It didn’t take him long to find the part he wanted, toward the beginning, when O had been whipped for the first time. She listened intently as he read aloud, In his lovely voice, how they had explained to O what the rules were, that she would be whipped every night for any infractions she had committed during the day, for having been slow to oblige or having raised her eyes and addressed a man, that this was more for her enlightenment than for their pleasure. That she was not to cross her legs or press her knees together, that she was not to look any of the men in the face but keep her eyes on their manhood as that was her master.

He read all the way to the part where the Master calls O over and kisses her. He tells O he loves her.

When his voice stopped, she looked up. He turned the book so it faced her, and she knew that she was meant to read in turn. She read aloud how O was surprised to notice that she responded I love you, and that she had meant it.

Then the book was closed and he was looking at her with a kind smile. “What rules have you broken tonight?” he asked.

More tears welled up and spilled over. He was patient, allowing her to take her time responding. “Sir,” she said, “I resisted being open to, um, to the butt plug. More than once.”

He nodded. “Yes. What else?”

“I told you I wasn’t ready for my punishment when of course I want to serve you and should have offered to submit to it immediately.”

“Yes And?”

“And,” she sighed, “I had an orgasm without permission.”

“Yes,” he nodded. What else?”

What else? Frantically she searched her mind thinking of what else she’d done, but she didn’t know! What…

“Oh wait. She didn’t have to know. With great relief, she said, “I’m not aware of my other failings, Sir, please teach me so I can do better.”

“Oh, nicely done,” he said, smiling. “Good girl. You’re right, those three are the ones we need to talk about.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “Resistance, for the butt plug and for your punishment. And an orgasm without permission. Let’s start with the resistance. I know the butt plug is still hard for you, I think it may always be. And that’s ok. It was originally 5 licks for punishment, but it happened more than once so we’ll use the multiplier. I’ll have you roll the dice to get the number, but 3 times the original 5 is the minimum. First though, I”m going to have you choose one instrument for me to use.”

Standing, he moved behind her, pushed the ottoman forward so it was beside her. “Which one of these?”

She looked at the selection arranged on the stool. The riding crop, no, definitely not. The heavy leather strap, no, the hairbrush, absolutely not. The punishment paddle, a thinish strip of wood that somehow managed to sting and thud both? No way, and not the wooden spoon, also no. Oh wait, that was all there was. She looked again. Oh, none of these, good grief, but “Ten second rule,” he said and desperately, she said, “the wooden spoon.”

Then she wanted to take it back, but it was too late. “

Good choice,” he said. Then he handed her the die. “Just one, “he said, “but if you throw a one or a two, it’s a do over. Those numbers don’t count. Go ahead, toss them right there in front of you.”

She felt a bit frozen, and he leaned towards her again. Reached out to caress her breast. “Baby,” he said. “I know this is going to hurt, quite a bit. Do you not want to do it?”

That broke through her hesitation completely and she flushed, “No, I mean yes,” she said, completely flustered. “Yes, I do want you to, please.” And she threw the die.

It rolled and tumbled til it landed on four.

“Excellent,” he said, “Twenty licks for resisting the plug. Ten with the wooden spoon, ten with the punishment paddle. Now that’s settled, let’s talk about the rest of this. Let’s talk about your resistance to accepting your punishment. That’s unusual for you, so I don’t want to be unnecessarily harsh. I think I’ll just add another ten, with a different tool. You may pick one that you’d like to eliminate this time, one that you’d rather it not be.”

That threw her into a quandary because she knew that he might choose exactly the one she wanted to eliminate, or he might actually eliminate it. There was no way of knowing.

And then she had to laugh, because she suddenly remembered that she didn’t have to know, didn’t have to pick. “Sir,” she said happily, “There aren’t any I want to eliminate, I’m equally happy to accept any of them you choose to use on me.”

And, feeling quite content, open, and ready for whatever came next, she waited.