Page 40 of Love of the Egoist
“W-what are you doing?” Chills, crawling down his spine, vibrated in his shaking voice, betraying fear and anxiety.
Yugo picked up a black long object from the floor and cracked it in the air.
Kuon’s heart stopped. Another crack made him flinch. The black leather bullwhip in Yugo’s hands looked bloodthirsty.
“I’m punishing you,” Yugo replied, a wicked gleam twinkling in his eyes.
“No, w-wait… you can’t be serious?” Sweat broke through Kuon’s skin. His fingers shook, he had to grab the chain to stop the tremor; his muscles tensed and sour taste filled his mouth. The determination to face his fate like a man vanished. The thought of what Yugo intended to do ricocheted in his head, piercing his brain, letting his fear out. “I had to do it, why can’t you understand?”
“I do understand…” Yugo assured, his tone sincere. “And now I have to punish you. When a slave escapes, he has to be punished. Otherwise, he could run again. Do you know how runaway slaves used to be punished?”
His voice filled with ice, but Kuon didn’t reply. Realization fell upon him. It didn’t matter what he said, what he did, even if he begged for forgiveness; nothing would change. Five days had passed. Yugo’s anger should have cooled down. This was a considered, planned revenge—vicious, merciless, ruthless.
What did I expect?
Kuon felt like an idiot for hoping that Yugo would understand him. Simple as that—this was the way to show Kuon his place, to rub his nose in his own insignificance, crush the remains of his pride.
I am just a toy to him, nothing more.
“They got whipped,” Yugo hissed, and the whip shot up in the air only to be cracked down on the bare skin of the cuffed prisoner.
Kuon jolted. Scorching pain seared the skin between his shoulder blades, pushing a burst of air out of his lips. His mouth fell open, expelling short, shallow breaths. The chains clanged in his shaky fingers as he tried to accommodate the incandescent pain.
Fuck, that hurt…
Yugo wasn’t in a hurry. Letting Kuon recover, he watched him wriggle.
Gulping his own breath, Kuon tried to slow down his fluttering heart and clear his muddy vision. His head ducked as the last traces of pain crept through his body, leaving behind a burning but endurable ache.
SWISHHHHHHHcame without warning. Kuon’s muscles tensed as the keen whip whirled through the air again, and a flaming stripe cut his skin high on his left hip.
Kuon sucked the air through his teeth. His back arched, ass tensed. He wanted to scream, but couldn’t let Yugo win. Grinding his teeth, he waited for the pain to lessen.
“Fuck!” he yelled as the burning leather snake shook him across the back. Overflowing pain left no place for thoughts, stubbornness, or determination. He yanked the chains, and his eyes lost focus. His vision swam. His fingers shook gripping the chain.
Then again, without waiting. And again… and again…
The intolerable pain screamed through his body, intensifying with every lick of the bullwhip. His face drenched with salt, and he closed his eyes wiping the sweat off on the pillow. His body shook in adrenaline and pain as hit after hit crashed down on his sweat soaked back.
Scream after scream left his lips until everything around him merged with gloom.
EVERY MEASURED LICKof the bullwhip landed on Kuon’s back with perfect accuracy. Flawless red welts, one by one, decorated skin, warming up the rolling knots of Kuon’s muscles. Deep enough to leave perfect, long-lasting, sore welts, but not enough to draw blood.
Yugo inhaled the heady smell of wet leather and sweat, closing his eyes for a second. The swishing sounds of the leather, cutting through the air, the loud slaps of its tongue against bare skin, the muffled groans, and the arch of a muscular, strong back intoxicated him. His head heated up as his vision lost the corners to darkness. The mist of euphoria flowed in his system.
Yugo swallowed and opened his eyes, watching the jolts of pain streaming through Kuon’s limbs. Congested in agony, Kuon was mesmerizing.
His muffled screams, the jerks of chained limbs and shoulders, the sweat streaming down his broad back, and the tossing of his beautiful head spurting sweat around the bed sheets. Everything triggered something raw and brutal in the pit of Yugo’s core.
Yugo rolled his shoulders. Burning under the thin layer of pure Chinese silk, he tugged on his collar, trying to find some relief in the cool air sneaking under his shirt. His mouth parched, and he licked his lips.
This wasn’t enough. His blood boiled, his heartbeat echoed in his throat and groin. The room soaked in the darkness with every swish of the whip.
His arm went back, and the hungry leather zapped down on Kuon’s skin harder than he expected. Yugo stilled, watching his prisoner quiver in agony. The shallow, short panting shook Kuon’s body in a long, cramping seizure.
Small, scarlet beads of blood oozed at either side of the newly drawn stripe. Yugo drew closer.
The smell of blood filled the room, electrifying the air, and hazing Yugo’s mind. The bloody shroud in front of his eyes thickened and screams coming from his victim with each stroke injected intoxicating adrenaline into his veins.
