From the Top Shelf - Juliette Takes the Strap

Today's story is an extract from Zoe Templeton's book A Degree of Discipline published by Nexus Books. Lucy Davis is studying for her psychology doctorate, and she and her professor decide it would be beneficial for her to study the psyche of an individual facing and enduring considerable pain. Britain's newly introduced corporal punishment laws for young offenders under 21 gives Lucy the opportunity to attend the public punishment of a young woman. Eighteen-year-old Juliette Baines is to receive six strokes of the prison strap for a traffic violation. We begin as Lucy watches from the viewing gallery.

Lucy was, in fact, watching the proceedings with rapt attention. Having seen two sound leatherings dispensed that morning, she was grateful for the knowledge that the twenty-one year upper limit of the corporal punishment law meant that she would never be in danger of appearing here as a client; she had escaped that by a year or so. Despite that comforting thought, she was still disturbed, and a little excited, by the sights she had witnessed....

Regarding the actual punishments, never having previously seen anything like the scene before her, Lucy had been both fascinated and horrified. There was no doubt that the strap was being laid on effectively, because the division between the two rooms was equipped with a speaker system which picked up the sounds from the main chamber very effectively indeed. It was the sound of leather on taut flesh, rather than the anguished protests from the victims, which was to remain with Lucy long after the event. At first she had not realised the effect the scene was having on her, but after the boy the dark haired girl had taken her tanning, and despite the fuss, Lucy had found the sound and sight of leather on the girl's plump bottom a turn-on.

Forcing herself back to reality, she looked guiltily around her in case anyone had noticed her face beginning to flush with excitement. She checked herself sharply. This was a serious subject; she was here to do a professional job. Her doctorate was very important to her and it wouldn't do for any of the remaining witnesses to see her smiling at the wrong time.

Now that it was Juliette's turn to be dealt with, Lucy needed to take a much closer interest and she watched the preparations with total concentration. She was aware that the two men still in the room alongside her were also leaning forward with added interest. She knew Juliette's uncle and lawyer from her previous observation of the case, although they had only nodded to her and not spoken when they first entered the room.

Juliette entered the room, sandwiched between the escorting officers. Each had a firm grip, one hand grasping a wrist, the other an elbow, so that the girl was restrained as effectively as if she had been manacled.

The senior female officer stepped up to Juliette, standing directly in front of her and fixing her with a steely eye. "Juliette Baines?"

The parade ground bellow was even intimidating to Lucy, safely seated behind the protective screen, and she saw Juliette flinch at the assault on her ears. Lucy did not hear the reply, but she knew from watching the two previous punishments that Juliette would have answered with a meek. "Yes."

"You know why you are here?" Without pausing to hear any reply, the officer continued. "You are here because you have been a stupid and thoughtless girl whose silliness has caused others a lot of trouble."

Lucy had heard this tirade twice before that morning and watched Juliette's reaction as she was subjected to a dressing-down which would have blistered the senses of the most hardened criminal. The effect on Juliette was clearly to make her feel only inches tall and the embarrassed girl looked as if she wished the ground would swallow her up. Lucy waited patiently, knowing, as did Juliette, that there was much worse to come.

"Very well then." The officer finally came to a conclusion. "The sentence is six strokes. Prepare yourself."

The two officers were about to force Juliette to the table as they had previously dragged their other charges, but she must have sensed their intention. Lucy saw her lips move, but could not hear the words distinctly. She must have satisfied the officers that she meant to co-operate, because they released her arms and allowed her to take the couple of steps to the table without further restraint.

Lucy was impressed with the pretty blonde's calm dignity as she saw the girl take a deep breath and fold at the waist, raising her arms above her head as she did so, like a diver taking off from a springboard. She came to rest with the upper part of her body flat against the table, her arms spread and drooping over the edge, her wrists already resting in the loops of the restraining straps ready for the escorts to fasten the buckles.

At this moment, the muscular officer who had administered the previous punishments re-entered the room from the door opposite Lucy's vantage point. He walked purposefully round the escorting officers as they attended to Juliette's wrist restraints and took up a position behind her.

Lucy saw Juliette's eyes widen as the officer's legs passed through her field of vision; she had obviously seen for the first time the sinister thick black strap which dangled loosely from the man's hand. She tried to put herself in Juliette's place, bound and helplessly waiting for the stinging punishment which must follow. Lacking any reference point, her imagination failed her, but she felt her body stiffening, beginning to react in that same unexpected way that she had experienced in the shower that morning. Watching the officer intently, she could see from the expression on his face that he was paying much more personal attention to this victim than to the previous, younger ones and a pang of jealousy lanced through her, adding to her tension.

The escorting officers stood aside as the punishment officer, standing directly behind Juliette, flexed the strap between his two hands. Juliette was by now secured firmly to the table and Lucy guessed that she was aware of the movement behind her because her body visibly stiffened as she tensed herself in anticipation.

The female senior officer picked up the charge sheet and read out the sentence one last time. "Have you anything to say before the legally authorised sentence is carried out?"

Lucy saw the girl lift her head slightly, listening as the officer spoke. The action served to emphasise the curve of her back, the slim body tapering from the breadth of her shoulders to the neat waist before broadening again at her hips. Juliette had been pulled almost up on tip-toe by the guards before the straps had been fastened around her wrists. The muscles at the back of her calves and lower thighs were stretched tight. Her short summer-weight skirt rode up over the curve of her buttocks, revealing a hint of white panties beneath.

Juliette's lips moved in reply to the senior officer's question and although the reply was inaudible to Lucy, the response was obvious for the officer then said "Very well, continue. Six strokes!"

As if surrendering to the inevitable, Juliette allowed her head to drop and her shoulder length blonde hair fell forward over her face. The punishment officer stepped forward and carefully lifted Juliette's short skirt. Producing a safety pin from his pocket, he pinned the hem of the garment to the back of her blouse, just below the shoulder blades. Lucy noted how the plump full globes of Juliette's bottom filled her tiny panties, stretching the flimsy material tight. She knew that Juliette would not be allowed even that shred of protection or concession to her modesty and watched expectantly as the uniformed officer gently inserted his thumbs into the waistband of the girl's knickers and began to roll them down.

He seemed to be taking his time and Lucy felt another angry shaft of jealousy. The panties reached the clearly defined crease where buttock met thigh and with a deft flick the task was completed and the officer stood back. The cotton panties, twisted together like a rope now, formed a perfectly horizontal line at the back of the girl's knees, drawing the eyes of the viewer inexorably up at the columns of the girl's thighs to the globes at their summit. Juliette's uncle drew in his breath sharply. The hiss of air did not distract Lucy's gaze from the view through the window.

The three chairs which the remaining observers occupied were on the end of the row, and gave a three-quarter view over the victim's rear as each had been bent over the table. Lucy had already noted the colourful effects made by the impact of stiff leather on taut bare bottom twice that morning but had not found either example much to her taste. The boy's involuntary, embarrassing erection had amused her and the dark haired girl's screaming distress had been infectious. The view of Juliette's rump was rather different. Her buttocks were firm, flawlessly smooth and white. Her stance, legs slightly apart, her heels raised maybe two inches off the floor, provided perfect muscle definition and Lucy conceded that even secured in her present, humiliating position, Juliette had a beautiful body...

God! What on earth was she thinking? Astonished at the way her mind had wandered, Lucy snapped her attention back to the punishment officer, who was still flexing the strap in his large hands as if to massage suppleness into it. He could not resist a final, not really necessary, adjustment of the white blouse peeking below the waist band of the skirt, lifting it an inch or two higher up the line of the girl's spine. The bastard was certainly making the most of his opportunity! Suddenly Lucy longed to see those white curves turn scarlet.

Satisfied at last, the officer stood back and raised the strap shoulder high. The tension in the room was electric. Lucy watched intently, holding her breath. The officer glanced at his female superior, who stood with her arms folded at the head of the victim. She was stony-faced and nodded silently.

The sharp crack of leather on flesh broke the spell in the observation room. Lucy heard a hoarse whisper of "Damnation!" and turned slightly to see Juliette's uncle, his face flushed, his mouth slightly open and she wondered if all the thoughts going through his mind as he watched the strap strike the naked buttocks were entirely avuncular. She let out her own breath in a quiet sigh and leaned forward, totally absorbed by the scene on the other side of the glass.

The twin globes of Juliette's buttocks were no longer flawlessly white, but imprinted with a broad red band, perhaps slightly more pronounced on the right cheek than on the left. Such was the clarity of this girl's skin that even the slightly raised stitching around the periphery of the strap had left an imprint, clearly delineating the affected area with a dotted line of slightly deeper red. Juliette had not writhed and twisted on the table after the first blow in the way that the other victims had, trying to escape the inevitable follow-up, but she had been unable to remain entirely motionless. The grim-faced officer drew back the strap and waited as Juliette shifted her hips, pressing more firmly into the bolster. Her buttocks, previously clenched tightly, seemed to relax a fraction then her movements ceased. The strap returned to its target with a resounding Thwack!

Lucy found herself counting the seconds under her breath. "Seven and eight and..." She saw Juliette shift her weight, arching her right foot then relaxing it as if the motion would relieve the smarting sting which each stroke spread across her quivering cheeks. Unconsciously Lucy shifted her own weight on the hard chair. "Nine and ten and..." Thwack!

Juliette's head tossed back and her bottom squirmed visibly. Again her uncle's hoarse "Damn me!" caught Lucy's attention. Still counting under her breath Lucy tried to imagine how Juliette must feel. After four strokes her bottom was bright red across two thirds of its area. The first two strokes were dulling a little but the next two strokes were still bright scarlet. The lower third of each beautiful cheek was still creamy-white, inviting attention. Again the strap rose, Lucy counting slowly under her breath. This time the count passed ten. "Eleven and twelve and..." The girl was now quivering slightly, obviously aware that the last two were going to be something special; Lucy saw her bottom cheeks move as she tensed in anticipation. "Fourteen and fifteen and..." The officer was obviously waiting until his target was completely still. With a rush of air the strap swept downwards in a widening arc as the officer extended his arm, then inwards and upwards as he pulled the stroke at the last moment and....

Whack! The strap made contact just where Lucy had predicted, on the still white under-curve of Juliette's bottom, square on and straddling the crease where cheeks met thigh. Lucy was sure that in that split second she saw Juliette's bottom lift and change shape, the perfectly symmetrical curves distorted by the impact. The dark leather, seemingly so rigid when it had first been applied, now moulded itself perfectly around the victim's seat.

Juliette's whole body stiffened; her head jerked upwards, arching her back as her feet went right up on tip-toe. Assisted by the upward swing of the strap, she seemed about to vault right over the table.

"Oooowww!" Lucy winced as Juliette's first shrill cry confirmed that her dignified resolve to remain silent was shattered. There was one stroke left but Lucy turned away, unable to trust her feelings.

Clearly the officer knew there was no need to hesitate over the final stroke. Lucy turned back to the scene and cringed as he drew back his powerful arm and visibly put every ounce of his strength into the final swing, planting the sixth stroke just below the line of the fifth. The thwack! of leather on flesh was by far the loudest of the session and was rewarded by an equally loud squeal of agony as Juliette again stiffened and almost leapt headlong over the table.

As her upper body subsided back onto the table with a pronounced thud, Juliette slumped, her knees bent and her head hanging forward over the far side of the table, her face hidden by her long blonde hair. It appeared that only the straps securing her wrists prevented her from sliding to the floor.

The officer barely paused to examine his handiwork, the formerly creamy-white curves now thrashed an angry red with highlights formed by the edge of the strap and its stitching making a criss-cross tracery of different hues. Turning swiftly, he returned to the ante-room and closed the door.

Lucy remained in her seat, oblivious to the scrape of chairs as Juliette's uncle and lawyer got up and left the room. Her mind was in a turmoil; her own body felt almost as hot and abused as that of the poor girl behind the glass must feel. She looked intently through the viewing panel to see Juliette rising stiffly from her undignified restraint as the police escorts undid the straps.

Juliette held on to the edge of the table for a few seconds, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. Prompted impatiently by her escort, Juliette bent and, with shaking hands, clumsily pulled up her panties from around her ankles, turning towards Lucy as she did so. Lucy watched, still enthralled, as Juliette painfully eased the panties over her throbbing posterior. As she wriggled into the chafing garment, the silky golden triangle at her loins gyrated and was then hidden beneath the creased material - but not before Lucy had clearly observed that, although Juliette was clearly a natural blonde all the way down, the tuft of golden pubic hair was darkened with more than a hint of moisture.

As Juliette was led away, her stiff gait a contrast to her graceful entrance to the room some fifteen minutes earlier, Lucy gave a deep sigh and gathered up her papers. She had no idea how she would even start to record her observations and feelings, but she knew that there was a lot of writing to do.

I would love to read her doctoral dissertation on the subject.