"We have to make sure you're willing to give penalties, and not get carried away" explained Buffy. After all, you're going to win some of our games soon enough. So the question for the cards to decide right now is - which of you will give the other a whipping!"
Cordelia showed them the little whip they had acquired. It was a martinet, with multiple tails. The leather lashes were flat in cross-section, not very heavy. There was no danger of it breaking the skin. But it would pack a hell of a sting.
There was a lot riding on the high-card draw as the initiates stepped up to the card table. But they had been warned that the following (and final) test would be worse. Winning this draw might be nastier in the long run than losing it.
Tara's heart was in her mouth when they showed their cards, thinking she was about to know the worst. But both women showed a seven. The suspense had to continue longer, as they shuffled and cut again. This time Faith drew a jack... and Tara another seven. She looked down at the floor as Cordelia handed Faith the martinet and said "Twenty on the bare bottom. How she's placed is up to you."
At last! This was the main reason Faith wanted to join. Her desire to be dominant now had an attractive target in Tara, and an ethical one - not only because Tara could quit any time but because they had all seen how turned on she had been in her first two punishments.
"It'll be a pleasure to whip you, Tara" said Faith cheerfully. "Take your skirt and panties right off, and start by kneeling, up on the table."
Tara obeyed nervously but once again she was full of erotic anticipation. Kneeling to this confident, commanding and attractive woman was no problem. She clambered up on the table, went on her knees, and started to bare her behind as ordered.
Faith took a bolster from the couch and placed it in the middle of the table. "This should prop your bottom up for me. Down you go. And grip the edge of the table. There, now you'll be less tempted to put your hands back to protect your bottom." Tara settled herself face down over the bolster. Her temporary 'mistress' wasn't finished: "Now spread those legs. One foot beyond each corner of the table."
Tara ventured a "Yes ma'am" and parted her legs. The other four women looked at the highly vulnerable pose she was in. Her vulva was well exposed in this position. Willow said "No lashes from behind! You have won the right to whip her bottom, nothing else."
"I understand" said Faith and stood to Tara's side so that the lash would fall crosswise. Tara meanwhile experienced a thrill of fear and arousal at the mere mention of the idea of being whipped on the pussy. But she was glad it wasn't going to happen now. She had come to a prime position of her fantasies - vulnerably half-naked before a naturally dominant woman with a whip - required to obey her and submit to the lash.
Faith held the ends of the martinet's tails in her left hand and looked at the bare feminine bottom propped up waiting for her discipline. She said firmly "I want you to thank me for each stroke, Tara". With great pleasure she raised the whip and swung it downwards.
Faith was careful to judge distance, so the ends would strike Tara's farthest cheek, and not curl into her sensitive cleft. The tails spread out and covered most of Tara's bottom. As they trailed away, they left multiple lines on her skin - not welts as a switch or birch would have made, just reddened skin.
Tara gave a soft "Ow! Thank you Ma'am". It was going to be all right - it hurt over a wider area than the strap, but she had more confidence by now, and knew she could take it. The lash came down again, to a louder "Ow! Thank you Ma'am".
After a few more strokes, the upturned bottom was no longer striped but an even red. The flat but 5mm wide tails of the whip had now tasted every part of it, filling the gaps between the earlier lines. The effect of this on Tara was to make the burning in her raised behind increase rapidly. It was now definitely hurting more than the strap, and the shouted "Thank you ma'am" gained an ever more urgent tone.
On the twelfth lash, Tara's distress seemed to reach a peak. She almost withdrew her hands from the table's edge as she yelled "Oooow! Thank you ma'am" and then sobbed "Oh! Ooh!" But the next few strokes were more manageable. Her bottom had heated up fully, and further strokes on it's evenly red surface only served to maintain its existing level of stinging. The volume of its unfortunate owner's cries, and of her words of gratitude for her punishment, became less.
At seventeen, Tara was back to giving the near whisper she had uttered on the first stroke. Faith thought she ought to do something about that. She had been whipping the girl hard, and with excited enthusiasm. If she placed the lashes lower to try to hurt her more, she might hit the wrong place. This was a test she was being given, and a lash across the thighs, let alone the pussy, might mark her as untrustworthy. There was nothing else to do but put some Slayer strength into it.
Faith held the whip back behind her shoulder and applied her Slayer strength with a vicious lash of the martinet. There was a risk of missing her aim, but she had now had seventeen strokes of practice. The cruel 18th lash made a loud smacking sound on Tara's upward-pointing buttocks.
Tara screamed. To delay another such searing lash, she gave plenty of 'Ow's and 'Ah's and sobs, before saying in a trembling voice "Thank you Ma'am!"
Faith didn't mind the slowing of the pace. She took her time before lashing down again with similar strength. Her victim screeched again, and her fingers let go of the table. But she got a hold of herself - there was only one more lash to go. Nevertheless, she began weeping instead of saying the required thanks.
"What are you supposed to say, Tara?" asked her tormentor. She turned to the others. "Are there penalty strokes for disobedience?" Tara hurriedly said "Thank you ma'am" in a teary voice.
Buffy answered the question "There will be, during the games, but not today. Finish her off." Faith swung back and delivered one more full-strength whip stroke. With no need to delay, Tara screamed the words "Thank you ma'am" immediately, and rolled onto her side. "You're welcome, Tara" said Faith, as Willow helped her off the table.
Tara was a little unsteady on her feet, from stiffness but also from a giddy sexual pleasure at having received her first real whipping. She leaned against Willow's shoulder.
Faith stepped forward, already putting some of the cold cream on her fingers. But Willow said "I'll do it" and took the jar. With the whimpering spankee resting in the crook of her left arm, she used her right to ease the blazing, whipped cheeks. The action was near enough to a post-punishment cuddle to make Tara feel properly comforted, while Willow felt a protectiveness that was destined to last a long time.
The four founder members were well satisfied with the performances of both initiates. Cordelia cleared her throat and with great relish said "You realise that Tara taking two penalties in a row means the last and worst falls to you, 'Miss Psycho-Slayer'."
"Yes. What is it?" Faith's voice was steady.
"The most painful instrument we have, and with full humiliation factor. Get undressed. Tara will now cane you, naked".
