Confession By Emma

Even before October's Nimhneach came to an end, plans were already under way for us to attend again in November. Despite this forward thinking, my month or so of preperation time had amounted to buying a bus ticket. Whoops. In my defense, I was waiting to see if a friend of mine would be able to attend before I booked the hotel, but still... yeah.

Suddenly there was just a few days to go and I was panicing a little. Outfit items ordered online still hadn't been delivered, the cost of hotels had doubled since the last time I'd looked, and I was having doubts that I'd actually make it. Luckily I stumbled across a hotel on the same street as the club, and even better, it was just a third the price of some of the other options. I did some Googling and the reviews were mixed; great location, loud noises from the bars nearby; excellent rooms, loud noises; great staff, oh, and did we mention the *LOUD NOISES*? In the end I took a chance, telling myself that if it was rubbish then I'd have learnt my lesson.

Despite this success, things worsened by Saturday. It had started to snow heavily over the Northern areas of Ireland, and Lady Sue and Zaira had to cancel due to the dangers of travelling. Hearing this, I was struck by uncertainy about whether I wanted to go on my own, but I decided to go for it and see what happened. That said, I almost didn't make it either. The bus driver tried to talk us out of going as the previous two buses had gotten stuck, but having already committed I decided to give it a try anyway, and off we went.

Things started to look up once I got to Dublin. Saying that the hotel is close to the club really doesn't do it justice; it's practically next door, and as promised, the staff and rooms were indeed really good. However, disaster struck again! As I rummaged through my case I realised that I'd forgotten to pack my skirt.

By this point it was late and almost closing time for most of the shops, so I practically ran across the street to Pennys (Primark for the UK folk, and for the US peeps, think Kmart). I ducked and weaved my way inside to avoid the gaze of the employees just beginning to turn people away, and after a bit of hunting I found a passable, cheap black skirt. Phew! Crisis averted. As it happened, the skirt was also a lot looser than the one I'd originally planned to wear, which would later prove useful.

Time passed and finally 10 am rolled around. I rushed off downstairs and went next door, nodding to the bouncers and replying with "Nimhneach" when asked about where I was going. It was almost like speaking a password, which mirrors the somewhat secret nature of the club.

When I got inside I was surprised by how quiet it was. Yes it was early, but there couldn't have been more than about 10 people. Clearly the cool people don't arrive until later. It must have been obvious how lost I felt though, for it wasn't long before one of the staff members wandered over and asked me if I was okay. We spoke briefly and he introduced me to Chris, the organiser that I'd spoken to briefly by email after October's Nimhneach. He's great, and he helpfully introduced me to the 'core' crowd once they arrived: StellaPerversa & DommyDarko (the shibari couple), Chalk and Croi (organisers of the Cork munch), and MrPlum, the man with the little black book of submissive girls. He was also the guy carrying the scary looking paddle, measuring about 2 inches in width and 8 inches long with little studs along one side. He delighted in showing it to everyone and watching their eyes go wide in fear.

MrPlum and I talked a little as we watched a guy have his chest hair waxed for charity, and I happened to mention that at the last Nimhneach I'd been randomly kissing a girl called Kaytie. He then introduced me to Orla, one of his regular (and simply gorgeous) play partners, and asked if I wanted to 'randomly' kiss her as well. After much hesitation and uhmming and ahhing (i.e., I said yes instantly), he pushed her towards me and we spent the next 10... err, maybe 20... you know, I have no idea how long it was. Bottom line, we kissed, nay, we *snogged* for ages, and it was glorious.

She was nervous, uncertain and unsure, but she smiled and made soft noises of appreciation as I got a little carried away, sucking and kissing on her bottom lip.

Finally we paused to breath and MrPlum told Orla that she needed to be punished for some arbitrary act of something or other. We moved to some seats and she bent over, hands resting on my lap as I sat down and, coincidentally, had an perfect, perfect viewer of her boobs being squished her corset. As he lifted her skirt and spanked her, we went back to kissing, broken only by a few moments where she needed to catch her breath. We couldn't help but laugh a little; it was MrPlum's plan of course, to distract her and tease her whilst she tried out her bisexual tendancies. She didn't seem to mind though.

Suddenly, it was my turn. Apparently I'd missed the 'do not bite' clause. Whoops! MrPlum beckoned for us to change places. I hesitated, genuinely this time. Not only was this going to be a relatively new experience, it was going to be with a guy, a Dom, and someone I didn't know that well at that. I wasn't sure how I felt about it and I think I gulped, but finally I went for it. I stood and swapped with Orla, then waited with trepidation as he lifted my skirt (see? looser proved to be useful!)

He started with a cane. It was very light at first and I had no problem concentrating on my task: kiss Orla (best task ever, by the way). It gradually grew more and more intense until I had problems focusing on Orla's lips. She sensed it too and laughed at me. Then MrPlum paused. He reached over and took the worryingly large paddle, and even after seeing it the first time, my eyes went wide again. I knew this was going to hurt before it even landed, and yes, it really did. He was careful though and only used used it several times before telling me to sit down and relax for a while. Even so, my bum was glowing and tingling intensely, and I had trouble sitting down properly. I loved it.

By this point I was trembling uncontrollably from adrenaline, anxiety, and excitement. I felt incredible happy, like I was finally experiencing something I'd been missing out on for a really long time.

I sat for a while and watched Chalk get beaten senselessly. She was cropped, flogged and spanked, and by more than just Nimhneach members - even a club manager joined in (after some coaching of course). All through the rough treatment she was well looked after, constantly being asked if she was okay by friends that knew her and given short breaks here and there. I continued to tremble as I watched, excited to see this kind of thing actually happening in front of me.

Suddenly, it was my turn again. MrPlum called me over to where he and Croi were discussing his new paddle. She wanted to try it... on me. I bent over one of the bars of the frame that Chalk was cuffed to, and all I could see was her being beaten in front of me whilst I waited, breath held in anticipation. Croi used it several times, hard enough that I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out in pain, and then MrPlum took. He told me to call out the 6 hits, so I followed Dominion convension and adopted the "1, thank You Sir, 2, thank You Sir" approach.

Each one hurt horrendously. My legs trembled more and more with each hit, the heels of the boots doing nothing to help of course, and I began to feel calm and peaceful despite what was happening and how much I was shaking. I don't know how to accurately describe how painful the last hit was; it was agonising, and I loved it.

As I straightened up and stood there in my slight happy-daze, Croi hugged me and thanks me with a hug for letting her use the paddle. I mumbled something about "No no, thank YOU!", of course considering myself the lucky one.

Then, almost as soon as it had begun, the lights flicked on and signalled closing time. We relucantly gathered our things and headed outside into the freezing cold, and there Orla invited us back to her place. I hesitated for a moment; the sensible voice tried to tell me about that bus I had to catch, an early start, etc etc, blah blah, but I silenced it with rationale like "It's just tea and dessert!" and "It'll just be a couple of hours of chilling out and chatting, right?" - heh, wrong, so so wrong.

I don't want to share too much about what happened - I don't really want to kiss and tell - but it can be summed up by telling you that we invented a new dessert. 'Titsamasu' - tiramasu served off of Orla's boobs. It really adds to the taste!

In the morning as I dressed, I admired the fresh bruises on my bum and thighs. They were dark and rather brutal looking, and I was rather impressed by how much of a mark had been left. I felt like they were a reward, and I was already looking forward to the next ones.

Finally it was time to leave. We hugged, kissed one last time, and I rushed off to my hotel and from there to the bus station. It was just before midday and the sky was a crystal clear blue. The snow was still thick on the ground, but the best bit was the dusty covering on the trees, lampposts, awnings and rooftops. The slight breeze carried motes of it through the air, giving the impression of snowfall despite the cloudless sky. It was the perfect end to the weekend. That, and the fact that I made it to my bus with just seconds to spare! ;)