Page 102 of Brighter Than Gold

The two women rushed into action opening the large double doors of the armoire and from it, pulled out a long heavy chain.

“What the fuck…” Briggs whispered to himself.

“Not a fucking word,” Meloria warned him, with a look so sharp she could cut stone.

Briggs held up his hands defensively.

The two girls drew the chain across the floor in front of the men. Along the chain were iron cuffs, and my belly churned with worry at what exactly we were about to witness.

“On your knees, you despicable wretches.” The men quickly dropped to their knees as Dahlia and Marigold went to each one of them, securing their hands in the cuffs and latching them closed. When they had finished, they hooked the chain up into a beam in the ceiling, raising the men’s arms above their heads. My eyes widened, noticing all the things I hadn’t yet seen. Iron bars loomed from the wooden beams above, hooks and ringlets and things I couldn’t even comprehend.

“Lovely,” Meloria said as she inspected the men’s iron clad wrists. Then she sauntered slowly over to the armoire, pausing as she took her time making a decision.

“Iwasgoing to take it easy on you tonight, but now that we’ve got an audience, I think I want something a bit rougher. Would you like that, you miserable bunch of fucks?”

The men nodded and agreed in unison, some sounding franklyexcitedby whatever tortures they were about to face.What the fuck was going on?

Meloria stepped back out and in her hand, she stroked a long, braided black leather whip. The weapon was almost as long as she was, and it dragged ominously behind her. She walked up to the first man in line.

“Open your mouth, pig,” she commanded, and the man complied. She pushed the whip between his teeth and held it firmly behind his head. “Taste nice?”

He nodded.

Meloria pulled the leather free and walked to the next man. She said nothing, just stroked his chest and stomach with the tip of the whip slowly. She stopped and stared when she got to the next man.

“Is your cock hard?” she asked disgusted.

“I’m sorry, Meloria.”

“We can’t have that, little pig.” She knelt slowly in front of him. “Gods that’s pathetic,” she said with a sneer, then she pulled the whip up to him, and we watched as she tied a crude knot around the man’s genitals with it.

“Is that tight?” she asked looking up at him.

“Yes, Meloria.”

We saw her hands tug tighter on the leather and the man gave a rough grunt. “Is thattighter,little piggy?”

“Yes, Meloria,” the man grunted again.

“I’m not moving until that tiny little cock wilts,” she said. She rested her head in her hand like she was already tired of waiting. “This is taking too long; do I need to tighten it again?”

“No, Meloria,” he said desperately.

She sighed and waited another few seconds. “Long enough.” The muscles in her arms flexed as she tightened the whip once more. The poor man lurched, the cuffs holding his weight as his body began to buckle beneath him.

“What do you say, piggy?”

“Thank you, Meloria,” he managed.

“Ah! Progress,” she said with a smile, as she watched the man’s erection deflate in front of her. When she was satisfied, she untied the whip and casually stepped to the next man.

I shot a glance at Briggs who seemed to share my unease as to what we were witnessing.

When Meloria had finished greeting her men with the whip, she came around them to our side, and took a wide stance. In one smooth move she brought the whip back and then cracked it over the backs of one of the men. He groaned and she moved on to the next man.

Briggs and I watched in horror as she lashed them, angry red welts rising up in their skin, but not once did any of them beg for mercy or ask her to stop. The two younger women simply looked on at the violence, wholly unbothered by what they saw.

After dozens and dozens of lashes spread out between the men, Meloria turned to us breathing heavily from her efforts.

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