill me in. I'd be happy to hear all there is to know."

Melody said nothing as the music began to play; a Cab Calaway tune. Victria set it on low as she prepared to leave. She pocketed her keys, slipped the camera's lanyard around her wrist, tucked the bottle of whiskey under an arm, and then picked up the two glasses. Halfway to the door, Victria stopped beside Melody.

"Go on." Urged Victria as she hunkered down by the corner of the bed; the camera swinging from her right wrist, "Let's hear it."

Melody got up on her elbows, met her domme's gaze, and then frustratedly sighed. Seconds later, she looked away.

"Fine then." Said Victria as she rose and headed toward the door, "I'll check on you later."

"Wait! I'm so sorry Ma'am. I promise, I won't do it again. Please, let me climb into bed with you tonight!"

"Not tonight." Victria Announced as she crossed the threshold.

"Please Ma'am; I'll do anything you ask, please!"

Victria stopped and turned around.

"Anything?" she asked.

"Yes, anything!" Melody repeated; a desperate hope in her eyes.

They studied each other as Victria downed the rest of her drink.

"I'll let you do whatever I want," she said, "Tomorrow."

Then she was gone. Infuriated, Melody stared into the empty hallway outside Victria's bedroom and drew in a great breath for the sake of screaming a litteny of expletives. But, chose instead to clench her teeth and growl deeply until the muscles in her face hurt. She decided to stop because her ass already hurt enough. A head ache wasn't going to make anything any better. Cab Calaway sang mournfully on; Melody searched around the room, as if there was even the remotest possibility that there was some way to free herself. Presently, her gaze happened upon the little vibe.

Victria had taken it out of her when she lay beside her to apply the soothing cream to her wounds. The thing was on the floor beside her. She forgot it, thought Melody. She forgot it on purpose or did she forget it by mistake? Melody glanced down the hall, and then set out to try and retrieve the tiny vibrator. Pulling the chain to its fullest extent, she reached with her left hand, but the vibe was still too far. Then, with careful effort, Melody extended her left leg, and then used her toes to push it closer. But, it was still too far.

Checking the hallway once more, she got on her knees and scooted over, until she could use the side of her left knee to bring the thing even closer. Finally, Melody was able to gather up the little vibe into her hand. Excited by her success, she carefully lay back down on her side to consider her next course of action. She could get herself off at least; pass some of the time firing off a few more endorphins.

Pressing the vibe's button switch on and off, and on and off, she thought of Victria that morning waiting for her breakfast, sliding her fingers along the length of her pen, turning it end over end, again and again. Melody frowned then, and heaved a great, resigned, breath before ultimately tossing the vibe back out of her reach. Big Sister's watching, she thought. If I knew there weren't microphones set up in here too, I'd call her a freaky fucking bitch out loud... That freaky fucking bitch.