Below the Belt

by Sarah Veitch

  Kerri then crept to the dustbin and took out the carrier bag she'd hidden there earlier. It contained slip-on shoes, sunglasses and one of Sherr's dresses. Kerri had taken it from the laundry after it was cleaned.

  She walked quickly till she came to a shop doorway then slipped into the dress and took off her collar. She also put on the dark glasses and comfortable low shoes. After a moment's hesitation she hid her more whorish outfit behind a small bush.

  Now Nemesis was hers for the day! Kerri walked till she found the Dancing Bar and ordered a drink. As with Alpineglow, everything seemed to be free to the hardworking residents. Mirroring Alpineglow, each of the drinkers was given an implement to help encourage the half naked dancer. Kerri looked at the razor strop she'd been given but didn't use it on the weeping girl's arse.

  After two glasses of champagne she strolled over to the fields and watched the men and women tending the crops, then she went on to a salad bar. She was just about to head home when a female called 'Sherr!' and tapped her on the shoulder. Kerri turned - and the woman stiffened, looking confused.

  'You're not Sherr. Why are you wearing her dress?'

  'We must have the same dress,' Kerri stammered.

  'No, Sherr's is an original. I imported it for her myself,' the woman said. She looked at Kerri more closely. 'My God, you're her new housegirl. There's something going on here. You're supposed to wear your collar when you're outside.' She turned to the waiters. 'She's a dissident, recently brought in from Alpineglow. Get your security guards to take her to the public square and tether her. I'll track down Sherr.'

  'She's left town,' Kerri said forlornly, hoping that it was true. Two security guards had arrived and were standing on each side of her, one of them slapping his palm warningly against his leg.

  The woman hurried away as one of the guards fastened a collar around Kerri's neck. It was even heavier than her usual one. He clipped a leash to it and ordered her to walk before him to the square. At least they weren't making her crawl there, Kerri thought but the thought didn't console her much.

  As she stumbled towards the marketplace, word went out that a public question and answer session was to take place. Soon residents were hurrying past, presumably to get the best seats. She was consumed by a horrible feeling of deja vu.

  She arrived to find dozens of people sitting around the square. This was a less formal looking square than Alpineglow's, the main difference being the trees planted at intervals. Plus the centre of the square contained a short fence that didn't actually fence anything in.

  'Strip,' one of the security guards said.

  Realising that resistance was useless, Kerri lifted Sherr's dress over her head and handed it to the guard then kicked off her pumps and pulled down her tiny knickers.

  'Walk around showing off your tits and pussy,' the second guard said.

  'How?' Kerri asked, playing for time.

  'Hold these beauties up and flick your nipples out,' the man said lasciviously. 'And squat down to show everyone your pretty pubes.'

  'Squat where?' Kerri asked, procrastinating further. She couldn't face having everyone staring at - or worse, touching - her nakedness.

  At that instant a youth on horseback approached and spoke to the guard for several moments.

  'We've located your Mistress,' the guard explained, turning back to Kerri. 'She says that you're supposed to be working, that you've left the grounds without permission and stolen her favourite dress and shoes.'

  'How was I to know they were her favourites?' Kerri muttered.

  'That's hardly the point, is it?' the guard said unbuckling his belt. He pointed to the nearest tree. 'She says I've to start your public punishment so stretch up and take hold of that branch.'

  Kerri did so, the movement exerting a pull on her arms and on her thigh muscles. To her surprise, the guard immediately cuffed her wrists to the branch. Now she was held in situ, stretched taut.

  'You've got a nice arse,' the guard with the belt commented, walking around. 'Has it been thrashed before?'

  'Too much,' Kerri mumbled shamefacedly.

  'You must want this, really,' the guard continued, 'else why would you have stolen Sherr's clothes?'

  'I needed some excitement,' Kerri admitted softly, 'and was going stir crazy at Chez Sherr.' She tried not to show him how apprehensive - hell, frightened - she was.

  'Well, sweetheart, you're in for a lively time now,' the guard replied.

  He swung the belt at her haunches. Kerri squealed and tried to push her body forward but her cuffed wrists limited her movement. When she'd calmed down slightly the man swung the leather strap again.

  Kerri jerked, and the movement exerted a cruel pull on her arms. She stood on tiptoe to relieve the stress - but that made her arse an even more sticking-out target. She danced and flailed about as the belt made repeated contact with her defenceless hemispheres.

  'I want Jeff!' she screamed into the crowd. 'Jeff doesn't know this is happening! Jeff wouldn't allow me to be beaten this hard!'

  She waited for the next lash but it didn't come. Instead the guards started to murmur to each other and to the youth on horseback, who was clearly some kind of intermediary.

  'Jeff's in Nemesis today. He'll be here to talk to you in ten minutes,' the guard with the belt explained at last.

  'Untie me, then,' Kerri gasped.

  'No way. Sherr said you were to be kept publicly tethered.'

  'Jeff's more important than Sherr,' the British girl protested and was surprised when the security guards grinned. They left her tied to the branch, her arms straining upwards, her bottom like a beacon in the centre of the square.

  Soon she saw the familiar figure of Jeff Rendell walking up to them and smiling at the guards. 'Untie her.'

  'I knew they were being too vicious,' Kerri whispered, rubbing her newly-uncuffed wrists then cupping her nether cheeks.

  One of the overseers brought him a big armless chair and he sat down in it and patted his lap.

  'Bring her here,' Jeff continued, 'and lay her over my knees.'

  What was he doing? Humiliated but determined to get him on her side, Kerri walked over and prostrated herself across his lap. Maybe he was just doing this to keep the crowd happy. That hope was deflated when he put his large palms on her small, sore globes.

  'Oh Kerri, here a few days and already they've had to publicly tan you. Are you going to spend your entire life stealing things?'

  'I didn't exactly rob the Bank of England,' Kerri muttered. 'Just borrowed some of Sherr's clothes.'

  'But you're supposed to be operating under a rewards for good behaviour scheme,' Jeff reminded her. 'Only you rarely do sufficient good deeds to earn any rewards.'

  'I have my moments,' Kerri shot back.

  'Name one.'

  She thought and thought but couldn't find a single positive action on her part.

  'You're selfish to the core,' Jeff said. 'That's why you're here in the first place, because you ruined me.'

  'How?' Kerri asked for the twentieth time, not really expecting him to tell her.

  'Only when the student is ready to hear the answer, does the teacher tell,' Jeff replied mysteriously.

  'So what happens now?' Kerri whimpered as he continued to palm her flesh.

  Jeff sounded sad but determined. 'You get whipped until you learn your lesson and repent.'

  'You mean you're going to leave me here?' Kerri whispered. 'That Sherr's a total bitch. She's got me parading around in ridiculous panties and cleaning her fucking house like I'm a slave.'

  'You had your room cleaned for you in Alpineglow,' Jeff pointed out, tracing a finger down her buttock crease. 'You had outfits made to measure for you by Roberta. But you still found plenty to complain about there.'

  'Okay, so maybe I was ungrateful,' Kerri admitted.

  'Sounds like it,' someone called and she realised that the chairs were wired for sound, that everyone could hear.

  Kerri was facing the ground so she couldn't see
him but she sensed he'd straightened slightly in his chair. 'Ah, here's Sherr now.'

  'I thought she was going out of town,' Kerri whimpered.

  'We were both going away on business later today - but that's put on hold now,' Jeff replied.

  Kerri quailed as two female feet appeared in front of her. She looked slowly up at the tall dark-haired Sherr. The woman's lipsticked mouth seemed even more displeased than usual. 'The first day I leave you alone and you resort to stealing, lying, impersonation and character assassination,' she said.

  'Character assass...?' Kerri started, confused.

  'Yes, I heard your comments over the sound system. Apparently I'm a total bitch who treats you like a slave.' She shook her head. 'You have the best meals, your own room. I don't think four or five hours of work a day is too taxing. It's your attitude that's all wrong - not this place.'

  'Sorry, Mistress,' Kerri whispered, hoping to alleviate whatever was coming.

  'You're going to be very sorry by the time Jeff's finished thrashing you,' Sherr said. She went into her case, produced a mini-paddle and handed it to the man. Then she brought out a soft cord and tied Kerri's hands in front of her at the wrists.

  'I've already been sorted by the guards,' Kerri said quickly as Jeff ran the paddle over her arse.

  'That was for stealing. This is for calling your Mistress names in front of the entire town,' Sherr explained. A guard brought her a seat and she sat down then put her fingers under Kerri's chin to tilt her face up. 'I'm going to watch you squirm now, Kerri. And I'm sure that before long I'm going to hear you beg.'

  Chapter Fifteen

  Kerri closed her eyes and pursed her lips together as Jeff raised the paddle. She wouldn't writhe or wail - she just wouldn't. The punisher struck her left sphere and she both flinched and gasped.

  'Now we have one pink globe and one red. Let's make them even,' Jeff said, paddling her right orb. Kerri squealed.

  'Your bottom didn't like that, did it, angel?' Sherr cut in and Kerri wished that the woman's fingers were in her mouth, so that she could bite them, rather than under her chin.

  After that, Jeff lashed her hard and fast, flattening every millimetre of her rotundities. The British girl moaned and kicked and skulked around on her tormentor's lap, instinctively lifting her bound arms in front of her then letting them fall to the ground.

  'No more, please,' she whimpered after several minutes of the hateful paddle.

  'I think she's had enough,' Jeff said, letting the implement come to rest.

  'Nonsense,' Sherr replied. 'I haven't seen a tear yet.'

  Kerri tried desperately to force a teardrop out.

  'Some girls don't cry. Look, her bum's really hot,' Jeff said conversationally, as if they were discussing a well-grilled steak.

  'She still looks impudent. Bring her over here so that I can examine her for myself,' Sherr said.

  Kerri quivered with increased humiliation as Jeff set her on the ground, stood then picked her up and deposited her over Sherr's black-stockinged knees. She'd never felt so naked and defenceless. It was terrible, being placed on her tummy over this sophisticated woman's lap.

  She squirmed as she felt the older woman's hands on her posterior. 'Mm, she is quite toasty.'

  'I could take her to Nemesis Boot Camp now, put her through its basic training schedule,' Jeff offered in an uncertain voice.

  'The training's a lot stricter when you're not overseeing it,' Sherr replied with a laugh. She squeezed Kerri's cheeks. 'You always let these naughty girls off before you've broken them fully. I like to make them wriggle over to me on their tummies and lick my feet.'

  'I'm firm but fair,' Jeff said, sounding slightly wounded. Kerri wondered if he and Sherr often disagreed about discipline. Maybe that was the best way to win favour? She could agree with Sherr that Jeff was a wimp.

  'No, let's forget about Boot Camp for today,' Sherr added calmly. 'I want a few more weeks of correcting her all by myself.'

  She began to spank Kerri with her hand and though the blows were mild compared to the paddling, they abased the girl further. 'Spank,' the crowd chanted in unison. 'Spank, spank, spank, spank, spank.'

  Sherr obliged. She clearly knew exactly what she was doing, paying especial attention to the tender most areas. She spanked over the crevice, causing the pain to radiate through Kerri's silken flesh. The girl jerked about, whimpering, but was unable to avoid a single determined slap.

  One of the guards came hurrying up to Jeff and spoke for a few seconds then Jeff got to his feet. 'A pilot needs me to countersign a few documents. I'll be back within the hour.'

  'We'll probably still be here,' Sherr said softly, continuing to spank Kerri's arse.

  Jeff left. Sherr continued to spank.

  'Please stop,' Kerri whispered. 'Please, I'm so sorry, Mistress.'

  'You should be sorry. You've ruined my entire working day.'

  'I'll never do it again,' Kerri promised, meaning it.

  'The harder I thrash you, the less likely you are to reoffend,' Sherr explained.

  Kerri decided to play her trump card. 'This is all Jeff's fault,' she gasped.

  'How do you make that out?'

  It had worked - the older woman had stopped spanking.

  'Well, he didn't make the rules clear so I ended up getting transferred from Alpineglow to here.'

  'Is that right?' Sherr's fingers traced over Kerri's cruelly-warmed flesh.

  'Uh huh. In fact, it's his fault I'm in California at all.' Kerri felt that she was on a roll. 'He had some problems a while back and somehow blames me for his own weaknesses.'

  'He does?' Sherr was stroking Kerri's dark divide and Kerri was hating every second of it.

  'Uh huh. I'm really a businesswoman who was tricked into buying property here.' She hoped to intimidate this woman into becoming her ally. 'You'd avoid prosecution if you sent me home.'

  'You'd like to prosecute Jeff?'

  'Wouldn't you? I can see you don't agree on his confused approach to treating the girls here.' It was bizarre, lying naked over this woman's lap and trying to talk rationally.

  'No, we don't agree. I flog them much harder and longer than he does,' the sophisticated woman said.

  'If he was prosecuted he'd end up in jail. You could run Nemesis and Alpineglow without his interference.'

  'I see it as constructive criticism rather than interference,' the ebony-haired overseer explained.

  Colleagues often defended each other out of force of habit and Kerri was sure that was happening here. 'Oh, I'm sure he means well, but he lacks your strength of character,' she interjected, laying on the flattery with a trowel.

  Sherr paused. 'He has his own very special character. That's why I was so proud when he became my husband,' she replied. For a moment all Kerri heard was the laughter of the crowd - then she heard Sherr say 'And now I'll show you my full strength of character. Get off of my lap and bend over the fence.'

  'But you can't be married - you live in adjacent towns,' Kerri muttered dazedly, staring at the ground.

  'That's right. We spend half of the week together and half apart.'

  'He never mentioned you.'

  'Why should he tell a miscreant about his personal life? I imagine that most of your little chats were about your bad behaviour - probably whilst you were upended over his lap,' Sherr said.

  Kerri breathed fast as she tried to absorb the news. Somehow she'd thought that Jeff was attracted to her, that one day she'd win him over. The fact that he was married to this she-devil was truly terrible. The fact that the she-devil owned her was even worse.

  'You almost ruined him, you selfish bitch,' Sherr snarled.

  'I don't even know what I did - but I'm willing to apologise,' Kerri muttered, wriggling about each time the other woman played with her most delicate parts.

  'Apologise? You slandered his character again a second ago. You're the most self-serving person I've ever met.' She pushed Kerri to the ground and the British girl quickly turned
on her side to avoid pressing her incredibly tender buttocks against the concrete. 'Walk over to the fence and bend over it till your hands touch the ground.'

  'And what if I don't?' Kerri asked in a small voice, desperate to find an alternative.

  'If you don't, I'll get the guards to carry you over. And as the guard who hasn't used his belt on you yet is very jealous of the one who has...'

  'Right, I'm going,' Kerri muttered, getting to her feet with difficulty, her hands still tied in front of her. She tried to ignore Sherr's triumphant smirk.

  The crowd whistled and clapped as she walked to the smooth-topped wooden fence. She looked fearfully at it then looked back at the seated Sherr. Her Mistress nodded then jerked her head warningly in the direction of the heavily-belted guards.

  'Alright, I'm going over,' she said quickly and arched over the wooden barrier, letting her weight take her all the way down.

  When her hands were flat on the ground, one of the guards walked over and pegged the rope between her wrists into a special hole in the concrete, effectively tethering her. Then he walked around the other side and bound her ankles to the fence. Her nether regions were now obscenely raised and unprotected and ready for their next punishment.

  Sherr walked over to inspect the guard's handiwork then knelt down at Kerri's face.

  'Nervous, sweetheart?'

  'I feel so vulnerable,' Kerri whispered, wishing that she could do something to protect herself.

  'As vulnerable as my husband felt when he was careerless and homeless?' the older woman countered.

  'No, Mistress,' Kerri said miserably.

  'So, how many of the cane do you deserve for ruining his life and for continuing to disparage him?' Sherr continued.

  It was an impossible situation. Realising this, Kerri shut her eyes and wailed. If she said too few strokes she would be making a mockery of what she'd done to Jeff, whatever the hell that was. But if she named a high number she'd receive that torment on her arse.

  'You own my bottom, Mistress. You must decide how many strokes I get,' she forced out at last, blushing.