My Voyage of Discovery Ch. 05

"Okay," she said, and started panting. Master smiled at me.

Master began and as soon as the cane struck, Miranda squealed. A red welt appeared on her skin. "Do you want to use your first safe word, Miranda?" Master asked.

"Would Beth have to receive any I don't accept, sir?" Miranda asked, sobbing softly.

"Would it make a difference if she did?" he asked.

"I don't want her to receive more because I'm too much of a wimp to take my share, Master."

Master smiled, though Miranda couldn't see it. "That's not the way it works, Miranda. Yours are yours and Beth's are hers. She only agreed to accept ten for you. Ten is the most she can receive."

"I'll try to take more, Master. I'm sorry."

Master gave her six more before Miranda said "Winston, sir." Seven red stripes were on her bottom and legs.

He stopped and Manuel came up and rubbed cream over her bottom and legs. Despite her stripes and the pain I knew she was feeling, Miranda still climaxed as soon as Manuel rubbed close to her cunt. The soothing cream probably helped too.

Miranda was released from the pillory and Sherry had her lie down on a lounge they'd left out on purpose. There was a second one alongside it waiting for me. Sherry put a bag of ice on her welts while rubbing her back. Normally it would be Master's job to help his slave with her sub drop, but he had to keep an eye on Lynn while she did me.

Edgar fastened me in the stocks, whispering "I'm going to hate seeing this marked up," patting my ass.

"It won't last too long," I said. "You'll be staring at a perfect ass in a couple days."

He laughed and patted it again. He put on the spreader bar and fastened it to the deck so I couldn't move my feet around. I heard Lynn moving behind me and Master reminding her to start off light.

Lynn switched my ass and stopped. It wasn't too bad, which Master confirmed. "See. She has a light red line but if you feel it, there's no welt at all, so this one would be too light. Slightly harder for the next one."

She struck me again, and this one hurt worse. "You can feel the welt on this one, but no red flecks so you can hit slightly harder."

I started panting and letting myself fall into my sub space. The next eight were all harder, but bearable. I let the pain wash over me, feeling the heat igniting my loins, but letting loose of the pain. The next thing I knew, Manuel was smoothing the cream over my welts, cooling me down and nearly making me cum.

Master and Edgar released me and Master led me to the other lounge and had me lie on my stomach, putting another bag of ice over my bottom. He was explaining the concept of sub drop to Lynn and telling her it was her responsibility to see a slave through the process of easing down from an intense scene.

"During an emotional scene, a submissive's body is flooded with all kinds of endorphins and adrenaline," Master said. "In a way, it's almost like a drug high and they have to come down from it. For yourself, think of sometime when you were really scared and your body filled with adrenaline for your fight or flight response. When the danger was over, you feel all jittery and edgy until the adrenaline has a chance to dissipate. A submissive can actually go into a depression afterward unless they're eased down. Some care and cuddling is usually called for. Sometimes, chocolate helps slow the drop by increasing the feeling of euphoria."

Master was rubbing my back and legs, moving the bag of ice to different areas which still hurt like a bitch. Miranda was lying beside me, Sherry still attending to her. Master told Lynn to take over for Sherry.

"You took all ten," Miranda whispered.

"I'm more used to it now," I replied. "I've been punished more often than you. Just don't lie to Master any more. I won't volunteer to take some for you if you do it again."

"I won't. I can't thank you enough for offering to take half of them for me. That was very kind."

I reached out my hand and squeezed hers when she reached out to take it. "We slaves have to stick together," I said.

She squeezed me back and I held her hand and closed my eyes as Master soothed me.

Ten minutes of soothing rubbing later. "We're heading to The Bahamas this morning," Master said. "We'll be anchoring off an unpopulated island in a few hours. Ethan and Rafael will be giving scuba lessons to anyone who wants them after we anchor. We're going to be sailing the Caribbean for several weeks and opportunities for diving will be frequent. I encourage you to take lessons so you can go diving at some of the locations we'll be stopping at. There's some incredible diving."

"How will the salt water affect my welts, Master?" I asked.

"They'll sting a little, but your skin isn't broken, so it won't feel too bad, especially by this afternoon. It would hurt worse if you had to wear anything, but you can dive naked. The seawater may actually speed healing. You can get some swimming in for exercise."

"Can I take lessons too?" Lynn asked. "I've always wanted to try diving."

"Anyone can take them. What about you, Miranda?"

"If I weren't going back to Washington is six days, I'd consider it, Master, but I admit to being a little scared. I watched 'Jaws' a couple times too many."

"Will there be sharks, sir?" I asked.

"There are always sharks around. Most of them will ignore you unless you act wounded or bleed. You're not really on their food chain. Most attacks occur near beaches because people are thrashing around in the water, which sharks recognize as wounded behavior. Very few scuba divers are ever attacked and it's usually because they started bleeding from scraping coral or something. I suggest both you and Miranda get something to eat now. Reggie's holding something for you in the crew galley.

"By the way, Beth, we held the drawing while Manuel was rubbing cream on your ass. You got Thomas. He's got bridge duty. He said you could come to the bridge when you're done eating. Miranda, you've got Art. He's working out in the gym. Find him after you eat and do whatever he wants except for your ass."

"Thank you, sir," I said. "I'll try for the next survey participants after I'm done with Thomas."

"You do that."

Miranda and I both went to the mess and had some breakfast which Reggie had saved for us. Waffles, which he reheated in the microwave and sausage patties. We both stood as we ate. It would be awhile longer before I could sit on my buns. Chow done, Reggie took Miranda down to find Art and I handed my leash to a dishwasher named Mickey who took me to the bridge to find Thomas. Thomas was working navigation while the Captain took the ship out of Miami. Mickey took pleasure in feeling me up before going back to the galley. They had lookout watches on both sides of the ship, keeping their eyes peeled for smaller boat traffic, jet skis, or anything else the radars might miss.

"Excuse me, Captain Amundsen," I said. "Thomas won the drawing this morning and is owed a blow job. Can he take it now or should I wait?"

"Thomas, you lucky dog," the Captain said, "you won the drawing this morning. Beth, we'll be clear of the channel and into deep water in fifteen to twenty minutes. He can take a break then. Until then, grab a pair of binoculars and keep an eye out ahead for small craft, especially sail boats; the little fucking ones. According to nautical rules, they have the right of way over any powered vessel, but what they don't realize is they can turn on a dime and we can't, plus the water is too shallow outside the channel for us to turn and it takes me about half a kilometer to stop even creeping along at 5 knots."

"Yes, sir."

"If a boat remains on the same bearing as you watch it and it's getting closer, we're on a collision course. Warn us about those."

"The same bearing, sir?"

"You spot a boat at the one o'clock position and it stays at one o'clock, not moving towards two or twelve, it's remaining on the same bearing, but it needs to be getting bigger to worry about."

"Yes, sir."

There were binoculars up by the front window and making sure I wasn't in the Captain's way, I started looking forward for small craft. There were lots of boats, but most of them were moving much faster and staying out of our way. As he said, most craft changed bearings as we moved, so I didn't bother saying anything about them. One slightly smaller ship maintained the same bearing at around two o'clock but he was getting smaller, not bigger, so he was moving away from us. The more time which went by, the less boat traffic we had around us. After twenty minutes, the Captain gave me permission to take care of Thomas. He stood by the plotting table as I knelt on the deck in front of him and took care of his reward. The others on the bridge glanced at me while I was taking care of business, but none of them stared, giving Thomas a modicum of privacy.

I stood when I was done tucking him back in his trousers. "I know you're busy now and we didn't have a lot of time to talk. When you get off duty, look me up so I can learn more about you, Thomas."

"First of all, you can call me Tom. All my mates do."

"Am I your mate?"

"I'm thinking once you've sucked my knob, we're best of chums."

"Thanks, Tom. I suppose we are. Thank you, Captain."

"Take care, Beth. I wouldn't mind talking to you about your friend later."

"Which friend, Captain?"

"Lynn."

"Whenever you wish, sir."

"I'll talk to you later, then."

"When you're free."

I made my way off the bridge and since I was right above Master's cabin, went downstairs by myself. Master and Lynn were working with Miranda, trying to increase her focus on licking Lynn while Master was fucking her. Master nodded to me as I entered, and I went to my room to look up the next survey participants. The next two names on the list were Chaney and Jake, another couple of people I hadn't had much opportunity to meet or interact with. Both of them listed their inter-ship numbers so I called them first.

Chaney wasn't at his number, so I sent message over intercom for him to call me. Ten seconds later, I was telling him he was next up on the survey list.

"Oh, you were just up here. I was on the bridge doing lookout duty when you were taking care of Tom."

"Do I need to come up there again?"

"No, the Captain doesn't need bridge lookouts anymore. Small boats are all gone; nothing left until we get to the Bahamas. He was about to send me off anyway."

"Could you come down here to take the survey?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Knock on my door in five minutes and I'll let you in. Ignore the people on the bed."

I called Jake and he was in and I made an appointment with him for an hour from now.

A minute later, Chaney was at my door. He was maybe 5-11, sandy hair, scruffy looking beard, another one who didn't look big and bulky, but wiry, hard as nails and chiseled from stone.

"They're really going at it out there aren't they?" Pointing towards the bed.

"They were when I came in."

"How do you feel about Joshua having sex with other women?"

"We're not married. I'm having sex with other people. I'm only doing this for a year, but he's still got a life to live when I'm gone. I actually think Miranda Ward would be good marriage material for him."

"Even though she's one of his sex slaves?"

"Maybe especially because she is. He's attracted to submissive women. Unless she were, he might not give her the time of day. And Angelique is married to Hannah."

"But Hannah isn't letting Angelique fuck other men."

"She is letting Angelique fuck people who would be far more dangerous to their relationship; other women. Since Angelique is a lesbian, the likelihood of her being attracted to and falling love with another woman would be far greater than her falling in love with a man. But, I think most Dominant/submissive bonds are in many ways, stronger than marital bonds, possibly more so for the submissive than the Dominant, but still significant. If I weren't doing this for my doctorate, I would probably be seeking a long term Master. Let's get you started on the survey, shall we?" I handed him the iPad with the survey open.

Five minutes in he was saying I had some strange questions in it.

"I was looking for similarities in submissives. What the appeal was to surrendering your will to another person. Turns out, there are a lot of different reasons for doing so, but the characteristics and behavior patterns have similarities. With each known Dominant and submissive I survey, I began establishing those characteristics and patterns and it's helping identify people who may be submissive or Dominant."

"Are there are people on the ship you've figured out?"

"The survey is confidential. You wouldn't want me telling everyone you're eager to kneel at someone's feet would you?" He smiled thinking I would ever imagine him to be a submissive. "Go ahead, fill it out."

He went back to the survey questions. It made me think about what I'd already done though. I hadn't revealed answers to the questions I asked, but I'd told Master about Congresswoman Ward; that she was probably a submissive. I'd done the same with Manuel and Sherry. I had knowledge of them which I'd shared. It seemed to be beneficial to the person involved as Miranda was happily surrendering to a Master. And I was trying to avoid problems which might crop up in a marriage, if two people got married who might be incompatible. Doctors could tell patients about the results of tests they'd taken, but shouldn't speak to others about it unless approved by the patients first. I needed to tell Miranda how she was now a sex slave to Master and talk to Manuel and Sherry and tell them what I'd done.

Chaney finished the survey and handed it to me.

"Thank you, Chaney. If you'd like to remove your pants, we'll get started on your gift for taking the survey." He started removing his shoes and socks so he could take his trousers off. "By the way, to become a little better acquainted, can you tell me a little about yourself; what branch of the military you served in, what you do on the ship?"

"Ex-Navy SEAL, and I work on the electronics, radar, communications equipment, plus lookout and bridge duties."

His shoes and socks off, I helped him pull his trousers down and saw a nice prick spring up when I did, already half hard.

"Thank you for your service, sir. If you'll lie back on the bed, I'll address this issue you seem to have." I stroked his cock a couple times. "If you give me free rein, I promise you a memorable experience. If you do the driving, it will be pretty much the same as any other blow job you've ever had."

"Oh, definitely going for memorable here."

"Then lay back and enjoy the ride."

Seventeen minutes later, he was a gasping pile of putty in my hands, shooting stream after stream of hot, salty cum down my throat.

"Mmm, tasty," I said, licking my lips and squeezing out the last few drops to lick off the tip of his cock.

"Damn. You weren't kidding about the memorable part. If I weren't staring at it, I'd have sworn you just swallowed the top half of my dick. Marry me."

I laughed. "If you married me, you'd still have to share me with my Master. I'm his slave now and for the next year."

"I'm not sure if I give a fuck."

"Yes, well, I can't have sex with anyone without his permission, even to fuck my husband, so you might want to reconsider your offer."

"Fine, come see me when you're done."

"You ready to move back to Gainesville, Florida until I've finished my degree, then follow me wherever I set up a practice?"

"I'll think about it."

"You do that. Run along now. I've got to get Jake down here for a survey next."

"Lucky man. Can I take the survey twice?"

"Sorry, but no." I smiled at him. "You can, however, work hard and be nominated for the daily drawing."

"You're looking at the next Shipmate of the Month."

"Is that a thing?"

"No, but it ought to be. Whoever gets chosen should get to spend a day with you."

"You mention it to your various Department Heads and I'll mention it to Master. Maybe we can make it a thing."

Chaney was dressed and I ushered him out. I took the time between my two appointments to make another with Manuel and Sherry in their offices in an hour. Jake arrived five minutes later. Six-three, maybe 220 pounds, built like a brick shithouse. Muscles bulging everywhere. He was one of the darkest black men I'd ever seen, like coal or raven black. He entered and stood at parade rest.

"What's your story?" I asked. "Where are you from, what branch of the military did you serve in and what do you do on board?"

"Texas. Marine Corps. Port security, assistant cook, guest relations, assistant firearms instructor. Second best pistol shot on the ship behind Edgar."

Even without telling me where he was from, I might have guessed from his drawl.

"And apparently work out religiously." I squeezed a rock hard bicep.

"Yes, ma'am."

"What's involved in port security?"

"Keeping the uninvited off the ship in foreign ports, ma'am."

"Uninvited?"

"Beggars, terrorists, criminals, ne'er do wells."

"Are you ready to take my survey?"

"Yes, ma'am. Chaney said I should leave you in charge for the blow job after. Said I wouldn't regret it."

"So Chaney already spoke to you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

I handed him the survey and he sat down on the bed and took it. I watched the features on his face change as he answered the questions. Some raised eyebrows, some smiles, some frowns, some bewilderment.

"All done, ma'am."

"You seem really polite for port security."

"You're not uninvited, ma'am."

I laughed. "Well, let's get your clothes off and you let me take charge of the rest."

I helped him remove his clothing and had him lean back on the bed. His uncircumcised prick wasn't quite a massive as the rest of him, but it might have been an optical illusion against the rest of him, for when I had him in my mouth, he was as big or bigger than Chaney before him. I gave him a Beth special and he was shuddering like a little girl when he exploded in my mouth.

I got off the bed when I'd finished cleaning him off and he was still breathing hard.

"Ma'am, I must admit to you I didn't believe the stories I was hearing the others tell after they'd been in here. It didn't seem possible it could be that much different. If anything, they undersold it. That was the best fucking sex I ever had. You do that for Joshua all the time?"

"Not all the time. He doesn't always want to take the time, or wants to get on to other things. I try to be pleasing to him whatever he wants."

"I never envied him for his money; figured he'd earned it. I sure do envy him you, though."

"Thank you, Jake. It's very kind of you to say."

"Thank you, ma'am. I most decidedly enjoyed myself."

"I need to go down to the sick bay; would it be possible for you to take me there?"

"Certainly."

"Here's my leash. Fasten it to my collar."

Jake took the leash and hooked it to my collar. "I can see where some men would get a rush from having a sex slave," he said. "I just felt a little surge there hooking your leash to your collar."

We left my room. Lynn and Miranda weren't there at the moment and Master was preparing for a meeting he had with the Prime Minister of The Bahamas tomorrow.

"Master, I need to go to sick bay right away."

"Is your caning bothering you?"

"No, sir. I have another purpose for going."

He waited for me to say more but I glanced at Jake and he understood I didn't want to speak to him in front of him.

"Jake, could you please give me a minute with Beth?"

"Of course, sir."

He stepped out and Master said, "I thought you were giving me some time to think about this, Beth."

"Sir, that's correct, and I'm willing to wait for any decisions, but it was wrong of me to report this to you in the first place. I learned of this from a confidential survey and I told you what the results were. I need to tell them I gave out their information. I also need to apologize to Miranda for the same reason. Her slavery is the result of information I gleaned from her survey. If I were a doctor and learned the result of a medical test I'd run and learned something about my patient, I should discuss it with them first, and have their permission to release the information to others. By all rights, they could sue me and report me and keep me from getting licensed at all. I need to speak to them and put it right as best I can."