Finders, Keepers
Sixth chapter
“And you know? I think it might just be me, but I could really need a helping hand here. Sorry for asking this of you again.” Melanie had just simply not known what else to do, who else to turn to. Thomas seemed to understand her dilemma through the speakers and soothed her with his response. “Sure thing. I bet that was pretty new, right?” For a moment he fell silent. “Do you even suppose, though, that I really can offer any help in this? As far as you told me, Clare came on to you. You know, I can see how that confused you. But it is not really anything I have any say in, right? Not like my opinion does outweigh that of you two. Like my word takes priority before your own free will. If she finds you attractive—which you undoubtedly are—is it not just natural that she wants to act on it? And you were naked standing before her, too. You pretty much invited her there, even if you only were naked because being naked in your own home feels good.” “Uh-huh.” Obviously, he was right! Melanie smirked. It really would be helpful to have his support. But the situation had been pretty much an accident. Two hot girls there, one naked, the other half so and furiously masturbating. Most likely to the image of the aforementioned naked one still fresh in her mind. Obviously the two of them got around to fucking. And obviously that was not something others or even they themselves had any say in. Or was it? She shook her head. For the love of…! She had been this close to nodding off in the middle of him talking again!
“Sorry, could you repeat that last part?” He chuckled. “I said I’m going to come over tomorrow and try to see what I can do. If nothing else, it might be helpful if you had a guy in the room. I don’t think she would want to put on a show for me or anything like that, so that would help not let anything happen, don’t you think?” “Yeah, sure!” Clare being a lesbian was already unlikely. Rather, what had happened must have simply been a heat-of-the-moment-kinda thing. And that meant that the simple presence of a third party right there with them was probably going to prevent any… adventures. Melanie giggled. Yes, she had enjoyed it. She frowned. What had been the words Thomas had used? Put on a show for him? Did he maybe like watching lesbians go down on each other? Lots of guys were into that, and since she never asked, who knew? It might just be so. Her finger fell into a by now familiar rhythm pacing around her clit as she lost herself in a daydream. A vision of her and Clare, limbs entangled as they made out even more passionately than last time. Only that in Melanie’s head, Thomas was watching, stroking that perfect dick of his with obvious approval in his eyes. Even in that vision her eyes locked onto his dick. Who cared about anything but his bulging cock? Even in the embrace of someone else all she would ever think about was—“…me? Hey, Melanie, do you still hear me?” “Yes! Yes, I do. Sorry. Got distracted there for a sec.” “No worries,” he laughed again, though it still came off as sympathetic instead of mocking, “We’ve been talking for a while now. Actually, I am the one being sorry. Hearing you ask for my help makes me want to rush over there immediately. But I can’t, I’m tied up in work. Think you can last until tomorrow on your own?” “No trouble there! You were right, it isn’t like she is some kind of Sapphic nymphomaniac or stuff. Whatever that was, I’m sure it happened only because of some unresolved sexual friction between her and her date.” “She was on a date? Right before that happened?” His sudden interest was cute. Was he afraid her roommate was playing her or something? “The night before. She’d left a note and when she came back in the morning she was sporting all the signs of euphoric after-glow. I guess it was my fault for misinterpreting her tells and thinking she was satisfied instead of sexually super-charged and ready to pounce. But that won’t happen again. Or, well, not tonight.” I’ll save that for when you are watching me get my cute little snatch fucked by another girl for your pleasure, she added in silence. Telling him would just ruin the surprise.
A few minutes of banter later they hung up and she stretched, feeling ready to greet the day. She was lucky she had to go to work today. Actually, ever since that incident with Clare the two women were tip-toeing around each other. It was worse than she had described it to Thomas over the phone. Much worse. It was not just her. Though, arguably she was not really doing much to de-escalate the situation either. Clare was literally disappearing into thin air as soon as Melanie was even close to getting to her. She had made it a habit of at least throwing over a bathrobe or something similar if she had to leave her room. And the blonde scientist was not really leaving her room, as well. In fact, several times Melanie had walked up to her door, thinking about knocking, but had been stopped by the quiet noises permeating the door and reaching her standing right in front of it. It sounded like Clare was talking to someone on the phone herself and Melanie did not have the heart to interrupt that, no matter how much she had wanted to put whatever had happened behind them and return to how their relationship had been.
She had heard the door and thus knew Clare was out. Probably shopping for dinner later. It was her turn, after all. And if she did not slack off, she could be gone before Clare returned. So she hurried and even though it felt weird to do so when no one else was around put on a presentable, chaste work outfit. So much fabric! She gave herself a critical look in the mirror. It was not any different from what she normally wore to work, yet it felt… stuffy. Scratchy even. It was not like there was anything wrong with the clothes themselves. But rather, she realized, it was her that had changed. She just found the idea of covering up to such an extent unbearable. What if—on a one-in-a-million-chance—Thomas was walking past her on the way either to or from work? And didn’t get a good look of her smooth skin? Would he even notice her? There were so many easy little sluts walking around that did not have to hide their charms like she did, after all. And he was so hot! Could she realistically think that he would pass them up if they came on to him while she was looking like this? “Screw this,” she hissed, “Gotta call in sick today!” But as she whipped out her phone to make the call a text message arrived. “Sorry I can’t already be there. I’m thinking of you. Do your best today!” Her heart melted into a sizzling puddle. Okay! All plans of skipping out forgotten the young woman rushed off to work. She’d do the best job ever today!
In fact, Melanie noticed as time went on and one task after the next just breezed by that she was really at the top of her game today. What was a bit of friction with colleagues compared to Thomas having her back? What meaning held a complaint from her boss over the fact that Thomas was believing in her abilities? Her fingers flew over the keys as she was completing documents at lightning speed, her concentration unaffected by anything around her. Granted, it wasn’t an all perfect day. She could have hurried more with her toilet breaks. But thinking of Thomas praising her inevitably brought back the memory of her going down on him in that back alley. And her dreams of doing it in his flat. Or hers. And those things just forced her to take care of her tingling need, several times even. If she were not out to get praised by him even more than that she most likely would have simply locked herself in a stall and played with her cunt all day long until her shift was over.
It was very fortunate that she was so successful today. Because if not, she wondered as she left for home several hours later, she really would have needed to think about what the hell was wrong with her lately. She was constantly horny, if not to the point of having to masturbate herself senseless then at least enough to be permanently distracted as soon as she did not use all her will power to focus on the task at hand. Was puberty hitting her way too late or what? She had gone a bit smitten with guys before, but never to the extend she was experiencing with Thomas lately. He was quickly turning into the centre of her entire world-view! Would that food be something he liked? Was that place somewhere he’d enjoy spending time? Would this or that be better to wear when meeting him? Would he approve of her getting cat-called, proud that his girl was able to turn heads in the street? Or would he want to own her exclusively? He was the first guy about whom she was this concerned ever. And that fact, a very feeble voice in the back of her head could not help whispering in any idle moment, scared the living hell out of her.
But at the same time it was a feeling like no other. A sensation she had never experienced before. How much better had her performance at work been today? All just because she had focused on her tasks to almost inhuman degrees in pursuit of his acknowledgement. The mere idea that it might earn his praise was fuelling her desire to do her very best. Didn’t even matter what. As long as it made him happy she would be happy as well. And there undeniably laid a special, a unique kind of peace of mind in that knowledge that she found extremely reassuring. Worry became a thing of the past when she knew her behavior was exactly what he wished for.
Which however brought her inevitably back to her quick tryst with Clare. What had that really been all about? At the very least, she had established he was not angry at her or lost interest after learning she had had something with another woman. But still… Would it change anything?
Her gaze caught on the way the sunrays fanned out all over the sky at their current angle. Wow! Moments like these made her regret her hectic adult live a little. The sun wasn’t quite setting yet, but it couldn’t be long now. It was that magical hour when drained from a day at work you could just look up at the blazing orange veil of light and feel time slow down to a crawl. She grinned. She had done her best today, had she not? That should warrant some lazy dallying on the way home. Especially since there was some chance she might run into Clare at home. One thing was for certain, the stuffy atmosphere back there was not what she wanted to surround herself with right now.
“Melanie? That you there?” She turned to see a lanky woman walk up to her, a black leather jacket casually flung over her shoulder, hand in hand with another petite lady that at the sudden interest of her companion in Melanie instantly seemed to grow displeased. “Chloe!” This kind of unexpected meeting was more like it! Melanie greeted the other woman with a hug. Chloe returned it with a hearty laugh, before holding her at arms length and mustering her from head to toe. “Looking good there! How are you?” “Oh, I’m fine, what about you?” “Oh, you know me!” Was she dodging the question? Melanie’s attention turned to the third woman, who was looking more and more grim by the second. “I don’t think we’ve met before? My name’s Melanie, and you are…?” “This is Shannon,” Chloe responded before the woman could even open her mouth, “and we were kind of in the middle of shopping. Well, that and grabbing some food before we head home. How about it? Wanna come along, too? Or is there already a fresh meal waiting for you back home?” Clare flashed through her mind, but Melanie chased the thought away and gladly accepted the invitation.
Sitting down in a close-by diner Melanie could barely contain her curiosity. “So, what have you been up to the last two years? Actually, since when are you even in town? Didn’t you move to the other side of the country?” “Oh, I did, I did. But, y’know? Sometimes life is really throwing you for a loop, I guess. Lost that neat job I had back then and had to come up with something new. And fast at that. So that was when I was getting a call from some old pal I hadn’t met in ages and he introduced me to an opportunity.” “As usual, you’re way too sloppy in your summaries. I have no idea what you are talking about.” Shannon shifted in her seat, obviously feeling rather left out. “And how did you two meet?” It was heartwarming to see the petite lady cheer up as soon as she had a place in the conversation. But again it was Chloe actually answering the question. “In the line of work. I was just doing my thing and this adorable person here seemed rather taken with it.”
For all her patronizing, Chloe was affectionately squeezing Shannon’s hand at these words and drove a pretty pink flush up her cheeks. The gesture looked a little close for friends though… Melanie gasped at the belated realization. “Was I… by any chance, was I interrupting the both of you on a date?” “Stupid!” Chloe warmly chided her. “For one, I was the one calling out to you. Had I not you’d likely not even noticed me, right? And two, nobody ever said our date ended just because I’m catching up with an old friend! We’re kinda on a three-day-date marathon before I have to get back to work and run all over the place for a while again.” “That might be true.” “But,” at this thought a slightly embarrassed expression flickered over her face, “I can’t deny I’ve got mixed feelings about coming out to a friend in this exact way. I always imagined that the topic would either never be breached or if it were, that I would say it after spending some time carefully… I don’t know, preparing the other person for what I had to tell them.” Shannon chimed in. “Not like it matters, right? What’s done is done. And your friend… I’m sorry, what was the name?” “Melanie.” “Melanie here doesn’t seem to mind. Do you?” “No, of course not!” Her recent worries must have affected her expression, because the two women did not look convinced in the least.
“I’m sorry, I… Oh, god, I never thought I would be having a talk like this! I just… How did you girls notice that, y’know? Um, that…” “We’re gay?” Melanie felt like her face was on fire. “Yes. That.” Shannon began to grumble under her breath, obviously only this close to interpreting Melanie’s words as an insult. Chloe’s eyes, on the other hand, drilled into Melanie with a new kind of intensity. “I won’t pretend that I had always known. In fact, back in the day when I thought that girls being into girls was evil and just not something that actually happened, I did have a few relationships with guys. I wouldn’t want a repeat of that even if it killed me. But in hindsight, except of course for their gender they still had a lot to give and I can say that even if not all my needs were met being with them made me happy.” She took a sip of her drink more to clear her throat than anything and Melanie was transfixed by the intense focus in her friend’s eyes. “Did it occur to me that I was not into guys from the start? Hell, no. It took a lot of things happening exactly as they did to make me realize this about myself. And if things had happened differently, who knows? I might still be content to go out with a guy, not because I am into him, but because that is how it has to be. The question, Mel, isn’t how we noticed. This, I think, is about: How curious are you?”
This, Melanie thought with shame clawing at her, was where she should kindly excuse herself and flee. As long as her friend would still let her off the hook. But instead her lips moved almost without her conscious decision: “What would it feel like if I… ” Before she could continue, however, Chloe cut her off, the woman’s face melting into a cheeky grin. “Sorry, I am taking this too far. You wouldn’t believe it, maybe, but I can walk arm in arm with my girlfriend and still get a bit stiff if I have to put my thoughts about it into words in public. That was my self-preservation lashing out at you, and you did nothing to deserve that.” Her attention focused on Shannon. “How did we notice we were into each other? Well, why don’t I let you answer that, my dear?” Shannon was visibly surprised by the turn of events and blushed, but found the courage to express herself: “We fucked.” These two words, less than a whisper, send icy showers of tension over Melanie’s skin. Something about the way the petite woman looked at Chloe felt strange. Crystallized. Enchanted. Vacant. It was like with one brief moment of eye contact, one harmless flick of her finger, a few honeyed words Chloe had robbed Shannon of everything but her devotion. Everything but the will to please. Melanie felt her pussy clench almost painfully at the sight, yet a single movement could cause this moment to splinter apart, break into a billion tiny fragments, shattered forever. What was it that was going through Shannon’s head in this moment? Was there anything left at all even? “Such a good girl,” purred Chloe as her index finger alluringly stroked over Shannon’s chin and throat.
To any onlooker this would look normal, if perhaps a little exaggerated and flirtatious. But Melanie could feel there was something else in the air right now. A level of intimacy between the two women that went deeper than it should be possible. That opened up a way for Chloe to reach straight into the other woman’s innermost places and fill them with nothing but her. She felt the echo of a thought drift through her mind, half covered by the impressions of the scene before her. What if she were to show such a face to Thomas? An expression of nothing but calm, serene submission.
The thought made her cum a little. As she bit her lip, hoping to contain the sounds, Chloe swiftly waved over Shannon’s eyes, the petite girl slumping against her. Her friend blinked, as if only now recalling there had been someone else watching it all. “What was…” “Hypnosis.” “You’re joking!” But something told Melanie that it was the furthest thing from a joke. And she was not sure how that made her feel. “That was the opportunity I spoke of. That old pal I mentioned? He’s a hypnotist. And whilst he doesn’t feel like making a living off it, he is offering courses every now and then. He invited me to one of them and having lost my job I thought ‘What the hell’ and rolled with it. Seems I have a bit of a knack for it. I became good enough to make it my source of income and that was when I met Shannon here.” “That is… Sorry. I have absolutely no idea how to even process that. Besides, what exactly are you implying here?” Chloe’s eyes went wide. “I just thought… Well, this is awkward. I thought you had seen this as your answer. To that question from earlier, I mean. The whole ‘How did we realize we’re lesbians’ thing. I am. Shannon was not. Not until she met me, is all I’m going to say. See now?”
The unspoken undertones of these words made Melanie flinch back. Whatever was going on here, this right now was where the talk was crossing some line. Lines. She wasn’t even going to count how many things were wrong with this. “That is all nice and well, but I have to go. Like, now!” “Of course you do.” Chloe nodded with the same nonchalant expression as if she had not just admitted to have broken another person’s free will. With one flick of her wrist she woke her girlfriend and Melanie watched in a bizarre mixture of horror and fascination how the petite woman sat up not even acknowledging the fact that she had just mysteriously dozed off in the middle of talking.
The three women wrapped things up and left the restaurant as if there were no hurry at all. Despite being tempted to just up and run, Melanie was aware this was still a reunion with an old friend. How would Chloe take her running away in fear after this talk? Wait, had she really just thought that? Was she really going to act all concerned for the opinion of a woman who had no qualms admitting she had pretty much… what actually? Brainwashed a client into her obedient gay lover? Could hypnosis even do that? Surely if it were that powerful, government or some such larger organization would have made access to it impossible for the average person, right? Surely, the hypnotism was nothing but a welcome excuse for the both of them. Wasn’t it?
She noticed Chloe was watching her out of the corner of her eye. Watching with a predatory calculation that Melanie was sure she had never wanted to see aimed at her. Well, granted. Maybe if Thomas would look at her that way… The passing thought had her head spin and she shooed it away. Later! Not now. Not here with them.
A snide smirk played around Chloe’s mouth and she casually pinned her girlfriend into a corner. “You need a new dress, dear.” What Melanie had thought to be another flirt seemed to be more. Shannon seemed somehow drugged for an instant, before yelping a little. Her hands darted to her intimate bits as if to cover up. Almost as if she had been caught coming out of the shower unexpectedly or something. Her heart-shaped face awash with shame she tried to stammer something, but Chloe just took delight at her situation. “No covering up. If you can brace this, I might buy you something to wear for me. If you can’t, wearing anything might be difficult. Until you got used to it, anyways. Your choice.” “She…” Melanie was aware she should have excused herself minutes ago. But against her better judgment, the scene appealed to something inside of her. A memory of sorts. But was she really going to ask this? Turned out she didn’t have to, Chloe completed her sentence for her: “Yes. She is currently naked. In her head, anyways.” The words were spoken while she kept her hands over the other girl’s ears as if muffling the sound. And if her behavior was any indication, Shannon truly might as well not have been present as her lover explained the situation.
“It was a fun suggestion, that I found works nicely if I want to have my fun with her out on the streets. Pull that stunt for real and the police will stop you before you could even enjoy it. But like this? Every onlooker would just take her to be real shy and nervous. And really? I can dig that. Makes her so much more compliant, anyhow.” The evil hunger with which Chloe looked her lover up and down, almost as if the woman was physically naked in her eyes as well, was intoxicating at least as much as it triggered every single shrill alert Melanie had not yet chosen to ignore.
“I need to go home. Now. I mean, for real.” “Yes. Yes, you do,” Chloe sounded as if she had only now remembered that this was all really happening and not just in her head. Her mask of uncaring evil crumbled as the mischievous, yet compassionate woman Melanie had once known came back to light. “Sorry. I can get a little into bragging with a girl like this,” she patted Shannon’s head and whatever had kept the petite woman deaf seemed to wear off. “Coming back to your question one last time, though.” Really? Melanie was a second away from screaming that she had already said she needed to go. “I really can’t see you as being into girls. I could be wrong, of course. But I think you already have someone in mind. And I don’t think that someone is a woman, is all I’m going to say.” Yes! Hearing someone else put it into words like this really was helpful. Of course. Maybe she was a bit bi-curious. Maybe even full-out bi, period. Who cared? But her attraction to Thomas was real! How was it she had not seen that from the start? What was she doing running in circles when the answer could be this simple? “Don’t go beating yourself up over stuff. If it feels right, do it. And if it still feels right, do it again. That can be a real good way to sorting things out sometimes. It was for me.” That actually really was helpful. “Thank you, Chloe!” “No problem.” The other woman grinned, flinging her leather jacket over her shoulder again and getting ready to walk off with her girlfriend, who looked increasingly squirmy behind them, trying to use Chloe as a way to shield herself from view. “And Mel? You don’t really have to take it nearly as far as we two did. But give hypnosis a whirl. You can tell me it scared you. But you can’t pretend it left you unfazed.”
And with just that casual comment Mel was left behind as a shivering, needy mess. Images rattled through her brain. Of Thomas, drawing her in with such ease as he locked eyes with her. Told her how her world would be, what would become of her simply because he willed it so. How she would leave any thought or modesty behind at a single whispered cue. Just to serve him, to pleasure him no matter time or place.
But that was never going to come true, was it? Thomas didn’t know hypnosis and learning it would certainly involve more time and resources than someone like him was willing to spend. Then again, he was invested in interests all over the place. And did he not recently mention how he was quick to get curious about all sorts of new things all the time? Maybe she wouldn’t really have to push him into it. Maybe all it would take would be just mentioning hypnosis a few times, as if by sheer coincidence. Maybe add how it seemed so fascinating and impressive. Maybe if she bought a book about it, leaving it out in the open where he simply had to find it when he came over? Could this really be that simple? Feeling irritated at herself, she shook her head and headed for her train. This was just silly!
Or was it? Could she deny Chloe’s claim that hypnosis had made an impression on her? Shannon’s various facial expressions at least definitely haunted her. Try as she might, the way all her thoughts had given way to pristine, undisturbed devotion and vulnerability had burned itself into Melanie’s brain. Something about it was just pure magical. And whatever it was, brainwashing or just a parlor trick, Shannon and Chloe were clearly convinced it was real. And fucking hot!
Would Thomas look at her the same way as Chloe had at her lover? Would being hypnotized by him turn her into nothing more than an obedient toy for him to use? Thinking stuff like this was clearly dangerous in public. She was half convinced there had to be visible stains spreading around her crotch.
Luckily, there were lots of things that could distract her, so she managed to arrive back home without another incident. And to really make things perfect, even though Clare was home, she had retreated into her room and was busy working. The sounds coming from the closed door indicated that she was most likely in the middle of building a model for some kind of simulation again. It brought a wave of relief, given that Clare was usually the type to really immerse herself in her work and get some distance from any private troubles. Exactly what they needed right now. Melanie found a bit of food prepared in the kitchen and by the time she had eaten and was lazing around in her room she was sure that as soon as Thomas would come visit tomorrow, everything would be fine again.
Which left only one thing that was buzzing around in her head and did not let her mind go even as her body drifted off to sleep eventually. How in the world could she make Thomas try and hypnotize her?
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