Dmitri passed the birch to Pierre who nodded, drained his vodka and walked over to Magda. Andrei went to take a glass of vodka from Alexandra’s silver tray without a backward glance, placing the switch back whence it came. Her screams began to falter and quaver as the steel wire cut into her slender thighs and the soft swell of her belly, her breasts and back, down her flanks and up into her crotch; she was coated with so much blood that the individual cuts were no longer visible. Pierre stood behind her, pulling her body against his with a long, hairy arm and held the birch up to her face. Magda stood obediently at Dmitri’s side, her luscious body gory and befouled, gazing at him with naked adoration. Dmitri passed the birch to Pierre who nodded, drained his vodka and walked over to Magda. Smiling, he took one and stepped back. The whips rained down on her from all sides but the men were long practiced and kept the timing and direction random; first she would
