Irena's Shadow

"Irena, I can't help but noticing that you've been looking rather tired lately. Is there something the matter?" He regarded her over the top of his wine glass as she picked at her food.

"Nothing's the matter," she mumbled down at her plate.

"Please don't lie to me Irena; you're not very good at it. Tell me what's wrong. Perhaps there is something I can do to help."

A vision of Soto wielding a flogger over her naked back seized her, and a flush crept into Irena's cheeks. "I told you, it's nothing," she said, carefully not looking at him.

"And I told you to stop lying. I know there's something the matter. Are you homesick?"

"God no!"

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing, alright! I've just been having trouble sleeping lately! Why don't you just leave me alone?" Horrified to find that she was on the verge of tears, Irena threw down her fork and fled the dining room, not daring to look back at Soto. She ran all the way back to her rooms and tried to distract herself by taking out a new nightgown which Soto had given her. It was made out of pearl colored satin and seemed almost too beautiful to wear to bed. She slipped it on, forgoing any underwear, and crawled beneath the sheets, praying that tonight her sleep would be uninterrupted.

She woke only a few hours later in the usual manner of the dream, legs clamped together against a powerful orgasm. Tonight's dream had been more vivid than most, almost as bad as the first one. She lay there, body tense as the climax slowly began to dissipate, and then pulled herself shakily out of bed. This was getting ridiculous. There had to be something she could do. Maybe she could try to talk to Soto about it. She hadn't liked lying to him about the reason behind her constant tiredness. Maybe if he asked her again, she would tell him.

He'll just think you're a freak, a part of her whispered. No one has dreams like that.

Irena rubbed her eyes roughly, trying to bring the world back into focus. She was so tired, but she feared to go back to sleep, because the dream might be waiting for her. Maybe she would go visit the basement again. She knew that it would probably just make things worse, but maybe one little peek wouldn't hurt. She rose from the bed and pulled her robe out of the armoire, slipped it on and then left her room and made her way down to the basement. She knew that she was making more noise than was wise, but in her hurry to get to the dungeon once more, she didn't care.

The door to Soto's dungeon was unlocked as always, and with a sigh of pleasure, Irena rushed forward to the run her hands over one of the St. Andrew's crosses. Coming down her had begun to feel like what she imagined junkies experienced when they scored a fix: both guilty and exultant at the same time. She moved away from the cross to stand in front of the rows of floggers, her hands going out to run over the polished wooden handles.

Just as her fingers brushed the shining ebony of the nearest flogger, Irena heard a small, distinct sound from behind her. It was the clearing of a throat. She spun around; fear pounding into her stomach like an iron weight, and saw Soto leaning against the doorframe. She dropped her hand and opened her mouth to start making excuses, but no sound came out.

"Good evening Irena," said Soto, not moving from his spot in the doorway.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be down here. I'll just—I'll just go back to bed." Irena forced her feet into motion, and started for the door, her heart pounding.

"Why did you come here?" asked Soto softly.

"I—I couldn't sleep. I was walking around the house, just trying to tire myself out, and I decided to come down to the basement so that I could look at those paintings again. The door—the door was open and I just walked in. I'm sorry. I'll just go back to bed now."

She made to edge past Soto, but he shifted so that his body blocked the door, and she was forced to stop a few feet away from him.

"Liar, liar," he murmured, leaving the doorway and walking into the room. "Why not try the truth."

"You wouldn't understand," said Irena as Soto walked past her to lean against one of the crosses on the wall.

"Try me."

For a moment, Irena considered lying to him, of concocting some story about how she'd had a nightmare about the boogeyman or some other inane monster, but instead, she decided on the truth. Maybe he would understand the dreams. Maybe he could help her make sense of it all. Maybe if she finally got the dream into words, its power would dissipate.

"I've been having these dreams," she began, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor. "I've never had anything like them--" She halted, unsure of how to continue.

"Well," said Soto, "What are they about?"

Again, Irena thought of lying to him, but a moment later, she found herself describing the dreams to Soto, glossing over the more graphic details and how she was always awakened, but otherwise sticking to the facts. When she finished, Soto's face hadn't changed, but for a moment, she thought she saw that hungry look flit over his features.

"What do you think?" she asked him tentatively. What if he told her that she needed to go see a shrink? What if he laughed at her?

"I think you have a problem," said Soto, carefully not looking at her.

Irena felt as though the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. She had thought Soto would understand. He thought she was a freak. He thought she was perverted. She had thought he would be able to tell her the meaning of the dreams, to be able tell her their significance, and now she found that they meant nothing to him but that she had a problem. The dream had shaken her and she had only wanted reassurance...

"You think I have a problem?" Irena tried to yell, but to her horror, her voice trembled with repressed tears. She had come to depend on Soto's company, and now he would never want to talk to her again. He wouldn't want to have anything to do with someone like her. "Well, I don't need your opinion! I didn't want to tell you in the first place, and now you--" she broke off when she saw move rapidly towards her.

For a second, Irena thought that he was going to hit her, and she flinched, but then he seized both of her shoulders in his hands, and brought his mouth down on hers. Irena's eyes widened in shock and she tried to push away, beating ineffectually against Soto's back, but he only tightened his hold and took the opportunity to slip his tongue between her parted lips. His mouth it devoured hers with a fervor that frightened her, but for some reason, she could no longer struggle. His tongue stroked and teased, demanding that she respond, and to her amazement, Irena found that she was. She began cautiously to move her tongue against Soto's, tasting him, exploring his mouth as he ravaged hers. He let her, dropping his hands from her shoulders to her back and pressing he even closer.

Now that it was actually happening, Irena became slowly aware that she had wanted Soto to kiss her for a long, long time.

He began to maneuver her backwards without disengaging their kiss, and only stopped when he had Irena pressed against one of the St. Andrew's crosses on the wall. Then he withdrew his mouth from hers in order to cover her face and neck with scalding kisses. He brought his mouth close to her ear, and whispered, "Your problem, my dear, is that you've been repressing yourself." He took her earlobe between his teeth and nibbled it gently, making Irena gasp. "How long have you craved to feel the kiss of the lash on your skin? How long have you wondered what it would be like to surrender yourself to another's mercy?" he asked in that same husky whisper. His hands went to her shoulders and slipped the robe off of them.

"I—I don't know what you mean," she gasped, struggling to take in what was happening.

"Yes you do. Maybe not on the surface, but you do know. I can show you. I can give you what you want. Just say yes, Irena." He was kissing her neck now, and Irena was having difficulty thinking clearly. "Say yes, and I'll make those dreams of yours come true." He took one of her hands and raised it above her head, slipping it into one of the leather cuffs on the cross. Through the fog of heat that had obscured her thoughts, Irena felt a sliver of panic and she stiffened. Soto noticed, and loosened his grip on her hand.

"I've wanted you for a long time, Irena. And now that I know what you're like...I can help you understand yourself. Just say yes."

She thought of her dreams, the divine release, and the almost unbearable pleasure. She thought about all the times in her life when she had denied herself, all those times when she had forced herself to stand on her own. She thought about what it would be like to surrender control to another. And mostly, she thought about Soto. About the way he sometimes looked at her, about how they had laughed together, about how it had felt when he kissed her...

She took a deep breath and said, "Yes."

Soto gave a soft moan and brought his lips to hers once more. He raised her hand to the cuff once more and buckled it in, doing the same to the other so that both of her arms were pinned over her head in the shape of a 'v.' Then Soto knelt, pushed Irena's legs wide apart, and buckled each ankle into the cuffs at the bottom of the cross. When he had finished, her limbs were stretched into a taut 'X,' and although she tried to move, it impossible; the cuffs held her securely in place. She felt incredibly vulnerable in this position, and felt herself beginning to tremble.

Soto rose and then leaned against the wall to speak into her ear. "I want you to address me as 'Sir' for the remainder of the night, Irena. As long as you are in this dungeon, your body belongs to me." She nodded, even as fear gripped her insides. Oh gods, what was she doing?

Soto took a gold lighter from his pocket, and began lighting the candelabra on the walls. When he finished, he closed the dungeon door, leaving the room bathed in a mellow golden glow which set the shadows dancing over the walls. He went to the row of cabinets, removed several objects wrapped in black cloth, and then brought them over to a small table set up near the cross. He began to unwrap the first bundle, and the black cloth fell away to reveal an enormous silver knife.

Irena went rigid; her breath leaving her in a broken gasp. She stared at the knife with wide, frightened eyes, but Soto only smiled, stroking the blade with his fingers before inserting it into the low neckline of her nightgown. Her breath caught at the feeling of cold metal against her skin, and she trembled as Soto drew the blade slowly down the center of the thin satin garment. The fabric tore easily, and when he had finished slicing through the middle Soto grasped the twin flaps of satin and pulled them gently apart, exposing Irena's body.

His eyes devoured her, taking in the high, petite breasts with their rose colored nipples, the creamy plane of her stomach and the dark thatch of hair between her thighs. Her entire body trembled as Soto reached out a hand and began to caress her skin. He cupped each of her breasts and ran his fingers over the taut nipples, forcing a gasp from between her clenched teeth. He drew patterns over her stomach, and reached down to stroke the silky hair of her sex. Then, very slowly, he slipped an index finger inside of her. Irena gasped and unthinkingly tried to close her legs against the intrusion, but the leather cuffs held them wide apart.

Soto's finger probed and circled, pushing deep inside of her and then sliding out to rotate her clitoris in slow, tight loops. Irena tossed her head back and forth, trying to keep her thoughts in place. Her face contorted into a frown as she concentrated on not losing control of herself completely. She had never felt anything like this before. It was better than she had ever imagined. Being touched by someone else, being invaded and tormented and knowing that there was nothing she could do about it.

Suddenly, Soto's finger was gone and Irena had to bite back a moan of protest. Her hips gave a convulsive jerk, as if struggling to pull him back inside of her. He stood and pressed himself against her, his erection obvious through the fabric of his pants. The hard bulge ground into the soft flesh of her belly and Irena tried to shift away, mortified, but the shackles held her securely in place.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were a virgin?" he whispered into her ear, his cock digging even deeper into her belly. "You still have your hymen, Irena, I could feel it."

She moaned and shook her head, unable to speak.

"You're an innocent little slut, aren't you?" he said. "You like this. It makes you all wet, doesn't it?" He grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced Irena to look at him.

"Answer me."

Irena shook her head violently, shame stabbing through her, even as his crudeness made her knees weak with desire.

"No?" He gave her head a shake, and then gave her breasts a slap with his other hand, making Irena cry out in surprise. "I think you're a liar." He reached between her legs and his fingers found her clitoris. He began working it back and forth, making the fleshy bud stiffen and swell. Her hips jerked and a moan escaped through her clenched teeth as the throbbing between her legs rose to an almost unbearable pitch. "You're a proud one aren't you, Irena? But before this night is over, you're going to abandon that foolish pride of yours and beg me to fuck you." He gave her clit a final hard pinch, and then released her.

She slumped in her bonds, panting, only now aware that she had been holding her breath. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing, tried to put her thoughts back in order as Soto began unwrapping the items he had taken from the cabinet. Irena knew that she could never beg Soto to fuck her; just the thought of it sent a hot wave of humiliation running through her. She wanted to please him, but how could he possibly expect her to debase herself like that?

The sting of another sharp slap to her breast made Irena jerk her head up to look at Soto, who was now holding a thick leather collar. "Stand up as straight as you can, and raise your chin," he said

Irena obeyed and Soto leaned forward to fasten the collar about her neck. It was so large that it covered the entire expanse of her throat, making it impossible for her to look either up or down.

"Now you can't hide those pretty eyes of yours, my dear." He leaned in to kiss her, a hard, brief mingling of lips and tongue, and then strode off towards the collection of floggers on the opposite the wall. She couldn't see what he was doing because his back was to her, but when he turned around, the sight of the instrument in his hands made her stomach clench with fear. Its handle was of elaborately carved mahogany and the falls were thin and cruel, made out of tough, dark leather.

He sauntered back over to her, his hand caressing the leather tendrils of the flogger with an idle sensuousness that made Irena shiver with longing. He stopped a few inches away from her and ran the stiff falls over her breasts, and she shuddered at the coarse feel of the knots at the ends of the falls scraping over her erect nipples. A mixture of dread and anticipation rushed into her and she began to breathe in quick little pants. Soto raised the flogger, and for a moment, Irena thought that he would strike her with it, but he slowed his arm's descent so that the leather just lightly smacked against her skin. He leaned close to her and his hand crept down to her sex, idly stroking the soft hair as if he were petting a kitten.

"What do you think of my new toy?" Soto murmured in her ear, his hand still caressing her. "You'll be the first I've used it on. Custom made for me in Spain. The falls are made of bull hide. Very tough. Ordinarily, I wouldn't use something like this on a virgin, but I think you'll like pain, don't you agree?"

"Yes," Irena whispered, unable to take her eyes from the whip.

"Yes what?"

For a moment, Irena's foggy brain couldn't think of what he meant, but then she remembered herself. "Yes Sir."

"Much better. Now, I think a change of position is in order." He reached up and undid the cuffs holding her arms and did the same for the ones on her ankles. Irena hadn't realized how stiff her muscles were getting, but now as she lowered her arms to her sides and brought her legs together, she winced at the pins and needles tingling through them. She didn't have long to relax, however, because a moment later, Soto spun her around so that she was facing the wall, and buckled her onto the cross once more with her arms wide and legs spread.

"You have quite an enchanting backside, Irena," he said, running a hand over her ass. "Perfect for whipping." He brought the flogger down with a piercing crack.

Irena shrieked. Pain rocketed through her, flowing from her ass in molten waves. She hadn't thought that it would hurt this much. It was like someone had struck her with a dozen blunt knives. But even as she thought this, she felt Soto's hand caressing her stinging flesh, and the agony began to subside into a hot, pleasurable ache.

"Amazing," said Soto, his hand still stroking her. "I should have bought one of these a long time ago."

Irena felt strengthened by the delight in his voice, and braced herself determinedly for the next blow. Soto raised the flogger again, and brought it down a second time, then a third, and then a fourth. With every stroke, Irena released a piercing wail. She couldn't help herself; it was as if she no longer had any control over her vocal cords. The pain was so intense that stars danced before her eyes with each stroke of the flogger. Soto paused once more and ran his hands over her, making the stinging pain dissolve into pleasure at his touch.

"You're far too vocal, to suit me, my dear," he whispered into her ear, before turning away. Irena sensed him walk away from her and after a moment, he returned and pressed a small rubber ball against her lips. "Open," he commanded, and Irena did. He pressed the ball into her mouth and then buckled the attached straps around her head so that the gag stayed in place. "That's better. And, I have something else for you, my dear. Something special." Irena's heart rate sped up, and she tensed in anticipation as Soto's hands crept to her sex. A moment later, a small, slim hook slid inside of her, and a firm, rubbery something cupped her vulva and pressed against her clit. Straps were tightened around her thighs and waist, and when Soto took his hands away, the device clung to her as if it were a part of her body. Irena wished she could see it, but the collar around her neck kept her face pointing rigidly to the wall.

"Now," Soto said, "I want you to let me know if this device of mine is doing its job. A moan will do." Irena heard a click, and suddenly the thing on her sex began to vibrate. Her gasp was hampered by the gag in her mouth, but as the intensity of the vibration rose, even the rubber ball couldn't stifle her moan. She had never used a vibrator before, and the sensation was so...intense that the pleasure bordered on pain. The apex of the vibration seemed to be focused directly on her clit, and she tried to shift the device so that it didn't press so directly against her, but she was bound too tightly to do anything about it.

"Well, it looks as if my toy is in fine working order," Soto said. "Give me just one more moan so that I can be sure." Irena had thought it impossible, but somehow, the vibrations of the toy grew stronger, and a moan tore out of her throat before she could even think about trying to stifle it. "Ah, lovely," sighed Soto. Then the lash descended on her ass once more. Irena shrieked into the gag. Her hips jerked forward, and the vibrator sent a searing wave of pleasure through her even as the pain burned her backside.