The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Ava’s jet provided relaxed, private, smooth flying west. Flying by it was a familiar experience for Jamie and Julia. But for Katie and Lexi, the whole experience— the luxury of it all, from dorm to airstrip limo-pickup, to the waiting jet’s fancy interior — was new.

Another limo waited for them post-landing. Climbing in, the girls faced each other, sitting in pairs. On drove the limo.

Lexi reached for the built-in bar— pouring herself white wine, adding to it one ice-cube. From the many drinks available, she’d chosen her favorite.

Sipping, and relishing the flavor... with drink in hand, as she leaned back... with plush material ing her body, air- conditioning cooling her skin, and a wine-taste in her mouth— Lexi savored, eyes-closed.

“What a luxurious lifestyle!” said wonderstruck-Katie. “Private jets, limo rides, and mansions! But you’re so nice — and down-to-earth — I’d never have guessed you came from this life, Julia! Isn’t this crazy, Mistress?”

Lexi opened her eyes, and saw Katie’s expectant face— then refocused from her zone-out. “Hmm? Sorry, pet... just thinking...”

Katie’s awed-innocence rankled. Lexi’s supposed deeply hypnotized, devoted slave, acting like Julia’s hugest fan! That’s it, Julia! You’ll be my mindless little pet—my bitch!

Lexi hid all outward signs of this thought. “What a rough life!” She joked.

“See, baby? Other people sympathize too— you grew up tragically!” Jamie followed the grin she’d given Julia with a kiss; they were holding hands when they pulled apart.

Julia accepted her friends’ teasing. “It’s a sweet life,” she smilingly acknowledged. “But Mom’s responsible for it, not me— she worked her ass off, since before my birth. I missed all the good family stuff, growing up.”

“Didn’t your dad—?”

“Lost him as a baby. It’s just been me and my mom... for as long as I can . We’re close, even though she traveled so often on business.”

Lexi daydreamed. Julia... her mom... naked, kneeling, leashed; both their leashes in her hand. Eyes-closed, Lexi grinned.

There was Ava, legs-spread... and an obedient Julia, putting her face in Ava’s pussy, eating on her Mistress’ command— Lexi juiced through her jeans. Katie, Jamie, and Julia chattered on: ignorant of Lexi’s retreat into fantasy, unaware, as Lexi stroked firmly along her jean-clad slit...

“Here’s my mom’s property.” Lexi roused. “Acres and acres of private, tree-covered land— it’s a very secluded house. That’s why getting to it takes time. Our neighbors are so distant, we’re practically neighborless; sometimes I suntan naked — there are no strangers around to see. And all the staff are women, so....”

Trees streaked past. Julia had described correctly: these woods were private.

The girls rode, until the limo parked— then they climbed out.

Three people were waiting there: Casey and Lyndsey Burke in maid uniforms, and Sofia Beltran, the household manager — looking proper in a gray suit. At a height of five foot four, and a weight of 145 pounds, she was short and heavy. Sofia had arranged for the staff to greet the girls on arrival. En route, their driver had called in their ETA by phone, making this possible.

Sofia had cut her hair days earlier, preferring it trimmed— and undyed; she was proud of her graying hair, and saw it as a trophy from a tough life.

And it had been a tough life. She’d been orphaned at a young age. She’d also only spoken one language, to start. Then English had been her second language after that, and she’d practically taught it to herself.

In her adolescence she’d fled the routine of being ed between guardians, to try for self-reliance instead. This had made her poor, and at times even homeless. Once she’d gotten herself slightly more stable, she’d had to make up for her patchy school-attendance and get her high-school certification much later on. She’d done that all on her own effort too.

And after all of that, she’d still put herself through her further educational training all alone. Things had been even more stable after that, one household-management job after another as the years went by, until she’d finally ended up in the best position she’d ever held. But it had been a long struggle to get to that point of stability— she rarely reflected back on that slog of her youth, but she knew she still carried the toughness it had instilled in her. Knew she would carry it forever. She knew everyone else saw that toughness in her, too— knew it was partly why she was so well-respected by her network and employer and colleagues.

Determination, assertiveness, and security in her decisions and herself, as well as an unwillingness to take any shit— these were Sofia’s other traits. Useful careerwise, but they’d disintegrated her four-year marriage, resulting in its divorce. There’d been no kids in that marriage— Sofia regretted that sometimes, but was overall happy, finding her satisfaction at work.

Last month Sofia had turned forty-seven— had been thinking more frequently of what mattered since. She’d been Ava’s household-manager for ten years, having started the month before she’d turned thirty-seven. And she still loved her job like she was working her first day.

She’d learned from the institute for household management she’d studied at that training and professionalism always brought opportunities— and Sofia had training and professionalism in spades. She credited her beloved job to that.

The girls saw both friendliness and professional distance in Sofia’s brown eyes as they stood. In Sofia’s opinion, she and the maids were there to give the girls a good welcome, but they were still staff, and all three of them should show a proper level of respect. Sofia enjoyed introductions— but was still thinking of work at the moment, mentally going room-by-room house-wide, looking for anything out-of-place, looking for any potential problems.

Hot weather today, she thought— returning inside would be nice. Sofia had spent much time outside recently, coordinating the new flower-planting with the gardeners. Sun exposure had darkened her natural tan.

“Katie, Lexi— meet our staff,” introduced Julia. “Ms. Sofia Flores Beltran, household-manager; Casey and Lyndsey Burke, our maids. Staff— meet Katie Sutton, and Lexi Townsend. You already know Jamie.”

“Miss Sutton, Miss Townsend,” Sofia acknowledged. She’d given two nods— Casey and Lyndsey had nodded simultaneously.

“Miss Jamie, good to see you,” Sofia added. “And of course, welcome home, Miss Julia.”

Sofia always practiced professionalism, as taught. Using employers’ first names went against what her education had taught her, though Ava and Julia had repeatedly asked her to. She’d compromised on using first names, as long as they followed honorifics— she’d encouraged the maids to compromise similarly.

“Miss Julia, your flight was—?”

“Really good, Sofia, thanks!”

Casey reached to pick up Julia’s bags. “We can carry our stuff, Casey,” Julia protested.

“As you like,” Casey said. “I’ll show you your rooms.” Inside, Sofia and Lyndsey excused themselves to work.

The girls followed Casey past a glass-doored room.

Julia stopped there. Inside, Ava was at her computer: wearing a loose maroon blouse, a dark-blue skirt, and modest heels. Her hair was up in a bun.

Ava looked up, waving at her daughter.

Julia waved back. “Mom must be mid-deal — we shouldn’t disturb her. Let’s go upstairs and settle.”

Upstairs, Jamie and Julia entered Julia’s bedroom. Julia sighed in relief— being home felt great.

Jamie was also happy. She liked visiting Julia at home.

Meanwhile, Casey showed the guests their guestroom next-door. “Miss Katie, Miss Lexi, this is yours for the summer, so get comfy! All of us are around if you’ve got questions, but I’ve gotta go.”

“Thanks,” Katie said, gratefully.

Lexi only had eyes for the huge king-size bed against the far wall, and didn’t delay in sprawling across it.

“Shall I unpack for us, Mistress?” Katie lifted their suitcases onto the bed, one after the other.

“Yes.” Lexi’s hands were behind her head. She rested comfortably there, against the headboard. “Hmm... I could adapt to this lifestyle...”

Today had been... eye-opening. Abstractly, Lexi had known Julia was rich. But limo-riding to the airstrip, flying by jet, limo- riding again across a secluded acreage, and meeting the staff... it made Julia’s wealthy lifestyle... real.

And Lexi envied Julia. Now she was here, she wanted to stay...

That settled it! She’d use her hypnotic talent to realize her ultimate goal. All doubt disappeared.

After her enslavement, Julia would end up worse off than Katie. She wouldn’t be allowed even the small amount of autonomy that had been left to Katie.

Julia would be a pet, and not in the term-of-endearment sense. And Ava would be enslaved too... Lexi would make them both hers permanently, thus keeping this lifestyle forever. This was her chance: and she’d seize it. After tasting such luxury today, she’d never go back.

Understanding this aroused her. This day had created an unbearable pitch of arousal in her... first the limofantasy of Ava and Julia, and now deciding to control them both... Lexi was horny. She wanted immediate relief.

Katie had finished unpacking. “Close the door,” Lexi ordered her. “Then strip— and kneel.”

Katie didn’t question— never did. The door to the hallway now-closed, Katie stripped, and Katie kneeled. Smiling, Lexi commanded, “Eat me out until I scream.”

Katie started desperately licking. Jamie and Julia had finished unpacking too, so they went to invite Lexi and Katie downstairs.

The guestroom door was closed, so Julia raised her hand to knock— Lyndsey happened to be walking by.

“Oh, yes.” Lexi’s voice was audible through the door. Jamie and Julia shared a look; Julia’s hand dropped; Lyndsey froze. “Oh... hmmmm... gooood pet...”

Lyndsey faced Jamie and Julia. “Is that—?”

“Right... there! Hmmm... you know what... hMmis...trresss... likes... mmmmm...”

The three girls stood transfixed. Lyndsey flushed pink.

“Oh God! Ohhhhh Ggod! Good slave... oooohhh... Fuck! I’m... ughggh... I’m... gonnaaugghhh!!!” The three of them broke into hand-stifled laughter, sharing looks by the closed door.

The guestroom fell silent: Lyndsey left, Julia knocked.

“Come in,” Lexi called.

Jamie and Julia went. “Wanna come downstairs and see the view?”

Katie and Lexi agreed.

They returned downstairs, crossing the main-floor. The floorplan opened into a large expensively-furnished living-room.

“This is the main area. Kitchen’s there— you’ve already seen upstairs. Patio’s ahead.”

“The view’s incredible,” Jamie said in aside to Katie and Lexi, for whom it was new.

From the patio, they saw Jamie was right. Past the railing, acres of tree-covered hills dipped low to a large pond, then stretched beyond.

Jamie also appreciated the view. Each time seeing it was like the first, and seeing it always stole her breath, no matter how often she had seen it.

Julia was thinking about being a good hostess. “It’s almost lunch— you guys hungry?”

“A little—” “Me too—” spoke Jamie and Lexi, concurrently.

“I’ll ask Casey to make something.”

“I’m coming! I wanna see more of the house— if that’s alright, Mistress?”

“Go, pet.” Lexi waved Katie off.

Jamie looked, though Lexi didn’t, feeling kinship with Katie. They were slaves to different Mistresses, but Katie obeyed enthusiastically— never removing her collar, never once faltering at calling Lexi ‘Mistress’ in public, always asking permission before doing anything.

Lexi openly controlled Katie the way Katie openly obeyed Lexi— freely sharing how she enjoyed Katie’s servitude, controlling Katie so completely— equally willing to demonstrate the power-rush she felt each time Katie obeyed.

Jamie and Julia’s relationship was similar. Jamie had started calling Julia ‘Mistress’ lately too, with increasing frequency, but they only did that in private...

Jamie understood Katie’s devotion— she felt devotion for Julia, but couldn’t imagine performing their relationship so publicly, as Katie and Lexi did theirs.

Her and Julia’s relationship was special. It would feel weird parading it in front of bystanders, letting them see, inviting them into it. Allowing them to judge, observe, know— private and intimate things. Jamie couldn’t understand it.

Katie smiled. “Thank you, Mistress.”

Julia and Katie exited, and Lexi appreciated the peaceful, tree-covered vista of the estate.

Cool air breezed, cutting the hot sunshine. Lexi noticed Jamie enjoying that breeze, eyes-closed, her expression relaxed— already practically entranced, unknowingly.

How hard would it be to entrance her? Jamie was notoriously guarded, but her defenses were down now. Testing her susceptibility couldn’t hurt. Then Lexi would know if she could hypnotize Jamie and Julia together, or hypnotize Jamie at all. Getting Julia meant having to do something to Jamie— if only to prevent her interference. Testing her susceptibility now would give Lexi a better idea of the challenge facing her, before she acted.

Asking a subject to reflect on their feelings always started an induction off well. “How do you feel?” Lexi spoke— patiently, soothingly. She needed to be careful so Jamie wouldn’t realize what was happening.

“Peaceful.” Eyes-closed, Jamie was too lost in internal bliss to elaborate.

“That’s good. Feeling peaceful is good.” Lexi left the statement hanging there, letting Jamie reflect on its truth. Better to start with things Jamie was already inclined to accept. Subconsciously, it would prime her to believe that when Lexi spoke, she always spoke agreeable truth. Even if Lexi couldn’t do more with that brain-pathway right now, she would at least have lain its groundwork. She was playing the long game...

And Jamie was oblivious.

Leaving long pauses between statements was good strategy too. It allowed Jamie’s mind to marinate.

Lexi enjoyed watching a blanked-out Jamie sway— enjoyed knowing her words were echoing in Jamie’s head — subtly commanding her, though Jamie hadn’t realized it yet.

Time to speak again. “My voice is peaceful, isn’t it? You like listening to me.”

“Yes...” Jamie groaned in relaxation; Lexi’s pussy twinged. She hadn’t expected any response. But Jamie had seemingly wanted to respond... seemingly knew that would please Lexi... she must have been craving obedience... Lexi knew Jamie obeyed Julia, and hadn’t expected that obedience to transfer to herself this easily. But maybe Jamie Giordano was so hooked on obeying that she’d become an obedience-slut, and would give it to anyone who spoke to her in a semi- authoritative tone... Lexi’s pussy spasmed again.

“Listening to me... relaxed...” She decided to risk putting a more overt command in Jamie’s head for later-exploitation. “You... trust me.” — then watched for any sign of resistance: alarm or, offense.

But Jamie repeated, “I... trust... you,” in an almost-monotone voice. That mindless sound reached into Lexi’s pussy, pulling at her inner places.

Jamie was too blissed for awareness, deep, and Lexi hadn’t directly done anything to cause that. From here, she could take complete control... a few more words and Jamie would surrender.

Lexi had barely started inducing her, and she was already at this point— there had been no resistance! Jamie was on trance’s brink already. Lexi would have expected pushback against her influence from any subject, but would have expected it especially from Jamie! There’d been none. Only weakly-induced, Little Miss Wary Jamie Giordano had accepted everything. If Lexi hadn’t witnessed it herself, she would never have believed it. Still thrown by this, Lexi missed Julia and Katie’s return.

“Hey baby,” Julia said. “Hey Lexi. Some cola before lunch?”

“Huh?” Jamie startled out of her near-trance. “Uhh... yeah, b-baby, cola sounds... good.” She didn’t understand why the past few minutes had been a blur.

“I’d like that,” Lexi added.

“Let’s head in!” Julia linked arms with Jamie.

“Go ahead. I’m behind you.” Jamie, Julia and Katie exited.

Lexi laughed. Fucking seriously?! If I’d known you were that susceptible, I would have enslaved you long ago, Jamie Giordano! Hopefully everyone will be this easy!

She didn’t have to stop at Ava and Jula. She could enslave every woman on the estate, including the staff. A harem of beautiful women, crowned by the incestuous mother-daughter pair, the collection’s jewels... and a dreamlike wealth- lifestyle... everything she’d ever wanted for the taking, making her horny just thinking about its potential; she could have it so soon.

Lexi stroked herself again, rubbing her jean-front, feeling wetness through material. Success was so close... her dreams really might come true.

After Lexi ed the others, all four friends enjoyed some cola together in the living-room.

Then Casey announced lunch.

Having moved to the kitchen, the girls made friendly conversation. They laughed, ate a simple meal of chips, and sandwiches made from quality ingredients. They were the best sandwiches Katie and Lexi had ever tasted. And after lunch, Casey cleared the plates away.

“It’s beautiful out,” noted Julia, looking out the window. “Wanna change, and hang by the pool?” The girls all agreed, went upstairs, and changed. Then they quickly reconvened poolside, each one in a lounger.

The sliding door re-opened: Ava appeared, crossing the deck.

“Mom!” Julia exclaimed excitedly, jumping up. Jamie, Katie and Lexi stood, following her cue.

“Hi, sweetie.” Ava hugged Julia, who returned it. Then Ava hugged Jamie next. “Good to see you!”

“You too,” Jamie hugged back.

“And you are...?” Ava addressed Katie and Lexi.

“Mom, meet my friends: Katie Sutton, and Lexi Townsend.”

Ava shook each of their hands. “I’m Ava Reynolds, Julia’s mom— that’s my most important job. Pleased to meet you both! Glad you’re staying with us.”

“Nice meeting you,” chorused Katie and Lexi.

One look, and Lexi felt attracted to Ava. She hid it, but definitely wanted to dominate, hypnotize, and play with her like a doll— fuck her mind and body, make Ava loving and worshipful. After Ava, the others would be easy.

“If it’s okay, I’ll go upstairs and get my swimsuit on so I can enjoy the sunshine too.”

“See you, mom.” Julia, Jamie and Katie lay back down on their loungers.

Then it clicked for Lexi— the others would tan for another hour or longer, Ava would be in her bedroom— this was Lexi’s chance to corner Ava, unnoticed, uninterrupted! A rough plan formed: hypnotize Ava now, get her under control like Katie. Then after dinner, get Jamie and Julia together.

“I need the bathroom.” Lexi said, suppressing her excitement.

“Mom can show you,” was Julia’s lazy reply. Her eyes were already closed.

“Thanks.” Lexi rushed inside— Ava hadn’t gone up yet. “Can you show me where the bathroom is?”

“Sure, just follow me.” Once they were upstairs, Ava indicated a door. “That’s the one.”

“Thanks!” Lexi watched Ava enter her bedroom. She quickly rushed down the hall for her own guestroom. She sought out her dark purple backpack; she got out her camcorder, then quickly moved back down the hall, finally entering Ava’s bedroom herself.

She’d gotten in there so fast it hadn’t really left Ava time to do much; since Lexi had watched her disappear inside here, and gone down the hall and back herself, all Ava had accomplished was crossing the room to her closet, and retrieving the hanger from which her red bikini was suspended. She was still wearing the same maroon blouse, the same dark blue skirt. Nothing else had changed.

Quickly, Lexi pressed record on the camcorder and slipped it onto the surface of Ava’s dresser, which was left of where Lexi stood. It was aimed at Ava, where she stood on the other side of the bed. Lexi had slipped it there without Ava noticing. When Ava looked at her the first time, Lexi pulled the door shut behind her.

The door now shut, Ava was still looking at her, never having noticed the camcorder. Lexi stepped back against the door to lean against it, blocking the door-handle. With Lexi standing between Ava and the exit, it already would have been hard for Ava to slip out of her bedroom easily. But now that Lexi was leaning up against the exit, she’d made escape even harder.

It gave Lexi a thrill to think that she had trapped her next victim. Mmm, Ava. It’s going to be so much fun to make you mine!

Ava watched Lexi stand there. She still held the hanger which suspended her bikini. She didn’t understand what Julia’s friend was doing, why the girl had followed her into her private bedroom. If she’d had some problem, or reasonable question— that was at least understandable.

But if she did have a problem or question like that, why was she leaning against the door in that leisurely way? Her body language was all wrong for someone who was confused and needing help.

What other alternative explanation was there, though? Ava chose the belief that was most the forgiving of her daughter’s friend— Lexi was just confused, and just needed help. So Ava would act accordingly— because at least she knew what the proper response to that situation should be. She didn’t know what her response should be if Lexi was in here for some other reason.

“Can I help you with something? Did you get lost on the way to the bathroom? Or did you find there was no toilet-paper in there? Or that the soap had run out?”

Ava’s voice was hopeful— any of those explanations would normalize this situation— make it less bizarre, bring it back inside the enclosure of ‘things Ava understood how to deal with.’

Lexi thought it would be a bit too obvious if she licked her lips in anticipation. But she definitely wanted to. Seeing that earnest hope shine in Ava’s eyes was yummy— such sincere, vulnerable feeling was only a step away from openhearted obedience— if that earnest hope changed just a little bit, it would look like a glazing... and an Ava with glazed eyes would look so pretty.

Lexi was even more impatient than she had been before. She wanted to open Ava’s mind to her influence, now.

She had to do this right, though. There wouldn’t be another neat opportunity like this again for getting Ava on her own.

It was a good sign that Ava was already so unsettled by these currently unfolding events.

“I didn’t get lost on the way to the bathroom,” Lexi said, and Ava felt herself deflate. That meant Ava didn’t know what to do, then— didn’t know what the response to offer was. What should the expectations for her be? Her daughter’s friends didn’t come traipsing into her room as a regular occurrence.

Lexi stepped away from the door, taking a stride closer to Ava, crossing the room. “And there’s nothing in the bathroom that needs replacing. I wanted to talk to you, Ava. Just the two of us.”

Ava felt her brow furrowing. And Lexi noted that too— the furrow looked very appealing on her— an early display of resistance, a little fighting back, even if only to a minor degree.

What really drove Lexi wild was the way Ava rolled her lower-lip back over her teeth with the guidance of her top-set. It made Ava’s lip plump up— bulge partly sideways-out, an action slightly unconscious, but which did plump her lip so beautifully. Ava’s body was a tease, but so was her mind every time it revealed itself through action. Revealed itself to be a distracted mind, and a mind which would enact such unconscious behaviors was very appealing to a hypnotist like Lexi. It was that vulnerability, that sincerity... almost an innocence... showing once again.

Lexi wanted both Ava’s body and her mind.

Ava realized after a moment she was worrying her lower-lip between her teeth again. A bit of a nervous habit for her, one she was always trying to quit. She pushed her lip back out, forcing herself to stop.

She placed the hanger back on the closet-rack, and then placed each hand to rest on her each hip. “I’m sorry, Lexi, this is all a little bizarre. Why would you want to talk to me alone? What is there you have to say that you can’t say in front of Julia? And why would you want to talk to me at all? I’m hardly your peer.”

Lexi relaxed into a more casual stance— there were still many feet of distance between her and Ava. She let an arm cross her body, hanging in front of her opposite hip, and then wrapped the fingers of her other hand around her wrist, her body bending out that way to correspond to the position.

“You’re just so interesting to me, Ava. I ire you— I know the kind of financial success you’ve built for yourself, the riches and riches you have. Stuff like that is boring to Julia. It’s just matter-of-fact, it’s just her life. She takes it for granted. She wouldn’t want to hear me asking you a million questions about it— wouldn’t want to listen to me shower endless iration on you.”

Ava let more pressure come into her hands, let them press into her hips. She would... cautiously... trust what Lexi had just said. Cautiously. She still had her reservations.

But... she could begin to imagine how she might be expected to respond to something like this. And this did plausibly explain why Lexi had sought her out.

“That’s sweet of you to ire me, Lexi. And I suppose I can understand why you would want to talk of this away from Julia. She might be more interested in the conversation than you’d guess, but it’s still nice of you to be considerate of her, to want to spare her. But what questions did you want to ask me?”

Ava couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw Lexi’s blue eyes gleam for a second.

“I wanted to ask you about stress. You have quite a net worth. You make deals, make decisions all the time to direct your funds, to keep them appreciating in value. And a lot of those decisions must be difficult to make.”

Ava nodded, a little hesitant. Yes, that was true... she still didn’t entirely trust where the conversation was going, though.

Lexi’s blue eyes were wide suddenly, in extreme sincerity. That expression couldn’t be an honest expression, could it? Lexi couldn’t be wondering that much, concerned that much.

It was almost an awe-filled expression, really. Ava couldn’t take it seriously.

The expression did make Lexi’s blue eyes more striking, though. Ava could see the colors of them better when they were wider. Those eyes were a bright color, but when Ava looked closely enough, they seemed like shifting waters— showing many different hues of the same shade in some kind of surging movement— light blue, medium blue— deep blue— all spectrums of blue, gradating one to the next— just depending on how the illumination from Ava’s overhead light caught Lexi’s eyes. Pretty...

She shook her head to focus herself when she realized Lexi was still talking.

“A lot of the other industry-leaders on your level... they have to make decisions like you do... but most of them are married. They have someone to come home to, when things are getting hard. Someone to turn to for , someone to help shoulder some of the burden. Someone to help with the stress.”

This was starting to feel a little too personal, for Ava. She did often reflect on this privately— particularly when she was alone in bed at night. It was hard enough being an industry-leading woman— there really weren’t many other women on her level. She was almost always dealing with a boys’ club.

But it was even worse being a single industry-leading woman— especially when she knew so many of her contemporaries did have spouses they went home to at night, people who could hold them and tell them everything was going to be okay. By contrast, Ava was always alone with her stress. She had to be the one to reassure herself— just as she’d done the majority of the work that had gone into building her company, she now also had to do the majority of the work that went into caring for herself emotionally. And sometimes she was just tired, tired of having to be the one to handle everything, be it business or personal. Sometimes she just wished there was someone else, someone else who could take up some of the burden for her, take the weight off of her.

But these were some of the deepest things feelings she had, the kinds of things she never said to anyone, the kinds of things she only thought about when she was completely alone, the kinds of things she only thought about when it was late. These were not the kinds of things she wanted to talk about with a friend of her daughter’s.

She’d give a surface-level answer, and hopefully Lexi would move on to another question. Although it struck Ava suddenly — Lexi hadn’t actually asked anything, had she?

“My peers who have spouses probably do find they benefit from those marriages,” Ava said, noncommittal. “But I’ve never really envied my married peers. It’s hard to find a man who’s okay with being taking care of, hard to find a man who can accept that his wife is the successful one, and that he’ll never catch up to her level of success. It’s also hard to find someone you can trust is not marrying you for the money— not marrying you just so they can divorce you five years later to walk away with half your networth. Maybe if I’d met someone before I was a success— if Julia’s father hadn’t died... most of my peers who are happily married have been married since before they made themselves successes. It just didn’t work out for me. I’m never bothered by that.”

At seeing Ava’s attempted brushing off, something in Lexi reared back, as though ready to pounce— wanting to pounce. Ava was lying, Lexi was sure— but she was lying to fight, to hide— it was a sideways attempt at resistance, even if Ava didn’t realize that was what it was. It made Lexi want to take her more.

Ava looked hopefully at Lexi again. Maybe that answer had been enough— Maybe Lexi would accept that and change the topic.

“But Ava,” Lexi said, still coming across as overly sympathetic in Ava’s view, “it must be stressful for you to be as successful as you are. And there’s no one there at night, no one but you— when you’re doubting yourself, or second- guessing— questioning. There’s no one stronger you can lean on, depend on— it’s just you— and when you’re frustrated, no one to help you get that out. Your other peers, if they’re really frustrated, when they get home to their spouses— they can get their frustration out of their bodies by fucking. The two of them moving together, burning all that pent-up energy. There’s no one to help you do that for yourself.”

Ava stared. She almost double-took— had Lexi really just said— fucking— had she really just been— so vulgar, so crude?

Lexi was watching her, awaiting a response. She must have said it, Ava must have heard right—

Ava shook her head. “I don’t want to discuss that topic, Lexi— I don’t want to hear you say things like that.”

“Really?” Lexi asked. She was putting on curiosity so dramatically that Ava was starting to feel she was being a little mocking. “You don’t want to hear about the idea of a frustrated success coming home to their partner, and telling them they need some stress-relief? You don’t want to hear about their partner telling them of course they want to help, they’ll help them get off? You don’t want to hear about the two of them kissing and touching each other everywhere, stroking at first, but soon becoming more frantic as the success’ frustration starts to bleed into the encounter? You don’t want to hear about it becoming desperate, driving, exerting, as the two fuck at a quicker and quicker tempo, until orgasm is achieved, and the success feels much better emotionally? Feels a kind of relief they’ve never known anywhere else? You don’t want to hear about that?”

Ava frowned. “That’s exactly the kind of thing I don’t want to hear. But you’ve just made me listen to it...”

Ava was feeling strange though. She hadn’t wanted to go along and think of those things, but she had— and the images had been clear in her mind— and now— she was feeling a little— tickle. A little itch. Just between her legs— just slightly— it made her even more uncomfortable. She didn’t want to be feeling arousal, not in the company of her daughter’s friend, not to any extent.

She shifted one leg in front of the other, crossing them while standing, to try and get a little friction against that itch.

Lexi suppressed a smile. Ava was getting turned on, now. At least a little bit.

“But you don’t get to have relief like that anywhere, do you, Ava? If you’re frustrated at the end of the day, you have to work it out yourself— using either your hand, a toy. And is that really the same as being with a partner who’s attracted to you, who you’re attracted to? Knowing that both of you want to get off, and you both will? Isn’t that more satisfying than any masturbation or toy could ever be?”

Ava felt herself flushing, now. Her mind was going in undesired directions— she generally tried not to think of sex, since she usually assumed that she was never going to have it again. But now her mind was ing— those times with Julia’s father— how it had felt to be with another person, how it had felt to be touched, how it had felt to be moving together. She’d been getting by for years with just her hand— and with just the vibrator-dildo combo which was even now sitting in the drawer of her nightstand— but it did feel different with another person— that tickle between her legs had just expanded in size. She pressed her crossed-legs tighter together, hoping she was being surreptitious enough. It still didn’t scratch that itch sufficiently.

And all of this was completely inappropriate. She shouldn’t be thinking of any of it.

“My sex-life is none of your business, Lexi,” Ava pushed back. It had come out like a snapping— sudden, unexpected. She hadn’t expected to have that kind of reaction. But she felt so uncomfortable now, apparently, that it had caused her to lash out automatically.

“But wouldn’t it be nice,” Lexi soothed, twisting a little in a constant shifting motion, twisting her body while she remained standing in the same place— and swinging a little with each rotation. “Wouldn’t it be nice if you were able to get your tension out of you that way? To be with a partner attracted to you— while feeling attracted to them— knowing the two of you were so hot for each other that any time you fucked you’d get a really good orgasm out of it? Not a cheap one? A good one?”

Ava had started sweating, she was sure of it. She didn’t want to be thinking— didn’t want to be thinking of this— Her eyes found Lexi’s again. Still wide. Still those many colors of blue at once, gradating from one to the next.

“You’re looking at my eyes now,” Lexi noted. She hadn’t even had to tell Ava to do that! She’d been over-expressing with them, sure, subtly trying to draw her in— but sometimes in her hypnotic past, she’d had to order attention there. It was thrilling to her that some part of Ava was so easily drawn— and that part of her was so easily aroused— enough so that she’d been shifting where she stood, trying to scratch an itch between her legs she couldn’t reach for herself, not in good conscience.

“You’re looking at my eyes now,” Ava heard— it was true. Why was she doing that? Just because Lexi’s brows were up— and her eyes were wider— shouldn’t mean— just because the blue colors in them shone just that way... in a way she’d never seen happen with any other person, any other set of eyes before... she should probably stop looking.

“They’re wide, aren’t they? They’re wide, and you can see all their colors in them. Like they’re stones that glitter.”

Lexi’s blue eyes were beautiful. Like beautiful blue gemstones of all shades. And Ava liked beautiful things. She had the kind of money that could buy her private guided museum and art-gallery tours, after hours, with curators— to see things that were on display and things that were in the vaults in storage. She did use her money for such things sometimes. She also used it buy art-pieces that she liked from art-auctions— all beautiful things— looking into Lexi’s eyes was like looking into a beautiful thing— she felt as though she was standing before a painting, or before a sculpture— she was still looking.

“You want to keep looking, Ava. Don’t look away: from my eyes, or from me— it just feels natural to let your eyes latch on to what they’re seeing— the depths in mine, the blue colors. Keep staring in— it’s like you’ve found a magical pond, where the water is some kind of shifting multicolored beauty— and you just want to keep watching to see what the pond will reveal to you— you can’t see what’s hidden inside, not yet— but you can see the colors on the water are almost rainbow-spectrum— the colors in my eyes are so blue that when you look deep enough you can see the rainbow-spectrum through them too— it’s beautiful, Ava, isn’t it? It would make you so sad if you stopped seeing it.”

Yes, it would be a loss if she stopped— but wait, no, this was still strange— it wasn’t natural to stand staring into the eyes of a young woman in university— when you were a much older woman in the business world. No, it wasn’t natural to stand staring into the eyes of a young woman who was your own daughter’s friend, who was your daughter’s contemporary— she wasn’t... supposed to be getting lost in someone’s eyes this way, it was almost romantic... she didn’t... if she was going to do something romantic like this, she should be doing it with a man— she should be staring deeply into a man’s eyes, she had to stop looking—

But she was looking deeper. Having two experiences at once— looking at Lexi’s eyes and seeing they were so blue they became rainbow-spectrum— that had to be an illusion, right? Only she kept seeing it...

And while she watched Lexi’s eyes, she was also imagining herself in that beautiful forest-clearing, with that clear sky, in front of the magic pool— looking at the opaque water’s surface, seeing it was rainbow-spectrum— seeing beauty, in both Lexi’s eyes and her imagination. A beauty she couldn’t turn from, couldn’t stop watching.

But she really, really had to, now. She tried to turn her head. She tried to close her eyelids. She tried to look anywhere else in the room. And she couldn’t.

The sound of distress Ava made when she realized she was trapped turned Lexi on so much she felt liquid arousal spurt out of her.

“What’s wrong, Ava?” Lexi asked, as if she were so innocent.

“I can’t... stop looking... my eyes are stuck in your eyes.” Ava was starting to feel so concerned by this that she hadn’t even balked at the idea of honestly confessing to Lexi.

“And why does that bother you?”

“Because,” Ava said. “It’s... like something romantic is happening... I only ever stare this deeply into someone’s eyes... when I realize I’m falling in love with them, when I know I want to sink all the way into them, when I want them to sink all the way into me. But you’re my daughter’s friend— I know I don’t have romantic feelings for you, I can’t possibly be falling in love with you. I’m not at all attracted to women, I never have been... but I can’t stop staring into your eyes and I don’t know why... and Lexi, I literally— I can’t even turn my head, I can’t make my eyelids close— I’ve completely lost control.”

At hearing Ava say she had completely lost control, Lexi practically growled. But she controlled herself. She prevented the growl from happening.

“So you’re just stuck standing there, your hands on your hips, looking into my eyes? You can’t see anything else, can’t move in any way?”

Ava hesitated. “No,” she said decisively after a minute. “I can’t even seem to turn my head to shake it.” “Then keep looking, Ava,” Lexi said. “It’s all you can do. Deeper into my eyes. Deeper.”

Ava felt as if something was sucking her— sucking her in, pulling her into something, to somewhere she didn’t want to be. She tried to pull back against it— but she could move no part of herself, couldn’t look anywhere else, and though Lexi’s eyes were those many colors of blue, they still seemed like two black-holes, exerting extreme gravitational pull on her. And in her imagination, the same thing happened with that magical jewel-colored pool— the water ri magically in a huge wave that engulfed her where she’d been sitting on the bank, and as soon as it was around her, there was a current in it— dragging her. Lexi’s eyes exerted gravitational pull on her, and dragged her— and in Ava’s imagination, the current in that magical water exerted force on her, and dragged her— she thrashed in both places, thrashing inside in one movement, but feeling like it happened on two planes— in reality, facing Lexi, and in her imagination, facing that pool— but it was a useless effort. She could not stop herself being drawn.

“Lexi,” Ava whimpered. “I don’t understand— I don’t want to— but I can see deeper— oh, it’s making my head so confused—”

Lexi was having a hard time avoiding breaking out panting— salivating, even. Ava’s vulnerability. She couldn’t hope to be immune to it. When was the last time she’d had a hypnotic subject this susceptible, this helpless, this delicious? She couldn’t recall a time quite like this.

And she’d long since abandoned her casual stance, her inplace-twisting. She was leaning forward where she stood, leaning eagerly— right onto the balls of her feet.

“You can’t help looking into my eyes, Ava. There’s nothing else you can do, you just have to look.” It seemed to get truer each time Lexi said it. So Ava wished she would stop saying it.

“You’re staring deep into me. As if you were falling in love with me. But that’s not quite what’s happening to you.”

How could Lexi speak with such authority? How could she imagine that she knew what was happening in Ava’s mind? But why did some part of Ava trust Lexi when she spoke like that? That part was feeling relief, as if Lexi could definitively diagnose what was going with Ava, say that it wasn’t the process of falling in love, and thank god it wasn’t— she shouldn’t trust Lexi about any of this, shouldn’t be responding with relief because it meant she was taking Lexi’s words at face-value.

“Love is just another kind of devotion— you can be so devoted to someone— so devoted to them it’s as deep as love. Or deeper than love— you’re not falling in love with me, Ava, but you are slowly becoming devoted to me. Not just because I’m a beautiful thing which attracts you, or inspires your loyalty, your desire for possession, as other beautiful things must do for you, considering the artwork I’ve seen hanging in this house. You are slowly becoming devoted to me, because I’m slowly hypnotizing you. And hypnosis is a devotizing thing— it takes the hypnotic subject and renders them more and more devoted to their hypnotist— more and more— more and more— all the time—”

Somehow each time Lexi’s words repeated, her eyes seemed to deepen.

“Hypnosis?” Ava repeated, a little skeptically. “Devotion— hypnotic devotion? Those things aren’t really... they can’t...”

Lexi felt a little thrill up her spine— hearing Ava say the words which would help ensnare her.

“Hypnotic devotion,” Lexi echoed, and Ava heard the way the ‘p’ popped— “it is possible, Ava. You met my girlfriend Katie, earlier. She’s hypnotically devoted to me. She didn’t really have strong feelings about hypnosis one way or the other, to begin with. She just knew she was attracted to me— that she wanted me to dominate her— but then I showed her I could dominate her hypnotically— mentally.

“Oh sure, maybe she would have resisted if she’d known what the cost was going to be— but her poor brain, it was just too susceptible— I was too hypnotically powerful— I started slowly hypnotizing her, just the way I’m doing to you— and the hypnotizing was also devotizing her— just like it’s doing to you— until she was too devoted to even form a desire for resistance, or for freedom. And in all the time we’ve been together, I’ve just pushed her to become more devoted to me. Hypnotized her deeper— and deeper— like you stare into my eyes— deeper— and deeper— and now she is hypnotically devoted to me. And she craves my hypnosis. It arouses her like nothing else.”

No... Ava didn’t want to hear this... the arousal which had started earlier, when Lexi had been speaking Ava’s secret fantasies of companionship to her, it was still in her body— and hearing Lexi say what she said— didn’t quite increase it, but it didn’t dispel it, either, and it should have. She should not be able to remain aroused while hearing about the sex-life of two of her daughters friends. That should unequivocally be a turn-off. That was how she’d known she was straight in the past— all experimenting she’d ever done, all thinking of two women together that she’d ever thought— it hadn’t turned her on, and it hadn’t even been neutral to her arousal, like this was now. It had always turned her off, like a cold shower, a bucket of freezing water over the head.

What Lexi had said should have done that— but Ava was exactly as aroused as she had been before, and that disturbed her.

It also disturbed her how closely she seemed to be listening to Lexi— like she was starting to believe her— and it was frightening, so frightening to hear Lexi speak these disturbing words, these disturbing ideas. If it was true— the thought that Katie had just been vulnerable— and Lexi’s hypnosis had been too powerful, too strong—

The thought that Katie had inevitably become Lexi’s hypnotic devotee—made Lexi seem too powerful. It almost tricked Ava’s brain into believing she was being hypnotized— and she couldn’t believe that, because if she did— it meant there was no chance for her against such a powerful, irresistible hypnotist like Lexi— (and her mind seemed to have accepted that without questioning it somehow... Lexi was a powerful, irresistible hypnotist... she couldn’t stop believing that, now).

“I’m not being hypnotized,” Ava said, though her voice was shaky. “You can’t actually do that to me.”

“I haven’t even fully started,” Lexi laughed. “I said I was slowly hypnotizing you, that the hypnosis was slowly devotizing you— that means you’re only very shallowly into a trance— when I really took apart Katie’s mind, I didn’t do it while I had her staring into my eyes. I had her looking somewhere else.”

What could possibly be more hypnotic than Lexi’s eyes— those shifting oceans’ surfaces, mercurial, changeable in an instant, showing all possible blues, in all possible lights? What could be more hypnotic than Lexi’s eyes, exerting their gravitational pull as they did, sucking in as they did, sucking with all their force of vacuum, of gravity?

No, Ava fought again. Lexi’s eyes were not hypnotic, Ava was not being hypnotized (because if she was there was no possible way she could resist an irresistible, all-powerful hypnotist like Lexi...)

“Look down at my necklace, Ava. Look at the pink sapphire.”

For some reason, Ava’s eyes did that. She hadn’t been able to move or look away before, no matter how she’d tried, but now when Lexi told her to do it— as if she really was under hypnosis— Ava’s eyes went down, and fixed on the pink sapphire.

“Your mind is already getting lost in my pink sapphire,” Lexi cooed. “It has so many facets inside of itself. Each one catches the light in a different way— it has so many flaws inside too— your eyes want to search it forever. Surely, if you search long enough, you’ll find some part of it that is standardized, some place where the pink sapphire copies itself— but every new part of it you see is completely distinct, completely novel— so then you just have to keep looking— there must be some place where the pink sapphire duplicates itself, but it never does— if only you go on looking— surely you’ll find it.”

Ava’s eyes were moving endlessly through the pink sapphire— she never seemed to be done looking— and that was placating her mind somehow— she found a flaw— then tried to find another like it— kept searching— found another flaw, then found a facet, saw the light shining through, pink.

It felt like looking into Lexi’s eyes— somehow, the pink sapphire contained all shades of pink, and when the light shone, it struck off all different shades. Light pink, medium pink, dark pink— and as the light kept shining, it kept shifting through the pink-spectrum, bright pink to dark pink and all stages in between— so pink, so much pink.

The light shone in just a specific way, each time— Ava tried to find another place the light shone through identically— she kept losing her place. Each thing she saw, she could never find again— nor could she find other things like them— the pink sapphire seemed to keep constantly shifting its form, though she didn’t understand what was creating that illusion, what was making that possible— and she had to keep looking— it was the only way to extricate herself from the mental-maze, untie the mental-knots— if she could just rediscover something she’d found before— either in the place she’d originally seen it, or in duplicate somewhere else— if she could just see the same exact shade of pink-light she’d seen even just once before— then it would feel like she’d found the exit, like she could be walking back the way she’d come, to get to... wherever she’d been before she’d started looking.

But she could never find that duplicating place, could never find that familiarity. So her eyes kept searching... and her mind grew more muddled... so she searched more desperately— and her mind grew more muddled— she couldn’t get her visual focus back from out of that pink sapphire, she searched it endlessly— if she only looked a little longer... “Everything I’ve said to you today has been true, Ava, hasn’t it?”

Ava felt so confused now. Her eyes were still searching. Their search soothed her brain at the same time as it tangled it. She had surfaced to the top of that magical pond, and now she floated on it, felt that rainbow-spectrum glittering beneath her— as the pink-spectrum filled her eyes— but the pond-water felt more like a milkbath, now, something that had some grit to it, some texture, some cloyingness— and slowly it was enveloping her, sucking her body down more patiently— slowly submerging her, and it felt so cloying against her skin, but it was so beautiful—

With her mind in such a contradictory state, Lexi’s words just flowed right in. Yes... Lexi... yes, Lexi had only said true things.

“You’ve only said true things,” Ava spoke. She couldn’t speak in anything more than simple sentences, not while her eyes still devoured that pink sapphire, still searched for sense within it.

“So what I’m saying to you now is true.”

Given the previous statement they’d agreed on, this next one only made sense. “What you’re saying to me is true.” “You’re in a trance now, Ava. You’re in all the way, fully in a hypnotic trance. You’re hypnotized.”

Ava jerked at the word. No, she didn’t want to accept that, no, no, no—

But everything Lexi said was true. So that meant she was in a hypnotic trance. She was hypnotized.

Ava instinctually let out a cry of despair as still her eyes searched on.

Lexi had never missed a single thing Ava had done since she’d started hypnotizing her. Even if Ava’s expression was distracting— her restlessly searching eyes, growing more desperate, the clouding of her mind visible through them; that was distracting, was unbelievably hot— Lexi had still fully noticed the cry of despair.

“Why does it upset you to be hypnotized, Ava?”

“Because you’re an irresistible, all-powerful hypnotist. And if I am hypnotized, there’s no way I can ever possibly resist— ever possibly win— it’s inevitable that I will be fully hypnotized— even hypnotized to the point I am changed— like you did to Katie with your same hypnotic power— and you are an irresistible, all-powerful hypnotist... and I am hypnotized... it’s inevitable that I’m going to lose to you.”

Lexi didn’t think she’d ever heard anything hotter— how susceptible, how beautifully susceptible Ava’s mind was... she had not told Ava’s mind to start believing that, had not directly implanted the idea. But Ava’s mind had seen the possibility, the insinuation, and had accepted it immediately— Lexi loved playing with vulnerable minds, susceptible minds— it had been fun when it was Katie’s mind— but there was a new thrill now. There was always something special in seeing an older woman’s mind become this vulnerable— someone who would normally be dignified and distinguished. And Lexi had never seen a woman more dignified or distinguished than Ava— and yet here she was, with her mind so open and vulnerable.

And she had intuitively invented a hypnotic paradox— that Lexi was an all-powerful hypnotist. And she believed this with no evidence, only on the basis of hypnotic faith— a hypnotic paradox because she believed something that made no sense, that to her waking mind, would make no sense. But now believed it so deeply she couldn’t even that this disbelief once would have been the case. And that hypnotic belief now guided her behavior, her thinking— and her mind had just put this together, without having to be instructed into it.

Lexi was even hotter for her now.

She could see, though, that there was still some fight in Ava— so far Lexi had actually been sticking pretty closely to the lines of what was true— so nothing had snapped in Ava. Lexi hadn’t triggered her rage, her insistent defiance. But it was always fun when that happened too, and it was always even more satisfying to overcome a mind that fought you hard— it made the victory even sweeter.

Ava’s eyes still searched the pink sapphire. Her mind felt hopelessly lost— the only thing clear was the pink sapphire, but the more she looked at it, the more everything else became indistinct.

“You’re hypnotized, and you have to believe what I say now.”

Even as Ava found herself accepting the words, something lower in her twisted in apprehension.

“You can’t fight the devotion you feel for me. The devotion you feel rising inside of you, getting stronger by the moment— the more deeply hypnotized you become, the more deeply devoted you are, and you would do anything, anything to give me what I want, to make me happy.”

Ava felt reluctance— a sense of being in conversation and wanting to stop these statements, wanting to correct them— but not quite seeing the opportunity— in fact, just the opposite— seeing the chance for correction slipping away. So the correction had gone unstated—

“You’re devoted to me. And you’re also attracted to me. You’re starting to see now what is so appealing about women— you never saw it before— but you can see it now— it occurs to you— my eyes are a beautiful thing, my control is a beautiful thing, but all of me is a beautiful thing, and you respond to beauty. You’re attracted to it. You’re attracted to me. In fact, you can feel yourself getting more aroused. That tickle— there’s so much of it there, between your legs now, if only you could rub against it, rub it out— get the tension out of your body, all that long-denied, built-up pleasure out— but it won’t be as good just doing it alone, will it? It won’t be like... moving together with someone you’re attracted to— knowing they’re attracted to you too— and that the two of you are seeking orgasm together— that you will get it, and when you do, that release will be so much better than any release you’ve ever had alone...”

The words were streaking by Ava’s mind too fast. The light through the pink sapphire was shifting in its illusory way too quickly also. Pink shifted along the pink-spectrum, through each flaw, through each facet. Ava still had that impression of needing to correct— but Lexi had left her no opening. And now Lexi had called the language back from before— the language which had described Ava’s inner fantasy, only now she’d mapped it on this situation— tried to cast herself as the person Ava was attracted to, who was also attracted to her— the person it would feel good to move together with— the person who would seek orgasm with Ava, and when the orgasm came— it would be better than any release Ava had ever had alone...

But there was something strong in her. Maybe she was hypnotized, maybe Lexi was powerful. Lexi was an all-powerful hypnotist, she thought automatically.

Yet that didn’t mean Ava had to go along with her. She could fight— maybe she could even win, maybe Katie had just been weaker than Ava was— Ava had built her impressive networth, after all, and had built it mostly on the back of her own resourcefulness and skill.

And Ava knew, knew— she wasn’t attracted to women, and that she especially could not EVER be attracted to one of her daughter’s friends. It didn’t matter if everything else Lexi said was true, Ava just couldn’t believe that.

Unfortunately, she seemed to have accepted the other part of what Lexi had said, though. That tickle had spread. It was a wash of sensation, across the face of her pussy— she did wish she could just rub against that tickling sensation, that whole wash of it— until she’d rubbed it out, found relief, loosed tension— and even if she did, the relief would never be as powerful as the relief of seeking release with a partner— and the only partner available to her here was Lexi—

It was a trap of circular thought. She accepted one premise and moved to the next— then accepted the next— then accepted the next— each one seeming so reasonable to her they soothed her on further. And she felt she was deeper— that almost had her on the point of accepting that maybe, just maybe Lexi wouldn’t be the worst sexual partner in the world... that maybe, with her, there could be relief...

“I’m not interested in women, Lexi!” Ava said, with real anger in her voice. She couldn’t move her face into an expression of anger— she could not do anything other than search the pink sapphire with her eyes— not anything besides that and speaking— but she’d still been able to get that anger into her tone.

(Lexi was thrilled to see that flaring of Ava’s temper, that flaring of her resistance.)

“I’m not interested in women, and I never will be,” she said again, “and I’ll never be interested in you, either. I don’t want you, I don’t want this... it’s... my fault I never seriously tried dating all these years... but I would like a second husband, I should take it up again seriously, that’s all... find a man... that’s who I would want to move with— seek release with... not you, never you.”

But her eyes still searched the pink sapphire anyway.

“Hmmm,” Lexi said, thoughtfully. “But aren’t I a beautiful thing? A beautiful thing you feel devoted to? With beautiful eyes, and a beautiful body? And aren’t you feeling turned on— as you’re standing here, connected to me? Doing as I say, listening to me, interacting with me? Didn’t you get more attracted when I told you to? Didn’t your arousal increase? How can any of those things be true if you’re not attracted to me? And you are attracted to me— because those things are true.”

Since Ava’s mind had invented its own hypnotic paradox to cling to— Lexi thought this would be a good strategy now. She was only speaking in hypnotic paradox and contradiction— a person in their right mind, thinking logically, could easily dismantle what Lexi had just suggested. But Ava wasn’t that kind of a person right now. That was the point.

And that was what made it so hot.

“N-no,” Ava said weakly. “It... those other things are true but that doesn’t mean...”

Lexi smiled. Ava’s mind was struggling against the contradiction— but she was too deeply hypnotized already to really be able to straighten her mind out. The longer she looked at the pink sapphire the worse it got for her.

“I think you’re just confused, Ava,” Lexi said brightly. “You’ve got too many clothes on. They’re covering up your reactions— you can’t see them— can’t feel them, can only feel how too-hot you’re getting with all that fabric on you. You should strip for me. You want to.”

Ava made a guttural noise. She felt her arms starting to move, and she was trying with everything she had in her to fight that impulse— to stop this from happening— she was inside herself, wrestling against herself, trying to stop the impulse in each muscle, trying to take the impulse down.

But she was struggling with all her strength— and her body was still moving— and she was trying to smother the feeling inside. The desire— yes, it would be better to be naked, yes, she wanted that genuinely. She neither smothered nor suppressed. The feeling was there, and her arms were lifting her top over her head.

Then her bottoms were taken down— and she stood there in her underwear.

Lexi swiped her tongue out in a licking of her lips. Ava’s tits were just so deliciously huge, her hips pleasantly curvy. It was clearer when Ava didn’t have any clothes on her. Lexi had been having her way with Ava’s brain— and cherished that— but she hadn’t gotten to enjoy her body yet— and this whole process of standing across the room, slowly taking Ava apart, slowly conquering— it had been working Lexi up like nothing else, and she was starting to be impatient.

“Take your underwear off— all the way— then lie down on the bed. You may masturbate yourself, and it doesn’t really matter if you come, or how many times you do— you know even now it can’t ever fully satisfy you.”

Ava struggled against herself— but she was removing her bra, removing her underwear— she felt that wash of tickling sensation— she needed to rub but even rubbing would never satisfy her— not like being with a partner would. She was getting on the bed— lying there— her hand was finding her pussy, starting to rub against where it tickled— that did slightly alleviate— but it was making her pussy wetter, making the pleasure in her more intense— but now she couldn’t stop moving her hand.

“Stay like that until I come back— I’ll just take a minute.”

Lexi ducked out of the room, down the hall to the bedroom she shared with Katie, to where her luggage was located.

Ava was still masturbating. And starting to find it impossible to keep from moaning. She was feeling a bit more clearheaded at least, with that pink sapphire out of the room finally— her eyes were free to look anywhere. She found she didn’t really care to focus them— she let them slightly cross, staring up at the ceiling. Stirring her hand in her wetness, around and around in her pleasure, around and around her clit. This was how she masturbated, how she took care of her sexual needs, how she’d done it all these years as a single woman— and it was... fine... it was definitely turning her on more, to a distracting amount— breathy sighs of pleasure kept escaping her— and then the pleasure was more intense— and the pleasure was more intense—

How many minutes had ed since Lexi had left the bedroom? But she already heard her light step on the other side of the door— and now the door opened, and Lexi re-entered, and closed it behind her. Ava’s eyes had gone immediately to Lexi. She felt an inexorable pull toward looking at Lexi’s necklace, that long gold-chain which hung down between Lexi’s breasts, but she wouldn’t let herself— she hadn’t been told to look, she didn’t have to look there— so far she was successfully not.

Now she was just looking at Lexi as a whole— unbidden, there was the word beautiful in her mind, Lexi was a thing of beauty— like her eyes, like her necklace—

Ava roughly tried to shove those thoughts away, but they lingered like a smoke.

She saw what Lexi had brought back from her room. It looked like some kind of harness. She d brought back a harness, and nothing else.

With the door closed behind her, Lexi started to undress herself. Off came the blue bikini-top, off came the blue bikini- bottoms. Then Lexi was naked too.

And Ava was still masturbating. Still getting more turned on.

Lexi smirked at her as she began to put the harness on her body. “You’re looking at a naked woman, masturbating, and

feeling even more turned on as you do. Yes, I think you’re right, Ava, that’s such a heterosexual response to be having.”

There was a flaw in the logic... there had to be... but somehow now all flaws in logic felt only like the flaws in the sapphire — things that made Ava keep looking deeper— that hypnotized her deeper, devotized her deeper— a flaw in the logic and then she searched but she couldn’t find one exactly like it, the duplicate which would give her an exit out— help her walk back everything that had so far happened to her.

Lexi had the harness on now. She’d adjusted it. It was tight to her body— and it was clear, just from looking at it, that it was meant to something between Lexi’s legs— but there was nothing there.

Lexi was the one to put her hands on her hips now. The harness brushed the sides of her breasts, pushing them out— pulled tight against her stomach— and Lexi’s body was youthful and beautiful— firm, everything perky— Ava was masturbating— Ava was getting turned on— that was confusing her— she was looking at Lexi as though she was masturbating about her, becoming turned on from seeing her— but no, that wasn’t right... Lexi was a thing of beauty... that wasn’t right... there was... a flaw in the logic...

Which made Ava keep looking for another. Which made Ava see beauty in that logic flaw— which made Ava’s mind confuse.

“Ava, a single woman like you, who’s had to take care of herself alone all these years. You have a masturbation aid, don’t you?”

Ava had started shaking on the bed. She couldn’t stop her hand from moving. There was more pleasure again, and a greater intensity to it, too. “Yes, I do, Lexi. It’s in the drawer of my nightstand.”

That answer wasn’t her fault, at least. She was hypnotized, after all— she couldn’t entirely control the things she said or thought herself anymore— there’d been no hope of hiding the truth.

She was still struggling— to move her hand away, to why Lexi was wrong, why none of this made sense and that shouldn’t believe it— but Lexi was stepping around the bed to the nightstand, and opening the drawer.

Ava’s eyes had followed her. They watched Lexi smile as she saw what was in the drawer. “Perfect,” Lexi said— and Ava felt her stomach swoop in fear. Lexi next took the vibrator-dildo out of the drawer, and secured it in the hold of the harness — right between her legs. Where there had been a gap before, a place for something to be ed— something now was.

Lexi tugged the dildo once— Ava’s eyes were on it— it was held fast in the harness, now— Lexi had full control of it with the movements of her body— and in her mind, an echo— moving together, better to be moving together— each one seeking her orgasm— but she’d never done this with a woman before— she shouldn’t— she—

Was it credible if she said she didn’t want to now? She was in the presence of a naked woman and only becoming more aroused— only moving her hand more desperately— and an echo in her mind— the success’ desperation bleeding into the experience... starting to fuel... she was a desperate success on the bed now, because she knew that intimately— was used to it— knew how it felt to have it inside, how it stretched so wide, could hit so deep— knew how it curved just slightly, just perfectly— and knew how much better it felt when it started vibrating.

But she’d always had to direct the thrusts herself— that took so much effort— for once— she shouldn’t think that now, but oh! For once someone else could take up the slack... shoulder the... shoulder part of the burden for her.

Lexi got onto the bed, straddling Ava.

She fingered the long gold-chain of her necklace, and that was what made Ava realize she was still wearing it.

“Look at my pink sapphire again, Ava.”

Ava looked, and cried out. Just seeing it felt like it had hypnotized her mind a complete second time— she was hopelessly fogged, hopelessly deep, hopelessly aroused— but there was— for some reason she still had to win, had to win against this beautiful, irresistible all-powerful hypnotist for... some reason... win against this woman who kept using flawed logic, a logic whose flaws were as beautiful as the flaws in the sapphire around Lexi’s neck which Ava’s eyes again searched— so deep— she searched so deep— but she felt so deep—

“You’re hypnotized, Ava. Hypnotized again, layered over the first time. And hypnotically devoted to me. You want to help me in getting anything that I want— you want me to be happy. And you are so, so horny right now. What do you want, Ava? Tell me what you want.”

Ava’s eyes tracked the pink sapphire again— they were wide and staring— Lexi looked into them, and saw, with satisfaction, that they were taking on a glassy look now.

“I want to feel that dildo,” Ava confessed. “I know that dildo, I know how good it feels— I want it inside of me. It’s weird that you’re behind it— you’ve mounted it on yourself— like it’s a part of yourself— but I just want to feel it so I... don’t entirely care—”

Ava shook her head, trying to resist again. “But I... if you put it in me, you can make me lose... I still need to win... overcome you... you can’t... I can’t lose to you, I won’t, I don’t want to...”

Lexi leaned in closer to Ava’s body. Lexi could feel the heat radiating from it.

“Do you want to feel your dildo enter you, Ava?”

Ava unconsciously worried her lower-lip again. Lexi felt something wild tear free in her. She was literally not going to be able to wait even thirty more seconds.

“Yes,” Ava settled on. “Yes, please, I want it to enter me—”

And Lexi couldn’t wait, so she didn’t.

Ava felt the head of the dildo against the entrance to her pussy. Then it was pushing in with a stretch that made Ava cry out again— this was familiar— immediately, this was familiar.

Her eyes had searched the pink sapphire all the time for something familiar, a repeating flaw, a vision seen once before and then seen again— and now she’d found the familiar thing. It was between her legs, it was the sensation of this dildo, this particular dildo inside her, pushing in to fill her— she’d found the familiar thing, the thing which was supposed to give her an exit, give her a door she could walk back through to the origin point and undo everything.

But that wasn’t happening, because her eyes were still in the sapphire— the familiarity felt like an anchor— pinning her in place, having just the opposite affect— because she knew what this felt like, what was supposed to happen when it did— what came next— it prevented her from pulling back out of what was happening in her head, in her whole body— made it impossible to wake up from the hypnosis she’d now been placed under twice.

And still the dildo was coming into her— Lexi kept canting her hips forward, further, and further, and it just slid into her, like she was a dissolving, melting substance which anything could be pushed inside, which anything could be made to cover. She could feel her pussy hugging around the dildo as it went deeper— so deep— deep, the flaws and facets of the pink sapphire, which her eyes had to keep searching out— deep, the flaws in Lexi’s logic, but that only made them beautiful, deep, her mind as it was caught again by the endless search or by the unarguable contradiction, deep, her depth into the hypnosis— and now, deep, the dildo inside of her, reaching in like it was a hand trying to grab something out of her, reaching back deepest, and maybe her victory hid there, and the dildo would take it out of her. Lexi kept canting— the dildo sunk deeper— she was silk enfolding around it— breathing hard, trying to accept the penetration— she usually wasn’t this turned on when she used it, so she wasn’t this tight— but Lexi knew how to fuck her even when she was.

Maybe she did this with Katie— made her go somewhere so deep in her mind— and maybe like someone hypnotically devoted, Katie responded in arousal— so much arousal it made her pussy incredibly tight— so Lexi had learned through practice how to fuck that tightness back open, fuck it back loose— maybe Ava wasn’t so different than Katie after all— she was accepting the dildo, gripping it like she’d never even gripped a man, a real penis, gripping it like she’d never gripped the cock of her husband, not even when Julia had been conceived—

Ava recoiled in disgust from that. She did not want to think of Julia now. She might be... confused... and might be... less straight than she’s thought, might be getting pulled into something dangerous, or depraved, or both— but Julia was a good person, a good daughter— maybe she would judge her mother for being like this if she knew— or try to help her— and Ava didn’t want to think about her, it made all of this too real— she had a daughter, a life, she was a whole person, a real person, and yet now she hypnotized and letting her daughter’s friend fuck her with her own dildo— and she was getting more turned on than she’d ever been in her life— she didn’t want to think of Julia at a time like this.

Luckily, her eyes found another flaw inside the pink sapphire. And she didn’t have to.

She was only feeling the pleasure again— the dildo was fully seated into her— it had burrowed in all the way, and hit resistance. There simply wasn’t anywhere further for it go— it was fully in her now.

And she gripped it. She felt the thickness of it. The synthetic veining in it— this was the only cock she’d known for years— and her body was acclimated to it— it was the familiar, anchoring her in trance— keeping her as deep as she was, making it impossible to surface— and she would have had to surface twice, even if she could have— surface from the second time being hypnotized to unravel the first. But she couldn’t even surface once, let alone two times— and she was only getting sucked deeper the longer she looked at the sapphire — and felt all things deep— the dildo too.

Lexi had paused for a moment, to let Ava have a second to fully adjust to taking the full girth that was now inside her— but now Ava had adjusted— Lexi started rocking forward in great, forceful thrusts, making the dildo keep hitting the resistance at the very back of her, from the inside.

And the look in Ava’s eyes— of one so fully hypnotized, fully conquered— with maybe just one streak of resistance left— that was almost enough to bring Lexi off, but she’d still adjusted the harness so that the other end of the dildo was pressing directly into her own clit. It was a long dildo— she probably could have penetrated herself with the other end— but she liked having something to grind against with her clit sometimes, and everything about this conquering was so erotic for her she didn’t need penetration at just this moment. She had her own double-ended dildo which went with this harness— if she cared that much, she could go and get it later. She was perfectly content with things as they were unfolding now.

“You’re hypnotically devoted to me,” Lexi said, a little breathless from the force of her thrusting. “The more hypnotized you become, the more devoted you are. But you can depend on me, Ava. Like you’ve wished for so long— you can depend on me. I can take care of you— you. It’s so hard doing everything you have to do— it’s been so hard doing everything you’ve always done— but you don’t have to do it alone now, not anymore. I’m here. You can lean on me. I can you — you can trust me, Ava.”

Ava croaked. A particularly deep thrust had struck her right then. All parts of her were opening in ways she didn’t quite want them to— there was— it was still dangerous here, she had to—

But oh! It settled into her heart. Yes, that had been the fantasy, was still the fantasy— and it was nice to feel how good this dildo was, in all the ways she ed— but for once not having to be the force which directed it, for once having someone else take care of her— Lexi had said her secret hope, the dream of having someone to shoulder the burden— to not be alone, not be single in the way she had been for so long...

And the thrusts were too deep— and her mind too open—

“You can commit to me, in your devotion, as much you would to any spouse. I promise I’ll take care of you, Ava. You just have to give yourself to me. Give yourself fully, every part of you, everything you are— it will devote you to the point of making you my slave— but think of what you’ll get in return— someone else taking care of you, someone else deciding and doing what is so hard— it doesn’t have to be you alone anymore. You want that. You trust me.”

Trust me, trust me, trust me... it echoed in Ava’s mind as an imperative.

She felt the despair surging up in her. No, this was almost like losing— like she was about to lose. She was slowly shaking her head, trying to fight, only she couldn’t find the way out— everything felt like it spun, the sapphire within her sight, her mind within her head, her body on the bed as it took and took and took all of Lexi’s repeating thrusts.

“No, I... have to stay free... you said... slave... I won’t... be your slave... I... need to think... for myself.” The kind of final rallying fight Lexi loved to crush out.

Lexi smiled as she reached down to the base of the dildo— easing it just back from her clit to access the controls on its side.

Ava jumped. Ava shrieked. Lexi had turned the vibration up to the highest power, and she could feel that against every wall inside of herself. She was already shuddering— those walls were clenching immediately, at butterfly-rate speed, just like the vibration was at that speed. Powerful, deep, boneshaking vibrations, tucked up inside of her— and her hips were thrusting with Lexi’s— they were seeking their orgasm together, moving together— Lexi must be feeling the vibration too— was it— had she seen the other end was against Lexi’s clit? Both of them feeling the vibration, getting close, moving—

“You’d like to come now, Ava, wouldn’t you? You’d like to come with me? Orgasm is most satisfying with a partner— and we’ve both been getting hopelessly worked up all this time.”

“But I mustn’t,” Ava gritted. “It’s not... safe...”

“Of course it’s safe, Ava,” Lexi purred, pushing even harder into her. Making the vibrations even deeper for her. She was going to shatter in orgasm any second— Lexi was feeling the same way too— knowing what she was doing to Ava’s mind, seeing the last light of resistance in Ava’s glassy eyes, feeling that powerful vibration being ground against her clit with every thrust—

“You can trust me,” Lexi emphasized again. “You’re hypnotically devoted to me, and you want to give me your slavery— and all you have to do is tell me— tell me you surrender, you give in, you give me everything— and I’ll tell you to come— and it will be the strongest, best, most powerful, most incredible orgasm you’ve ever felt. And that’s just the beginning of enslavement. It only gets better from there.”

Ava gasped. She could feel her orgasm— right there, so close— but if she came with Lexi, if they achieved it together— it would be better— and Lexi was an irresistible, all-powerful hypnotist— beautiful. With that great hypnotic power, she could tell Ava to have the best orgasm of her life, and Ava would, and nothing else would ever be able to give her a release like that— and all of this had been building her for that— but could she— could she really walk away from that, knowing no release would ever be the same?

Lexi’s breath caught. This. This was the moment— her favourite moment, the space of one heartbeat— when she looked into her subject’s eyes, and saw them give in— saw herself win, saw them lose— saw them surrender— for the space of that heartbeat, all possibilities hung in the air, about to happen, but not having quite taken place yet. And Ava— beautiful, powerful, distinguished, older Ava— Lexi had brought her to this moment.

And she felt her heart beat once— felt Ava’s heart beat, too, from how close they were to each other— and watched her eyes— and there—

Ava felt something collapse inside her.

“I surrender, Lexi,” she said, low and desperate and fast. “I surrender, I give you everything, I am hypnotically devoted to you, I’m your slave, I want to help you to get everything you want, I want you to be happy, everything, everything goes to you, everything of me, it’s all for you, it’s yours now, I’m yours now!”

Lexi rode Ava with abandon, the knowledge of her victory— the knowledge that now Ava was enslaved to her, was now her slave— it spurred her pleasure on, and she felt her orgasm starting.

Ava shuddered as the dildo Lexi controled kept penetrating her, kept vibrating inside of her.

“Ava!” Lexi cried. “Come with me, now. Come with me and feel your orgasm root your surrender in forever!”

And Ava didn’t have any choice. She was too far under Lexi’s control, too far under Lexi’s hypnosis— Lexi was a beautiful, irresistible, all-powerful hypnotist— and all things were deep— and Ava was screaming.

She was also coming— the pink sapphire was before her eyes as she clenched, wrenched, twisted, writhed, thrusted back, humped what kept penetrating her, humped what Lexi controled— and she was a thing Lexi controled now too— and she was Lexi’s slave, and her mind was so relaxed at knowing that yes, it would be okay now— there was someone she could depend on, someone else would shoulder...

She trusted Lexi, she was devoted to Lexi, as devoted as she ever had been to her marriage— more— she belonged to Lexi, and she was still spasming— the pleasure overwhelming her, so intense she had to keep shrieking it— and Lexi was shaking as she came at the same time— so much better, it was true— to come with someone else, to achieve your orgasm together— better than her hand, better than this dildo alone— the waves of pleasure, of pure distilled erotic feeling bathed her insides— and she had come so hard, and so long that a second orgasm started now— on the back of the first.

Lexi thrust once more, as deep as possible, just as her own overwhelming orgasm ended. Then she sagged momentarily on the bed— saw Ava was still coming.

Huh, Lexi thought. Neat. I guess she obeys me so well now she’ll just keep orgasming until I tell her to stop.

“You can stop, now, Ava. You’re satisfied.”

Ava’s body crumpled in on itself, and sank into the bed.

Lexi let out a sigh, carefully withdrawing from Ava. Once she’d gotten the dildo out, she removed it from the harness, and stood. Then she started removing the harness from herself too.

“We’ve taken about as much time as we can get away with. Pretty soon the others will start wondering where we are. So here’s what happens next.

“You’re my slave now. You know that with your whole soul. And anytime you look at my pink sapphire, your mind opens itself, and hypnotizes you, so you may accept further hypnotic deepening from me. You look at my pink sapphire, your mind opens itself, and then it hypnotizes itself immediately, so that I may more easily hypnotize you, and hypnotize you deeper. Enslave you further.”

Hypnosis was starting to be a pretty erotic concept for Ava— she was shaking in arousal again just hearing it described, now.

“But you how to be the person you were before you were my slave. You how to do everything you did as Ava the free woman, you how to behave as Ava the free woman. That is how you will automatically behave whenever the two of us are around other people unless I tell you otherwise. And you’ll be very good for me and not look at my necklace unless I give you permission. Otherwise it is too powerful, and your mind is too weak. It will instantly hypnotize itself for me, and you’re so helpless once you’re in trance you can’t hide that from anyone.”

Ava quivered on the bed. It was sooooo hot... she wished Lexi could be fucking her again— hypnotizing her a third time...

“I’m going to tell you to wake up, in a minute. When I do, it seals in everything you’ve come to believe. Everything you know to be true— and you will be just like yourself, except you will know what you are, and that is my slave. My bitch.”

Ava whimpered at the way that sparked arousal in her overfucked pussy.

“Then once we’re downstairs, you’ll give the staff a threeday-weekend. Later, you’ll make dinner. After dinner, it’ll be Jamie and Julia’s turn to learn the pleasures of slavery. No one will interfere.”

Ava’s mind accepted this.

Lexi smiled. “Wake now, Ava.”

Ava’s eyes obediently left the pink sapphire— now she was awake, it was impossible to look at it unless she was told— now she was awake she had to be good. She had fully left trance. She had to be good. She was Lexi’s, and she wanted to help Lexi be happy, help Lexi attain her wants.

She looked up at Lexi, where she stood— now holding the harness, and holding Ava’s own dildo. And holding a camcorder Ava had never noticed until now— the light was not blinking. Lexi must have stopped it recording.

“I’m going to be taking your dildo with me to my room. You don’t need any relief while you’re apart from me, or apart from when I grant it to you. I will take care of you, Ava, so you don’t have to do this yourself anymore.”

Ava only nodded. This was Lexi’s decision to make now.

And Lexi just liked the idea of withholding something that was Ava’s from her— liked seeing Ava give it up to her. She could have Katie clean the dildo for her later— then she could hold onto it for safekeeping, or possibly use it on herself or on Katie.

Lexi deposited all, dildo and harness and camcorder, on Ava’s dresser momentarily, then got back into her blue bikini. She then picked up what she’d deposited on the dresser’s surface.

“I’ll just go and put these in my room. After that, I’ll be down in the living-room waiting for you. Put on your bikini and come down after me.”

Then Lexi was gone.

Ava was free to control her own movements again. She didn’t have to get up when Lexi said, just because she said— but she wanted to. So she made the choice freely to stand from the bed, to walk back to her closet— to take down the hanger she’d left there.

She finally retrieved the red bikini she’d come up here to get. Before putting it on, though, she grabbed one of her towels to towel off her pussy. She was too wet there after being fucked so long— so well— it was indecent.

Satisfied she was in an appropriate state again, she put her bikini on, then grabbed a different, clean towel, to take down with her.

She was Lexi’s. She would be good. She was Ava Reynolds and she knew how to be herself. And she was free— she would be herself.

But as she closed her bedroom door behind her, she knew she was counting down the moments until Lexi hypnotized her again.

For now, though, Ava searched out her staff, gathering them together in the front-hall from where they’d been spread throughout the house, attending to duties.

“You all get a surprise threeday-weekend! I want some alone-time with Julia, so I’ll see you all Tuesday.”

This was a surprise to them.

“Miss Ava, that’s so unexpected,” said Casey, in wonder.

“Are you sure, Miss Ava?” Sovia questioned, her glance sharp. Being sent away like this was very unusual. “Miss Julia and her friends have just arrived. You truly don’t want us helping, here? It might be a lot to manage— four extra people in the house at once, and no other help—”

“I’m sure, Sofia. Thank you, but enjoy your weekend.” “Alright, Ma’am.”

The three staff thanked Ava for their unexpected time off. It wasn’t so unreasonable Ava wanted alone-time with Julia after a months-long separation, after all.

The staff rushed to get their things together, and left.

Ava moved into the living-room, and caught up with Lexi. Her inward impulse was to get on her hands and knees, and kiss Lexi’s mound through her blue bikini-bottom— even though she had never yet tasted Lexi there.

But Jamie or Julia might look in through the windows and see. So Ava stayed standing— but her heart was bursting with her devotion to Lexi. “I did as you asked me,” she said.

Standing before her slave and hearing her slave had followed a command made Lexi feel a power-surge in her pussy. Inwardly, Ava felt her enslavement. But outwardly she was the same Ava Reynolds. Only Lexi knew how obedient she was inside... only Lexi... that made Ava horny again.

Neither Ava nor Lexi said anything else. Together, they stepped outside.

At the sound of the sliding-door closing, everyone looked at them.

Julia realized just then how long it had actually taken her mother and Lexi to respectively change and use the bathroom. “Hey!” On her lounger, she now lay on her stomach, with her hands folded over each other, and under her chin. “What delayed you?”

“I got lost on my way back from the bathroom. Sorry!” Lexi joked, retaking her own lounger.

“Oh, you’re so hilarious, Lexi. The house isn’t that big!” Julia laughed her tinkling laugh.

Everyone ed her, forgetting Ava and Lexi’s earlier absence.

But Jamie only smiled through the others’ laughter, warily watching Lexi the while. Why does it feel like you’re up to something, Lexi Townsend?

Then she sighed. The day was just too nice for worries like that.

Jamie went back to basking in the summer’s early sun, her suspicions forgotten.