The Pledge Mistress Copyright 2006 by EC EC's Erotic Art & Fiction - http://www.ecgraphicarts.com/ (warnings: erotic discipline, sex between adults, medical fetish, public nudity, sexual hazing) Chapter 26 – A lifetime of servitude Towards the end of Wednesday evening Bernadette recovered enough to grab Ken for a round of massaging and sex. Because no one else had wanted him that night, Ken had spent his evening doing chores with two of his fellow pledges and was relatively well rested. His performance satisfied the freshman, although as he entered her, his mind continued to wander between fantasies of Tracy, Jason, and Lisa. As usual, he wasn’t making love to the person of the moment, but instead to various fantasies loosely based on people he knew. Bernadette’s pursuit of her goal of getting Cherine to “loosen up” continued after her own needs were satisfied. As before, she found her reluctant friend in the sorority library and encouraged her to accept being blindfolded and taken downstairs. Lisa also was in the mood for some intimacy. She would have liked to make love to Ken, because she was in the mood for sex with a male partner. She also wanted to talk to him alone, something she really had not had the opportunity to do since they began their internments as pledges. However, she knew that Wednesday night would not be a good time to find him because Bernadette had gotten to him first and probably would wear him out. While her former boyfriend was spending the evening with Bernadette, Lisa decided to spend some personal time with her current lover. She knew that the guest room would be occupied by Bernadette. However, the sorority had another vacant room, an infirmary with a small bed that she had permission to use as long as she changed the sheets and made sure everything was picked up afterwards. When no one else was looking, Lisa snuck up behind Kathleen and began by kissing her on the neck. Seductively laid a hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear: “So, you feel like being a bit naughty tonight?” Kathleen’s expression changed completely as her heart jumped into her throat. Oh yes! She wanted to “be naughty” so badly… Lisa led her lover to the infirmary and closed the door. She grabbed the hem of Kathleen’s T-shirt and pulled it over her head, leaving her naked from the waist up. Kathleen was about to reach for Lisa’s shirt to pull it off as well, but Lisa stopped her by placing her index finger on her lover’s lips. With that simple gesture she quietly signaled: I’m in charge, Kathleen. You need to be patient and let me do this my way. Lisa placed her hands on Kathleen’s shoulders and motioned her to turn around. She grabbed the waistband of the younger woman’s shorts and slowly, sensuously peeled them down her bottom and slipped them down her legs. She ran her hand over both bottom-cheeks and commented: “What a pretty, naughty little bottom. We both know what such a cute bottom needs, don’t we, sweetie?” Before Kathleen had a chance to respond, Lisa gently kissed both sides, then separated the girl’s cheeks and gently blew against her bottom-hole. Kathleen’s reaction was a mixture of fear, love, and extreme arousal. Lisa stood up, grabbed Kathleen’s shoulders, and made her turn around to face her. She placed her fingertips under the girl’s chin and forced her to look straight into her eyes. Kathleen was very nervous, because she tended to look away when she was talking to another person, even one she deeply cared for. “Who do you belong to?” “I…I belong to you, Lisa.” “And who gets to play with that cute little bottom of yours?” “You do. You get to play with me.” Lisa could tell that Kathleen was quite scared, because their relationship was changing. Lisa had become much more forceful than she had been previously. With both words and gestures she was letting Kathleen know: “I’m in charge of what goes on between us. You’re now mine, and I expect you to obey me.” That night Lisa would begin introducing several small rituals into the relationship as part of her plan to take control of her lover’s life. Apart from her sexuality, she would expect Kathleen to surrender control of anything having to do with her body and her health. Kathleen would need to request Lisa’s permission before taking any medicine, allow Lisa to review her personal medical records, and no longer would be allowed to take her own temperature. If Lisa decided her lover needed an enema or douche, Kathleen would fetch the requested items and position herself for treatment. Eventually Lisa even hoped to tell Kathleen what she could and could not eat. As Kathleen nervously watched her, Lisa removed a rectal thermometer and some medical gel from the medicine cabinet. She would put Kathleen over her lap and take her temperature. Lisa sat down on the room’s small sofa, still dressed in her pledge uniform. She reached up, grabbed Kathleen’s wrist, and pulled her across her thighs. “I’m gonna start checking your temperature whenever we’re alone, ‘cause I want to make sure you’re always nice and healthy. Wouldn’t want you sick with any fevers.” Kathleen took a deep breath as she settled over her lover’s legs. Lisa pushed her thighs apart to position her so that her sphincter was properly exposed. Lisa rested one hand on her lover’s right bottom-cheek while she dipped her free hand’s index finger into the gel to gently spread around the secret opening of Kathleen’s body. She pushed her finger in and moved it back and forth to better lubricate the path for the thermometer. Kathleen’s body shuttered from the arousal that having her bottom stimulated always gave her. Lisa spread Kathleen’s anus with her free hand as she gently inserted the thermometer. She pushed it in, and lovingly stroked Kathleen’s backside while she waited for the temperature to register. The freshman stayed contentedly in position, clearly enjoying the attention and submission to Lisa’s examination. Finally Lisa pulled the device out, read “normal”, and dropped it into a beaker of disinfectant. Lisa had thought about giving her lover an enema, but was concerned that might spoil her mood instead of enhancing it. Instead she would bathe her, spank her, and make love to her. She motioned for the younger woman to get up and allow herself to be led to the small room’s shower. “Go ahead and undress me. Please fold up my clothes.” The request sounded simple enough, but it was another part of Lisa’s over-all goal to eventually exert total dominance over her lover. Lisa would train Kathleen to serve her, but do so gradually through gentle and polite-sounding requests. Over time those requests would become duties that she would perform without needing to be asked. Lisa would decide what both she and her lover wore each day and would expect Kathleen to assist her with her clothing. Among other duties, she would perform the role of Lisa’s maid-in-waiting. Kathleen carefully pulled Lisa’s T-shirt over her head. She nervously kissed one of her breasts before folding the shirt and setting it on the nightstand. Lisa sat down in the room’s only chair, to allow Kathleen to take off her shoes. Lisa felt deep satisfaction when Kathleen knelt in front of her and began untying the shoes to get them off her feet. Kathleen took off both shoes, loosened the laces, and then peeled off Lisa’s socks. She folded the socks and placed them inside the shoes. Lisa stood up to allow her lover to pull down her shorts. She put her feet together and placed her hands on Kathleen’s head as the younger woman nervously lowered Lisa’s final piece of clothing. Lisa stepped out of shorts, which Kathleen folded and placed on top of the T-shirt. Once they both were completely naked, Lisa stood behind Kathleen and cupped her small breasts in her hands. With her fingertips she manipulated her lover’s nipples as she kissed her neck. Kathleen gasped and placed her hands over Lisa’s as she became increasingly aroused. Lisa firmly pinched her lover’s nipples and whispered into her ear: “I see a very naughty girl in this room…a girl who’s been so naughty her bottom’s gonna need some extra special attention. So, has my silly little girl been naughty today?” “I…yes…I’m naughty…” “…and what happens to silly naughty little girls?” “…I…we gotta be spanked…” “That’s right. I think you’re due for a nice, long spanking, don’t you think?” “I…yes…please, spank me…” Lisa responded by sitting on the bed and pulling Kathleen across her lap. As before, she wanted to make the spanking an erotic, sensuous experience that would mix a sharp sting with massage and pleasurable stimulus. She would make Kathleen want to be spanked, beg to be spanked, and then, once her bottom was red and stinging, beg to be seduced. As Lisa ran her hand over her lover’s eager backside, Kathleen spread her thighs and turned her hips up. She was lewdly exposed, her bottom-hole facing upwards and her labia parted to expose her vagina. Through her posture she was begging to be stimulated as well as smacked. Lisa would oblige by doing both, trying to keep Kathleen delicately balanced between arousal and pain for as long as possible. She began with pleasure as she fondled and caressed the skinny bottom and muscular thighs positioned across her lap. Lisa began spanking slowly, with very soft slaps that were barely enough to make Kathleen’s skin sting and tingle slightly. Between slaps Lisa continued to massage her lover’s bottom and tease her sphincter and labia. As before, as Kathleen became accustomed to the stinging in her backside, Lisa slowly increased the force of the swats. Kathleen’s bottom was a pleasant shade of pink and her body covered with sweat when Lisa paused. She gently massaged her lover’s stimulated buttocks and wet vagina, approaching but not quite touching her clitoris. Kathleen would be rewarded, eventually, but the reward would have to wait until Lisa was ready to give it to her. Lisa began slapping considerably harder, but continued to pause to massage and stimulate her lover’s backside. She remembered the hard lesson Ruth Burnside had given her a couple of weeks before and wanted to control Kathleen in the same manner. She carefully watched Kathleen’s reaction, hoping to not just seduce her, but also to completely control her. SLAP!…SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP!… SLAP! The smell of sexual arousal permeated the small room as Lisa began spanking with real force. Kathleen began to tremble as Lisa teased her, rearing herself up in desperation to get Lisa’s fingertips to touch her. Lisa firmly pressed down on her lover’s waist to force her back into proper position. “You really are naughty, aren’t you? So you do like having your cute little bottom warmed, don’t you?” “I…yes…I like it! Please…” “Please, what…? What do you want? Tell me what you want!” “Keep going! Please! Spank me!” Lisa said nothing more, but relished the control she was exercising as she continued to massage her lover before resuming the spanking. She had reached that point with Kathleen that Burnside had reached with her, actually controlling her lover’s emotions by controlling her body. Kathleen again reared up, desperately begging to be touched. Lisa decided the moment had come to give Kathleen her orgasm. She pushed her thumb into the younger woman’s bottom-hole and entered her vagina with her middle finger. As Kathleen reared up Lisa reached under her with her free hand to seek out her clitoris. “Oh…Oh…OHHH! Uh…Oh yes…Oh yes…OHHH!” Kathleen was quite loud as she climaxed. Lisa glanced at the door; worried her voice might be heard in the hallway outside. “Such a naughty girl! I mean, making all that noise and begging to be spanked! I guess I really am gonna have to start disciplining you, for real!” “OHHH!…Oh yes…OHHH!” Lisa understood her lover perfectly; well enough to use the knowledge Ruth Burnside had given her to exert total control over the freshman. Her admonishment and the threat of harsher punishment only enhanced the younger woman’s orgasm and desire for total physical surrender. Her burning backside, the pressure of Lisa’s fingers inside her bottom and vagina, the gentle teasing of her clitoris, and the helpless feeling of being under her lover’s complete domination combined to give Kathleen an orgasm unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Finally Kathleen climaxed and her orgasm came to an end. She lay quietly across Lisa’s lap as her bliss subsided and reality closed in on her. As the freshman slowly came to her senses, Lisa lovingly massaged her back with her free hand, but kept the thumb and finger from her other hand firmly inside her lover’s body. Kathleen lay quietly; totally enjoying the feeling of absolute surrender to the woman she loved. Finally Kathleen seemed to wake up enough for Lisa to pull out her fingers: “Please get a washcloth from under the sink, wet it with soap, and clean my hand.” Without saying anything, Kathleen got up and did as she was told. She soaked a washrag with hot water and soap, then knelt at Lisa’s feet, took her hand, and wiped her fingers clean. Kathleen wrung out the cloth into the sink, re-wet it, and again knelt to finish. She rinsed the washrag several more times, very careful to make sure Lisa’s fingers were absolutely clean. Once the freshman was finished, Lisa reached forward to stroke her lover’s hair and face. Kathleen remained on her knees as she enjoyed the caresses, something that Lisa noticed and appreciated. Without being told or asked, Kathleen had gone on her knees to clean Lisa’s hand, and would remain kneeling until told to get up. Perhaps she was doing it subconsciously, but in every way possible she was signaling that she was willing to do whatever Lisa told her to do. Kathleen was sexually satisfied, but Lisa’s sexual needs were not. Lisa took her lover’s hand and motioned her to stand up. She lay on the bed with her legs spread. There was no need to say anything; Kathleen understood what Lisa wanted. Dutifully she settled between Lisa’s legs. She began kissing and licking her lover’s most private area, doing everything she could to make the evening as pleasurable for Lisa as Lisa had made it for her. When Lisa climaxed, she sat up and gently washed off Kathleen’s mouth and face with a clean washrag. Kathleen enjoyed the attention, not having had her face cleaned since she was a small child. In many ways it seemed that Lisa was treating her like a child, but that was what she wanted. At that moment she wanted to feel helpless and be cared for by someone who loved her. ---------- When the two women turned out the light and cuddled in the dark, Lisa continued to stroke Kathleen’s hair until she went to sleep. Lisa knew that Kathleen already was emotionally dependent on her. Just a few days before, the intensity of younger woman’s feelings frightened her, but that worry had faded. Obviously Lisa had just dug herself in a lot deeper with her commitment to her lover, but she also had begun molding the love affair into one that suited her needs. For the relationship to work, it was essential Kathleen understood that Lisa was the one who was in charge. During the 48 hours that had passed since her lover promised to do whatever she was told to do, Lisa had given some thought about what she wanted to accomplish with that promise. What she wanted from that agreement was to “own” Kathleen. The freshman would live under her not only her submissive lover, but also as her personal servant. Lisa took it for granted that Kathleen would do her best to obey her. However she expected at some point there she would need to “correct” Kathleen’s behavior through corporal punishment. When that moment came, Lisa knew that her lover would have to clearly understand why she needed to be punished and be convinced that punishment would help her. Once the punishment ended, she would need a lot of comforting and reassurance. In fact, it was quite likely that Lisa would only need to punish Kathleen once, as a reminder that her role in life was to obey or suffer the consequences. Once her role in the relationship was clearly established, she would be eager to do whatever was necessary to avoid being punished a second time. Now that Lisa had decided she wanted to “keep” her lover, the only issue she needed to resolve was her training. She would pursue her goals with a combination of love, emotional support, rewards, guidance, firmness, sexual dominance, and the threat of corporal punishment for disobedience. Kathleen’s conditioning, which had just started, would intensify once the pledging was over and the two women swore in as full members of the sorority. She understood that correction and discipline were what Kathleen expected, and subconsciously what she wanted. The more she thought about it, the more the idea of being Kathleen’s mistress appealed to Lisa. She was convinced that the life she was about to impose on Kathleen was the only practical way for her to live. The girl was very vulnerable and, if left to fend for herself, would be return to being victimized just as she had been tormented in high school. Lisa deeply cared for the fragile woman under her control and was determined that never again would she be humiliated. Never again would she kneel crying in a parking lot with cum all over her face. Never again would she sit in her living room in a prom dress, crying over a date that never showed up. She would give up her independence, but the reward would be to live safely under Lisa’s protection. Lisa reflected about a final irony. Although it was mostly because of Kathleen the relationship started, both women now knew it would never be one between two equals. As they traveled through life together, Lisa would lead their journey. Kathleen would follow, serve, and obey. ---------- Lisa’s thoughts continued to wander as Kathleen’s breathing changed, indicating she was deeply asleep. She pondered another submissive relationship, the one between Cecilia Sanchez and Jason Schmidt. There was very much in common between the way Cecilia treated Jason and the way Lisa planned to treat Kathleen. For the first time it dawned on her that her new relationship with Kathleen was similar to the one Cecilia had with Jason. Cecilia intensely loved Jason, but she loved him because he knew his proper place in the relationship. When Cecilia told Jason to do something, he did it. If he disappointed her, she did not hesitate to double a thick leather belt and swing it until his backside was covered with welts. However, she never punished him unless he had done something wrong. She made sure he clearly understood why he needed to be chastised and always comforted him once the discipline had ended. The purpose of Cecilia’s sessions with the belt was not to bring her pleasure, but to make sure Jason’s behavior conformed to what she expected. Over time, as he became the responsible person she wanted, she punished him much less. In spite of Cecilia’s control over Jason’s life, very rarely did she ever do anything to humiliate him in public. In fact, Lisa could only think of a single time, when she caught Jason and Ken at a tattoo parlor waiting to get tattoos and totally freaked. Apart from that one incident, Cecilia treated Jason with respect in public and disciplined him in private. As for what she demanded of him, her expectations were quite reasonable: to live a simple, healthy lifestyle and cater to her physical needs. Cecilia’s behavior towards her boyfriend sharply contrasted with Ruth Burnside’s treatment of her various lovers. Burnside loved to “put on a show”, to publicly strip and humiliate her numerous subs. To Burnside, an important part of her lovers’ experience was public humiliation. She was a show-woman, and the subs were little more than inanimate props for her public performance. Lisa suspected that Burnside was incapable of feeling any love for anyone, apart from whatever feelings she had towards Dr. Jim Halsey. Lisa pondered her own character, wondering where it fell in comparison with Cecilia Sanchez and Ruth Burnside. How could the life experience of each contribute to Lisa’s own aspirations and how she wanted to define her personality? She knew that she wanted to avoid the single-minded obsession that Cecilia had for Jason, but she also needed to avoid the cruel treatment the professor inflicted on the emotions of people like Mark Gertz. She wanted something in between, to have fun with her lovers like Burnside, but have caring relationships and solid commitment like Cecilia. As she thought about it, Lisa realized she already had experienced both types of relationships: serious and fun. Of course what she had with Kathleen was serious, very serious. Her five-year relationship with Mike also could be considered serious; too much so, which was why it ultimately failed. Neither Kathleen nor Mike had “fun” personalities, but there was a difference between them. Mike’s stubborn character could not be changed, while Kathleen already had sought to assure Lisa that she would adapt her life to fit Lisa’s needs. What about a “fun” relationship? Yes, Lisa had enjoyed a “fun” relationship, with her most recent boyfriend Ken. She had enjoyed his company and liked him as a friend as well as a lover. What had been strange about their relationship was the extreme difference between the couple’s sex life and everything else they did together. In spite of Lisa’s savage treatment of him during sex, when not making love they treated each other as total equals. Lisa’s reflections drifted back to Ken and a thought crossed her mind. Was it possible that Lisa had been wrong about what Ken wanted from her? Perhaps that what he really wanted was a relationship that came closer to what Cecilia had with Jason: a relationship with fewer floggings and more guidance and psychology? Perhaps Ken, like Jason and Kathleen, needed to live under the orders and protection of a caring lover, instead of simply having her as an S&M buddy. Maybe that was why his fantasies had wandered so much, that Lisa had not understood his true needs. She wondered if she inadvertently had passed up an opportunity to find happiness in her relationship with Ken. Then she began to wonder if there was any way to make it up to him. ---------- The following morning was Thursday, which meant the pledges would endure a second attempt running up and down the stadium stairs. At 4:00 in the morning Tracy stormed into the guest room wearing nothing but a pair of running shoes and socks. She turned the light and greeted the pledges with her usual: “OK sleeping beauties! UP-UP-UP! Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” The four sleepy pledges struggled out of their beds and sullenly knelt, surprised to see their Pledge Mistress already wearing her running shoes. Then they noticed the time. It was only 4:00 in the morning! Tracy had woken them 90 minutes early! “Ladies, the deal is, under the orders of President Alexandra, we’re gonna be doing some streaking. Until all of you manage the stadium stairs, you’ll run the stadium stairs naked, and whenever you all don’t make it, you’ll run back from the stadium naked. However, because I’m not thrilled about you being hooted at by the football players, I requested permission to make some changes in how we’re gonna be doing this challenge. From now on, until you beat those stairs, we’re going out early so no one will see us. Another thing, the sorority officers have voted that we have to leave our uniforms behind at the house. Until you pass this challenge, wearing the running uniform is a privilege we won’t be getting.” The pledges stared at their Pledge Mistress in bewilderment. The stadium was more than a mile from the sorority house! That meant 20 minutes of running in the nude to get to the stadium, 30 minutes of running and stretching in the stadium itself, and another 20 minutes running back! The pledges were so dismayed by their own situation that Tracy’s word “we” had not yet registered in their minds. “OK, that’s it! Dump your bladders and get your shoes on!” Five minutes later the pledges and their mentor were stretching on mats laid out in the sitting room. By 4:20 they were headed out the door. As Tracy led them outside, the aspiring Four-Betas realized that she had not put on her PT uniform. They later found out that streaking alongside her pledges was the price the she had to pay to get them excused from having to run in daylight with the sophomores. When she pleaded their situation to her unsympathetic fellow officers, Tracy had been told that she could change her charges’ running schedule, but only if she was willing to run naked with them. To the surprise of the others, she agreed, retrieved her PT uniform from her room, and handed it to Heather. The other Four-Beta officers had imagined that Tracy would be terrified of being caught streaking, something that could have ended her aspirations to become an Army officer. However, they did not realize that Sergeant Polk of Campus Security was a fellow Reservist and knew Tracy fairly well. A phone call from Tracy to Polk explaining her situation assured that he would look the other way while the women were running across campus in the nude. If he received any calls about streakers, he would respond slowly enough to not catch them. The women set out at a slow run towards the small park that bypassed Pageant Street. The pledges had vague hopes that Tracy might have hidden uniforms in the bushes, but they passed by with no hint of stopping. Tracy suspected that someone from the sorority would be waiting near the stadium to make sure the pledges and their Pledge Mistress had run all the full distance in the nude. The women ran along the quiet back streets, sticking to areas shaded from streetlights to avoid being spotted by residents. They dashed across the boulevard and jogged along the quiet sidewalks of Old Campus. Tracy set a deliberately slow pace to allow Bernadette and Cherine to make it to the stadium without being overly fatigued. However, being winded would not be much of a problem, because Bernadette and Cherine were terrified by what they were doing and had plenty of adrenaline building up in their bodies. Meanwhile, Lisa and Kathleen thoroughly enjoyed the run to the stadium. The daring feeling of running naked, combined with the silence of the pre-dawn darkness, the relaxed pace of the run, and the cool air blowing against their exposed bodies, turned out to be a truly enjoyable experience. The two women actually hoped that it would be a while before Bernadette was able to complete the stadium run, because they wanted to have the opportunity to go streaking at least a couple more times. As the group passed under the lights near the entrance to the Fitness Center, the group noticed Heather’s friend with a digital camera in her hands. She took a picture of the runners to verify that they had made the run in the nude as required. A minute later, as they approached the Stadium, they saw Polk standing next to his bicycle. The pledges thought they had been busted, but Polk waved to Tracy and told her that Gate 4 had been unlocked and opened for them. Tracy thanked him, although she had very mixed feelings. Polk was doing her a favor, but at the same time was taking advantage of the opportunity to see her without any clothes. Lisa noticed Polk’s eyes scanning Tracy’s body before looking over her four companions. She suspected, rightly, that Polk would be more than happy to be standing by Gate 4 when they were finished and catch another look as they ran past him on their way back to the sorority house. Tracy sighed at the thought that her body no longer held any secrets from one of the guys in her Reserve unit. However, now she had to deal with the purpose of the trip, getting Bernadette to complete running six full flights of stairs non-stop. The women ran though Corridor 4, descended the steps, and came to a stop on the football field. “Pledge Kathleen!” “Yes, ma’am!” “You are excused from running with the rest of the group! I want you to run ahead of us, and keep at it until we’re done! I’m curious to see what you’re capable of doing, so when you finish your six sets of steps, I want you to keep going!” “Yes, ma’am!” “Go!” Tracy landed a very hard slap on Kathleen’s bottom and with that the pledge ran towards the bleachers. “Pledge Lisa!” “Yes, ma’am!” “You, too! Let’s see what you can do on the stairs! Move out!” Lisa felt the sharp sting of Tracy’s hand slapping her bottom even before she had a chance to shout: “yes ma’am!” She set out after Kathleen, although she knew she had no hope of catching up to her. Tracy and the two remaining pledges began the climb up the first flight of steps. Tracy calmly jogged behind her companions, ready to land a quick slap on their bare bottoms if she felt they weren’t trying their best. Apart from the painful slaps, she motivated them with her words: “Let’s pick up the pace, ladies! It’s already starting to get light! Come-on, hurry- up! We’re gonna get caught if you don’t hurry up!” As Lisa climbed the fifth flight of steps, she noticed that Bernadette and Cherine, motivated by the slaps and lecturing of their Pledge Mistress, still were doing fairly well. They already were halfway up the fourth flight, although Bernadette’s face reflected fatigue and painful cramps. Cherine was slightly ahead of Bernadette, eager to be far enough away from Tracy to avoid a barrage of slaps on her bottom. Meanwhile, Kathleen was way ahead of the others, already completing her seventh set of steps and getting ready to descend to start on her eighth. Lisa realized that Kathleen was in excellent shape as she admired her skinny runner’s figure in action. Lisa already was badly winded as she began the sixth set of steps, but her lover showed no hint of being tired. Bernadette was crying by the time she made it to the top of the fifth flight of steps, but to everyone’s amazement, her performance was much better than it had been on Tuesday. She gritted her teeth as she started on the sixth flight, putting every bit of strength into trying to complete the final set. “Breathe with it, Pledge, breath with it. You’re doing just fine. Breathe with it.” Bernadette grunted from her struggle as she laboriously climbed the final flight of steps. Lisa looked back to notice that Tracy no longer was slapping the freshman’s backside because she was afraid of knocking her off-balance. Anyhow, there was no way Bernadette could have improved on her performance; she was putting everything she had into making it up those final steps. “Good job, Pledge.” Bernadette’s face was completely distorted and discolored when she finished. Sweat was pouring down her body and her eyes were wide from painful exhaustion. However, she had done extremely well, coming much closer to completing what was expected of her. She struggled up the final flight, descended with Tracy, and collapsed into Cherine’s arms. Her body felt like it was about to fall apart, but Bernadette was very happy. She had made an important decision, to do what she needed not to fail. Although it would take several more attempts, she knew that within a week or so she would be able to complete the stair run and keep up with the sophomores. She had made a very good effort and was close to her goal. Once Bernadette had a few moments to recover and Lisa and Kathleen were back on the field, Tracy led her group out through Gate 4 past the obliging Sergeant Polk. “Same thing Saturday morning, Tracy?” “Yeah, same thing.” “OK, then I’ll have the gate open. It’ll be Gate 4 again.” Polk keyed his radio, held up his hand to warn the women to wait a second, and listened to a broadcast in police code. “One word of advice. When you head back, cross over at Brixton Street. The cops got a burglary call on Platte, so stay away from Platte.” “Thanks.” “OK, girls, we’ll see you Saturday. Have fun and be careful. Wouldn’t want those cute bare butts to end up in jail, now would we?” Tracy forced a smile, but inwardly she cringed at the prospect of displaying her body to him several more times. She clapped her hands and the women began their trek back to the sorority house. The security officer stared at the five young women’s backsides as they ran past the Fitness Center and disappeared into the darkness. Once they were out of sight, he locked Gate 4. Polk was very much looking forward to seeing Tracy’s bare figure again on Saturday morning. Hmm…so that’s what our little sergeant looks like under her BDU’s. Nice! That babe’s got one cute ass! Part of being a Four-Beta was giving up any expectation of modesty. The Pledge Mistress knew that better than anyone else. She had saved her pledges the indignity of being taunted by the football players, but in doing so placed her own reputation at the mercy of someone who was at best a casual acquaintance. She wondered if Polk would take her seriously the next time they attended drill and whether the story of the streaking adventure would be making its way around her Reserve unit. At the very least, she owed him a very big favor.