[Kate]

A drunk started to harass Carmen, and she became furious. She broke a beer mug and holding its handle pointed it at the his neck. She was furious and would have cut his throat had Don Jose not grabbed her arm. The broken mug was jerked out of her hand, and tossed onto the floor of the tavern.

“Come with me, senorita,” he ordered and dragged her out of the tavern with him, she cursing and fighting him all the while. Instead of letting her go he dragged her down the cobbled streets to a dark place where lovers were known to tryst. There was a little iron bench where the lovers would sit, free to kiss each other away from the eyes of others.

“What are you doing bringing me here?” she demanded, “do you think I will let you kiss me? I would never let a soldier kiss me, especially you,” she spat as she kept trying to pull away.

He sat on the bench, not letting go of her arm. “I have no intention of kissing you, Carmen,” he said, maintaining his grip on her arm, “I have a serious matter to discuss with you, I’ve only been waiting for the right moment is all.”

Something in his tone boded no good. “Well, what is it?” she demanded, summoning up all the bravado she could, “what is this important thing you had to discuss,” she emphasized the word, “with me? As if I would ever tell you anything.”

“I think you will, if you want to keep out of jail,” he said severely, “I know more about you than you suspect. I know where you go, and who you go to when you disappear. In fact I’ve known about it for a long time.” He enjoyed seeing her jaw drop in dismay—for at best he had only guessed, and now had confirmation.

“Oh yes, I have known for a long time,” he bluffed, “it is only just now that you have given me an opportunity to do something about it.”

“What do you mean” she asked suspiciously, still trying to free her arm. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach, and knew he was immune to her charms.

“I am offering a way to help you avoid going to jail,” he said simply, “for you know what would happen. The guards would have fun amusing themselves with you, and there would be nothing you could do about it.”

“All right,” she said, “what do I have to do?”

“It is what I am going to do to you,” he said, and removed his sword belt and jerked her over his knee. He pulled up her white petticoats and shift to expose her bare buttocks. “You need to learn a lesson senorita, and you are going to learn it right now.”

The belt came down on her buttocks—hard. She cried out in anger and dismay as he struck her again. She could not believe the pain, and tried to escape, but the belt came down again and again. “You won’t be sitting down or dancing anytime soon,” he said as he struck her on her thighs, then again on her round buttocks. He did not let up, and she started crying as the pain became unbearable, but the belt came down cruelly upon her again and again.

Then he stopped, and she thought that he would free her until she felt him pry open her legs. She tried without luck to press them together and began howling as he spanked the tender flesh of the insides of her thighs. Then it became even worse for he spread her buttocks apart and struck the inside of one and then the other, alternating sides. Soon the evil belt even found a target on the tender rosebud in between.

She lay across his knees, crying, wondering when he was going to stop. Then to her surprise she was pushed abruptly from his lap, landing on her fiery buttocks and screamed from the pain it caused her.

He laughed as she jumped up, and rubbed her buttocks, then removed her hand for it made the pain even more unbearable. She cried as a small child might, sobbing, tears running down her lovely golden cheeks. She was in too much pain to fly at him, to scratch at his eyes and face with her nails, to run, or even to curse him. She stood there helpless, sobbing, frozen in place.

He gave her a hard look. “This is only a taste of what will happen to you if you don’t change your ways,” he said, “dancing in the tavern is one thing, but helping your smuggler friends is another. You will have to learn to make an honest living, Carmen, or you’ll feel my belt on those lovely buttocks as many times as it takes. And I will enjoy it, believe me.” He laughed as she turned and ran from him as fast as she could, her billowing white skirts fluttering like the wings of a silver moth in the darkness.