From the Top Shelf - The Whipcord Society

Today's extract is from Secrets of the Whipcord by Michaela Wallace, published by Nexus Books. It is about a young woman, Jo, whose dreams of corporal punishment lead her to join a secret society. She turns up for her introductory meeting at an old Victorian house somewhere near London. She is nervous while waiting in the lobby, which is full of paintings of women receiving corporal punishment, and begins a conversation with another young woman named Diana, equally new and nervous. A man comes in and calls the waiting women to order.

At that moment someone banged hard with a gavel and the two girls turned to see that a man was calling for silence.

"Your attention please, ladies," he said. "It's time for proceedings to begin. First you will see a short demonstration of what the Whipcord Society stands for. That will be followed by a short intermission, at which time you may leave if you wish. Those who wish to see more can stay for a further presentation about the Society. Now, if you'd like to follow me, I'll take you through to our little auditorium."

He led the way through a pair of double doors. The women followed, some still looking rather nervous. Jo stayed with her new companion, grateful for the company in this rather overwhelming place. They were shown into a small theatre, the seats raised in semi-circular tiers, looking down onto a small stage. The curtains were closed, and across their red velvet surface was embroidered the whipcord motif in gold thread. The two girls took their places about halfway back, near the centre.

"What do you think they're going to do?" whispered Diana in Jo's ear.

"Well I don't think it's going to be Cinderella, and that's for sure!" replied Jo wryly.

As they watched the curtains opened, revealing a wooden frame in the centre of the stage, from which hung gleaming silver chains. A man was standing beside it, dressed in black shirt and pants, and he stepped forward to the front of the stage.

"Good evening, ladies," he said. "My name is Lucian, and I am to be your host for the evening. I trust you have been well cared for so far?"

There was a general nodding of heads and another giggle from the pair Jo had noticed earlier. They were now sitting in front of her, occasionally whispering to one another.

"The first part of the evening will be a little demonstration," continued Lucian. "We find that this is the best way to sort out those of you who are really serious about the Society from those who have merely come along out of curiosity. After the first part, you are all free to depart and no further attempt will be made to contact you. Now without further ado, we will being out our miscreant for this evening, Carla."

At that moment a curtain to his right swung open and three people entered. Two of them were men, both dressed in tight trousers and long boots, their chests bare apart from leather straps that crossed in the middle. Between them was a blonde girl. She was about twenty years old, Jo reckoned. She wore a dirty, ragged dress that came down to just below her crotch. There were great rents in the material through which her pale young skin could be seen. She was tall, with large breasts and a slim waist that was shown off by the tightness of the dress. About her neck was a collar... On her wrists and ankles she wore the same leather bands. Her hands were secured behind her, and the men were dragging her forward with the use of chains attached to her collar. She seemed reluctant to come out onto the stage, and the men used considerable force to get her into the centre. Here they pushed her down onto her knees in front of Lucian. He looked her over briefly, then turned to the hushed onlookers.

"This is naughty Carla," he said dryly. "She has committed an offence against the Society in arriving half an hour late for an encounter with some of the Society's senior members."

Jo wondered what he meant by the term 'encounter'. She was certain that it was no ordinary meeting that had been planned.

"As a consequence," went on Lucian, " She is to be punished by the administration of six strokes. Some offences run to ten, twenty or even thirty strokes, and there are many other ways to inflict pain. But for tonight the six will be sufficient to show that we are serious in what we do, and that we expect you to take it seriously too."

Another giggle from the seats in front told Jo that at least two of the audience were doing nothing of the kind.

"Stand up!" ordered Lucian.

The girl rose slowly to her feet. Jo could see that her face was pale, and that the fear in her eyes was genuine. There was something else about her demeanour, though... There was an air of excitement about this youngster that was undeniable and Jo felt similar stirrings inside herself. At the same time Diana took hold of her hand and squeezed it hard.

"She's turned on by all this isn't she?" she whispered.

Jo nodded. "Yes," she said quickly and returned the squeeze.

The two warders came forward and picked up Carla's leads once more. She resisted slightly as they turned her to face the wooden frame, but there was an air of resignation about her as she allowed herself to be led forward.

There was a bar across the front of the frame running horizontally about three feet above the ground. The girl was made to stand in front of it while its height was adjusted. Then one of the men undid her wrists and pulled her forward, bending her almost double over the bar. At the same time his companion grasped her wrists and attached the bands to catches set in the floor of the stage. Next her legs were forced about three feet apart and similarly shackled.

The men pulled the chains tight, forcing the girl down onto the bar, her backside raised high, the dress riding up her legs until a large expanse of her thighs was uncovered. Jo was breathing heavily now, and she could feel the sweat on the palm of her companion. Even the pair in front had stopped talking, their eyes fixed on the stage.

One of the warders went briefly into the wings, and returned with a thin bamboo cane. He took it straight to Lucian who bent it back and forth in his hands. It was extraordinarily flexible and, as he took some practice strokes in the air, Jo saw the weapon bend with the air resistance. Lucian nodded, apparently satisfied with it, and walked downstage to where the girl was tethered.

He held the cane out in front of the girl's face, which was hidden from the view of the audience.

"Kiss the instrument of your correction," he ordered.

Jo could barely discern the motion of the girl's head as she obeyed him.

Lucian turned back to face the crowd and held out the cane to the warder, who took it from him. Then Lucian reached down and took hold of the hem of the girls dress.

There was an intake of breath about the room as he slowly and carefully lifted the material, uncovering Carla's buttocks. Jo leant forward in her seat, craning for a good view of the scene. Lucian had raised the material to the girl's waist, revealing that she wore no underwear, the white flesh stretched tight. So wide were her legs spread that her sex was blatantly exposed, and Jo contemplated how vulnerable and humiliated she must feel.

Lucian stepped back, and the warder with the cane came forward. He was a young man with a broad, hairy chest and bulging biceps. He wielded the cane in his strong hands, making a loud whooshing noise as he whipped it back and forth through the air. He positioned himself to the side of the girl and tapped the cane against her exposed bottom. As he did so, Jo felt Diana's hand tighten on hers once more.

If any onlookers had expected some kind of simulated punishment, the first stroke told them they were witnessing the real thing. The cane came down with deadly accuracy, planting a single stripe across the pale white of Carla's buttocks, a stripe that immediately darkened to a blood-red colour. The tethered girl gave a shout of pain that echoed around the auditorium.

The second blow landed about an inch above the first, the stripe lying almost exactly parallel. Jo watched as its colour deepened, once again unaccountably excited by the sight she was witnessing.

Next time the cane laid down a diagonal line, running from the underside of the left buttock to the top of the right, bringing another agonised squeal from the helpless captive. Jo turned to look at the girl next to her. Diana was leaning forward, an expression of deep concentration in her eyes...

Carla's cries were getting louder now, her body writhing about within the small confines she was allowed and, as with Patsy, Jo was struck by the way her hips thrust forward in an overtly sexual way as another dark weal decorated her pretty backside...

The final stroke came down hard on the girl's bottom, bringing forth a piercing scream....The men released the shackles that held Carla's hands and feet and she was helped to straighten up and face the audience.

Jo could see that the tears were coursing down her face,and she knew the girl's pain was genuine. Yet she could see, too, the arousal in the girl's face... Lucian made Carla turn away from the audience once again and raise her skirt to the waist. He traced the bright red marks that now covered her behind.

"This is the badge of membership to the Whipcord Society," he said to the audience.

Then the girl was led from the stage, and the lights came up.

Would you have stayed for the second round after intermission, or would you have decided that the Whipcord Society was not for you?