Saturday 22 June 2013

'Punish Me' by Caroline Kelly

'Does it hurt yet?' Josh yelled.

Steph knew if she said no, he'd keep going until it did hurt and she wasn't sure if she could take any more pain.

'I said, does it hurt yet?' 

'No,' she mumbled, worried he'd know if she lied. Then there would be a punishment for the lie which would be worse than this.

'Then we'll make it hurt,' he smiled down at her.

She gritted her teeth, ready for the pain, ready to try and push through it quietly. The slightest noise, slightest complaint and Josh would punish her for that too. How could she have spent almost 12 months putting herself through this? 

Because she deserved it, that's why. She had brought it all on herself, there was no-one else to blame for her having gone from being a confident, fun loving woman, to someone uncomfortable in her own skin, putting on her pjs when she got home from work and sitting on the couch watching tv and snacking all night. It was all her own fault, really.

'Get up!' 

Her legs trembled as she stood up, trying to move quickly to avoid any more punishments.

God sometimes she hated Josh. But then sometimes she loved him - usually when her skinny jeans easily slid on thanks to his military style bootcamps.

No pain, no gain!

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