The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Maybe she won’t show. Maybe I’ll get lucky.

Rebecca sat at the end of her bed and toppled backwards, eager to see how her new mattress and frame would react to her weight. She expected squeaks and groans, but for an institutional bed, it was surprisingly well made. Her body bounced once, twice, then came to rest with a minimum of noise. The mattress was firmer than her bed back home, and smelled more than faintly of cleaning products, but those were things she could control. A mattress topper, a few candles, maybe some baking soda… or, if all else failed, and her luck held, she could always try out the-

“Hey! Heeeeeey!!! Hi there! I’m Emily!”

-other bed.

Rebecca swallowed her disappointment and forced a smile. “I’m Rebecca. Hi!”

The girl hovered in the doorway, halfway in and halfway out of the room, seemingly unsure about whether to enter. It made Rebecca think of a long shot of a question. One that was probably worth asking, just for the hell of it. “Is your room 402?” She paused, hoping to see the girl shake her head. “This is room 402.”

It was orientation. People got lost. People ended up on the wrong floor, in the wrong roo-

“Room 402, yep! That’s me!” If anything, Rebecca’s query seemed to give the girl official permission to enter, and she sat down on the bed opposite Rebecca. It bounced and squeaked more than Rebecca’s, and that fact made the disappointment of not having a double dorm room all to herself a little less disappointing. A little, anyway. “We’re gonna be shacking up for the next semester or two. Don’t worry, I don’t snore, or skin cats, or eat bugs. On purpose, anyway. You know.”

Rebecca giggled. Okay, that was funny. Emily had soft brown eyes and a winning smile, and her enthusiasm was already proving to be impossibly infectious. “I’m all moved in,” she offered, rolling off the twin bed and finding her feet. “Do you need any help with your stuff?”

Emily clapped her tiny hands together and beamed. “Awesome! You’re so awesome! It’s not a lot. I promise. I travel light!”

Six boxes, four suitcases, three milk crates and a backpack later, Emily was officially moved in. She went to work at once on decorating her space, as Rebecca lay on her bed and idly flipped through her newly acquired college handbook. Emily broke the work into chunks, pausing now and then to quiz Rebecca about where she was from, about what she was studying, about what her family was like. Did she have any brothers or sisters? Emily did, one of each. Did she have a car? Emily did not.

“I can give you a ride if you need it,” Rebecca found herself offering at one point, earning her a happy clap and a wide smile from her new roommate. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for that one, recalling the advice of her junior year advisor. You want to be popular? Bring your car to campus. Here she was, making friends on her first day.

And Emily was, in the space of an hour, rapidly winning over Rebecca’s heart and mind. She asked questions, but didn’t press them. She was polite without being weird. And she seemed to have boundless energy, rapidly fitting out her side of the room with a string of fairy lights here, an inspirational poster there, a fluffy pink pillow somewhere in between. She was also very pretty, even dressed down in loose clothes and drenched with the sweat of a typical Midwestern afternoon. Rebecca set the boring handbook aside and watched Emily at work, taking care not to eyeball the girl too much. They had to live together for the next three months.

Finally, everything that needed to be set up was, and the redhead moved to the center of the room. “So… one more question.” She placed her hands on her hips and admired her handiwork, a conquering heroine surveying her new lands. “Do you have a boyfriend, Rebecca?”

Shit. The question. The question. There was never any way to tell how people would react. Rebecca had learned over time that the best course was usually to plow straight ahead. “I had a girlfriend,” she said, watching Emily’s face as she spoke. “We broke up before school started. She went to one college and I came here.” She shrugged. “Standard shit, I guess.”

She waited for a response. Some people were fine with her sexuality, others weren’t. And then there was the faint hope that her cute roommate had also just broken up with a girlfriend, and was also all alone in a new city looking for love and-

“Ah shit, that sucks! I’m sorry to hear that!” Emily folded herself into one of the uncomfortable desk chairs and crossed her legs. “Well, if you meet someone here and she wants to spend the night, just text me. I can always duck out. I’m kinda sorta technically still dating this guy from my hometown who’s a junior here, so if you need space I can always sleep at his place.” She drummed her fingers against the top of her head, momentarily lost in thought. “Yeah, that’ll work. He’ll never want to come here. He hates the dorms. He’s kind of a dick, but he can be sweet?”

“I don’t…” Rebecca stopped. She didn’t… what? It was a generous offer. Was it too generous? Was Emily trying to say that they had to keep their distance? “I mean, I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to do! It’s cool, really. I promised my parents I’d be Nerd Girl for at least the first semester.”

“All right, but if you want… anyway, I hope you’re not too much of a nerd girl. We’re away from home for the first time in our lives and we’ll be working fifty-hour weeks when we graduate, so better get in as much fun as we can now, right?”

“Yeah, I also promised them that I’d make lots of friends, so…”

“So you’re golden! Awesome! Hey, I left some books down in my car. Can you help me grab them?”

Rebecca couldn’t resist a good jab, even if it was her first day on campus. She made sure to smile and wink before replying with, “But I thought you packed light?”

Emily laughed. “Oh, you’re gonna be thaaaaat roomie!” Her eyes narrowed as she pointed her finger. “I’ve got my eye on you, Rebecca.”

“Now, what do you have to report?”

The words barely touched the entranced redhead’s mind. Do whatever makes you happiest right now was the command in control at the moment, and right now that meant sitting in bed, her own fingers taking the place of Roger’s cock, sliding in and out of her as her mind emptied itself of everything but the pleasure and heat coming up from down below. Outside of trance, she would have dropped the phone in an instant to reach for something to caress and stroke—a tit, a leg, a pillow, the edge of the mattress. Even hypnotized, it was hard to focus. “Ssssoooo… nnnnn…”

“Easy, dearie! Don’t spend your whole packet at the first shop! Relax, and listen to my voice. Very calm, very relaxed, very open to my words. Very obedient. Can you do that for me, dearie?”

“Yessss…” The urge to play with herself melted away. The heat—pleasant, calming, relaxing—remained. “Calm and relaxed.” Her breathing returned to normal. “Open to your words.” A door opened in her mind. You will always obey Alice.

“I will always obey Alice.”

“Very good, Emily. Now! With all of that cleared up, let’s get to the most important business. What do you have to report? And do speak clearly, dearie. It’s not always easy to hear you on these long-distance calls.”

The command to remember and recall sent Emily spiraling deeper into trance. The heat, still pleasant, still relaxing, wrapped around her like a blanket in the cool bedroom. From her position on the bed, eyes set straight forward, she could see through the bedroom window and out to the cold snowy landscape beyond. Rays of January sunshine filtered through the purple curtains. She watched, impassive, as the rays began to twist themselves into the shape of words, words that were Very Important, words that she needed to Remember and Recall. She did so.

“Edwin called me.” Her voice was dull and empty. “He tried to hypnotize me over the phone. He tried to give me commands.”

“He did, did he?” Alice’s laugh carried across thousands of miles of land and sea, pressing painfully against the redhead’s ear. “Oh, well I shouldn’t say I’m surprised! And yet I am! That is twice now that he’s called, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Alice.” The rays of sunshine had nothing else to offer. Emily stared through the window, mesmerized by the patterns of frost on the glass and the purple swirls of color that framed them. Swirls. Colors. Pretty. Watch.

“Hmm. I’m glad that you obeyed, Emily. You’re doing so well, listening to my voice and obeying my words.” She lingered on the word each time, emphasizing its importance. “Always obeying my commands, just like old times. Are you alone this… it’s morning there, I suppose? Are you alone?”

“Yes, Alice. No, Alice.”

A pause, followed by a frustrated sigh. “Right, I’ll start again. Is it morning there?”

“Yes.”

“And are you alone? I suppose from your first answer that you are not?”

“No, Alice.” Her eyes remained fixed on the window, but her ears picked up the hiss of the shower and the faint sound of Roger humming along to a tune. “Roger is here. He’s in the shower.”

“Roger! Ah, such a good lad. I do worry about his love of showers, though. You can’t save up money if you’re forever helping him with his water bills, now can you?”

“No, Alice.”

“Never mind that,” Alice commanded. Emily forgot about it immediately. “Knowing your boyfriend, that gives us enough time for you to make your report. Summarize your conversation with Edwin for me, Emily.”

The beams of sunlight bent into words. They were easier to read now, and she rushed through them. “He asked about my travel fund. Whether I had enough money to fly to Berlin. I told him I didn’t have enough. He told me to stop seeing my friends so that I can save more money. I have to check the fares every night. I must buy a ticket as soon as I can afford one.”

“Yes, I recall that from our last little chat, dearie. And how much money did you tell him you have on hand?”

Numbers. She saw only numbers. They meant something to someone, perhaps, but to her they were only more things to be downloaded and passed on to Alice. “Six hundred and ten dollars.”

“Good girl! I see you’ve taken my suggestion to heart. You’ll suddenly find that you can remember the true amount again, now that Edwin isn’t speaking to you. How much to you really have in that travel account?”

The numbers vanished, swept away by an invisible hand. In their place, new ones appeared. They hovered in front of her vacant eyes. “A thousand and forty two dollars.”

“Wonderful! And does Rebecca know of this fund? I assume that she does.”

“Yes, Alice.” Behind her, the shower switched off abruptly. “It’s my Australia vacation fund. Rebecca has one, too.”

A pause. “It’s gotten quiet on your end, Emily. Is Roger out of the shower already?”

“Yes, Alice.”

“We’ll have to be more quick about things, then. Listen carefully to my voice, Emily. Listen, and trust every word that I say to you. Commit each one to your deepest memories, accessible only to me. Listen, and obey.”

She listened. And obeyed.

“I’m done! Nice and clean. Hey Emily, can you give me a ride to…”

Roger stopped mid-stride, his towel falling to the floor in a wet heap. “Um… Emily?”

She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her tits against his chest, lusty eyes seeing only his face. He responded immediately, his hard cock invitingly close to her burning, eager pussy.

Something passed through the edge of her vision, a trick of the light, perhaps, or an odd shadow created by the motion of their bodies tumbling onto the bed. She crawled on top of him, pinning his arms to the mattress as she buried his face in her cleavage, shuddering as she felt his hot breath on her chest. “I want you inside of me,” she purred. “Right now.” God, she was so wet. She was going to have to wash the sheets once Roger left for class. After Roger… “Fuck me. Really, really fuck me.”

The moment he slid inside of her was… exquisite. He eagerly reached for her tits, cupping them with greedy, caressing hands, his thumbs brushing against her nipples. She began to ride him, rising and falling on his perfect, amazing cock, crying out with each powerful, body-shattering thrust. He moaned, and grunted, and breathlessly mumbled dirty things that drove her wild.

Emily’s eyes were closed, but the mysterious trick of the light remained. It curled and uncurled like a snake, wrapping itself around her mind, squeezing until all of her thoughts drained away. Then Roger entered her again, and the light curled into words.

Orgasms are for obedient girls.

She was an obedient girl. She obeyed.

She came.

“I’d say that they’re holding mostly steady. We’ve lost the tourist traffic for the season, so Edwin is getting bored.” Amanda leaned forward in her chair, just far enough to get a clear line of sight through the closed glass doors. “He’s working on a side project, but he won’t tell me much about it. We all need our time alone, I guess.” She rearranged her chair so that she could reach the ashtray and still keep one eye on her husband. “Gunther, no. I don’t want to hear it. We need to get that hardware. I am tired of hearing Edwin bitch and moan about not having his toy.”

She tapped her cigarette and looked inside, just in time to see Edwin pass his hand over the girl’s eyes. They closed, and the girl slumped forward until her head was nearly touching her knees. He followed, bending down until he was able to whisper commands into her ear.

“Gunther… what’s… I… what? No, I don’t speak Russian! No, that’s your job!”

Even in a city crowded with young and beautiful faces, the hypnotized young woman was exceptionally pretty. She had also proved to be very, very open to suggestion. An easy grab, even without drugs or Edwin’s much-lamented hypno-screen. Her pouty lips opened and closed, mumbling back the new commands Edwin was planting in her soft, compliant mind.

Gunther was offering an excuse for not contacting the Russians, but Amanda only gave it half of her attention. The other half remained with the blonde, who should have been spending the afternoon in a client’s bed, not sitting here in their apartment being programmed like some kind of Bond minion. Edwin was nothing but side projects and dreams in the winter.

“Wait, what?” She’d missed something important. “Go back… Gunther, go back. What did you say about a club?”

Edwin glanced up from the blonde and noticed Amanda for the first time. He ignored her frown and responded with a jaunty thumbs-up. He took a seat next to the girl and went back to feeding her commands.

Club Trabant. Had she heard of it? Of course not. Berlin was full of dinky nightclubs and discos. She couldn’t possibly remember them all. “No… I don’t…” Gunther was on a roll, each word tripping over the one in front of it in a verbal stampede. “If they’re hypnotizing… I don’t care if it’s Alice’s club, Gunther. We steer clear of her and she steers clear of us. If that’s how she gets her stock, good for her. I don’t need her. I need you to get our parts for that screen, like we asked you a month ago. Get on it before I sell that Swiss girl you like so much to some fat oil baron in Texas!”

“Friendly chat?”

Edwin’s voice startled her. He hadn’t joined her on the balcony in months. Too cold, he complained, even on days like this when Berlin offered a respite from the cold and dreariness. She ended the call with Gunther abruptly, nearly dropping the phone as she fumbled with the screen.

“Gunther,” she replied. Her stony face told the rest of the story, and Edwin didn’t pry any further. Behind him, the blonde stood in the doorway, stark naked. Unlike Edwin, she didn’t mind the cold one bit.

“I told you those Russians weren’t going to come through. They’ll be snowed in and drunk off their asses until the spring thaw.” He rubbed his upper arms vigorously. “It’s cold out here, Mandy. Why are you out here all the time?”

“We all have our side projects.”

“Smoking’s a terrible side project. So’s hypothermia.”

She ignored him. “I wish you’d let me send Sandra out on a call. She’s already brainwashed enough for that. Do you know how many requests I get for girls like her?”

“I’m working on a project,” he said, for what had to be the hundredth time. “And I need her for it. You saw how easy she went under at the bar. She’s a good test subject.”

“This girl is money, Edwin. If you want a test subject, go to… I don’t know… Lidl or Edeka and cruise the bread aisle.” She stubbed out her cigarette, annoyed. “They don’t have to be good-looking if you’re just going to play with their heads.”

“You’re cross this morning.”

“I’m cross whenever we’re not making a profit.”

Edwin looked over his shoulder. “Sandra, go sit back down. Remain deep in trance.”

“Yes, master.” She turned and slowly returned to her spot on the sofa, sinking into the soft leather and letting her head fall forward, her long blonde hair hiding her sleeping face.

“Oh, she’s good, Mandy. And these new Japanese drugs? They only work on the most susceptible subjects, but if I can collect enough of them, and enough of a supply… we can start the year with a whole new line of product.”

Product. The word took a moment to process. When it finally did, her eyes widened. “Oh, to hell with that! We are not getting into that business, Edwin!”

“I thought you wanted to make lots of money? That’s where the money is these days.”

“It’s not worth it if we get run out of town, Edwin. Look what happened to Arthur last year! He got five minutes into the deep conditioning business before someone put a target on his back. No, Edwin. It’s too risky.”

“It’s the only open market, Mandy.” His face curled into an angry, almost vengeful scowl. “The hypnotized tourist racket is saturated. We’ll be lucky to keep our stable in the next couple of years. And all of the big controllers are moving into deep conditioning. With the right drugs and the right subjects? I can get the drugs, and I know where I can get reliable subjects. If we—”

Amanda held up a hand. “I don’t want to end up having my brain erased because we screwed up.”

“Fine.” He turned and stalked into the living room, ignoring the mesmerized blonde.

Rebecca puckered her lips and took a long draw through her plastic straw, searching for the last remnants of her chocolate milkshake. She was well aware that her girlfriend was watching her every move with growing amusement, and she playfully kicked Celeste’s feet beneath the table.

“Hey!” The brunette giggled and returned fire with a well-aimed foot to Rebecca’s shin. She poached a french fry from Rebecca’s plate and held it in front of her like a tiny sword. “Don’t make me start a food fight. I always win.”

“Is that Emily over there?”

The moment the brunette turned her head, Rebecca lunged forward and deftly snatched the french fry sword from Celeste’s fingers. She settled back into her chair and, over her girlfriend’s protests, triumphantly popped the fry into her open mouth. She did her best to grin and chew at the same time.

“Ooh, you’re good.” The brunette pouted, but the smile lurking at the corners of her mouth and the sparkle in her bright hazel eyes spoke otherwise. “Defeated and disarmed. Hrmph.”

“I’m a gracious victor,” Rebecca said. She scanned her plate and the remaining mountain of fries piled on top of it. “What do you want to do this afternoon? Your choice.”

Every day was ‘your choice,’ of course, but they both agreed that it made sense to start off that way. Celeste was new to town and needed to try everything. Rebecca simply enjoyed trying those things all over again while holding her girlfriend’s hand, stealing kisses, and exchanging loving glances like the loving, happy couple they were. It was like she was experiencing these things for the first time, too.

Only you can make Wraps N Ribs seem sexy, Celeste.

The brunette pondered the question while Rebecca daydreamed. “It’s cold outside,” she concluded, glancing up at the skylight and the silver-white clouds beyond. “Cold and blah. I think I just want to chill on the couch with you, if that’s cool.”

No, I don’t want you curled up next to me, feeling your skin brush against mine, letting our hands drift where they may as we slowly fall asleep together…

“Rebecca?”

“Oh, sorry!” She genuinely was. “I’m super foggy today. Sorry, yeah, that would be awesome. Today’s a day for hot tea and blankets and binge-watching, absolutely.”

There was an extra twinkle in those hazel eyes. “I hooked up the blu-ray yesterday. We can watch each other’s favorite movies and shows.”

“You’re not gonna make me watch that cheesy action show you like so much, are you?”

“Fair trade.” Celeste snatched a fry from Rebecca’s neglected plate. “Junk for junk, classic for classic. Until we fall asleep with the TV on, and no grown-ups around to yell at us.” She reached for another fry. They were lukewarm at best by now, soft and greasy, a sharp contrast to Celeste’s salad. The brunette didn’t seem to mind. “My choice, right?”

“I love you.”

That. That right there. The warm glow that spread out from the center of Celeste’s face in response to Rebecca’s declaration, the genuine, honest-to-goodness joy that washed over them both as a result. It was like nothing else in the world. Rebecca couldn’t recall a time when any of her previous girlfriends made her feel this way. They made her feel warm and loved, even made her hot and bothered and full of desire as they shared beds and body parts, but this… this was something beyond that. Something unimaginably hot. Like a smoldering blaze suddenly exposed to fresh air, flames erupting with an unprecedented and unexpected frenzy. Celeste was the fresh air, the banner of flames, and she could do it with just a simple look. That look.

The brunette was blushing. “I love you too.” She placed her hand on the table, palm up, inviting a response.

Rebecca took the bait willingly, gently lowering her hand and letting Celeste wrap her soft, warm fingers around it. They both squeezed at the same time, and smiled.

“Sorry I’m late!”

The redhead swept through the front doors of Wraps N Ribs, chased by a blast of freezing January air that made her entrance seem even more like a literal whirlwind. Other diners looked up from their tables and quickly lost interest, save for the college boys near the door, who watched the redhead with eager eyes as she crossed the room to Rebecca’s corner booth.

“Sorry,” she repeated, her breath heavy and labored, as if she’d sprinted to the gyros place from her apartment. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. “I got a late start, and then I was waiting to pick up these boots, and…shit, you’re almost done. Can I still join?”

“Of course!” Celeste patted the vinyl seat next to her. “We don’t have any solid plans. She waited for Emily to look away, engaging in removing her jacket, before she winked at Rebecca. My choice, she mouthed, smiling.

The two of them got along like old friends. Emily, of course, loved all of Rebecca’s friends. But the brunette had gone out of her way to spend time with Emily, setting off with her on various adventures around town while Rebecca was busy running errands or meeting with her professors. Roger had been instantly smitten, even if their love affair would forever remain platonic. It was like Celeste had always lived in their town, had always gone to their school, had been a part of their lives since that first day in freshman dorm.

“Hey, Earth to Colonel Sanders!” Emily’s poking fingers jolted Rebecca out of her daydream. “I’m stealing some of your fries.” She leaned in and took a handful, spreading them across the napkin she was employing as a makeshift plate.

“They’re cold,” Rebecca warned, but like Celeste, Emily took no notice. Peas in a pod. “Did you find the same boots after all?”

Emily grinned, and stuck her leg out from under the table so that everyone in the restaurant could admire her newest purchase. The college boys, at least, approved heartily. “I’m still super-pissed that I lost that pair in Berlin but yeah, I think these look good! The girl at Goodson’s totally hooked me up with these. I’m getting better at my sob stories, I guess.” She reached for another handful of fries and added them to the pile. “These are cold, and I’m gonna eat them anyway. I’m so sorry I’m late, you guys!”

“No worries,” Rebecca nodded reassuringly. “It’s all good.”

“Those boots look good on you, by the way,” Celeste added, earning a tiny yelp and an actual blush from Emily. Rebecca looked on in amazement. It was a good thing that her best friend was straight, or she’d have to consider turning into the Jealous Girlfriend.

“When I go back to Berlin, I’m going to hit all of the thrift stores, just in case,” said Emily. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and score a backup pair for these fine new ladies.”

That got Rebecca’s full attention. “Wait. Back to Berlin? When?”

“I dunno.” The redhead seemed to look straight through Rebecca, lost in thought, or dreaming of those castles again. “Maybe in the spring? I feel like I didn’t get to see enough of the city when I was there. Just the one week, and we missed so much stuff!”

“But… what about Australia? You’re still coming with us in May, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know if I have enough cash for both trips.” Her voice dropped in volume and tone, becoming soft and dreamy. “I just… it just seems like something I should do. You guys are together now and… you should totally go to Australia together. Maybe while you’re there I’ll go to Berlin, and then we can swap stories later? There’s this girl I follow online, Lucy Severn. She was blogging about this amazing little hostel in what used to be East Berlin, and how comfy and cozy it was… it just got me thinking.”

“But Em, Australia was your idea.”

The redhead blinked rapidly, and brushed her eye with the back of her hand. “It’s just a thought. This morning it just came to me, and…” Her hand hung in the air for a moment before drifting back to the table, her eyes as distant and unfocused as they’d been before. “Just seems like a good idea. I have the money, almost.” More blinking. “And you guys are going to have fun! As long as you bring me back a baby koala.”

Rebecca looked to Celeste for support. A word in edgewise, a word of caution, an inquisitive question, something—anything that would say ‘No, Rebecca, you’re not going crazy. This is really happening, and it’s nuts.’ But the brunette could only offer a helpless look of her own in return.

Another rapid blink, another eye rub. “But that’s months from now,” said Emily, her voice returning to its normal, energetic tone. “What are we going to do this weekend? Celeste, is there anything you wanted to see?”

It was an offer to change the subject, and Celeste took full advantage of it, at once bringing up a mental laundry list of places she still needed to visit and activities she still needed to do. The conversation eventually turned to skiing, and where a girl from upstate New York might find ‘decent downhill slopes’ in the flatlands of the Midwest. At that point, Rebecca tuned the others out entirely. She offered to bus their dirty plates and cups, then waited impatiently until Celeste and Emily were both ready to leave.

She said very little on the drive home.

“Comfy? Did I get the heat right? Your tea still nice and hot?”

All of those things were correct. “I’m good,” Rebecca mumbled, trying and failing to project positivity. “I’m good.”

They sat like that for another five minutes, watching but not really watching Celeste’s show. Finally, Celeste cleared her throat and spoke up.

“Okay, it’s been thirty minutes. You’re still mad.”

“I am still mad,” Rebecca agreed. She grunted and scrunched her nose. “Whatever. Let’s just finish this episode and then we can talk about it.”

The brunette’s hands disappeared beneath their shared flannel blanket, brushing against he girlfriend’s thighs. Rebecca grunted again and shrank from her touch. “Not now,” she said, her tone just sharp enough to hurt.

“I’m just…” Celeste wedged her hand between the sofa cushions, closing one eye as she felt around for the television remote. “I’m going to pause this for one sec,” she continued. She freed the remote from its prison and aimed it at the television. On screen, a beautiful gun-toting blonde froze in mid-sentence.

“Celeste…”

“No, baby, I mean it. I want to talk. You waited thirteen years to watch Action Force, and you can wait another ten minutes to find out who’s blackmailing the Brazilian soccer team.”

Rebecca sighed. She knew where this was going. A part of her—most of her, really—knew that Celeste was right. “It’s the reporter, durr.”

“Maybe he is, maybe he’s not! Come on. What are you mad about? It’s Emily, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Rebecca drummed her fingers against the flannel blanket, trying to capture her thoughts. There were a thousand running through her head. As always, she chose the most obvious one. “It’s just that it came out of the blue, Celeste. Out of the fucking blue! One second we’re all going to Australia together and the next we’re not?” She reached into her head and pulled out another thought. “How long has she been planning this? Planning to say something? I feel like I did something to piss her off.”

“I don’t think she’s mad at you, baby.” Celeste placed her hand on top of Rebecca’s moving fingers, immobilizing them. “She’s been nothing but cupcakes and ice cream ever since I got here. Maybe she’s just, I dunno, trying to help? Or she thinks she is?”

Rebecca shook her head. “If she’s trying to help… I don’t know what she thinks she’s helping. It’s just so out of the blue.”

“You said that.”

“And I mean it! We’ve done everything together, ever since freshman year of college. Traveled the world together. Traveled the country together.” She stared at the frozen blonde on the screen. “I never would have seen this coming, not in a million years. I’m worried. I’m worried that I’m going to lose her. That she’s going to think I replaced her with you and that’s how it starts! And then she’s off with Roger and we never see her, and…”

“I know, baby, I know.” Celeste squeezed Rebecca’s hand and leaned in, until her head was resting on Rebecca’s shoulder. “It’s just one day. You’re not going to lose your best friend in a single day. Okay? You’re way too awesome to just lose friends like that. Especially Emily. That girl absolutely fucking loves you.”

Rebecca titled her head until it was resting against Celeste’s soft brown hair. Her frown remained firmly in place. “Not as much as she loves Germany, apparently.”

“See, you gotta let that go.”

“I guess.”

“What have we learned from today’s episode of classic television? You can always trust the awesome hot girl. So trust your hot girlfriend and your hot best friend and relax. We’ll get Emily back on track to Australia. Just start talking about emus.”

Rebecca raised a curious eyebrow. “She likes emus?”

“Call it a gut feeling, but yeah.”

“You’re weird sometimes.” Rebecca felt her guard drop. It was a good feeling. She ran her fingers through Celeste’s hair, enjoying the way the brunette’s breath tickled her neck. “I love that you’re weird sometimes.”

“Mmm. I’m glad that you love my weirdness.” Celeste lifted her head and looked into her lover’s eyes. “Are we done with Action Force for now?”

“Now that you spoiled the ending, sure.”

A playful swat. “I told you that it might be the reporter! It could be the rich owner or his jealous wife!”

“Still done. Can we find out later? I just want to snuggle and not think about Emily or Germany or any of that stuff.”

Celeste kissed her on the lips, lingering there for what seemed like a pleasant eternity. “How about a massage?”

The offer, whispered in sultry, hushed secrecy, had the desired effect on Rebecca, who stretched and yawned. “Mmm. Can you match the one you gave me at Christmas? Because that was fucking heaven.”

“Consider it a really early Christmas gift. Here.” She shuffled free of the flannel blanket and stood up. “Stretch out on your stomach, just like last time.”

Rebecca did as she was told. The glow from the television backlit her girlfriend’s lovely body, a heavenly angel improbably transported to her modest living room. She hoped that the angel would notice her flushed skin and excited, rapid pulse. That she would lay those heavenly hands on Rebecca’s body and trace each and every curve with her fingertips. She still dreamed about that Christmas night. She came to it over and over again in those long, lonely weeks before her angel came to live with her. “I’m comfy,” she said, even as her muscles protested otherwise.

“You will be.”

Celeste’s fingertips were electric. Literally, as it turned out. Rebecca gasped in surprise.

“Sorry! I should have de-zapped myself! This sweater is like a static factory.”

It was the same sweater Rebecca had bought for Celeste in Berlin, after the brunette mistakenly left hers in a Mitte hotel room. The memory of Celeste peering into the shopping bag, the excited squeal of happiness that followed, and the hours of amazing lovemaking that Rebecca earned in return…

Her pussy, especially pleased with that last memory, tickled with anticipation. Rebecca considered rolling onto her back and directing the brunette’s magic fingers to start down there, but she was too late. The fingers returned, now static-free, and began to melt Rebecca’s tense shoulders.

“Mmm. That feels so good. Where’d you learn to give massages like this?”

“Shh.” Celeste’s hands seemed to reach right through her skin. They gently examined each muscle one at a time, turning them over, looking for flaws, then buffing those flaws out of existence. “Just relax. Don’t think. Relax that big muscle in your head.”

Rebecca thought of a dozen ways to respond to that. Then she realized that she was still thinking, and that her girlfriend had asked her not to. She let out a long, comforting exhale and tried to clear her thoughts. Above her, Celeste continued her massage. The brunette was working her shoulders, her fingers gently pressing, squeezing, and releasing Rebecca’s flesh. Pressing, squeezing, releasing. Pressing. Squeezing. Releasing.

“Remember how relaxing this is. How my touch relaxes your body instantly. Instantly and completely. Breathe, and relax. Breathe in, relax. Breathe out, and… so relaxed.”

Rebecca did as suggested, taking long, deep breaths and letting them slowly escape between her lips. Celeste was working the small of her back, at the center of her soreness. Here, every touch really did seem to relax her more and more, instantly and completely, breathing in and out, letting the soreness melt away, just like her thoughts, just like her energy. Relaxed. So relaxed. So very relaxed. Deeper and deeper.

“As you listen to my voice, Rebecca.” Celeste floated above her like a dream, drifting in and out of Rebecca’s mind, her words echoing inside Rebecca’s head. “Sinking deeper and deeper. So very tired. So tired and relaxed. Feeling so, so sleepy and relaxed.”

Sleepy. She didn’t need to sleep. It was only four in the afternoon. They had plans for dinner. How could she…

“Sleep, Rebecca. Deeply asleep. Close your eyes, and sleep.”

Sleep. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking. She didn’t need to think. She just needed to sleep.

“Eyes so, so heavy. Listen only to the sound of my voice, Rebecca. Sleep. So sleepy. Drifting away on my words, on my wonderful touch. Relaxing so deeply now, so sleepy. So tired and sleepy. Eyes, so heavy and sleepy.”

Her eyes felt heavy. She tried closing them, just to see what it would feel like. As she did, Celeste’s hands smoothed away another sore muscle, and a wave of relaxation washed away any thoughts of ever opening them again.

“Down,” Celeste suggested, and Rebecca obliged. The bed fell away beneath her, dropping into an endless pit of darkness. She floated on a wave of warm air, enjoying the way it tickled her bare skin. The warm air bubble slowly deflated, taking her down with it, as a voice encouraged her to relax more and more, sink deeper and deeper into trance.

“Are you hypnotized now, Rebecca?”

Don’t think. She didn’t need to. The answer was obvious. “Yes.”

“All the knots and the aches are gone now. All of your pain and your worries. All of your thoughts. All gone. Say it.”

“All gone.”

“All that’s left is the sound of my voice. The sound of my voice.”

Rebecca wanted to nod. Everything the brunette was telling her made perfect sense. But she was far too deep in trance to even think about moving, and she wasn’t supposed to be thinking at all. “The sound of your voice.”

“I’m going to count to three, and when I reach three, Rebecca is going to fall into a very deep sleep. Just like when she came to visit at Christmas, only much deeper this time. Much, much deeper. And she’ll stay deeply asleep until I ask her to wake up.”

“Yes.”

“She’ll be safe and comfortable, and deeply asleep, and unaware of anything until it’s time for her to wake up.”

“Yes.” Deeper than Christmas, whatever that meant. She’d go deeper than that. So, so deep.

“One. Two. Three.”