Nora stood in the middle of the living room, tears streaming down her face, her hands behind her head with her fingers laced. She could feel the throbbing of her ass, synchronized with her heartbeat. She wanted to rub the dozen fresh welts that Master had just created on her ass with the delrin cane - anything to either sooth the fire in her ass or the somewhat different fire smoldering just a few inches away from it, but she dared not move her hands.

Master stood behind her. She could not see him, but she knew he was there. He said, "What am I going to do with you, Nora?"

He punctuated his rhetorical question with a sharp slap on her left butt cheek, making her cry out with the fresh assault on her tender striped bottom.

"You know the rules, don't you?"

She half-whimpered her reply: "Yes, sir."

"Is it too much to ask for you to obey them? Are the rules onerous in some way?"

She knew what he was doing. In their relationship, most of the rules existed to accentuate the power exchange between them. In this case, the rule she had broken was that she was not to pleasure herself without permission. All that was required of her was that when she wanted to touch herself she simply had to ask Master. Almost without exception he would allow it (often deciding to watch the show) and almost all of the exceptions were when he decided to take matters into his own hands (which was far more pleasurable). She knew there was only one answer she could give: "No, sir."

"Then why do you have such difficulty complying?"

Her lip trembled. She knew the answer, She was naughty so that she could experience his punishment. She knew she could ask him any time to bring out his sadistic streak, but as often as she had done so, she came to discover that she enjoyed the punishment dynamic. They could simulate it, of course, but a corner of her mind could simply not let go of the difference between the two scenarios.

"Sir..."

She couldn't say it. She started to cry, her fresh tears running down the tracks of her previous ones. Master stepped around to the front of her. She looked in his face. He tried to keep is visage stern, but she could see something softer in his eyes.

"You don't need to answer, Nora. I know you are naughty just so you can be punished. But don't you see the position that puts me in? Punishments are intended to deter misbehavior, not encourage it. So you've been caned. And I'll bet at the time that's what you expected to happen. Even wanted, am I right?"

Nora started to get nervous. She had no idea where this conversation was going now. But she answered, "Yes, sir."

"But that's not your punishment. It can't be - it's what you wanted. Am I right?"

"Yes, sir."

He continued, stepping off to the side of the room. She kept her eyes facing forward as he continued, "So now your actual punishment begins, Nora. And this is going to take some time. But before I go into details, let me show you this." He stepped back into view holding a video camera attached to a tabletop tripod. He continued, "This is going to keep you honest, Nora. I will be watching you. Not all of the time, but you'll never know when. You're going to endure this punishment alone, but that solitude will not afford you an opportunity to evade what you've earned for yourself."

Nora shuddered and a pit opened up in her stomach. She saw the unblinking eye of the camera and realized that the hold it would force her to place on herself would be stronger than a steel chain.

Master walked over to a table by the side of the room and set up the camera. She watched him fiddle with his phone for a moment and then, while watching its screen, he waved his hand in front of the camera twice. He nodded and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

He walked back to Nora and grabbed her by the elbow and marched her into the corner of the room.

"Kneel," he ordered. She dropped down to her knees awkwardly, still keeping her hands behind her head.

"Lean forward and place an elbow on each wall." she did so.

"Now, lift your feet off the floor. I want them high up."

Nora lifted her feet and gasped as her weight shifted to her knees. Some of her weight was borne by her elbows, but the pain in her knees made her instantly forget about the throbbing in her ass. She cried out.

Master knelt beside her. He had her phone in his hand and placed it on the floor in the corner.

He said, "You will stay in this position until I text you otherwise. If you move, I will see it, and I will text you and you can expect that your punishment will be lengthened.

Is that clear?"

She half-moaned, half-whimpered, "Yes, sir."

Master stood back up. She heard his footsteps recede until they were gone. She was alone. She could feel the fibers in the carpet etching themselves into the flesh of her knees. She shifted her weight. Half a second later, her phone made the text message "ting-a-ling" sound and the screen lit up. She looked down at it. The message read, "Be still!"

She trembled and the pit in her stomach yawned wider. Her only thought was, "oh my God."

She brought her eyes back up to an imaginary spot on the wall in front of her and tried to lose herself in the nothingness of the field of white that dominated her vision. She could still feel the pain in her knees, but kept as still as she could. The isolation heightened her senses, but the constant weight on her knees moderated somewhat and other sensations came to her attention, filling the void of her isolation. She could feel a tear stream down her cheek from her left eye. She could hear herself breathe slowly. And, of course, there was the warmth and distant tingling in her sex - less pronounced than before, but not faded entirely.

She thought about how she found herself here. How his words about her disobedience made her feel. She felt disappointment in herself, and ashamed. Another tear fell from her eye. She sniffled. Her left calf muscle suddenly twitched, forcing her to shift her weight. She willed herself still, not wanting to be chastised by her phone. She glanced down at it. It remained silent.

She tried to picture in her mind's eye what she must look like, kneeling like that in the corner. Despite the pain in her knees, she could still feel the warmth of the fresh stripes on her ass cheeks. She wanted to reach her hands down and feel the welts, but she wanted even more to just stand up and soothe her knees.

The phone made it's "ting-a-ling" sound again. The sound startled her and she was almost afraid to look down. The screen said, "Get those feet up!" She realized that she had begun to relax slightly and her calves were dipping down towards the floor. She quickly raised her feet back up, whimpering at the fresh sensations in her knees as her weight shifted.

She had endured corner-time many times before. She began to marvel at how different it was this time. It was much more mentally engaging this time. When she wasn't balanced so precariously on only her knees and elbows and merely had to stand with either her hands on her head or behind her back it was downright boring. Her mind usually drifted away from what got her in the corner in the first place. But this was altogether different.

She began to have difficulty keeping her legs still. They started to tremble of their own accord. When she realized this, she began to be concerned that he would chastise her once again, but the phone remained silent. She began to feel like her calf muscles were on the verge of cramping. In the back of her mind she knew she could always use her safe word 'Mercy', and he would release her, but in that thought, her mind asked, 'release me from what?' Nothing was securing her in place. She could simply stand up at any time, camera or not. But she had already disappointed him with her disobedience once. It was her own disappointment, far more than his physical torment, that she desperately wanted to avoid.

She didn't know how long she had been in that position in the corner. She didn't wonder how much longer it would be - she was too mentally engaged in the sensations from her tortured muscles and in the exercise of willing them to stay in place. She didn't hear him enter the room and approach. When he spoke, his voice was soft, so as to not startle her. He said, simply, "Alright, Nora." He knelt beside her and very slowly and carefully helped her shift her posture so she first was kneeling with her ankles on the ground, and then eased her down on her side onto a sheepskin rug. He examined her knees as she moved her hands down to them and rubbed them gently, trying to relieve the tenderness.

After a moment, she felt him gather her up in his arms and pick her up. He carried her into their bedroom and placed her on the bed, her back and head nestled in a nest of pillows. She looked up at him. His face showed concern. She said simply, "I am sorry, Master."

He softened and said, "No, Nora. You were naughty and you have been punished, so there's nothing to be sorry for anymore."

She smiled and said, "Thank you."

He spoke again, "Have you learned from this experience, Nora?"

She nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

He smiled, "Good girl."