The Carrot and the Stick: Part Two

Kino lays into Elise with the cane again. He swings low and mean, striking the soles of her bare feet, then snapping it across her thighs, and bringing it down hard on the full flesh of her ass. Each blow lands with a sharp crack that echoes. The welts bloom fast. Elise jerks in the ropes, already marked red and purple from the last round. Her body twists, breath hissing through her teeth. The cane keeps coming. She yelps and then laughs. The sound is raw, half pain, half dare. Kino catches the rhythm, switches targets, drives the strikes deeper, faster. Every new line of fire makes her shake. The laughter keeps breaking through, sharp and sudden, but the tension in her arms and the way her legs tremble say the hurt is catching up. He pushes harder. She strains, muscles tight, breath coming ragged. The gag stretches her jaw, muffling every noise into something desperate and wet. She breathes through her nose, black hair wild across her face, sweat shining on her skin. The sting compounds with every hit. Kino does not let up. He works the cane over the same lines, layering pain on pain until her whole body locks up. The laughter dies in her throat. What is left is a raw, ragged sound, torn between want and surrender. Kino steps in close, beard brushing her damp skin, and the next stroke lands right where the last one did. Elise shudders, fingers clenching in the cuffs. She is shaking now, every inch awake and burning.