“Bared and Bruised: A collection of twelve painful punishments” is a favourite book of Ruby from “Sealed With Love”. Each short story ties lesbian sex and physical punishment together in varied, intimate ways. I welcome suitable story suggestions that might expand the collection.

The dormitories were quiet, as they should have been after lights-out. The girls of the Everett M Swanson Joint Services Preparatory Middle School were sleeping, save for the handful of seniors on evening patrol. And for two other girls who had slipped out of their beds and were engaged in an intimate rendezvous behind a couch in the second floor lounge.

Dorris Nguyen, eleven years of age and Jessica Wallace, recently turned twelve, had recently learned a number of things not covered in their sixth grade curriculum. Like most girls - especially younger girls living closely with older, more experienced girls - they had learned that touching themselves between their legs in certain ways could be a pleasurable experience, albeit one disfavoured by the school’s staff. They had then learned that sights and thoughts of other girls - especially when those girls were partly or wholly undressed - increased their pleasure dramatically. And they had most recently learned that they both experienced these feelings especially keenly with regard to each other.

The two of them had taken to secret liaisons, having no other opportunity in an environment of so little privacy. There was risk, naturally, but there was also reward - more than enough reward as far as the pubescent partners were concerned. They chose the timing and locations of their liaisons carefully; who would be patrolling, what routes would be unobserved, when their beds would be checked.

Jessica was laying on her back, her long limbs wrapped around her shorter, stockier lover as they ground against each other, sighing and kissing and whispering to each other in the darkness. Each girl’s smooth crotch was hot, slippery and wonderfully sensitive to the other’s motion. Their bodies flexed, each slick with sweat from their sex play, but also from the humid spring night. They had been exploring and enjoying each other for some time that night; young girls have plenty of stamina when it comes to enjoyable activities.

Dorris pressed down, grinding her sex against her eager lover, and kissed her hard on the mouth, their tongues meeting urgently. She shifted to nip Jessica’s shoulder and shuddered, cumming for the second time that night. Jessica offered her neck, cooing with pleasure in the afterglow of her own recent - and third - orgasm.

They took a break and sprawled side by side, limbs tangled, pleasure still thrilling through them, smiling to each other in the darkness. Dorris spoke first in a low whisper.

“You’re so great. I wish we could do this forever.”

“Me too! I love you and I love doing this stuff with you and I wish so bad we didn’t have to hide it.” Jessica wrinkled her forehead.

“Yeah, it sucks. A lot. I hate that we can’t even kiss or hold hands when anyone else is around. Why are the teachers so mean about it? I wish we went, like, somewhere better. Not stuck here where it super sucks.”

Dorris was frowning too now, but Jessica put a hand on her cheek and both girls relaxed a little.

“Jess, when it’s summer we’ll still be together, right? I mean, we’ll be in different places but we’ll talk? You’re not going to, like, break up with me or anything, right? But, if you did, you’d be kind about it?”

“C’mon! I wanna video chat every day with you. I’ll be totally lonely without you so you’ll be getting IMs all the time and stuff. Maybe pics too. Sexy pics so you can send me some back. I’m never breaking up with my awesome bestie!”

They held each other, hot, sticky flesh pressed close, saying nothing as their lust flared once more. Jessica whispered playfully.

“Thinking what I’m thinking?”

Dorris nodded and they changed positions, Dorris on her back and Jessica above but turned around so that each girl could put her mouth to her lover’s crotch. Both pussies were lickably hairless, sweet smelling and incredibly wet. Tongues lapped greedily, backs arched, hands grabbed legs and pleasure flooded through young bodies.

Meanwhile and not too far away, a curfew monitor was patrolling. Wendy Beaumont preferred to move slowly, the better for thoroughness. She used a dim, red tinted light and walked softly. The senior who usually worked this shift (Wendy considered that girl slipshod at best) was unwell and Wendy had relieved her, a matter of which Dorris and Jessica were unaware.

Wendy reached the lounge entrance and paused. Had she just seen a hint of movement in the deep shadows on the far wall? She listened carefully, eyes closed, perfectly still and straight. Yes, someone is definitely hiding in there, she thought to herself. She strode across the room and discovered two troublemakers engaged in a disgusting performance.

Dorris and Jessica were both preoccupied, each cumming like crazy, and it took them a few seconds to notice they were bathed in red light. Wendy’s voice, however, was impossible to ignore.

“Well! A pair of dykes going at it like dogs. Get up before I have to drag you off of each other!”

An ice pick of panic stabbed through each girl and they jumped to their feet automatically; all freshmen learned that commands from seniors must always be obeyed. A jumble of protestations, pleadings and apologies spilled from their mouths, but Wendy, taller and stronger than them, simply grabbed each by an elbow and whisked them out of the lounge and down the hall.

They met Monica Vogel, on her own patrol, at the main stairs and she was amazed by the sight of Wendy and her charges, both naked, miserable, reeking of sex and looking very small compared to the grim-faced Valkyrie dragging them along.

“Close your gaping mouth and run to the deputy headmistress’ office. Tell her I caught these two having sex and to meet us with the headmistress.”

Wendy’s snarl caused obedience to displace confusion and Monica dashed away. Wendy hauled Jessica and Dorris up one flight and towards the most dreaded place in the whole school, but neither tried to escape. Wendy had an iron grip on them and there was nowhere to escape to anyway. Even when she released them to knock on the headmistress’ door, they stood still.

“Enter.”

Wendy pushed the unlucky girls into the office and swept the door closed behind her. She gave a crisp salute and spoke in an even tone that in no way hid her disgust.

“I found these two in the lounge, ma’am. They were committing homosexual acts. I knew you’d want to be informed immediately.”

Ms Virginia Louise Holcroft, 1st Lt AF (reserve), was of middle years and a little plain, but her body was lean and tough and her every movement carried power and purpose. She stood and surveyed the three children, her face impassive despite the spectacle before her. She was an intimidating woman in all ways, but to be fixed in her stare was always terrifying.

Dorris burst into tears and crumpled to her knees, looking even more of a mess than she had before. Jessica swallowed and shrank back from that glare, simply saying, “Please… please, please…”

The headmistress never needed to raise her voice. It was simply unthinkable ever to gainsay her. “Beaumont, report.”

Wendy was partway through the tale when there was a knock at the door. The deputy headmistress was quite surprised by what she found inside.

“Oh! Ms Holcroft, ma’am?”

“Daphne, it seems we’ve had an incident of lesbianism tonight. Beaumont, from the beginning again.”

Once Wendy finished speaking the room was quiet apart from Dorris’ soft crying. Both staff looked from Dorris to Jessica to each other. They had worked together for many years and sometimes understood each other so well that they appeared telepathic to observers. Both ladies nodded and the headmistress addressed the girls.

“Nyugen. Wallace. I am of a mind to expel you both. I do not tolerate fornication in any form. You have disgraced the honour and history of this school. Beaumont, take them both to seclusion and then return to your patrol.”

The teachers discussed their next move once the children were out of the office, but it was a straightforward decision. They were of like mind, as was normally the case.

“I think three dozen is the right test of their resolve. Much less would be too easy a choice for them.”

“Exactly, Daphne. You take Nguyen and I’ll speak to Wallace. She’s the more disciplined of the two. We’ll give them some time to settle down first.”

Jessica Wallace, still naked, was curled up on the uncomfortable bed in the small, stuffy room - perhaps cell would be a more fitting term - and wondered what would become of her. How could she tell her parents what she’d done? She had cried, but now her eyes were dry and it was despair that ruled her. Would she get to say goodbye to anyone? Would the whole school hear what had happened? Would Dorris ever forgive her?

The lock clicked, the door opened and closed behind the headmistress. Jessica was sure that begging or promising repentance would simply annoy Ms Holcroft and that silence was the best approach.

The woman sat on the bed, not looking at the frightened girl. “Wallace. I have already considered your future, but I have a choice for you. I am not usually merciful when it comes to misdeeds of this degree, but I will offer you the chance to spare Nguyen from expulsion. The price is thirty six strokes of the heavy cane, in front of the rest of your dormitory. I’ll return for your answer first thing tomorrow morning. Think it over tonight.”

Jessica did not hesitate, and her voice was clear.

“I’ll take it. Don’t expel Dorris and I’ll take a hundred strokes if you want. Just, let her stay. A hundred every day for a week and I’d still do it! Please ma’am!”

“That’s a strong and rash sentiment. But then you’re given to rashness, aren’t you. Are you sure?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m sure. I’m really scared, but I’m sure. This is my fault and I wish I hadn’t been so bad. Just, can it be quick and can I say goodbye to my friends?”

“You’re a brave girl. You’ve made your decision and so be it. As for your questions, no and yes. Good night, Wallace.”

With that, Jessica was alone once more. She bundled the blanket around her and sat with her knees pulled up to her chin and her back against the wall. She trembled at the thought of what tomorrow would bring and wondered how she would endure it if Dorris had to watch, but there was a morsel of comfort in knowing she’d had a say in her friend’s fate.

Meanwhile, Dorris Nguyen was stood in her own cell, hands clasped in front of her as she meekly listened to the deputy headmistress.

“Ms Holcroft and I discussed your sordid behaviour for some time. Neither of us has had to deal with anything so disgraceful in a long time and never with freshman girls. We suspect you’re the instigator in this matter, which means we can’t overlook what you’ve done, but if you take responsibility and show the sort of character we expect from a Swanson girl, we will allow Wallace to stay. You would receive an additional punishment with the cane, three dozen strokes, with your dormitory watching as a lesson for the rest of them.

“There’s no shame in choosing not to do it, because it would be very painful. You don’t have to give me an answer now. You can take some time and I’ll be back in the morning to find out. A sensitive girl like you probably needs a while to wrestle with it.”

“Yes.” Dorris’ reply was so soft it was almost inaudible.

“What’s that?”

“Yes. Yes. Yes, ma’am. I’ll… if Jessica can stay… oh God this is hard, but I have to. Ma’am, I’ll take the beating, for her.”

Tears dripped from the girl’s button nose, her voice wavered and she kept her head down, but she didn’t change her mind.

“I didn’t expect you to be so quick about it. You’re a very brave girl, and Wallace is luckier than she probably knows.”

“I’m the lucky one, ma’am.”

The headmistress smiled at that and gave Dorris a quick squeeze on the shoulder.

“Try to sleep if you can. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”

Once she was alone again, Dorris stretched out face down on the bed, the blanket scratchy on her puffy face. Her hand instinctively went between her legs for comfort before she twitched it away. Is there something wrong with me, she thought, touching myself even now, if I’d been stronger none of this would have happened.

Both girls were sound asleep when morning came. Each was visited and each reaffirmed their decision. They were allowed to shower and brush their teeth, but not to see each other or anyone else. Neither ate breakfast. Ms Holcroft advised Jessica that she would probably just throw it up anyway.

Fourteen girls were waiting in the west quadrangle when Jessica was brought out. She was confused, but mostly preoccupied by embarrassment, both of which were replaced by shock when the deputy headmistress appeared from the other entrance with Dorris in tow.

Jessica started to call to her friend but was immediately shushed by Ms Holcroft. The two girls exchanged panicked looks and nervous smiles before the headmistress addressed the gathering.

“Dorris Nguyen and Jessica Wallace were caught out of their beds last night after curfew. Moreover they were ‘in flagrante delicto’ when discovered. Ordinarily they would already be on their way to their parents. Because - and only because - both of them chose the harder path, to suffer in order to save the other, I have permitted them to continue their education here.”

“Nguyen. Wallace. Three dozen was my offer, and three dozen you shall receive. Half for you, and half for you. The rest of you, there are two lessons here. Mind them carefully and pay attention until you are excused.”

Jessica and Dorris were led to a large A-frame in the middle of the quadrangle and made to lean against it facing each other. Each girl was secured in place by several leather straps. The widest one across her back, a smaller one to keep her knees together and a matching one at her ankles. Neither girl could squirm, twist or move their legs, but their arms were left free.

Dorris’ heart was pounding as she looked into Jessica’s eyes. Their faces were inches apart and Dorris wanted so badly to kiss her girlfriend, but chose instead to look away.

“I love you. It’ll be okay.” Jessica’s whisper made her lover smile, but then the headmistress interrupted.

“Stop mooning at each other, keep quiet and pay attention. After each of the eighteen strokes you will say two things. First you’ll say, ‘Thank you ma’am’ and then ‘Give that slut another hard one’. Say them both like you mean it.”

The deputy headmistress had collected two fibreglass canes and handed one to the headmistress, who swished it through the air. Both girls flinched at the thin sound it made.

“Palms together. If you break contact for any reason, each of you will earn an extra stroke.”

The women moved into place. Each girl felt a tap-tap just below her tailbone.

“We’re going to mark you from here…”

The canes slid down to just above their knees.

“…to here. Wallace first, then Nguyen, eighteen times. More, of course, if you can’t control yourselves.”

Jessica heard that terrible noise and felt the pressure, but it took a second before the pain flared. She hissed and her mouth twisted.

“Thank you ma’am. Give that slut another hard one.”

Immediately the deputy headmistress cracked her cane down on Dorris’ pert flesh. The young girl pushed her hands against Jessica’s and inhaled deeply.

“Thank you ma’am. Give that slut another hard one.”

Each girl watched the other as they shared their pain and fright. Seconds ticked by and they suffered, all the worse for the anticipation. Jessica clenched and unclenched her buttocks as she waited.

After what seemed like an endless time the cane crashed into the bottom of Jessica’s thighs and her pain redoubled. She panted and tried to stamp her foot, to no avail.

“Thank you ma’am. Give that slut another hard one.”

Dorris’ second stroke was also low and she moaned and strained. Her breath was warm on Jessica’s face.

“Thank you ma’am. Give that slut another hard one.”

Again they miserably awaited the next dose of pain. It was just as hard to watch their lover be hurt as it was to take their own beating. Dorris tried to smile for Jessica, but her face could only show unhappiness.

Four more terrible strokes were administered at the same tortuously slow pace. The pain had reached its peak, pure agony in every fibre, and each time it began to ebb they knew it would shortly be rekindled. Jessica’s eyes welled with tears and Dorris clenched her teeth. With great effort, four small hands stayed pressed together.

The headmistress’ voice was even with an undercurrent of amusement.

“Six each. One third taken, one half of your skin covered. The welts are red now, but they’ll turn purple and black before too long. The cane presents a gift that keeps on giving. Chins up, you filthy deviants. It only gets harder from here.”

Jessica gulped as cold fear flooded her. Her legs were trembling and her heart was racing now. Her world had shrunk to the sight of Dorris’ face (normally so cute and now such a mess!) and the heat of her abused posterior. She tried to relax her muscles, but it didn’t help. The seventh stroke was just as merciless as the rest and she screamed at the intensity of it.

“Th-thank. Thank… youma’am. Give that. ohhh. slut another hard… one!”

Dorris yelped as the deputy headmistress landed another vicious hit on her bare skin. Her chest heaved and her face screwed up in misery.

“Thankyouma’am give thatslutanother… ha-a-a-rd. Ooone.”

The assembled girls watched the cruelty on show before them. No-one could look away no matter how revolted, terrified or sorry they felt. They stood still as trees, transfixed as the two young lesbians suffered, watching as their naked skin began to glow with sweat and the awful stripes left by the cane reddened and swelled until they looked as if they would burst open.

The headmistress waited even longer than usual after the tenth stroke and savoured the distress of the girls. Both were sobbing now, wheezing and juddering as they gasped. They cast their heads about, unable to look at each other and doing anything that had even the smallest chance of helping with the unending burning.

At long last the cane sliced against the tops of Jessica’s thighs and she screamed so loudly her dormitory mates all winced. It was too much for the girl and she snatched her hand back to rub herself. Before she had even reached her bottom she realised the mistake she’d made and she frantically moved back to seek Dorris’ palm. She spoke quickly as if it might forestall the consequences of her failure.

“Thank you ma’am give that slut another hard one.”

“We will. And another at the end for you both. Both of you, keep you hands where you were told. Think what you’ve just done to your girlfriend.”

Jessica bit her lip and prayed for the strength to survive. She felt so guilty and worthless for her weakness. How could she even make up for the extra punishment she’d just earned for Dorris?

The headmistress gave them a new instruction after the twelfth stroke.

“Lean forward. Grab your arms and pull close together. Now, you slut-children, kiss. Hard. Don’t speak, don’t you dare let even a sliver of daylight between those lips. Show everyone how you do it together. The rest of you, this” - she pointed the cane at Jessica’s horribly bruised thighs - “is what happens when you do this.” - she gestured to the forced display of intimacy.

It was harder than holding hands and both girls came very close to pulling away several times during the next three strokes. Neither would have believed it possible, but the beating hurt even more than before thanks to the dreadful strokes landing on already-welted places. Dorris’ arms ached as Jessica gripped them like iron. They cried together and their tears mixed on their beet red cheeks.

Jessica felt the first flower of hope as the punishment’s end drew closer. Fifteen, sixteen taken, just three more, she told herself. They had been strapped down and beaten for so long now she could hardly remember anything else. She tried to swallow and lubricate her dry mouth without breaking contact. Both girls had their eyes closed and were concentrating on anything good they could feel from the kiss, by far the longest they’d ever had and unlikely to be repeated.

Ms Holcroft twisted back for the eighteenth stroke and swung as hard as she possibly could, the cane pressing poor Jessica’s backside nearly flat, loud as a gunshot. A fat welt instantly sprung up despite the crowd of stripes already present. Jessica knocked her feet together and gave a muffled howl. She was dripping with sweat from the stress of the punishment.

Daphne’s stroke was every bit as powerful and left Dorris unable to breath for several seconds. Finally her chest heaved as she sucked air in. Her nose was running freely, making an even bigger mess of her pretty little face.

“Let go of each other and put your hands on your heads. You managed to keep it to one extra set, which you will now receive. Remember to reply.”

Jessica’s last cane stroke was as hard as the one before and was expertly delivered to her most sensitive place, just at the crease between buttock and thigh. She screamed again and twisted her head back and forth.

“Th-thank you ma’am. Ohplease. pleaseno… G-g-g… give that slut another hard one. Mercy pleasemercymercy.”

Dorris was immediately struck in exactly the same way and a moan of absolute exhaustion and defeat spilled from her. She hung her head and tried to gather enough breath to speak. She wound her fingers in her hair so hard she almost tore it out and didn’t even notice compared to the agony in her bottom and legs. Her toes curled as tight as they could, almost clawing the beam under her feet.

“Thank… you… ma’am. Give that… sl-slut… ano…ther… hard… one.”

Ms Holcroft pondered adding another set for Jessica’s foible, but decided there was no point. Both girls were clearly completely spent, reduced to quivering, insensible beings of agony. Both lessons could be considered complete.

“Dormitory captains, ready yourselves here.”

Dorris and Jessica were released from their bindings. Both girls slid downward, landing on their knees. The captains, both junior girls, steadied them and waited.

“Wallace. Nguyen. You are excused from classes today. Stay in your dormitories and rest. I recommend you do so by laying on your front. Captains, help them to their beds. The rest of you may go to class.”

Jessica was helped to her feet and her arm taken over her captain’s shoulder. She reached to touch her tortured flesh and found even the lightest brush hurt unbearably. She looked back at her girlfriend and was horrified by the damage on display. Dorris’ thighs were a riot of red and purple; her natural skin tone almost nowhere to be seen. Bruises were blooming everywhere from Dorris’ knees to her buttocks. Her flesh was a thicket of circles, arcs and straight, swollen indigo stripes. It was awful to see but she could not look away. More awful was the knowledge that her poor judgment had caused her friend to be so savagely hurt.

She watched her lover limp away, head lolling on her helper’s shoulder. Jessica was suddenly so tired it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. When she reached her bed she flopped down like a dead person. Her last thought before sleep took her was that she had wanted to see Dorris’ face, just to know if the girl she loved still felt the same way about her.

That evening Daphne made her way to the changing area, passing through two locked doors on the way. She shed her uniform and slipped into something slinkier, skimpier and silkier. She decided against any accessories for now and entered the special chamber they called the ‘speakeasy’.

The place had a certain opulence to it, green leather, oak, brass, velvet and varnish. Soft lighting and a delicate haze of cigar smoke over languid jazz music. A few trusted faculty were being served and entertained in various ways by a few trusted students. The headmistress was sprawled in an armchair and Daphne came to sit beside her.

“Daphne, everything in order? Have a seat and wind down.”

“Yes, there’ll be eyes on those two at every moment and they’ll never know it. You’re looking positively fierce tonight Virginia. Ah, thank you, poppet.”

The last comment was directed to a junior girl who’d brought a glass of brandy on a silver tray and stood waiting for further instructions. She was a junior girl and an ‘early bloomer’, with sizable, almost pneumatic breasts in contrast to her slight frame. She wore nothing but high heeled pumps, fishnet stockings and a garter belt, so that her assets were completely exposed. Virginia smacked the girl’s bare backside and waved her away.

“I’m going to bugger that one tonight, it’s high time. Anything take your fancy?”

“Not yet, I’m still wishing I’d been there to see Beaumont catch them in the act. Must’ve fallen on them like the wrath of God from the sight of them. How long do you think it’ll be - three days?”

“You’re underestimating them a bit, Daphne. Five’s my thought. Whenever it happens, we’ll be able to keep them up here and make the best use of them.”

The headmistress propped one foot on the coffee table. Her high-heeled knee boots were immaculately polished, as were the black leather shorts she wore, and the leather vest. Her peaked cap marked her as the Mistress of this place, but the thick, ribbed, rubber dildo harnessed at her crotch was what stood out most - pardon the pun - especially since it was bright red. She stroked it absentmindedly and took another puff on her cigar, surveying her domain.

“Ginny, are you still thinking about introducing Beaumont?”

“Soon, soon. She’ll hate bottoming, but she’d never admit it. We should make her do it regularly even after she’s allowed to top.”

The two companions smiled and relaxed in readiness for a night of sadistic satisfaction.