Pup (Bratt)

Chapter Nineteen: From One Worst to Another

                  

Brian had to calm down before he could punish Matt. He sent Matt to his room, with a growl, "I will collect you when it's time."

Matt sat on his bed, nervousness building in the pit of his stomach, and tears welling in his eyes. He was nervous about his punishment, and so upset that he had disappointed his master. He shouldn't have let Zacky kiss him, Bran was right. It wasn't right for him to touch Zacky like that, he belonged to Brian and Brian alone. The guilt from the lie Matt told was eating away at him. How could he have done that to his master? Brian knew what was best, if he didn't want Matt speaking to Zacky anymore then Matt shouldn't.

He needed to tell Brian the truth. But Matt couldn't now, not while Brian was so angry.

It seemed like he was gone for hours. Matt fumbled with his fingers nervously, trying to tone down the guilt in his stomach. Eventually the tears escaped and he wiped them away angrily. Why was he crying? It wasn't like he was afraid. He was just torn up from the look of disappointment on his master's face, the anger caused by Matt.

When Brian opened Matt's door, Matt instantly got into the forgiveness position, laying his face by Brian's feet. Brian looked down at him for a moment, his expression unreadable.

"Matt." He said, "Would you prefer the whip or the cane?"

Matt's heart leapt into his throat. His mind jumped to Sterling, the dream he had, the strikes raining down. "M-Master-"

"Answer me, Matt."

Matt was going to be beaten. He was filled with terror, and began to shake. "W-W-Whip, s-sir."

"All right." Brian pulled Matt to his feet, not harshly, but firmly. "Follow me."

They went down to the play room, and Brian went to the far wall, pulling down a crawling harness. "Undress." He said.

Matt's eyes went wide. "B-Brian, I- M-Master, please, you-you can't-"

"Are you to tell me what I can and cannot do, Matthew?" Brian's eyes flashed. "Is this one of your hard limits? Recall from the contract. Shall I retrieve it for you? All I can recall is shock administration and sleeping within your crate."

Matt whimpered. He would be forced into his headspace if he got into that harness, he knew it. He had been conditioned to get in his headspace when he was harnessed by Sterling, and his puppy side was tortured when he was punished in his headspace. He thought about trying to explain this to Brian, but when he opened his mouth, Brian said, "Don't object to me, Matt! I will help you into the harness."

Fazed, Matt stripped off his shirt numbly, followed by his pants and boxers. He was shaking so bad his hands slipped when he tried to tug his feet from his boxers, and Matt gasped when Brian placed his hands on Matt's shoulders gently. "Matt." He murmured, "I'm going to punish you for kissing Zacky, all right? You know the safe word. If it gets to be too much for you to handle, call out and we will stop, do you understand me?"

Matt gave a shaky nod, a tear streaking down his cheek. Brian helped Matt into the harness, and Matt's mind flashed to Sterling laughing as Matt limped across the dungeon floor in his harness.

"Twenty lashes." Brian said, pulling a whip from the rack on the wall, "Count aloud."

Then the whip came down.

Matt was howling. His paws slipped in his own blood as he fled across the floor. Sterling was laughing. "Aren't you gonna be quiet, mutt? It won't stop until you hush up, little bitch."

"Count, Matt." Brian said, "I'm starting over."

He didn't want to cower in a corner, because then Sterling could advance on him and he would have nowhere to go. But Sterling kept coming and Matt found himself pressed in the corner of the room as the whip sliced into his flesh again and again.