Chapter 27: Lisa's Hard Lesson

Cecilia remembered that Mardi Gras was coming up, which was one out of three occasions throughout the year Burnside held one of her infamous BDSM costume parties. The other two times were Halloween and the 4th of July. Burnside deliberately picked holidays people normally dressed up in outfits or costumes. The 4th of July was pushing it a bit on the costumes, but it fell about half-way between the other two holidays and was a convenient time to have a summer party.

Cecilia's nude servitude during the Halloween party in the fall was not at all unusual, because for each party Burnside needed at least two hosts or hostesses to help set up and serve drinks. If she could get four, that was ideal, but normally the number was two or three. As Cecilia learned the hard way, Burnside normally used students who were in academic trouble. That gave her the opportunity to punish the students beforehand, which was something she intensely enjoyed doing. Using punishment as a pretext for getting hosts also allowed her to assign the outfit she most enjoyed for her servants, spending the night completely naked except for a collar and bondage cuffs. Burnside herself could not have explained why she liked that arrangement so much, but for every party she always managed to have the students she needed for her hosting.

The early midterm usually provided the recruits she needed. Invariably there was some idiot who tried cheating on the test or turning in a plagiarized term paper. Either offense was a serious violation of the University Student Code of Ethics and was viciously punished by the institution. Not only did the student face immediate expulsion from the university and receiving failing grades for all classes taken during the semester, but the university made sure that every other academic institution knew about the cheating. A student caught cheating essentially was blacklisted from all major universities nation-wide.

Burnside offered her cheaters an alternative to having their lives ruined. They could work as a host for her party and submit to a physical punishment. As was true for Cecilia, they had to sign an agreement to submit to discipline. They faced a very unpleasant night, but once that night ended, they could return to class as though nothing had happened.

During the spring semester the early midterms went unusually well. For some reason the students did somewhat better than normal, which prompted the professor to comment the test had been too easy and she would need to fix that for the next time. The relatively easy test left her with another problem. For the first time in her career she did not catch anyone cheating, and just a few days before her Mardi Gras party did not have anyone to host for her. Of course she could try to hire someone, but some of the flavor of her party would be lost if she could not get someone to host in the nude.

When Cecilia was in the professor's office, she noticed Burnside calling several staffing agencies to see about getting help for the party. She didn't even bother to bring up the issue of what the host or hostess should be wearing, but even so, upon finding out the nature of the party, it seemed that the temp agencies were reluctant to send anyone.

Burnside's problem gave Cecilia an idea. It would give her an opportunity to do a favor for her professor and perhaps try to get in the woman's good graces. If she were to do Burnside a personal favor, she knew that she could expect somewhat better treatment in the future. Anything to lighten her daily responsibilities was worth a try.

The professor hung up with a frustrated expression and began thumbing through an underground newspaper to see if she could recruit help from one of the adult services that advertised in the back. She was getting desperate. That was when Cecilia decided to speak up.

"Dr. Burnside, if you're havin' problems gettin' someone to host for you, I 'spose I could do it."

Burnside looked up.

"I mean, I really don't mind ... you know ... I'll even wear the cuffs and whatnot ... I wouldn't mind helpin' you out ... and I'll get my boyfriend to help too. I know he'd do it, 'cause if there's somethin' he can do without his clothes, he's there in a heartbeat."

"Well, it would certainly solve my problem. If you could do that for me I'd really appreciate it."

"Sure. Just tell me what time you want us there, and we'll be there to help out."

Later that night Cecilia broke the news to Jason that she had volunteered both of them to host at Burnside's party. She had decided to go the full route, they both would host wearing nothing but collars and bondage cuffs. The only thing missing from their outfits would be welts on their bottoms, since obviously the professor had no reason to punish either of them.

Jason was surprised, and Cecilia herself was surprised, that she no longer thought anything of running about completely naked in a house full of 200 people dressed up in fetish outfits. Of course she knew the experience would be something Jason would enjoy, which was why she had no hesitation volunteering him. However, only recently had she become comfortable enough with her own body to pose for Suzanne, let alone do something like be a naked host at a party full of people who would mostly dressed.

Cecilia felt truly liberated as she openly told Jason about her experience at Burnside's house the previous fall, including the switching demonstration and what was expected from the servants. She discussed the whole atmosphere and the tension among the guests over how real the party was. Cecilia concluded that it was mostly a fantasy and costume party punctuated with real punishment.

The commitment took an even stranger turn later that night, when Jason got together with Ken and Lisa for their nightly study session. When the couple asked him what plans he and Cecilia had to celebrate Mardi Gras, he told them the truth, that he and Cecilia would be working as hosts for Ruth Burnside's springtime BDSM party. They were very curious to know the details, which Jason shared. The only thing he left out was the fact that Cecilia had hosted in the fall, but he did explain Burnside's normal procedure for recruiting hosts and that this semester she failed to get anyone.

Then he mentioned Burnside's Danubian police switch. Ken and Lisa looked at each other. It was Lisa who spoke up.

"You mean she's got a Danubian police switch? The real thing?"

"Yeah ... Cecilia told me she used in on her TA in the fall. She gave him a full 50 strokes, right in front of a whole bunch of people. She said she had him crying like a baby and that he was totally humiliated."

Jason noticed from Lisa's expression that she was deep in thought, as though trying to figure out how to say something. However, they did have a class to prepare for, so Jason told the other two to drop the subject and open their books.

Later that night Lisa approached Cecilia about the party.

"I was wondering if there was any way you could get Ken and me to come."

"I don't know. Usually that party's just for graduate students and older people. I don't think Dr. Burnside wants a bunch of freshmen runnin' around her house."

"I mean to host. We're willing to be hosts and help you guys out."

" ... you know what we're gonna be wearing?"

"Yeah."

"And you still wanna do it?"

"Yeah."

"OK. I 'spose she's not gonna turn down two more hosts, if that's what you guys wanna do."

Lisa took a deep breath, and then continued with the second part of her strange request.

"There's something else I want to ask. Jason told me that Dr. Burnside has a Danubian police switch. The real thing, from Upper Danubia."

"That's true."

"And that last fall, when she switched that guy with it ... right in front of the whole group..."

"Yeah..."

" ... I mean I ... like ... uh ... I want to do that to Ken. I want to tie him down and give him a full 50 strokes, right in front of a bunch of other people."

"Lisa, you're fuckin' crazy! You can't do that to Ken! There's no way Dr. Burnside's gonna let you do it, 'cause you wouldn't know what the fuck you're doin'! That thing's fuckin' dangerous! You can't just go hittin' people with it! It's somethin' you gotta learn how to do!"

"I understand that. The point is that if me and Ken are willing to host for her, that's how she could repay me. Teach me how to use that switch and then let me have a go at Ken."

Cecilia was dumbfounded. For one thing, it seemed to her that Lisa was being extremely arrogant. She was expecting Burnside to just do what she wanted. That was totally unrealistic, the idea that a freshman would set conditions to a tenured professor. She wanted to crash someone else's party, and then use it to pursue a personal fantasy with her boyfriend.

For another thing, Cecilia knew that wielding a Danubian police switch took training. The goal of a stroke with the switch was to deliver as painful a blow as possible without breaking the victim's skin. It was a very delicate balance that Danubian police officers spent several weeks perfecting during their training at the National Police Academy. Cecilia suspected that neither Ken nor Lisa understood how extreme a full punishment with the switch would be.

Lisa brazenly asked Cecilia to make an appointment with Ruth Burnside the following day so she could volunteer herself and Ken for hosting her party, and then bring up the issue of the switch. Cecilia felt bad about the imposition on the professor.

The next morning Cecilia was in Burnside's office, nervously explaining the situation with Lisa and Ken, somewhat apologetic about Lisa's straightforward attitude. She fully expected that one of two things would happen. Either the professor would tell her to tell Lisa to get lost, or she would have Lisa come into her office and give her a nasty lecture about respect. However, Burnside did neither. Instead she commented:

"That's fine, have her come in here at 12:30. I want to hear this directly from her. Now, a question: are you free tonight?"

"I guess so, Dr. Burnside. I was gonna study and review with Jason..."

"Well, I want you to forget about all that. Unless I give you a call with a change of plans, I want you to bring Lisa over to my house at 6:00, and I'll show her what she needs to know about using that switch."

"But ... I mean, just like that? Don't you think she's bein' a bit..."

"Arrogant?"

"Yes, that's the word, arrogant. I mean just demandin' that you..."

"That's not a problem. I like young women with an attitude. Gives me a bit of a challenge. I'll teach her how to use that switch, all right. But I'll be doing it my way, and there's some other stuff she'll be learning as well."

Cecilia left the office, wondering what Burnside had in store for Lisa that night. She knew the words "other stuff she'll be learning as well" were significant. She knew that Lisa's experience at Burnside's house would have some unpleasant surprises. Oh well, Lisa. You got yourself into this.

Cecilia escorted Lisa into Burnside's neighborhood that evening. It was bitterly cold, but fortunately there was still some light outside, an indication that the dark, cold days of winter would be coming to an end shortly as the spring equinox approached. Lisa had a light-hearted "I told you so" attitude about the impending get-together with Ruth Burnside. Cecilia was quiet on the matter, suspecting that by the time they left Burnside's house Lisa would be wishing that she had worn a looser pair of jeans.

Burnside opened the door dressed in a sweatsuit. Standing next to her was an old friendly-looking mixed-breed dog she called "Maynard". Cecilia was struck by the contrast between the harsh professor and her quiet dog. When she bent down to pet the animal the professor explained that Maynard had been with her since she was starting her Master's degree, which would make him about 15 years old. Cecilia thought about the changes that must have taken place in Burnside's life during that time. She wondered what things would have been like when Maynard was a puppy and Burnside was only a couple of years older than Cecilia was now. She reflected: 15 years ... what will I be like in 15 years?

Burnside offered her two guests some tea. The women sat down in a surreal prelude to what was going to happen in a few minutes. Burnside questioned Lisa about her discipline sessions with Ken, asking her what she used, how hard she struck him, and how they had begun their sadomasochistic relationship. Lisa chatted confidently, still blissfully unaware that anything was going to happen other than the professor would do her bidding and teach her how to use the Danubian switch. Cecilia knew better. Ruth Burnside does not take orders from a freshman...

When they finished their tea, Burnside asked Cecilia to take Lisa into the spare bedroom and carry out her infamous punishment bench or "horse", as she sometimes called it. While the two young women struggled with the heavy piece of furniture, Burnside collected the other items needed for the lesson. These included the switch and the police instruction manual, a set of leg and ankle cuffs attached to short chains, and a sturdy pillow that would be strapped to the punishment horse that Lisa would use for target practice. Cecilia glanced at the cuffs. They confirmed her suspicion that something else besides that pillow was destined to feel the switch that night.

For the next half-hour Burnside gave Lisa a straight-forward explanation about using the switch. She showed the student how to stand, how to hold the implement, and how to swing with the goal of maintaining control before, during, and after the stroke made contact with her victim. Cecilia flinched as Burnside savagely struck the pillow with an ominous ... whoop!

Burnside casually explained: "Now, after each stroke the Danubian cop usually waits for a minute or so, to allow the criminal to feel the full impact. There's also the visual effect of watching the welt rise and turn dark, and it makes it tough for the criminal to not scream. I've been told that usually the criminals break between 20 and 30 strokes. That's normal. The really tough ones can hold out to maybe 40 or so."

Burnside sat down with Lisa and pointed out various details in the police manual. The manual was full of line drawings and also contained some black and white photos of naked men and women lying across the switching table, their bottoms marked up to varying degrees from painful strokes.

"So these people are Danubian criminals?"

"No. They're police cadets. That's part of their training. The Danubian National Police makes all cadets take a couple of switchings themselves before they're certified, because they want their police officers to know what a switching feels like. It's also an issue of avoiding hypocrisy. The Danubians are real big on avoiding hypocrisy. Every criminal who's facing the switching table is aware that the cop who's beating him knows what it feels like from first hand experience. That's only fair, don't you think?"

"Yes, Dr. Burnside, I suppose that's true."

"OK, good, now let's see you try it out. Imagine that's Ken's butt over there on that horse. Let's see how you do."

Lisa struck hard and struck well. She laid a series of parallel lines across the pillow, slowly working her way up from the bottom to the top. After about 20 strokes Burnside stopped her.

"Good. It looks like you got the hang of it. Let me have the switch please."

Lisa handed her the switch.

"Now get your clothes off. Cecilia, please hand me those cuffs."

Lisa was not sure she had heard the professor's last statement correctly. She gazed dumbly at the older woman as Cecilia bent down to pick up the cuffs.

"What did you say, Dr. Burnside?"

"I told you to take off your clothes. Just fold your stuff up and put it on the coffee table."

"But ... but ... why do I gotta take off my clothes?"

"Because I'm going to switch you."

Lisa went pale and her face froze with a strange expression, more bewilderment than fear.

"But ... I ... it's Ken who's getting it ... not me..."

Burnside gave Lisa a very cold look.

"Lisa, what we're dealing with here is a very severe experience. Something that is very painful, and very traumatic. I have no problem with you punishing Ken at the party. However, I'm not letting you do it unless you clearly understand what you're planning to put him through. I don't believe you can understand that, unless you experience the same thing yourself. So, that's what we're going to be doing right now."

"But ... that's not..."

"I understand that wasn't what you expected. You came over to my house expecting me to give up my evening, teach you how to how to use my switch, and then give up time at my party so you can pursue the fantasy you got with your boyfriend. You expected to have everything your own way and to not have to submit to anything yourself. It's not going to work like that, Lisa. You need to know what this switch feels like on your own body, before you use it on someone else. The Danubian National Police is very adamant about that, and so am I."

Lisa was immobilized. Burnside walked up to her and coldly stared into her eyes.

"You will either get your clothes off and let Cecilia cuff you, or you will get out of my house. I do not appreciate this hypocritical attitude of yours, and I don't think it's becoming of a woman with your intelligence."

"I ... I..."

Lisa glanced over at Cecilia, silently pleading for help. The Dominican gestured back by shrugging her shoulders. Hey, it's your choice, Lisa.

Cecilia was amazed by how quickly the mood in the room had changed. In less than a minute Lisa went from seeing herself as an equal exchanging favors with her professor to a very inferior young person about to be punished by an older authority figure. For the first time that Cecilia knew her, Lisa was very frightened. She was shaking slightly and struggling to breathe.

Something inside of her, that seemed to rise up from within and take control, prevented Lisa from fleeing to the door. Was it extreme curiosity? Was it her desperation to really use that switch on Ken? Was it her pride, not wanting to look like a coward in front of the other two women? Was it a secret desire to be punished? Whatever it was, Lisa did not leave. Instead she gave Burnside a frightened look, and, after a very long pause, slowly began taking off her clothes. As instructed, she folded everything and placed it on the coffee table, except for her shoes, which went underneath. Once she was finished, she stood quietly, her arms at her sides, with her attractive tanned body on display to her professor and her RA. She knew better than to try to cover herself. Anyhow, she remembered that Burnside had seen her during the Tri-Alpha run, so there was no point in being modest.

The professor motioned Cecilia to put the cuffs on Lisa. She began with her friend's wrists, encircling her arms with the leather and buckling the restraints into place. The short chains hung loosely, but Burnside planned to hook them to the legs of the punishment horse momentarily. Cecilia bent down to repeat the process for Lisa's ankles, encircling her legs with the leather straps and buckling them into place.

Burnside sharply tapped the punishment horse with the switch. Lisa directed another frightened glance towards Cecilia and reluctantly approached the bench. Burnside placed her hand in the middle of Lisa's back and pressed her forward. As she draped herself over the punishment bench, letting her arms and legs hang freely, Lisa was dumbfounded by what was happening. Why ... why was she letting the professor do this to her?

Cecilia began to feel a familiar warm burning and wetness between her legs as she watched the overly confident Californian gracefully draped over the punishment bench. She had long, beautiful legs and a truly lovely bottom. Her shapely bottom-cheeks were quivering slightly, making them all that much more sexy.

Burnside badly wanted to rub Lisa's bottom and tease her between her legs, but figured that she was pushing the girl hard enough as it was. She quickly clipped Lisa's cuffs to metal rings welded to the legs of the punishment bench, and thus immobilized her.

Burnside moved in front of Lisa, cruelly slashing the air with the switch.

"Lisa, my understanding is that you wanted to give Ken a full criminal's punishment of 50 strokes. Is that true?"

Lisa shook with fear. Yes, that was indeed what she was planning to do. She struggled to catch her breath as she nodded.

"Please answer me properly. I don't accept you moving your head around as an adequate response."

"Y ... yes ma'am. I ... I was gonna ... h ... hit him 50 times."

Interesting, thought Cecilia. She's never called anyone ma'am before.

Burnside slashed the switch through the air as she continued:

"My ... my ... my ... Fifty times. A bit extreme, don't you think? Maybe, now that you face 50 strokes instead of him, perhaps that might be a bit severe?"

"I ... I... 'spose so, ma'am."

"Well, the deal is, whatever I'm giving you is what I'll allow you to give him. You're not doing anything to him that you haven't experienced first. Do you understand me?"

"Yes ... M ... ma'am."

"You're calling me 'ma'am' now, aren't you? How fascinating. You weren't calling me that a few minutes ago. I suppose our changed circumstances has made you re-assess how you should address me?"

"Y ... yes ... M ... ma'am."

"Very well. Here's a few more facts about punishment in Upper Danubia. Criminals get 50 strokes when they're over 18. Minors, people under 18, also can get the switch, but the maximum punishment for a minor is just 25 strokes. I think that's what we'll do. We'll start you out as a minor and I'll stop at 25 strokes. Then I'll give you the choice of whether or not we shall continue."

Burnside stepped off to one side and measured her distance. Then she calmly and expertly drew back and laid a fearsome blow across the base of Lisa's bottom, marking both sides with a straight, even line that quickly darkened.

"Uh ... uh ... oh ... my God..."

"Kinda hurts, doesn't it? Now I don't want you making a bunch of noise. If you want to play the Danubian criminal, you will make it a point of honor to stay quiet. We got 24 to go ... or 49, if you so desire."

Even after just one stroke, it was obvious from the expression in Lisa's face that she'd be damn lucky to make it to 25 strokes. 50 strokes was out of the question.

Burnside twisted back and laid a second harsh blow, very close to the first stroke. Lisa gasped and grunted. Already she was clenching her teeth and tears were flowing down her cheeks. The professor paused, waited for the line to darken, and struck again. She leisurely struck Lisa a fourth and fifth time, each stroke laid perfectly parallel to its predecessor and almost, but not quite touching it.

By the end of the fifth stroke, Lisa had a solid band of pain, about two inches wide, crossing the lower part of her unprotected bottom. Her legs were shaking and her buttocks were quivering. Burnside stopped to take up position in front of her.

"What you will notice is that I'm laying the strokes perfectly parallel and not crossing them. When you use the switch, you have to be very careful to minimize crossing the strokes so you don't make your victim bleed. You have a lovely bottom, and I wouldn't want to do anything that would permanently mark it, right?"

"Uh ... Ahh ... Uh ... Yes ma'am."

"Very well. We're pausing a bit to let what we've done so far sink in. I want you to feel the punishment, so I can break you with fewer strokes. I think that's a misconception about a severe punishment like this. I plan to break you, but I want to do it with as little injury to your body as I can. That's why I need to spread out the strokes, to make each one count and let the passing of time, not additional blows, wear down your resistance. I'm under the impression you didn't understand that when you were planning to switch your boyfriend. Now, I'm going to continue. You've got a nice red strip across your bottom. I'm going to be adding strokes above in the same pattern: parallel, very close together, but not touching each other."

Burnside slowly worked her way up Lisa's bottom to the top of her crack. She took nearly 10 minutes methodically laying 10 strokes to cover all of Lisa's backside with cruel reddish lines. Sweat trickled down Lisa's body and her voice was breaking as she desperately tried to breathe without screaming. Burnside stopped for a minute to admire her work. Then, tapping the switch in her hand she addressed Lisa again.

"OK. That's the first part of the punishment, covering your entire butt with one layer of welts. Now comes the fun part, the strokes that'll break you. The way I'll be doing that is going to be to start with a nice severe stroke at the very upper part of each thigh. The next stroke will be in that tender spot where your thigh ends and your bottom-cheek begins. From my experience, that's the one that usually gets a girl screaming, because there's a lot of nerve endings there. It's a sensitive area. Then I'll have six more strokes to distribute around your sore bottom."

Burnside had read Lisa perfectly. She struck hard at the tender skin that joined the girl's left thigh with her bottom, setting off a high-pitched scream. The scream died down to desperate sobbing. There was another scream when Burnside struck the other side in the same spot. There were only six strokes to go, but Lisa now was broken. She screamed each time the switch landed and sobbed loudly in between.

Cecilia's feelings about the entire affair were complex. On the one hand her heart went out to Lisa, who was suffering horribly and undergoing a very traumatic experience. Her self-assuredness was gone, along with the over-confidence that landed her into her situation in the first place. She had learned the hard way that no, just because the professor was a fellow dominatrix did not mean Lisa could treat her as an equal.

At another level Cecilia was glad to see Lisa being so humbled. The Californian's arrogant attitude had irritated her, and it would be nice to see it go away for a while. Also, Burnside had saved Ken from Lisa's unreasonable expectation that he could tolerate 50 strokes. There was no way Lisa could withstand anything more than 25 welts, so that would be the maximum that Ken would have to endure.

Burnside laid the final six welts across the middle of Lisa's already marked bottom. The new welts, laid on top of old ones, quickly turned dark and looked very painful. Lisa was sobbing uncontrollably, but Burnside showed no sign of being ready to release her. Instead she walked around the punishment bench in circles, slashing the switch through the air.

"OK. That's the punishment a minor gets in Upper Danubia. Is that going to be good enough for you, or would you like to continue with a full adult's punishment?"

"Ahh ... Uh ... Please ... ma'am ... I ... I'll stop ... please ... enough ... it hurts so bad ... Ah..."

"Then you understand that'll be the cut-off when you punish your boyfriend. 25 strokes. That's it. You understand that, right?"

"Yes ... ma'am ... I understand."

"OK, Cecilia. You take it from here. Go ahead and release her. She'll need you to comfort her, so please hold her and be patient."

"Yes, Dr. Burnside."

Cecilia unclipped the hooks that attached Lisa's cuffs to the punishment horse, and then grabbed her arm and helped her stand up. Lisa truly was broken, her face distorted with misery and pain. That switching was more painful than anything she could have imagined and left her completely traumatized. The Californian fell into Cecilia's arms, still sobbing uncontrollably. Burnside went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, which she brought out and set on a buffet in Cecilia's sight. As soon as Lisa stopped crying Cecilia would try to get her to drink, which would help calm her nerves.

Cecilia thought that Lisa's sobbing would go on forever, as she struggled to support the weight of the taller woman leaning against her. Finally she managed to calm down. The glass of water calmed her down even more. Burnside directed Cecilia to take Lisa to the guest bedroom and let her lie down for a few minutes to recover. Once Lisa was safely deposited on the bed, lying face down, Cecilia took a better look at her badly marked bottom. The final strokes, crossing the earlier ones, had left brutal-looking dark red lines across the middle of her backside. Cecilia flinched at the sight of the cruel marks and decided to offer Lisa the opportunity to exchange her skirt for freshman's tight jeans to ease the pressure on her welts when they left Burnside's house.

Cecilia returned to the living room. Burnside offered her another cup of tea, which she nervously accepted. She was not sure what to say to her professor. There was nothing about what had happened to Lisa that particularly surprised her, but still, it was very unnerving to actually witness it.