Whipping boy

The Photographer and I went along to a poker game hosted by Milady, a Domme who I've known of for a while, but never more than a quick hello at a munch or similar. She's a woman after my own heart and had prepared and planned a very detailed session, with a lovely sheet of rules and everything laid out just so. I was a bit twitchy, because I was set to be her submissive partner and had never played with her before. The scenario was very service orientated, and I usually feel comfortable if I've got a better feel of the other person beforehand so I can make sure they are totally looked after. I needn't have worried, she was extremely clear in what she wanted and how she wanted it done, so I could relax and focus on making sure she was happy, settling into my role of fetching, carrying and doing quick probability checks on our mutual hand.

There were a mix of people I knew and new folk so the beginning of the night was very chatty, before we settled into our roles. Four couples, arranged into pairs, four hands to a game, after each game the couple with the least chips gets their submissive to strip. At the end of the night, the losing couple's submissive is whipped. Milady won, much to my relief, whilst The Photographer was not so lucky. I ended the session almost full clothed, he was naked and tied to a set of chains with two dommes going at his back with single tail whips.

He has always claimed to not be a masochist. The refusal to give in, to apologise for "cheeky" behaviour and the little smile that played on his lips said otherwise. Both myself and another male submissive, jumped, yelped and twisted our faces in empathy at his beating, whilst he himself did little more than make the odd wriggle as his back became a mesh of red lines. Talking about it later he acknowledged there were some forms of pain he likes better than other, and the single tail with its short-sharp-shock sensation really worked for him. He also felt it to be rather cathartic, a way of expunging the sense of being the loser, of managing the Ds relationship through discipline and punish. Pain is instructive, it is also exciting - the strength of the feeling creates an endorphin rush, the ability to withstand pain, to take a beating is empowering physically and mentally it is satisfying - you have taken the punishment offered by the dominant, just as you would take a collar or a caress.

In the case of the whipping, watching it was very interesting. The position he was in - tied in a cross, naked and exposed was quite striking, a very stylised submissive punishment pose. I've never actually seen anyone been beaten that much up close, in clubs it's usually quite dark and you don't see the lines form, but here it was almost cinematic in setting. I like the formality of it - the way that the whippings were the final point of the evening, grouped together to watch (or participate) in a display in which the submissive's skin is the stake that the dominant has lost. There's something quite thrilling in the idea of being "gambled away" of being an item that could be taken or bought, playing right into my favoured areas of objectification and ownership. Forfeit.