I paced the floor deliberately with slow footsteps as Amy knelt on her hands and knees. Each time I passed by her head, I swung the leather strap in the air purposely to make the swooshing noise. That noise alone could make a little slave or sub shape up quickly.

We’d fallen into a good pattern of having a few punishment scenes during the week. We started with just one and now were up to three. It’s been very good for me, and I make sure we spread the days apart so she has a chance to recover physically. Once a week just wasn’t enough for me, and each time we played, I would try to slowly increase the intensity to where I was feeling good. She’s doing okay with it but struggled here and there.

With the leather strap dragging lightly over her back, I asked her the questions I wanted answers to for our play punishment scene.

“How long were you on the phone today with Samantha?”

“I’m not certain, Master,” she replied.

I made a tsking noise just before I slapped the leather strap down on her back.

“Try again, Amy. How long?”

“Um, Master I’m really not sure. I think it’s safe to say that it was longer than what I should have been on the phone.”

I’d give that to her. Since Amy has such a creative mind, it’s very easy for us to ad lib and come up with stuff as we go. There never was a problem with her not being able to keep up with me in that sense…it’s just the physical part she struggles with. I purposely come up with little games that will appear as nothing more than part of the scene, but afterward, it’d creep back into her mind, and she’d wonder if there was any truth to my words during our scene. I liked keeping Amy’s mind moving and her on her toes.

“Your personal assistant is taking my time and spending my money—”

“Master, I have offered to pay the phone bill.”

I stopped in my tracks and beat her ass with the strap until she dropped and curled up.

No! She’s not supposed to do this!

Fearing that her safe word was on the tip of her tongue, I tossed the strap down and crouched down beside her. I scooped her trembling body into my arms and carried her to our room. As I sat down on the bed, I pulled a blanket up over us and held her close.

She just couldn’t go the distance that I needed her to go with our scenes. This was a tough situation to be in because she really was trying and really wanted to be able to, it just wasn’t in her. She had an above average tolerance for pain when I get into her head. Even with that, there’s no challenge to getting into her head.

Getting into Graves’ head would be a fucking challenge.

She was obviously upset over the content of our play this evening. And maybe it’s because there was some truth to it that she was already worried about. She knew and had accepted that I gave her an allotment of time on the phone with Samantha. My guess was that she was worried over that. So I delved a little further.

“I don’t need you to pay the phone bill, Amy. I can, and I will provide for you. You don’t have a book coming out, nor are you working on one. What business could you possibly be conducting with Samantha?” I was genuinely curious.

“She’s my friend—”

“You have me, princess. You don’t need friends. She can meet your business needs, but aside from that, you don’t need her.”

“We’ve been friends for years.”

“And now you have me.”

Her focus was in the wrong place, and now I was annoyed. She’s so worried about keeping friends that she’s not concentrating on my needs. I didn’t need Amy’s fucking personal assistant’s opinions clouding her judgment.

“Amy, you need to work on your pain tolerance. I’m bending as much as I can, but I need you to give a little more. I need you to concentrate on that and not on your personal assistant.”

“Yes, Sir. I will do better. I’m trying but will work on being better.”

I snuggled her closer and kissed her forehead. I let my lips linger against her forehead for a few moments.

“The trick is between your ears, princess. You have to become one with the pain. Be the pain. Embrace the pain. The moment you fear pain, you’ve already lost to it. Put your mind over the matter, Amy. Your strength and what you can endure lies in your mind. It’s not the toughness of your skin or the strength in your muscles or density in your bones…it’s in your head.”

I kissed her head again and then her lips.

“Amy, I need you to really try, princess. I need more from you.”

“I will! I promise I will try harder.”

I smiled and kissed her lips again.

“That’s all you have to do sweetheart. Just try.”