Playtime

Hearing him say her name was like a slap to the face. She jerked away, gritting her teeth against the pain in her aching shoulders as she moved. As bad as her whole body felt, it was her shoulders which hurt the most.



"Oh yes..." he chuckled darkly, and she shivered. "I know who you are, Veronica Santangelo. You are a very special young lady." His hand caressed her torso, brushing down her side and lingering at the top of her hip. He was gloved, she realized, feeling the fabric catch ever so slightly against her skin.



His lips brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss as he whispered in her ear. "And a very lucky one, too." His other hand pressed against her as well, brushing upward again. In another situation, the touch might have been pleasant, but the dread which curled in her stomach didn't allow her any enjoyment. Something horrible had happened, and she still didn't even know how.



"My... patron asked that I retrieve you and oversee some of your training..." His hands curled around her breasts, squeezing them gently before stroking in small circles around her nipples. "He wants you trained... but not broken." Sharply, he slapped her breasts, making her jerk away in surprise. Her back crashed into him, but before she could pull away, he wrapped her in an embrace, burying his face in the crook of her neck.



"It would have been fun to break you, though. You're so lovely when you're terrified." His laugh rumbled deep in his chest. She fought the shudder which wracked her body. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of feeling her shake. He laughed again, his hands once more fluttering down her sides in a sick imitation of a lover's caress. "It's really too bad..." He kissed her neck, lingering there as if enjoying himself.



Veronica tried to stand still, to hold herself stiff. If he wanted her to squirm and act terrified, she wouldn't. She couldn't. He wasn't allowed to have that satisfaction. He was a monster, playing with her. She'd learned how to defeat monsters. She'd fought a deathclaw and won. She could beat this human monster, too.



"Fuck you," she gasped through the gag. It came out garbled, and caused spit to run down her chin, but it made her feel a little more like herself. Her triumph, however, was short lived.



"Oh. My precious, precious profligate," He sighed and clucked his tongue at her. "You shouldn't have said that. I'm going to have to teach you why good girls don't swear..." He laughed again, and this time she couldn't suppress the shudder which coursed through her body.

She tracked his motion as best she could as he stepped away from her. He was rummaging around for something. She heard wood thunk against wood, and the jingling of metal. Then it went quiet again. The worst part, she decided, was not being able to see what he was doing. If she could see, then perhaps the panic which had begun building would not have been so strong. Being blind like this, only knowing what he was doing when he made a sound or it touched her made it so much harder to maintain any semblance of calm.



Seconds ticked by in the strained silence.



She heard the sound of something cutting through the air just before the flogger made contact with her rear. She shrieked, the sharp pain eclipsing all of the other aches in her body. He waited, not moving, not striking again until her gasping had slowed and her body had stilled. Veronica waited in silence, barely breathing, afraid that she might not hear the next blow coming.



The one thing she was sure of was that it was coming.



But as the minutes dragged on, she began to doubt. The sharp pain had subsided to a dull, hot throb. Clearly this was a game to him, but would it be more fun for him to hit her again, or leave her waiting? Her initial panic began to subside, though the fear and dread remained.



The second strike made her gasp and jerk, but in some ways it was less terrible, perhaps because she had been waiting. The pain seared red-hot again.



The third strike came quickly, before she was done processing the second. He was laughing again. He struck again, and again in rapid succession. Tears welled up in her eyes, but were quickly absorbed by the fabric of her blindfold. At least he couldn't see her cry.



"If you use naughty words again, your punishment is going to be much more severe," She heard the thunk of him dropping his flogger. "I'm going to let you think a little. When I get back, the real fun is going to begin."