The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Lara stepped out of the cab and tapped the curb with her cane.

She’d been on this block before and knew of the restaurant, even though she had never been inside.

She was surprised at how nervous she was. It wasn’t like she’d never had a friend fix her up on a date before. But there were always the uncomfortable moments—what to say about it, what NOT to say, the embarrassed apologies over a misspoken assumption about her and how she viewed the world.

How she viewed the world through blind eyes.

She had arrived early, and was led to a table in the back for two. Daniel had said he might be late. So she sat, sipped her water and took in the smells and sounds around her. The clink of silverware, the soft chatter, a laugh, the scent of freshly baked bread, a busboy collecting plates ...

She touched her watch for the time: 8:15.

“Hello, Lara. I’m Daniel.”

She stood, extended her hand and he squeezed it. It was soft, almost delicate, but with a firmness too. She could tell a lot from hands. It was younger than she expected, not use to hard work. An office guy.

“Please, sit. Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s fine. I like being early.”

“I’m not sure what Cecilia said about me.” He released her hand as she sat. “Good things I hope or you wouldn’t have come.”

“She didn’t say too much. I’m flattered you wanted to go out with me, sight unseen, you know.”

He laughed softly, and that deepened his voice. “Yes. Sight unseen. Very good.” They had talked briefly on the phone and Lara liked what she heard. It sounded very young, like that of a boy, at first. But as they talked it became a deeper, more confident voice. “What I see is very attractive. If I may say that?”

“Compliments are always welcome,” she answered, knowing a smile had followed. “So, you know Cecilia from the Center? But you’re not on staff there?”

“No. I offer stress management classes. I’m only there once a month. But my classes are small. Only three or four people. Cecilia has been attending them for a few months, so we’ve gotten to be friends.”

“Oh, that’s great. I don’t go to the Center much anymore. But Cee and I are great friends. We see each other socially. I’m surprised she still goes there regularly. She’s more well-adjusted than I am!”

Cecilia had lost her sight in a car accident three years earlier, and Lara knew from their conversations that her life had been completely derailed. Lara’s similarly sudden blindness and despair had helped forge a bond between the two young women, and it held firm, even as Cecilia seemed to finally adjust to her situation. Lara, in the past two years, hadn’t faired nearly as well, and depended on Cecilia more than anyone to see her through the deep troughs of depression that never seemed to vanish.

“I like to think she goes there just for my classes,” Daniel replied with a laugh, “but I think she does some recruiting. She likes helping people.”

“She’s helped me a lot, that’s for sure. I don’t know what I would have ...”

Lara trailed off, not wishing to spend their dinner date talking about “it”.

“It’s fine, Lara. We can talk about whatever you want,” he said, as if reading her mind. “With my work schedule and travel, I don’t get much chance to go out on dates with pretty, single girls who aren’t—”

“Stressed out?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“Well, wait until you know me better. I can stress out with the best of them.”

“I don’t see that,” he said. “You look very ... relaxed.”

She was relaxed. The nervousness was gone. She felt herself smiling.

“That’s good! First impressions are important, even if they are false sometimes.”

She sensed his smile on her.

“I heard you work at the Med Center. A typist?”

“Yes. Well, dictation. For the offices. Doctor’s notes,” she said. “It forces them to give them verbally, which everyone there loves because the office staff don’t want to have to read their scrawl.” She laughed, feeling his interest, and the embarrassment lifted. “And they say I’m the best typist they’ve ever had. I guess I make fewer typos.”

“Ah. So you are very focused. Relaxed and focused. Very good.”

They had a drink before dinner, then the salad. And the conversation was light, pleasant. They talked about general things, and specific. Lara let Daniel do most of the talking—about music and art and bad city drivers and the latest news. She caught herself forgetting to eat the scampi in front of her until the waiter stopped by to ask if it was okay.

“Tell me. How did you become blind?”

“Glaucoma. It was sudden. It’s been two years.”

“Two years. Shut off. That must have been an empty feeling. Is it still?”

“Yes, but ...” Lara wavered. “I’m ... coping. I’m doing okay.”

“I can see that you are. You’re a very special woman, Lara.”

His voice was soothing, reassuring. Reminding her that it was a casual evening, and that it was fine to only talk between bites or listen to each other without feeling the need to hurry a response. Lara didn’t mind that she was saying less and less and Daniel was saying more and more. It was relaxing to just sit and listen. She didn’t need to impress him. He seemed genuinely pleased that Lara could let him do the talking, keeping the conversation moving just by changing the topic to something else Lara found fascinating.

They had both passed on dessert, although Lara accepted when Daniel has suggested a cognac—a treat Lara had never allowed herself before. And as she sipped, she could feel the warmth running down her throat and coating her body.

The night had breezed by.

Lara barely heard the table being cleared, the shuffling of the servers or the soft music in the background she had trained her ears to notice. Or not notice. All she wanted to do was listen to Daniel’s voice. And as the evening wore on, it had become even silkier than it had been on the phone. Pleasing tones and clever wordplay that made her grin or blush or just say, “Yes, Daniel.”

“This has been a wonderful evening, Lara. I don’t really want it to end. It’s been so nice just to talk. You’re very easy to talk to. And it’s easy to listen, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is, Daniel.”

“Yes. You’ve been very open with me, Lara. It’s good to open up to someone, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Daniel.”

“Yes. No stress. No busy world outside. I feel very comfortable here with you, Lara. Do you feel comfortable with me?”

“Yes, Daniel. I do.”

“Yes. That’s great. Very good.”

His comforting words were like a long stroke down her hair and she tilted her head slightly as if a hand were there.

“You felt comfortable enough to tell me about your illness. Your blindness. Your quiet suffering. But ... you have your memories. Don’t you? Memories of sight. Of vision. It’s there in your mind. And when you dream, you can see in your dreams, Lara. Can’t you? When you are asleep and dreaming. There is light.”

“Yessss ...” She slurred out the word as she daydreamed. Visualizing her memories, clearly. When she could see. When her world was whole.

“When you dream you do have sight, Lara. So, really, you’re not blind at all. You know what everything looks like. Like, right here. You can look around this room and see the other people eating. The waiters serving. Tables, chairs, napkins, glasses. You can look across this table and see me. Now. You have a mental image. Don’t you?”

“A little bit.”

Daniel took her hand gently, making her lean. She knew hands. Soft, but firm. He slowly ran his fingers upward from her wrist to her elbow and down again.

“I can help you.”

“Help ... me?”

“Yes.” His voice hung in the air, and Lara’s head lifted to catch it.

“Help you with your mental image. Of your surroundings. Of me. I want you to see me, Lara. Focus. Focus on my voice and let your mind go. Your imagination. Move forward toward that picture in your mind. This restaurant. Me, sitting here touching your arm.”

A shiver went through her body. Her arm tingled from his touch. Her head felt lighter somehow as she tried to focus. Focus. Tried to do what he asked. She had the memories of sight and it often calmed her when the darkness was so deep and suffocating that she thought she couldn’t even breathe.

Lara could smell the cooking, the wood floor, someone’s cologne a table away. Daniel slid her arm closer, turning it over and stroking it so tenderly that she almost gasped.

“You’re beginning to create shapes in your mind now, Lara. We are sitting together. Alone. You’re facing the wall. Maple brown walls. And curtains. Burgundy. It’s dim here, but there is light, Lara. Can you see it? It’s the flicker of the candle on the table. The rich, green napkin by your plate, folded neatly. The glass of cognac shimmering off the candlelight.”

Daniel’s voice became even more soothing. She could feel her body sway. Focus. Focus? She wanted to see so badly. See the romantic setting. See him. See the light.

“I can see in your mind, the images forming. Listen carefully to my voice as it guides you, Lara. Listen and follow. Follow me. You’re doing so well, Lara. The forms taking shape. Your mind creating the images I’m placing there. Listen. Focus. Follow.”

It was hard to think. But she didn’t want to think. She didn’t want to NOT see. Daniel’s voice, his tone, his hand ... stroking her. Stroking her memory of sight.

“I can picture it. The restaurant.” Lara said the words calmly, but there was an excitement behind it. The images. The dreamlike vision of where she was.

“No,” he said firmly. “You can’t picture it, Lara. You see it. Don’t you? It’s all there in front of you. You see everything, don’t you?”

Lara’s breath caught.

“Yes. Yes, I can see it!”

Not a daydream, but a vision in her mind. Right there before her.

David continued. “The deep, dark wood. The deep red of the curtains. It’s dark outside, though, isn’t it? The window letting in only the night.”

“Yes! I see it!” She almost squealed.

“Yes. Good. Fill in the sights. The wall. The window. It’s dark outside, but there is light. Here, Lara. Bright, beautiful light. You can see that too. Now. Can’t you? Look. Look down. Downward. Your eyes ... falling. Down. To the candlelight. The bright light. Catching your eyes. And holding it there. Down.”

Lara’s mind drifted down, fixing on the bright light her mind had created. There on the table. Flickering slowly. Left to right. Right to left. She could no longer tell if it was her own brain telling her what she saw or Daniel telling her.

“Left to right, side to side. Swaying.”

She could see! She could see amid the dimness of the room the bright, singular flame. But her elation was dulled. Thick. She felt her heart pumping, but the thump-thump-thump only drove her downward. She tried to focus harder on the candle. Wishing its brightness would burn right into her and never go out.

The vivid image was in her mind. But it was real! It was there. She could feel the candle’s subtle warmth. She could almost touch it, wanted to touch it despite its flame. But Daniel held her hand, stroking it gently. She focused on the candlelight without even thinking about it now. Or his hand lightly brushing hers, brushing away any other thoughts. His voice, firm and deepening.

“Now, Lara. You can see the room. You see the table. Very clearly. Listen to me fill your vision of that which is so real for you. Is real. You aren’t blind, Lara. You can see. And you need to hold onto this sight, don’t you?”

“Yes, Daniel.”

Her voice was but a whisper.

“Good girl, Lara. Doing so well. You see the light. Keep it. Hold it.” He clutched her hand. “Bright, beautiful light. Dancing. You can see it. And it’s all you need to see as you continue to listen to my voice and the suggestions it places in your mind. Hear my words. Believe them. Blank to anything else. Your mind now pushing away any other thoughts but being here. With me. With the light in your eyes.”

It was exhilarating and mind-numbing at once. Lara could see the candle so clearly. As if the darkness of the last two years had all been a dream and this was the reality. The light had finally been turned back on. But, with that, came a blankness to any other thoughts but the words and suggestions Daniel whispered.

“Keep looking at the light, Lara. It’s all that matters now. You can see. And I am with you.”

She reached up with her free hand to touch his face, not knowing where the impulse had come from in her blanked-out mind. The need to see him, here, in the depths of her consciousness. But her eyes could not move from the light.

Daniel caught her hand and held both of them in his.

“No. Not yet, Lara. You will see me. But we need you to keep focusing. Keep falling into the bright dance of the light. Closer and closer. As your thoughts move farther and farther away.”

He squeezed her hands and she moaned.

She was desperate, even in her emptying mind, to see his face. She had an image of how he looked, but her mind was so soft, so vacant that she couldn’t complete the form. She stared at the light, fixed, steady, yet with the deep yearning inside to see him, to hold him there as he held her.

“Very good now, Lara. Let the light take you away. Far away. Far from the pain of blindness. Here, you can see. Here, with me, you have sight. You are complete now. With me here to guide you. And you need to follow me, don’t you, Lara?”

“Yes, Daniel! I need you!”

“Yes. I am here. I will always be here. With the light. Focus on it. Focus on me. Nothing else matters. Nothing else will ever matter. But me.

“Now, go deeper into the light. Deeper and deeper. Blank. Mindless. Empty. Obedient to my words. Obedient to me. I give you sight. Submit to me, Lara. Submit to the light. You need the light. And the only way to see the light is to listen to me. To obey me.

“And .. just ... fall.”

Lara took in a quick, deep breath. As if she had been startled awake. But the light was still there. Flickering. Deep in her mind’s eye.

She could still see!

She stared harder, focused more. There was nothing else. Nothing else to think about. Just the light. She had momentary thoughts, but fought them back, fearing even in her dulled state that thinking of anything else would snuff it out.

She could smell the candle ... it was different. Not the flowery scent she smelled as she entered the restaurant. More like incense. And the hard chair was softer now, the back gone. Her shoes were off.

Thoughts flowed into her mind again and she tried to stop them. Thinking would snuff out the light, she knew deep within herself. But she began to tense. This is strange. Where ...? The light began to fade. She moaned in desperation to keep it in her eyes. To keep seeing it.

“Daniel! I’m scared!”

“I’m here, Lara.” His voice was like cool water on her mind. She sighed. “I’m here, Lara. Relax.”

She spoke calmly despite her fear. “I ... I’m losing it. I’m losing the light.”

“No. You will never lose the light, Lara. Not as long as you are with me. And you can see me. Now, Lara.

“Sight unseen.”

And she fell again. Tumbling down. Her few thoughts spinning and floating away. The light grew strong again—she felt a rush of pleasure between her legs—burning and fixed in her mind. Steady. Nothing but the light. And Daniel with her. She moistened for him.

“Lie back, Lara.”

And she obeyed.

She felt him climb on top of her as he looked down.

“Look at me, Lara.”

She blinked in her mind. And she saw him. The way she had imagined he’d look. Exactly. The kind face, the trim beard, the melting smile. His lean body and hairy chest. She felt her legs part.

She felt his bare legs against hers and opened for him. And she felt him lean into her, her eyes locked on his.

“Open for me, Lara. Open. And obey.”

He entered her. His grunt matched by her moan. She could see him above her. See him! See him as he thrust deeply between her waiting lips. The sensations on her body—on her mind—were overwhelming. He rode into her, smiling, and she swirled inside herself in mindless, obedient ecstasy.

They were joined. Her passion cleansing her mind of anything but HIM.

He drove into her and out and in and out. She dared not close her eyes, holding this moment open. As open as she was under him. And he touched her submissive mind deeply. There.

“Daniel ...”

“Yes, Lara. See me. Feel me inside you. Hear my words. There’s nothing you need to do, but submit.”

She felt him swelling inside her and she moaned loudly. She knew an orgasm was building and grabbed his arms as he pressed forward and down. Her mind was wrapped around him, as her legs scissored around his ass, pulling him deeper into her body. Just as his face, his eyes, his thoughts and words plunged ever farther into her mind.

She was blinded by the light of him.

They came together.

He was the light.

Lara lurched forward, then back.

The smells, the seat.

The darkness.

“You need help getting to the front door?”

It was a strange voice. She tried not to panic, her breathing rapid. Her hands groped in sudden fear and felt her purse, her cane, beside her.

“Miss? You need any—”

“No! No, I’m okay.”

She was in a cab. She pulled the handle and opened the door. “Just point me to the mailbox.”

“It’s about six feet to your left. That’ll be fourteen-fifty.”

She touched her watch. 6:45 a.m. She dug into her purse and pulled out a bill from the $20 compartment.

“You can keep that.”

She got out and stepped left, tapping the box with her cane. As the cab sped away, she retraced her usual steps—tap, 1-2-3-4-5-6—unlocked the door and entered her building.

By the time she made it to the couch in the security of her apartment, Lara was breathing easier again. She tried to remember all that had happened. The dinner, the conversation. The floaty, relaxed feelings. And the light.

And Daniel’s face. She could almost hear his sexy, manly voice, the touch at her hip, the feel of his cock deep inside her. She could still smell his wetness mixed with her own and allowed herself a stroke along her still-moist panties.

But beyond all that, Lara felt an emptiness too. He wasn’t there. And she was blind again. More blind than she had ever felt before.

“So? How’d it go?”

Lara knew Cecilia couldn’t see her smile, but she could hear it in her voice as they sat in the cafeteria at the plant where Cee worked.

“It was ... amazing. He’s amazing! We had a great dinner.”

“Just dinner?” Cee’s voice was full of tease. “Come on, Lara. Nobody sounds that excited over just dinner.”

“Well, it was ... strange too. Almost like a dream. I mean, one minute we were having a wonderful dinner and the next minute we were in his apartment. Or house. I’m not sure.”

“Not sure? Well then, he must have swept you off your feel to not remember all the details.” There was a long pause, as if Cee was waiting for Lara to finish her daydream. “Wow. Lara? Come on, what’s going on with you?”

Lara leaned in, trying to whisper just loud enough to be unheard by anyone but her friend.

“Cee?” Lara took in a breath, then laughed it out: “Oh my God, Cee, we had sex!”

And she giggled again, from happiness and the lasting disbelief.

“Can I pick ’em?” Cee joined her in a giggle. Lara heard Cee’s dark glasses click on the table. Lara didn’t wear them—she didn’t want to give herself away to strangers. Then she reached out and held Cee’s fleshly, thick forearm.

“There’s something else. Something I’m even afraid to tell you. You’ll think I’m crazy.”

“Go ahead. Tell me.”

Lara leaned in even closer. “I’m not sure exactly what happened. But he made me concentrate really hard on my surroundings, where we were. I kinda went into a trance or something. But ... I could see him! I mean really see him. I had such a strong vision of him in my mind, that I must have just ...” Lara sat back, shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know what happened. But his voice. God.”

Cecilia hardly hesitated. “When are you seeing him again?”

“Seeing him? God, Cee. You have no idea. But if he calls me, I’d definitely go out with him again. I want to so badly.”

“Sounds like love to me. So why wait? Go out with him again. If he made you feel like this, it’s something you can’t let slip away.” Lara nodded to herself. She knew she had to be with him again. Had to see him. Needed to see ... everything. “What about tonight?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t want to seem desperate. I’ve never asked a guy out on a date before in my life!”

“Call him. Now.”

“Yes, Cee.”

Lara took out her phone and dialed.

“I’m so glad you called, Lara.”

Daniel was driving her to his apartment for a quiet evening listening to music. Lara had to fight down her excitement just sitting beside him in the car.

“I am too, Daniel.”

She was more than glad. She was ecstatic. She had been so nervous calling him, asking him about what he was doing that evening. But he was free and her nervousness melted away as soon as he offered to pick her up at 7. She had sighed yes.

They talked in the car. About different things, none of it keeping Lara’s mind off what she truly wanted—needed!—in the hours ahead. But she also felt herself floating gently as he spoke with that soothing, warm voice. She scarcely realized that Daniel was doing most of the talking. All she could manage was a nod or a “Yes, Daniel.”

The car pulled to a stop and the engine went off.

“We’re here at last. I’ll get the door. But first ...”

Lara was light-headed, unsure and unconcerned why she could only faintly read her own thoughts. But she hung on his words, turning her head toward him.

“I know why you called me, Lara. I know what you need.”

She heard him get out of the car and then open her door. She reached out with her hand and she swung her legs out limply. He held her hand, but didn’t pull her up.

“Not yet, Lara. First, you have to tell me. Tell me what you need.”

“I ... I don’t know ...”

She heard the clink of his belt buckle loosening.

“Yes, you do. Tell me.”

Lara’s mind was swimming in molasses. Thick and dripping. She knew what she wanted. It was why she called. Wasn’t it? But she also wanted to recapture this feeling. Now. The feeling of his strength. The feeling of losing herself in her weakness.

“I want ... I want to see again, Daniel.”

She heard the ziiiiiiip of his pants.

“Then, tell me, Lara. What are you willing to do? To see.”

And she leaned into him, between his legs. She slid down his briefs.

“Anything.”

She held him in her hand, stroking the soft skin. Then took him into her mouth. And sucked.

She felt something within herself ... embarrassment, shame. But pushing them aside in her desperate need for what he could offer her was also the deep, burning need to submit to him. To do as he said. To do as he wanted. To please him.

She heard him moan in the darkness. Her lewdness—she was doing something so crude and so unlike her—made her even more determined. Determined in a way that made her unable to separate out what she was doing from who she was. There was only Daniel.

She felt her head bobbing into him. Faster and faster and faster as her mind slowed and slowed and slowed. The grip of his hands thickly in her light-brown hair. He tensed.

“Yes!” He filled her mouth as her mind emptied—emptied of everything that wasn’t Daniel.

After a minute, while Lara continued unabated, he spoke. “Good girl, Lara. Now. Look up. Look at me.”

And she raised her head, letting him drop. Feeling what he spent in her mouth dripping down her chin.

“Sight unseen.”

She fell. Suddenly and completely. She was spiraling downward, losing herself even more.

But she could see!

She could see his kind, loving, bearded face. She could see his smile as she tumbled, so quickly and so deeply that she felt as if her body were in mid-air.

There was light. Not one, but many. Candles surrounded her. But there was no room, no table, no bed. She was hanging in the pillowy softness of her own mind. She had sight.

Daniel was entering her again and she swayed, opening herself up again as her thoughts closed down completely. She was giving him what he wanted, what she needed to surrender. Lara didn’t question why. Her blank mind only knew that seeing, seeing him, was worth the price of her body. And her mind.

“Lara!”

“Hi, Mona! How’s everything?”

“Oh, you know me, Lara. Complaints aside, I’m doing well. You look very pretty today.”

“Thanks! Say, have you seen Cecilia lately? I wanted to talk to her if she’s around.”

Lara could barely wait until the Center opened. She had awoken that morning in her own bed. How she had gotten there, she had no idea. But, as the night before, her mind was more occupied by the thoughts of seeing Daniel again than thinking at all about the gaps in her memory.

She hadn’t even showered, keeping what she believed to be the now-powdery discharge and its scent on her body as a reminded her HIM.

“Cecilia? Goodness. I haven’t seen her in a few months. Why?”

“Months? Doesn’t she still come here for the classes? The stress management classes?”

“Classes? No, honey. What is it?”

Lara’s face showed Mona confusion. Months? Daniel had said she came to his classes. Lara didn’t fully expect to see Cee at the Center anyway. But it was a Saturday and Cee wasn’t home when she stopped by. She didn’t answer her phone earlier that morning either when Lara called in a rush of excitement to share her ... her what?

“Oh, nothing. Well, how about Mr. Marcus?”

“Marcus? I don’t think ... it doesn’t ring any bells.”

“Daniel Marcus? The instructor? I have his cell but he’s not answering. I was wondering if you knew his address.”

“We don’t have stress management classes here, Lara. And Cecilia hasn’t been back here since she started getting her vision back.”

“What?”

Lara’s jaw dropped, her eyes visibly widened.

Mona laughed. “Yes, didn’t you know? It was a miracle, really. I thought you knew? You two were so close.”

Lara’s head spun. What was going on? “No. I didn’t know that. Thanks, Mona. You take care.”

“You too, honey. And you look great. Really.”

Lara was going out of her mind.

She felt as if she were continually asleep. She had sleepwalked through her day at work Friday—she had made fifty typos—and hardly remembered a thing, except for the comments: “You must be having a bad day” or “Maybe you’re coming down with something.”

She was alert and aware and completely lost. Ever since ... ever since the date.

It was only midday Saturday and all she could think about was seeing Daniel again. Seeing Daniel. Seeing.

No messages on her phone. No answer at Cee’s. No way to know where he lived. But she was driven. Lara was driven by an all-compassing need to be back in that place of sight, of sex, of him.

She called the cab companies. One of them might have taken the call Friday morning. She couldn’t wait to hear back as they checked, so she went there instead. After 45 minutes of no and no, a familiar voice.

“Yeah, I remember you. What can I do ya for?”

“You remember picking me up Friday morning? Here’s a hundred. Take me back to where you picked me up. Can you do that for me?”

“For a hundred bucks, I’ll take you anywhere you wanna go. Yeah, I think I remember.”

“Can we go now?”

“Umm, well, I don’t have a cab now. I’m off duty. But ... look, since you’re a nice girl, I’ll take you in my car if it’s that important.”

“It is.”

The cabbie, Manny, remembered the apartment building. Lara sat in silence. Cecilia could see? It couldn’t be. But Lara’s thoughts had a stronger need now. She was pulled on her own back to Daniel. She tried to separate her feelings, but it was fruitless. Was it his ability to make her see or what it his ability to make her want to see him? She didn’t even know herself. The floating mindless void he could place her in was seductive. It felt good. And just the memory of pleasing him sexually made her, even in the cab, moisten in her panties.

She wanted to see again. Her two years of hell, of being blind to the world, was going to go on and on. She knew that. She would cope. Eventually. But seeing? Seeing his smile, seeing the light, fulfilled her to the point that even being emptied of every other thought had her believe that it was all worth surrendering who she was.

Or was it? She tried to weigh the options. The weight of one. Sight. She rolled her tongue in her mouth at the dim recollection of blowing him for those precious hours of vision. Of allowing him to use her body as he wished just to be able to watch him do it.

“This is the place.”

“Do you have any idea which apartment I was in?”

“Yeah. That one. I saw you come out.”

“Take me to the front door and you can go. And thank you, Manny.”

“Not a problem.”

Lara stood at front of the door, feeling Manny pat her shoulder before he returned to his car and drove away. She took a deep breath, not knowing from which direction her mind would be taking her.

“Hello, Daniel.”

“Lara? How did you—”

“May I come in?”

“Uh ... well, now isn’t a good time.”

His voice was higher, twangier, almost feminine. She extended her cane and brushed against his leg as she entered. She could smell the incense faintly in the air, a whiff of perfume, the traces of long-since-burned toast.

She turned abruptly toward him, reaching up touch his face. Smooth, fleshy, glasses. He yanked her arms down quickly, but Lara was able to feel his body—round, pudgy—as they fell.

He pushed her back.

“Lara. Sit down.”

“But I—”

“Sit down!”

He gripped Lara by the arms, led her back three steps and pressed her down into a chair.

“That’s unfortunate. I’ll have to erase that, of course?”

“Erase? What the hell are you talking about?”

She leaned forward and could hear him begin to pace back and forth in front of her. She waited for him to speak again, while her mind tried to fit the jigsaw pieces together.

She yelled, “You lied to me! About ... everything?”

A sigh.

“I didn’t lie to you, Lara. Everything I said at dinner was the truth. Go ahead, ask me anything. And I will tell you the truth. And, after that, if you don’t want to see me again, you are free to walk out that door. I’m not a bad person, Lara. I haven’t hurt anyone. But I am the only person who can give you what you want. What you need. It’s the reason you are here.”

“You don’t teach classes ...”

“That was a slight misrepresentation of my skills, it’s true.”

“And Cecilia?”

There was a pause. Lara wasn’t sure if Daniel was thinking about his answer or observing Lara as she twisted uneasily in the chair.

“I wanted to be with you. She held out a long time before ... agreeing. I didn’t know why at first, but I finally figured it out.”

The shock lifted Lara off the chair.

“Sit! Down!”

Lara slammed back down so hard the chair cracked. She was trapped. And helpless. Then she realized in her numbed state what he was about to do.

“Don’t. Please, don’t.”

“Don’t what, Lara? I’m not going to hurt you. But I am going to convince you that being here is the right thing to do, even though you’re ahead of schedule. I was going to finish you off tonight. One more session with me. One more night in my bed. You think about it, don’t you? Us? Together?”

“But ... you’re not you!”

“Oh, but I am!” His voice raised and it made Lara cower. That powerful voice. The voice that rang in her ears all day and all night. The voice that sent her so far down and so far away from reality that nothing else remained in her thinking but that.

“I am who you think I am. I’m the man of your dreams. The man you imagined me to me. The man who made love to you better than anyone else. And I am also much more than that. But there is one thing I am not, Lara.”

“What?”

“I’m not the one who made you submissive and obedient to me. You did that all on your own.”

The words were like a two giant clamps on her nipples. Lara’s back straightened, as if Daniel had placed them there ... and tugged. She nearly arched her back in need. It was true. There had been the light. There had been the handsome, bearded man who seduced her with his words as he pushed her to a sexual frenzy. But there had also been that feeling. The feeling of being dominated. And she knew, deep down, that she was willing to risk everything to feel that again.

“It’s time now, Lara. You can run. You can leave. Leave me. Or ... you can be a good girl and listen.”

Lara raised her head. It wasn’t a choice. It was a desire.

“Sight unseen.”

It was very small at first. Barely noticeable. But it grew.

A tiny pinpoint of light. A candle. A room. And a voice.

“Very good now, Lara.” Daniel whispered in her ear. “The last step you need to take must be taken by you. Tell me. Tell me what you want. I can’t make you do anything you don’t wish to do, Lara. Do you wish to be able to see again? If you do, there is only one last thing you need to say.”

Lara couldn’t recall the most basic things as she sat transfixed. Her phone number? The doctors she worked for? What city she was in? She tried to think of simpler things. Food. Pizza. Water. Air.

Light.

“Drop for me now, Lara. Sink. Obey.

“My words are easy to follow. Easy to fall. Each breath relaxes you. And each time you ... fall ... deeper ... my words take up all the spaces in your mind. Repeating.

“So you can focus .. fall .. follow ... focus ... fall ... follow. Feel good for me. Feel more submissive to me. And slowly start to ... surrender ... your mind ... to me.”

Lara was blanking out. All that was left of herself floated in a daze beneath Daniel, tall and strong.

“Lara?”

“Yes, Daniel?”

“What do you need?”

“I need to see.”

“Yes. You need to see. What else?”

“I need to be with you.”

“Yes. With me. In any form I choose. What else?”

“I need ... to submit.”

“Yes.”

Lara could feel her body shaking from the release of everything she once held as her own. Everything belonged to Daniel now.

“And to be able to see, Lara, what must you become?”

There was a word without context crouched in the cavernous void of her mind and she summoned it. Not knowing how it got there.

“A slave.”

She was rising. Then drifting. Her body was moving but her mind remained stilled, knowing without knowing that only Daniel was left to control her thinking. She lied down on something soft and caught the scent of perfume in her nose. Then the soft touch to her skin.

“Hello, Lara.”

A body was on top her, sweaty and hot and covered in the smell of sex. Lips found lips and she leaned into them, wrapping her arms around bare shoulders and feeling her legs parting. Her total need shutting down the final flickers of her own thoughts forever.

She breathed into the open mouth covering hers.

“Cecilia ...”