Exposure Therapy
Neil Bimbeau
Elizabeth leaned back against the plush seat and took another sip of tea. “Thank you so much, Dr. Tanaka. You’ve literally saved my life.”
The therapist’s office was small, but cozy. Aromatherapy candles sent small plumes of smoke rising through the room, filling the air with their pleasing scent. Other than the candles, the room was dark. With the shutters closed against the scorching-hot mid-afternoon weather, Dr. Yui Tanaka’s office felt intimate and secure. She praised giving her patients this impression—allowing them a safe space to explore their feelings and emotions.
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you,” the slender Asian said, tapping her clipboard with a smile. “You can call me Yui, Elizabeth. How long have you been sitting on my couch now?”
“Six months,” Elizabeth whispered, closing her eyes. The tea was chamomile—she didn’t like the taste enough to buy it normally, but she always drank a glass in Dr. Tanaka’s office. She associated the taste with safety and security now.
“It feels like so much less,” the doctor said back. “And at the same time, more. You were telling me about Trevor?”
A spike of panic pierced her calm. For a moment, her head thudded with the same old refrain: he’s here! He’s standing right next to me—he’s coming for me! Her fingers gripped the teacup so hard they went white, until the porcelain groaned beneath her palm.
She relaxed with a visible effort. “Yeah, I was,” she said. “Thank you so much for helping me...helping me deal with him, Dr. Tanaka. The first couple of therapists I went to, they...they didn’t even believe me!”
Dr. Tanaka leaned forward, a serious expression on her face. “Hypnosis is no laughing matter,” she said firmly, giving Elizabeth the knowing smile she’d come to depend on over the last six months. “It has a bad reputation from movies and TV shows, of course, but it’s an extremely powerful tool. Particularly when wielded against someone you trust.”
Elizabeth sighed. Even after six months in Dr. Tanaka’s chair, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment at any mention of her past. “He was an abuser,” she said, slowly growing in confidence as she spoke. “He gaslighted me, lied to me...but it was so much more than that. That power he held over me—it was almost like a compulsion.”
When she fell silent, Dr. Tanaka gently pushed her back onto the path. She was good that way. “You turned to your friends, as I remember,” the Asian said, sipping her tea. Yui’s was some dark, rich beverage that probably cost a lot more than hers.
“They were no help,” she said, shaking her head. “No one was. It was like...like they’d get all angry, you know? They’d want to punch Trevor in the face, kick his ass and drag me away from him. But after a few minutes of talking to him, they did a total one-eighty.” She shivered, clutching her shoulders. “It was scary, Yui. It still scares the hell out of me.”
She nodded. “I know it’s still hard for you to talk about these things,” the therapist said.
God, she’s so pretty, Elizabeth thought. Dr. Yui Tanaka was indeed a gorgeous woman, even in her basic black business-like outfit and matching black stockings. Long legs, tight body, elegant but not too showy—she was the kind of woman Elizabeth was jealous of. A woman who made looking well-put-together seem effortless. She never would’ve admitted it to herself, but Dr. Tanaka’s looks had definitely been a factor in booking her first appointment.
None of the therapists she’d seen had believed her—so why not be disbelieved by a beautiful one, at least?
“I want you to know this,” Yui said, putting down her clipboard. “As thankful as you are for me, Elizabeth—I’m much more grateful for you. It’s been an honor watching you take your first steps towards independence—towards finally riding yourself of the toxicity that overtook your life. Not only have you been a wonderful patient, you’ve given me a renewed sense of confidence in my own work.”
Elizabeth felt a hot flush rising to her cheeks. “Dr. Tanaka, wow,” she said, nearly dropping her teacup in shock. “I...I don’t even know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything at all,” Yui said, cocking her head to the side. “You...haven’t heard anything from Trevor recently, have you?”
Again that spike of panic tingled down her spine. This time, however, she was able to resist it much more effectively. “Not since the restraining order,” she said. “You were right about filing it, Dr. Tanaka. It was the only thing that got him to back off.”
Not a peep from the man who used to rule her world. If that set Elizabeth’s teeth on edge, she pointedly ignored it. He got the message when I got the cops involved, she told herself. Even he couldn’t turn the police against me...
“That’s wonderful,” she said, glancing down at her clipboard. “Honestly, I think you’re almost ready to leave my practice, Elizabeth.”
What!? She sat up straighter in her seat, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly. The panic she’d felt before was nothing compared to this. “You can’t be serious,” she stammered, her brave facade fracturing a crack. “I...I need you, Yui. You’re the only one who believes me…”
Not her friends. Not her family. All of them still thought Trevor was a wonderful man—they couldn’t understand why she’d dumped him. They practically thinks he walks on water, she thought, twisting her hands in her lap. If they had their way, I’d move right back in with him tomorrow…
The therapist’s manner was as sympathetic and kindly as ever. “As much as I’d love to continue taking your money,” Dr. Tanaka said with a hint of a smile, “you don’t really need me any more, Elizabeth. You’re not the same person you were when you came to my practice six months ago.” She leaned over her clipboard, eyes narrowing in a wicked smile. “There’s just one final thing I’d like to try with you over these next few sessions.”
Her eyebrows rose. “What?”
Yui leaned in even closer, dropping her voice. With this little distance between them, Elizabeth couldn’t help but notice the contours of her therapist’s body. God, she thought, that tight little black sweater practically makes her look topless. Anyone with half a brain knows exactly what she’d look like naked…
Dr. Tanaka cleared her throat. “I’d like to hypnotize you myself, Elizabeth.”
Nothing the therapist said could have possibly filled her with more fear. She pressed against the back of the chair so hard it nearly fell over, going in an instant into full-on fight or flight mode. “Doctor, you can’t!” Her jaw opened and closed on its own, working with silent horror. “That’s what he used to control me! I know it is!”
“Shh, shh…” Yui held her hands up, gently coaxing Elizabeth back into silence. “I understand you still have...trauma connected to hypnosis. What I’m prepared to do is give you a method by which you never need to fear Trevor’s powers over you again.” She smiled. “Is that something you’d be interested in?”
Slowly, Elizabeth’s horror turned to awe. “You can really do that, Dr. Tanaka?”
“Have you ever heard of something called ’exposure therapy’?”
She leaned forward in the seat, smoothing down her dress. It was an old, comfortable thing she’d thrown on on the way out of the house, with a pair of comfy leggings underneath. Nothing fancy, but she’d learned she didn’t need to dress up or put on a face for Dr. Tanaka.
“That’s something you do to people with phobias, right?” she asked.
Dr. Tanaka nodded. “Yes. You give the patient a gradually increasing exposure to the thing that triggers their fears, until those fears finally weaken. The key is, you do this in a safe environment.” She sighed heavily. “I knew this would be a lot for you to accept, Elizabeth.”
“It is,” she said. “I’m terrified of hypnosis, Dr. Tanaka. It’s funny you talk about triggers, Dr. Tanaka, because Trevor used several. They made me feel things. Do things. Things I never would or should have done of my own free will…”
“I understand that,” the therapist said. “You’ve recounted those memories to me in great detail, Elizabeth. You’ve even let me record some of them—for which I’m extremely grateful. To be honest with you, listening to your story has made my heart hurt on more than one occasion. I’d consider it a professional courtesy to rid you of this anxiety once and for all.”
Okay. Wow. Dr. Tanaka was really putting it all out there.
“This office is a safe space,” she said, tucking a lock of her jet-black hair over one ear. “Completely and totally safe. And I am your trusted therapist, who will not allow things to get out of hand. You have my word on that, Elizabeth. Will you listen to my plan?”
She paused, thinking it over. Then she nodded.
Dr. Tanaka’s face brightened. “Good! I’m going to put you under. Slowly, so that you can get used to being in a trance state once again. Once you’re there—while you’re relaxed and calm, I should emphasize—we’ll work through some of Trevor’s triggers, defanging their control over you. It’s my hope, Elizabeth, that enough exposure to hypnosis will make you less susceptible to hypnotic controls and triggers.”
Her last words made Elizabeth’s heart skip a beat. “Is that really how it works? If I get hypnotized enough, I can resist it?”
“Absolutely,” Yui said, grinning broadly. “A few short sessions should be all we need. After that, even if Trevor tried to come up to you in a public place and take control of you again, he’d be unable to.” She glanced around the room, taking in the bookshelves and the degrees from several medical schools on the wall. “The entire rest of the world would be just as safe for you as this office, Elizabeth. On that, you have my word.”
It sounded too good to be true. And something in the back of Elizabeth’s head questioned the idea that repeated exposure to hypnosis could actually make you more resistant to trances, instead of less.
But she trusted Dr. Tanaka. She trusted Yui. In fact, she was the only person that she trusted.
“Alright—I say okay,” Elizabeth whispered. “How do we do this?”
Yui smiled and rose from her seat. “Follow me to the couch,” she said.
It wasn’t far—the room where Dr. Tanaka saw Elizabeth wasn’t much bigger than her bedroom back in her apartment. Just behind the chairs and table where they sat was a large red couch, the kind of thing you’d see in a movie about therapy. Elizabeth had snorted the first time she saw it; it was just that expected.
“Lie down,” Yui said, turning on some deep, repetitive music. She lit several more candles, until the room was both more romantically lit and filled with more smoke. Elizabeth wondered how the woman didn’t set off the smoke alarm. “Close your eyes and relax, Liz. I want you to feel totally safe and supported here.”
She did. Finally, at long last, she did. She called me Liz, Elizabeth thought, nearly giddy as she sank into the couch. Maybe she’d want to, like, hang out after all this is over. God, I’m not really falling for my therapist, am I? What a fucking cliche…
Slowly, the music and the candles began to worm their way into Elizabeth’s brain. She felt the old unknotting inside of her, the way her body always just let go when Trevor commanded it to. She’d hated that feeling for so long, resenting it with every fibre of her being, but here in Dr. Tanaka’s office it was almost...nice?
“Elizabeth,” Dr. Tanaka intoned. Her voice had that deep, hollow resonance she associated with Trevor when he spoke his triggers. “Can you hear me, sweetheart?”
Oh fuck, Elizabeth thought. She’s calling me sweetheart now! “Yes,” she whispered, sinking deeper into the words. Her limbs went numb and boneless as she floated in an endless void, forgetting the office around her.
“Good,” the therapist said. “I want to start with your first trigger, Elizabeth. You told me Trevor used it to immobilize you—to stop you from crying out, from calling your friends for help, even from making a scene in a public place. It wasn’t sexual in nature, but often led to sexual commands. Do I have all that right?”
She shivered inside her bubble of warmth. The panic was almost enough to touch her here, where it was so safe. “Yes, Dr. Tanaka,” she whispered, giving her therapist the control she’d always held so tight to herself. “That’s correct.”
“I believe that trigger is the words ‘slutty little toy’,” Dr. Tanaka continued, hesitating before speaking the words. “Is that right?”
God! Even coming from Dr. Tanaka’s lips, Elizabeth froze at the words. Suddenly she couldn’t move—couldn’t even lift a finger. She tried to move her lips to form a response, and found that she couldn’t.
“Yes,” Dr. Tanaka said. “I think that’s it.”
Suddenly there was another sound in the room with them. She hadn’t heard it begin, it was only as it slowly rose in volume that she could pick it out of the bassline of the song on Yui’s stereo. A slurping, sucking sound, as if Dr. Tanaka was working hard candy around her tongue while she guided Elizabeth through her therapy. Only that would’ve been terribly rude.
I can’t move, she tried to say. Her fingers twitched as she managed to flex them, breaking through the control. Dr. Tanaka, help-
“Slutty little toy,” Yui said with a chuckle. “That’s right, those are the words he used.”
The tiny bit of control Elizabeth had managed left her. Her legs ached, but she couldn’t so much as twitch beneath Dr. Tanaka’s control. What was she doing? Was this her strange method of exposure therapy?
“So...frozen,” Yui purred, more of those strange sounds filling the room. “So helpless. So totally submissive…”
I don’t like this therapy anymore, she told herself, shutting her eyes tight. This is my safe space. Dr. Tanaka is the only one who believes me. Yui is my only friend…
“Elizabeth,” Yui snapped suddenly. “Open your eyes.”
She did. And instantly wished she hadn’t.
Dr. Tanaka sat on a chair next to the couch, her black sweater next to her on the floor in a heap. Underneath she wore a lacy black bra that hugged her medium-sized breasts, pushing them together in some still-impressive cleavage. The Asian therapist’s glossy red lips were wrapped around a fat, throbbing cock. As Elizabeth watched in mounting horror, the owner of that cock grunted and pushed it deep into her therapist’s throat. Yui’s eyes rolled back in her head for a moment as she slurped, pulling off the dick with a wet little pop.
The cock belonged to Trevor. Her ex-boyfriend, her hypnotic abuser. Who was standing next to her protector with a big, smug grin on his handsome face.
“Hey, babe,” he said, groaning as he forced his cock back into Yui’s mouth. “How’s the exposure therapy going?”
She wanted to scream. She wanted to get off the couch, shove Trevor out the window, and save Dr. Tanaka. Free her from whatever spell her awful hypnotist ex-boyfriend had put on her. But she couldn’t.
All she could do was lie there and watch.
“I’m gonna let it wear off slow,” he said. He stroked the side of Yui’s face as he spoke, helping her tie her long black hair back into a ponytail. The Asian complied eagerly, wrapping her lips around his meat with a devoted expression on her face. “You always got your words back long before you could start moving again. I enjoyed that a lot.”
“You…” Suddenly Elizabeth found that she could speak, but only a little. Her voice was ragged, so she swallowed and cleared it as best as she could.
“Yes?”
“Let her go,” she whimpered, hating herself for how pleading her voice sounded. “Dr. Tanaka doesn’t deserve this. She’s a good person…”
Trevor stared at her open-mouthed, his features filled with shock. Was he really going to do it?
Then both he and Yui began to laugh.
“Doctor Tanaka,” he said, drawing the words out in a mocking tone, “why don’t you go ahead and show my girlfriend what you deserve?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Yui climbed onto the chair and tugged off her skirt. She kept the stockings on, hugging her long, tanned legs like a second skin. She groaned with pleasure as the confining fabric fell away, leaving her exposed before Elizabeth and Trevor.
Elizabeth gasped. Yui wasn’t wearing any panties beneath the skirt. Her sex glistened with arousal, a thin rectangle of neatly-trimmed pubic hair standing over her swollen clit like an exclamation point. Her intoxicating smell mixed with the scent of the candles, forming a mix that was sweet and feral at the same time.
She knew this was going to happen, Elizabeth realized. Her heart dropped into her stomach.
“How long…?” she asked, only to be cut off by more laughter.
“Yui,” Trevor said, “spread your legs for me like a good whore.” He said it so casually—as if the two of them were discussing the weather.
Yui lay back and opened her legs, running a hand between her folds. The interior was pink and dripping with juice. “Yes, Master,” she whispered, sneaking a glance at Elizabeth as the M-word passed her lips. “I love spreading my legs for you. You can fuck my pussy whenever you want…”
With a grunt, Trevor shoved himself into Yui’s cunt. Elizabeth’s world shattered as she watched her ex-boyfriend’s cock disappear into Yui’s swollen folds. The wet squelching sound of primal fucking filled the room as Trevor pounded her, grunting and groaning with pleasure.
This woman was her protector. Her safe space. And she was spreading her legs for a monster.
“I turned your cute little therapist into a fuckdoll after your very first session,” he grunted, lifting Yui’s legs to his shoulders. Elizabeth hated how good those black stockings looked on either side of Trevor’s head, her ass in the air as he fucked her. “As soon as I saw a picture of her online, I knew I was going to have to claim her. Fuck, you know how to pick them, babe. You always were a little bit of a lezzie on the inside, weren’t you?”
No! She had to stop this. Dr. Tanaka might have Trevor’s brainwashed puppet, but the lessons she’d been teaching her for the last six months were real! She could resist Trevor—she could save Yui from his clutches. Keep her from going through the hell she’d put Elizabeth herself through…
Yui’s eyes rolled back in her head, her back arching like a bow as she threw herself back on Trevor’s cock. “Fuck, Master! Oh fuck, no man has ever stretched my tight little kitty out like that…!”
“That’s right, slut.” To Elizabeth’s disbelief, Trevor gave her a little look over his shoulder, like ’can you believe this girl’? “You fucking love Master’s dick. As far as you’re concerned, Master’s dick is God!”
“God, yes! God!” Yui looked like she was inches away from an orgasm. Elizabeth hated it, hated herself, but she could feel her own body responding to the passion in Yui’s voice. Her panties grew hot and wet, even though she grit her teeth and tried to think of anything else.
“Yui’s been my little inside slut,” Trevor said with a grin. “She tried to have me thrown out when I walked in here right after your first session, but a few minutes explaining our relationship to her and she was more than willing to see things my way. She’s been such a big help, Liz. Really.”
“I’ve told him everything,” Yui panted, grinding herself on his dick. “You know those sessions where we recorded your experience of trauma, to help you heal from it?”
She gasped. “No.”
A wicked grin spread across Yui’s features. “You went into so much detail about how Trevor mind-fucked you,” she moaned. “After you left, I fingered myself like a stupid little slut thinking all about how he’d debased you. Then he came over and I sucked him off while he listened to it. I’ve never seen him blow such a big fucking load!”
Tears streamed down Elizbeth’s face. “No, Yui...this isn’t you! You’re my friend…”
“Friend?” Trevor laughed. “She’s just another fuckdoll, babe. Don’t worry, though—it’s not like I care about her. I mean, it was fun to listen to those tapes and hear you crying while she blew me, but I don’t give a shit about this skank.” His grin widened. “It was pretty awesome listening to her pretend to comfort you while you were all sobbing, though…”
“I was creaming myself the whole time,” Yui mewled. “Honestly, I can’t believe you’d ever leave a stud like Trevor. Everything he did to you you must have wanted. You’re such a stupid little bitch for trying to walk away, Elizabeth. I’m so glad Master’s putting you right back in your place...”
“No,” she whimpered, trying to rise. No...no...no…
“Aww, baby, don’t cry,” Trevor said. “Look, I’ll show you right now how little this slut means to me.”
Without warning, Trevor hauled off and slapped Yui right across the face. She fell backwards against the chair, Trevor’s cock leaving her slit as he dragged it across her body. Yui laughed insanely, her mascara running as her cheek turned red.
“That’s right, Master, treat me like trash!” She stuck out her tongue, offering her mouth to Trevor. “Hurt me all you want! Leave bruises, choke me out—fuck my life up! I want it, I want it so bad!”
Trevor slapped her again. And again. He forced his cock back down her throat, raping it with forceful strokes that cut off Yui’s air as he used her. Tears streamed down the therapist’s face—tears of joy. Yui was broken, degraded—a dumb, bimbo fuckslut. And she loved it.
Elizabeth realized Trevor was staring at her. He grinned, wrapping a hand around Yui’s throat to choke out the woman she admired so much. He was going to strangle the only light that had entered her life in the last six months, right in front of her! Her mind reeled, nearing the tipping point. Please, God, no!
Yui’s face went slack. Trevor’s cock popped out of her mouth as the therapist’s eyes closed, her face rapidly turning beet red as she gurgled through unconsciousness. Trevor held her there for long moments, choking her right up to the point of no-return.
Then he looked over at Elizabeth. “Nah,” he said.
He tossed Yui to the floor like a piece of trash. The therapist gasped and groaned, struggling against the carpet. Elizabeth had no idea if Yui would be okay or not, but then she couldn’t see her—all she could see was Trevor. Trevor tugging her panties down to her ankles, gently pulling off her leggings and hiking up her skirt.
“You’re the one I love,” he said, giving her that ‘who, me?’ smile as the head of his cock pushed into her channel. Elizabeth hadn’t made love for six months, not since the night she escaped from Trevor’s house. She felt him entering her, her pussy clenching with the need she hated as he forced himself inside…
“Ah, fuck!” Trevor let out a relieved sound as he bottomed out inside her. His strength pinned her down as his cock pumped inside of her like a piston, covered in a mixture of his and Yui’s juices. There was a time when she’d have been thrilled to have Yui’s juices inside of her, but that time was not now.
He kept on thrusting, rapidly coming to the peak. Yui had primed him with her hot mouth and tight pussy—all that was left was for him to deposit his load inside of her. With a stab of pure terror, Elizabeth realized how long it had been since she’d taken her birth control.
Trevor mistook her tensing for something else. “Yeah, here it comes,” he growled against her ear. “God, I love you so much, Elizabeth. I’m never letting you go. Fuck, I hope this time you get pregnant…”
The idea of having his baby should have blanked out Elizabeth’s mind from the sheer horror. Instead, as she felt his cock jerk against her inner walls and spray the first jet of cum into her unprotected womb, she found the strength to whisper two terrified words:
“This time?”
He let out a long, satisfied moan of pleasure as he erupted inside of her. Thick jets of liquid lava filled her channel, the heat and warmth tripping the breakers inside of her. Slowly, almost lovingly, Trevor leaned over and grunted against her ear: “here’s your reward.”
It was the trigger that made her come. And despite every cell in her body struggling to resist, she did. Her inner muscles clenched around Trevor’s seed, sucking it inwards towards her waiting, fertile womb. If she could have, she’d have hidden her face from the same. She hated the wave of pure, crashing pleasure that washed over her, filling the world with the kind of warmth she’d once expected from Yui Tanaka.
Who was currently busy laying on the floor, deciding whether or not she was going to die.
“Yeah,” Trevor panted, pulling out of her. “This time.” He zipped up his pants with a smirk, glancing around the tiny therapist’s office. “You think this is the first time we did this reveal, doll?”
Elizabeth’s mouth formed an ‘o’ of shock. “No,” she whispered, her brows furrowing together. “No, that can’t be! You...you can’t…!”
He opened his mouth and said a phrase.
Elizabeth blinked.
There was a hot mug of tea in front of her. Dr. Tanaka sat in her chair next to the couch, watching her with a worried expression. “Elizabeth? Are you alright?”
She sat up. She was more than a little surprised she was even able to sit up, after...after what? It slid off her mind, like a forgotten dream. What the hell had she been so terrified of a moment ago?
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “What did you do to me?”
“We went a little deeper than I was expecting,” Dr. Tanaka whispered, giving her one of those sympathetic smiles. “But this first session was...well, calling it a success would be putting it mildly, Elizabeth. I’m very, very heartened by the results.”
The last remnants of her horror fell away. This was her safe place. This was her protector. Nothing could go wrong here.
“You really mean that?” she asked. “I could be free of Trevor’s control, forever?”
Yui smiled and rubbed the bruises around her neck. Neither woman noted them—as if they’d been instructed not to see them. “Yes, Elizabeth,” she said, beaming. “I think you’re really, really close to being free.”