88

88 strokes...
88 deliciously wicked thwacks with the long, heavy rattan cane.
All told I'd say they were delivered in approximately 20 minutes.
There were three things I found to be noteworthy about the caning...

1. His pacing. He chose to hit me in groups of eleven. ~(oh, for those that don't know, I count and thank him for each stroke)~ First, I love grouping. Not only does it help me count, it helps me stay focused and it gives me little auxiliary goals to concentrate on... which in turn help me get to the big main goal. Second, eleven seemed the perfect number for each set. He's used many different amounts for sets before... this was the first time he's chosen eleven... and for some reason, it felt just right to me... neither too many, nor too few. Pacing is a big factor for me. The quicker the succession of strokes, the more challenging it is to keep my breathing steady and my counting audible and my position maintained. Too much time between strokes, and I start to lose focus... my mind usually wandering to what I anticipate will happen once the caning is finished and I get to show him my gratitude. Therefore, pacing plays an important role in our caning sessions.

2. His hands. He touched me a lot throughout the 88. Mostly between sets of eleven, though not exclusively so. And I want to be clear about the quality of his touch. It wasn't that he was caressing the inflamed flesh (although it certainly translated as such)... no, what I mean is that the intention I felt behind his touch was more of an exploratory nature. He was feeling for himself, not in order to comfort me. Which in turn, comforted me. This is an important distinction for me because I don't like a lot of 'lovey dovey touchy feely' mixed with my pain. However, I thoroughly enjoyed a lot of "oh, look at that mark!... or... feel the heat from that stroke radiate!" - which is what his hands on me felt like. I don't know that those were his thoughts, it's just how I received it. And for me, because of my nature, I am more comforted by his caressing me for his pleasure than I am by his caressing me for mine. (if that makes sense)

3. And last but not least... there was something that I didn't like so much about last night's beating. Quite often he would deliver a strike only to leave the cane resting upon the very spot he had just impacted. I found this to increase the difficulty of absorbing the stroke. It made the cut linger longer than it would otherwise, and it almost seemed to block the spot from my breath. Not sure how to word this in a way that it will be clearly understood... let me see here... So I'm not much of a toucher, I don't reach my hands back to touch the pain and rub the wound. Instead I meet the pain with my breath. I like to stretch a bit, breathe into the agony, bounce my knees, and let the sensation wash over me. What I found last night was by having the cane resting on top of the location of immediate impact, I was challenged to breathe into the stroke. In fact, at a few points I had to fight the urge to buck the cane off my bum. (something that would have undoubtedly cost me more strokes... more, nastier, fiercer strokes) What it made me realize is that the couple seconds between strokes in which I am counting and thanking him, that's when I embrace the searing pain and so having the cane rest on the traumatized flesh seems to mask that quality of time.

Oh... and I know I said there were 3 but I thought of one more...

4. His commands. Now, obviously as his sub, I live for his commands... however what I am referring to here are commands given in the form of a statement as opposed to an order. Instead of him telling me to keep my toes on the ground... He told me that my toes would remain on the ground. In a way it makes it easier to follow whatever the order may be. If he states it as a fact, then it becomes truth. Whereas if he poses it as an order, it implies that the choice is mine whether to comply or not. Now of course his commanding me in this way doesn't at all diminish, or eliminate, my choice of compliance. All it does (for me at least) is make it that much easier for me to obey.