Slave of Darkness

by Francesca Lewis

  Tabitha shook her head. ‘They take it away before the doctor comes.’

  ‘What on earth for?’ asked Marianne in astonishment.

  ‘It’s all part of it,’ said Tabitha slowly. ‘The doctor says it makes his examination easier.’

  ‘That’s utter nonsense,’ said Marianne, wondering if the girl had got hold of the wrong end of the stick. ‘What are we expected to do, then?’

  ‘We mustn’t do nothing,’ said the girl hastily. ‘If you have an accident you’ll be punished.’

  Marianne began to think Tabitha’s fears might not be as ridiculous as they seemed. She was already uncomfortable, her bladder full and aching. If she wasn’t allowed to relieve the pressure before the evening then she’d be in acute discomfort; in fact, she doubted if it would be possible for her to hold on that long.

  ‘I really do need the chamber-pot,’ she said, beginning to panic. ‘Surely if I knock on the door...?’

  ‘It won’t make no difference,’ said Tabitha. ‘No one will come. That’s why you’ve been locked in here with me.’

  Marianne started pacing around the room again, trying to distract herself from the discomfort, but it was impossible. She had no idea what time of day it was but, judging by the light, she thought it must be approaching seven o’clock. She sat on the edge of the bed with her thighs clenched tightly together, desperately trying to ease the terrible sensation.

  Yet another half-hour passed before the door was finally unlocked, and two men stood framed in the doorway. One was Sir Edward, and the other his doctor friend. As they stood tall and silent in the doorway, with Sir Edward holding a candle aloft so that it cast strange flickering shadows in the room, Marianne felt terrified. And Tabitha’s whimpers did nothing to ease the tension.

  ‘Here you are, Francis,’ said Edward, his sonorous voice seeming like a caress, despite the dangerous expression on his face. ‘The two patients we discussed over dinner.’

  ‘Excellent,’ said his friend, advancing into the room. ‘I’ll begin with Tabitha. Take off your clothes, young lady. I need to see if the exercises are working.’

  Marianne hastily climbed on to the other truckle-bed, shrinking back against the wall. She was anxious to stay out of the way of the two men, frightened that should she attract their attention the doctor might decide to attend to her first. Tabitha was pulling off her clothes, and when the girl was naked Sir Edward pulled her to her feet.

  ‘What do you think?’ he asked, cupping each of her breasts. ‘Has the muscle tone improved?’

  ‘I’ll measure her,’ replied the doctor, and Marianne became a genuine witness to the scene as he threaded the leather straps around Tabitha’s breasts. ‘Have you exercised every day, my girl?’ he enquired.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ whispered Tabitha.

  The doctor fingered her breasts thoughtfully, squeezing and pinching the nipples, which grew rigid beneath his touch. ‘I can see very little difference as yet,’ he remarked. ‘Extend the exercise time each evening.’

  ‘But it makes me ache so,’ cried Tabitha. ‘My arms hurt and my breasts get sore.’

  ‘It’s for your own good,’ said the doctor, leaving her breasts ringed by the leather straps. ‘Now, let me examine you properly. Lie back on the bed, if you please.’

  Marianne was astonished when Tabitha suddenly rushed across the room and flung herself down beside her. ‘I don’t want to be examined, miss,’ she cried. ‘Don’t let them. Please, tell the master I’m well.’

  ‘Get up at once!’ Sir Edward roared furiously, striking Tabitha across her buttocks. ‘How dare you make such an exhibition of yourself? You should be grateful that we take such good care of you. Dr Proctor is an excellent physician and you are fortunate indeed to have his services.’

  Marianne felt she should do something to help Tabitha, who was so obviously distressed. But instead she watched in silence as the two men laid Tabitha on her back on the bed. Then Sir Edward pressed down on her slight shoulders, securing her upper torso firmly, while the doctor, seating himself on the edge of the bed, began to run his hands over Tabitha’s belly.

  As his fingers started to prod and probe the flesh, so Tabitha started to utter despairing cries, and suddenly Marianne knew why. The girl’s bladder must be as full as her own and the probing fingers would be almost unendurable. At the same time she realised this might well be what lay in store for her. She couldn’t bear the thought, because she knew she’d lose control. Already the ache was so terrible and her need so intense that she felt like crying. If the doctor began to touch her in that way, the consequences would be so humiliating.

  ‘The girl doesn’t keep still when I’m examining her,’ the doctor remarked as Tabitha squirmed helplessly beneath his fingers. ‘I think there must be something wrong.’

  ‘Please stop, sir, please stop,’ Tabitha sobbed. ‘You’re hurting me.’

  ‘Hurting you? Does she have some stomach complaint?’ enquired Dr Proctor.

  Sir Edward laughed. ‘I think not. The only problem Tabitha has is lack of self-control in all areas.’

  Marianne continued to watch in dread, until suddenly Tabitha uttered a wail of despair and the doctor tutted his disapproval.

  ‘You were right about her self-control, Edward. The wretched girl has wet herself.’

  ‘That’s the second time in the past three months,’ said Sir Edward.

  ‘I know, it’s in my notebook,’ replied his friend. ‘It seems she’s still unable to control herself, no matter how much treatment she receives. I shall continue treating her as I did last time. Eventually it will work.’ The doctor sounded confident.

  ‘It isn’t my fault!’ cried Tabitha, drawing her legs up to her stomach. ‘We’ve been shut up here all the afternoon. It’s because you kept poking me like that.’

  ‘I’m quite sure Miss Marianne has better self-control,’ said Sir Edward, and the two men turned to look at her.

  Marianne couldn’t help herself; she moaned and tried to scramble to the head of her bed. ‘Don’t touch me,’ she said, her voice strained. ‘Tabitha’s quite right, it isn’t fair.’

  ‘My goodness, she’s rather spirited for a companion, isn’t she?’ said the doctor.

  ‘Extremely spirited.’ Sir Edward nodded sagely. ‘Both her flesh and her spirit need subduing.’

  ‘You’re fortunate to have such a considerate employer,’ the doctor said to Marianne. ‘Not many men are so concerned about their servants. Now, take off your clothes and I’ll examine you. Mrs Fullick has already explained your various problems to me.’

  ‘I don’t have any problems,’ Marianne protested indignantly.

  ‘Stop arguing and remove your clothes,’ snapped Sir Edward. ‘Dr Proctor’s a busy man. We don’t have all night and there’s a lot to be done.’

  Marianne hesitated, and suddenly Sir Edward sat down on her bed and pulled her roughly over his knees. ‘You will obey me,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘However long it takes for you to learn that lesson.’

  She started to struggle, but in vain, and soon his hand was rising and falling rhythmically against her bottom. Despite the protection of her dress and undergarments, it hurt. Even worse was the fact that because she was lying face down over his thighs the pressure on her bladder was intensified. She was terrified she was going to have an accident there and then while he was spanking her, and knew she had to stop the punishment before she lost control.

  ‘I’m sorry... I’m sorry...’ she gasped. ‘I’ll do as you say, I promise.’

  It was clear Sir Edward was in no hurry to stop punishing her, for his hand continued to rise and fall rhythmically. ‘You mean you won’t cause any more problems during the whole evening?’ he demanded.

  ‘No... none,’ she promised, mortified by the terrible spanking she was being made to endure. But despite everything she could feel her clitoris sw
elling, clamouring for a touch, however light, to trigger relief from the torment of trapped sexual arousal.

  Sir Edward delivered one final blow that shook her shapely frame, then pushed her to the floor. ‘Very well, I believe you. Remove your clothes immediately.’

  Trembling from head to foot, Marianne obeyed while the two men watched, strangely silent. The room was heavy with a sense of forbidden eroticism.

  Finally, after taking as long as she dared to undress, Marianne stood naked before them. Sir Edward murmured his approval, while Dr Francis Proctor gazed at her with an expression that was distinctly lascivious and totally unprofessional.

  ‘I see what you mean about her form,’ he remarked. ‘She’s certainly well rounded and looks as though she should eat less. However, until I’ve examined her thoroughly it’s impossible to say whether this is caused by over-indulgence on your sister’s part.’

  Marianne couldn’t believe they had the audacity to criticise her shapely figure, a figure she was very proud of and which always turned heads. Her heckles rose. ‘How dare—’

  ‘You speak only when given permission,’ Sir Edward silenced her. ‘Sometimes, Marianne, you seem to forget your place. Now, lie on the bed. The doctor wishes to examine you.’

  ‘There’s no need, I’m perfectly well,’ she insisted.

  ‘You’ll do as you’re told,’ he said threateningly. ‘You see, Francis,’ he added in a lighter tone, ‘I told you she’d presented me with problems.’

  ‘I’m sure that with my assistance both body and spirit can be subdued,’ replied his friend, and the two men exchanged surreptitious glances.

  The doctor’s hands slid slowly over Marianne’s body. He began by examining her breasts, cupping them in the palms of his hands, his fingers moving smoothly over them and pulling lightly on each nipple until they started to swell. ‘Her responses are quick for a woman of her class. Unmarried women of this age should not take such pleasure from a man’s touch.’

  ‘I regret to say Marianne’s lascivious flesh is always quick to respond to a man’s touch,’ said Sir Edward.

  ‘And her waist is interesting. I think the leather belt I mentioned to you earlier must be worn each night. I’ll measure her for it before I go and suggest the right notch for you to use. That, combined with the attachments that come with it, should help solve many of your problems, particularly since you fear self-abuse at night.’

  Now his hands were moving over Marianne’s stomach, lightly caressing the slight curve of her flesh. Marianne tensed. Already tormented by her full bladder, she didn’t want to be touched. Yet despite this, she was becoming increasingly aroused as he examined her. Her traitorous body was more than ready to respond to the slightest touch.

  Only when the doctor’s fingers started to probe into the tender flesh above her pubic bone did she gasp with discomfort, because he was deliberately using a massaging movement, causing the dull aching in her bladder to spread. Incredibly, at the same time, this made her sex lips swell and she could feel she was growing damp between her thighs. Her body craved an orgasm but she was terrified of giving in to her need, because to climax during a medical examination would clearly be considered a punishable offence.

  Also, she wasn’t certain that if she came she would be able to control her bladder, and she dreaded shaming herself in the same way as Tabitha had. She attempted to twist away from the probing fingers and Sir Edward slapped her sharply across the breasts.

  ‘Keep still,’ he ordered. ‘This is a medical examination. I expect intransigence from Tabitha, but not from you.’

  ‘But he’s hurting me,’ she protested.

  Sir Edward tweaked one of her rigid nipples. ‘Hurting you, you say?’ he mocked. ‘But your body says otherwise.’

  ‘I can’t bear it,’ she cried. ‘May I not use the water-closet before the examination continues?’

  ‘I need her like this for the examination,’ replied Dr Proctor blandly, and she saw him exchange a smile with Sir Edward. Clearly the two of them were used to playing this game and her heart sank as she realised that, no matter how hard she tried, they were determined to make her do something which would allow them to punish her.

  ‘Are you in discomfort?’ asked Sir Edward, with apparent kindness.

  Marianne didn’t bother to answer him. She knew he was well aware how she felt. The brute was rejoicing in seeing her struggle against the paradoxical sensations he and his doctor friend were causing her.

  The doctor took a notepad and quill pen from his leather medical bag, but instead of writing he started to tease her inner thighs with the feather, drawing it lightly over her damp flesh, then stopping just short of her throbbing nub of pleasure. She knew if he touched it she’d be lost. She longed for relief, but was terrified of the consequences. This dreadful mixture of need and fear seemed to act as an aphrodisiac; the greater her trepidation, the more her body responded to the cruel stimulation the two men were inflicting upon her. She held her breath, and then the tormenting feather flitted across her engorged clitoris.

  ‘Oh no...’ she whimpered. ‘Please stop... I’m coming...’

  ‘Such wanton behaviour,’ Sir Edward said with disdain.

  With a scream, she finally gave herself over to the contractions and heard herself crying out, begging for forgiveness even as her body was torn apart by savage spasms of bittersweet pleasure.

  When her orgasm finally died away she was sure that at any moment she was going to disgrace herself and, to the obvious astonishment of both men, she struggled free and got up. ‘I have to use the water-closet,’ she announced, her head held high.

  ‘Very well,’ Sir Edward conceded, with admiration in his eyes. ‘But then you are to return here instantly. Such lewd behaviour as you’ve exhibited calls for punishment. You and Tabitha have both transgressed during your examinations and the punishments will take place in the kitchen.’

  Marianne sat on the water-closet and sobbed with a mixture of relief, shame and terror. She wasn’t sure she could endure whatever lay in wait for her in the kitchen, but on the other hand, neither did she want to return to the safety of the modern day.

  That decision made, it was easier for her to return to Tabitha’s room and allow herself to be led, together with the distraught servant girl, down the stairs to the kitchen where Judith Fullick was waiting for them.

  ‘The kitchen table’s been scrubbed and prepared, Francis,’ she said with a smile. The tone of her voice was so unusually gentile that Marianne looked sharply at her, and knew at once that Judith Fullick was infatuated with Dr Francis Proctor.

  ‘I’m afraid both Tabitha and Marianne disgraced themselves during their examinations,’ explained her brother. ‘I wish Marianne to be punished first. I think a beating followed by a cleansing would be best.’

  ‘Why does she need to be cleansed?’ asked Judith.

  ‘Because I want to take her,’ said Sir Edward, his eyes locking on to Marianne’s. ‘I want to test this far too willing flesh, to take from her what she offers so wantonly.’

  ‘I’m not offering myself to you,’ Marianne said quietly. ‘I can’t help what my body does; it’s the result of what you all do to me.’

  ‘How dare you argue with my brother?’ hissed Judith, her usual spiteful persona returning instantly. ‘Sometimes you seem to forget your place entirely.’

  Marianne bit her lip. It was difficult to remember her place when she wasn’t used to a subservient position in life.

  She was manhandled into a corner of the kitchen. There, to her surprise and dismay, her arms were secured in the air by a hanging rope. Almost immediately her arms and her shoulders started to ache. A leather belt was tied tightly around her waist, the doctor tugging on it until she felt she could scarcely breathe.

  ‘This is the belt she’ll wear at night in future,’ he explained to Sir Edward. ‘It will also have a st
rap that will run between her thighs, fastening back and front. Either you or your sister will have to put it on each night and remove it each morning. That way self-abuse will be avoided.’ With the belt in place, a cord was attached to it at the back and she was fastened to a metal ring set in the wall.

  Naked apart from the belt, her hands above her head, Marianne watched, her body quivering, as Sir Edward busied himself at the sink. When he turned and faced her she saw he was holding a tightly rolled strip of damp towelling, and she shook her head. ‘Please don’t hit me with that,’ she cried, knowing how much it would hurt.

  ‘This is your punishment,’ he said coldly. ‘You should have behaved better during your examination.’ As he advanced on her she could see Tabitha, Judith and Dr Francis Proctor were watching closely, Judith clutching the doctor’s arm.

  Sir Edward stood in front of Marianne with his back to the others in the room, and smiled at her. It was a genuine smile and her legs felt weak with shameful desire for him. Then, as he continued to smile, he flicked his wrist sharply and the damp tip of the towel struck her just above the leather belt and below her breast. The pain was indescribable, and she screamed, only to scream again as he struck once more, this time below the other breast.

  Relentlessly he continued to flick at her shrinking flesh until her breasts, shoulders and the area over her ribcage were red with raised weals. She couldn’t stop herself from begging him to stop, but her distress only increased the savagery of the blows. When he did suddenly cease hitting her she could scarcely believe it. She slumped in her bonds and cried softly. ‘Why do you like hurting me so much?’ she sobbed.

  ‘Because it excites you,’ he said softly, ‘and it excites me, too. In any case, you’re never punished unless you deserve it. Sometimes I think you disobey deliberately because you enjoy the punishments.’

  ‘I don’t, I don’t,’ she protested, but even as she spoke the pain began to change into something else. Tingling warmth suffused her breasts and she knew her nipples were hardening.

  ‘That’s enough of a rest,’ said Sir Edward, and Marianne yelped with renewed anguish as the brutal towel lashed across her lower belly and upper thighs. She was sobbing continually now, hating herself for crying out but unable to stop.