“Marissa? There’s something on your mind, isn’t there. You can spit it out, remember? I won’t bite.”

Taylor was correct, as she usually was when it came to her dorm-mate’s - now girlfriend’s - thoughts.

It had been roughly six months since Marissa had drunkenly tried to enchant her and had it backfire spectacularly, then successfully done so a few days later and had it backfire again in a far subtler way. Six months since she’d finally allowed herself to accept that the world was not necessarily a cruel, dog-eat-dog one; that niceness and kindness could and should prevail. Six months since she’d started seeing the campus therapist and begun to unpick exactly how much her parents’ ruthlessness had screwed her up, and begun to take steps to change that. Six months since she’d come out to herself. Since then, milestones had fallen at an encouraging and simultaneously terrifying rate. Four months ago, she’d decided to go low-contact with her parents. That had been ugly, their Wind-Couriered messages practically slamming into her, their anger leaping off the pages, but that had only solidified her belief that it was the right step for her to take. Taylor had been there alongside her the whole time, the brown-haired Mechanist providing an excellent shoulder to cry on and a sympathetic ear to listen to her. That was probably the point that Marissa fully realised that Taylor was more than just her lesbian awakening; she wanted to spend her life with her, if she’d allow it. Three months ago, she’d asked exactly that, visibly quaking in her boots. Taylor had only taken a second to think about it, before saying that she’d love to be the Enchanter’s girlfriend, sweeping her into another bear-hug. Marissa had been fully prepared to go slow, knowing that Taylor was likely still a bit uncertain about intimacy between them given the events of the Incident, as they’d taken to calling it, but the brunette had assured her that, given how much she’d improved already, she was confident she had nothing to fear from the blonde. So two months ago, they’d had their first proper kiss - Marissa had resolved to ignore anything that had happened during the Incident, given the circumstances (mind control) under which things had occurred. One month ago, Taylor had emerged from the shower naked and gently guided a goggling Marissa to her bed. Each had treated the other as though she was made of porcelain that first time, but after discovering that they both enjoyed having sex with each other without the element of enchantment complicating matters, they’d both begun to explore their desires together more fully. Taylor, having had more experience in bed than her girlfriend, had naturally taken the lead in their first few couplings, but Marissa had quickly discovered that she enjoyed that as a more permanent state of affairs: being led, rather than leading. Taylor, in turn, had been happy to take charge - Marissa suspected she was more comfortable with her beneath her anyway - and the two of them had shared many happy nights together. But a thought had kept eating away at Marissa for some time now, one she wasn’t sure Taylor would be comfortable with. Welp. Her girlfriend had caught her. She might as well spit it out.

After clearing her throat several times and some nervous shuffling, during which Taylor gave her space to gather herself, Marissa finally spoke up. “I, um, I was wondering if maybe you’d, uh, like it if I were to, at some point, ah, enchant myself for you? Because I’ve been thinking about it a lot and how nice it feels for you to tell me what to do and how nice I felt when I was enchanted and… uh… yeah. But, um, no- no pressure, or anything…” She trailed off awkwardly, trying to read Taylor’s expression for a hint of what she was feeling. The Mechanist remained as inscrutable as ever. Eventually, she opened her mouth and sighed.

“Sorry, Marissa, but I’m not feeling up for that just yet. Maybe after some more time, but for now, it still feels too dangerous for me.”

“N-no, that’s alright. I just thought I should ask, y’know…”

“Oh, absolutely! Communication is everything; I’m glad you decided to check. And I get it; I really do. There’s something to that dynamic, isn’t there? So, uh, that actually brings me to something I’d been wanting to ask you…”

For the first time since they’d met, Taylor actually seemed uncertain about something. Marissa blinked in surprise as she noticed this, electing to take a seat in the armchair opposite hers. “Go ahead. It can’t be any weirder than what I just suggested…” She chuckled nervously as some of the tension seemed to leave the atmosphere.

“So, as I said, I enjoyed being on the other end of that dynamic myself, but felt full-on Enchantment would likely be a no-go for me for a while… so I might have started researching alternatives. How much do you know about, uh, hypnosis?”

Marissa frowned, trying to remember. Her lessons had touched on this somewhere, hadn’t they…? Then it clicked. “That’s kinda like the non-magical equivalent of Enchantment, isn’t it?”

“Sorta - especially of lower-powered Enchantment, if I understood my research correctly. Certainly there’s plenty of non-mages who’ve explicitly compared the feeling to what they imagine magic to be. But, because there’s no magical enforcement, there’s not that element of absolute control - which therefore makes it a lot safer for us to play with. You… seem interested in it, if I had to take a guess.”

“Y-yeah, I am. Very interested, actually. Do you think you can actually hypnotise me?”

“Pretty certain, anyway. Was there… anything you were thinking you’d like to do while enchanted?”

“I’d rather let you decide, I think.”

Taylor smiled in response. “Aww, does someone like being a good girl for me? Letting me be completely in charge?”

Marissa blushed furiously, hiding her face. “Taylor! You said you’d stop saying that sort of thing outside the bedroom!” Her voice contained no actual annoyance, however, prompting Taylor to just giggle unrepentantly. After gathering herself, Marissa spoke up again. “There is actually one thing, though. I, um, really liked the feeling of being compelled to obey you, feeling like I had no choice in the matter? But I’d totally get it if you’d rather lay off that idea for the time being!”

“Yeah, probably not for the first time, I’m afraid. I’d rather take things a bit more gently; I hope that’s not too disappointing. But, uh, if you’re all good with that idea, then give me a few days to sort everything out, and we can try it out next time we’re in the mood, yeah?”

“Too disappointing?! Taylor, you’ve gone above and beyond what I expected! I was fully willing to receive a flat no, and instead you’ve gone not right now, but maybe later, and also here’s something similar I’ve already looked into! You’re incredible, babe.” She darted up from her chair and settled in Taylor’s lap, punctuating the sentiment with a kiss on the nose. Taylor smiled and pulled her in for a hug.

“Aww, thanks, darling. You’re pretty incredible yourself.”

Less than a week later, Marissa found herself sitting nervously on the edge of her bed, wearing just her nightie. Taylor was busying herself with something else on her side of the room which she had strictly forbidden the blonde from seeing, leaving Marissa to instead mentally run over the prep they’d gone through together earlier that evening. First and foremost, Taylor had understandably been very keen on safety. While she’d claimed that hypnosis theoretically couldn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to - which, Marissa had recalled, had led to her mentally dismissing it in the past - she was very clear that that didn’t mean Marissa wouldn’t necessarily feel pressured to do something and go along with it reluctantly. Taylor had been very clear that, no matter the circumstances, Marissa should never feel like she had to do anything, and that she was always free to safeword or lightly amend suggestions at any time - and, conversely, that she was expected to listen if Taylor ever needed to safeword or asked to check in with her. They’d agreed on the traffic-light system - while some mages, Marissa’s parents included, insisted on sequestering themselves away from the non-magical world, both girlfriends were fully aware of most aspects of it, and they’d agreed that that system made the most sense for them to use. Taylor had also impressed upon her that, especially given it was their first time trying hypnosis, the experience would likely be somewhat muted in comparison to full-blown Enchantment. Marissa had been clear that she was fine with that, and would be happy with any sort of result, even if it was mostly the placebo effect. Last, and… well, perhaps least as well, but certainly not unimportantly, Taylor had pulled out a new Autom - Siopí, she’d called it - which had cast an external silencing spell upon their room, making sure that, as the Mechanist had put it, Marissa could “scream as loud as you like” and they wouldn’t be disturbing anyone. The Enchanter squirmed slightly at the memory; Taylor just had a way of making anything she wanted to sound sexy as the Hells.

Speaking of her girlfriend, she turned around at this point, holding up a pendant made of a gold chain with a dark yellow gemstone on the end. Marissa’s breath caught in her throat, as it almost always did when she saw Taylor like this: wearing just a tank top and sleep shorts; hair loose, just touching her shoulders; eyes practically smouldering looking at the blonde in return. “You ready to go, darling?”

“A-absolutely! Or, as ready as I’ll ever be, anyway.”

“Excellent. And remember, you can get me to stop at any time, yeah?”

Marissa nodded in confirmation, and Taylor held up the pendant, letting the gem spin around and catch the candlelight from their bedside table. She began swinging it slightly, back and forth, and Marissa’s eyes naturally began to track it. When Taylor spoke up, her voice was noticeably deeper, taking on a more sultry, seductive timbre. “There’s a good girl, Marissa, already letting yourself just watch the pretty gem. Just let your gaze get lost in it; how it sways, how it spins, how it sparkles. Letting your focus become more and more devoted to just the gem and my voice. Letting everything else fade away. Giving yourself permission to relax as you watch the pretty gem sway and sparkle and spin. Giving yourself permission to let go of everything, for a while. Giving yourself permission to submit to me. Because you want to submit, don’t you? You want to let me take the reins, let me guide your mind as it gets lost in the spin and sparkle and sway. You want to be my good girl, isn’t that right?”

“Mhm…”

“Say it. Tell me you want to be my good girl.”

“I wanna be your good girl.”

“Yes, that’s very good. Watch the spin, watch the sway, watch the sparkle; listen only to my voice. Find everything else is just fading away from your mind, because right now, it’s unimportant. Find, in fact, that you can’t think about anything else; can’t focus on anything else. Can you look away from the pretty gem now, Marissa?”

She tried to tug her eyes away but, following Taylor’s voice, discovered she couldn’t; not for more than a fraction of a second, if that.

“You can’t, can you?”

“No…” Her voice was barely a whisper; being any louder would have required too much effort.

“No, you can’t. You can stop trying now; let your eyes just snap back to the sparkle and spin and sway.” She punctuated the command with a snap of the fingers, which Marissa felt as much as heard. “There we are. It’s so much more relaxing, so much less bother, so much less worry and fuss, so much nicer, to just focus on the sparkle and sway and spin. Letting it keep drawing in all your focus, all your brainpower; diverting it even from basic things, like keeping your body upright or your pretty eyes open.” Marissa found herself beginning to sway; found her eyelids flickering; each blink feeling heavier than the last as she found her gaze still bound to the pretty gem, the yellow, she belatedly realised, the colour of the magic powering Taylor’s Automs. Taylor clearly noticed the difference, placing a gentle hand on Marissa’s shoulder to brace her slightly. “You want to drift off to sleep, don’t you, darling?”

“Mmyessss…”

“Well, in a second, you’ll do just that. Your body and conscious mind will slip off into a nice, peaceful, hypnotic sleep, letting me tell your subconscious mind exactly what to do, okay? That sounds nice, doesn’t it?”

“Mmmmm…” A dopey smile crossed her face.

“Very good, you’re such a good girl for me. Just keep watching the pretty gem, just a little longer. Let the sway and the spin and the sparkle carry you off to SLEEP.” Taylor snapped her fingers again, and Marissa felt herself fall back onto the mattress and into trance.

Taylor felt another wave of heat through her loins as she beheld her beautiful girlfriend, mind completely gone, lying entranced on the bed. She hadn’t been lying when she said that this sort of thing got her going, but she hadn’t expected how much better it would feel in-person. Judging from the way Marissa had been twitching throughout the induction, the Enchanter clearly felt it just as strongly as her.

Taylor moved to sit on the bed, brushing the stray hairs out of Marissa’s face as she began to speak again. “How’re you feeling there, darling? All comfortable?”

“Yeeaaahhhh… Green.”

“What a good girl. And as you lie there, your mind continues to sink further… you can still see the pretty gem in your mind’s eye when your eyes are closed. Just continue to watch the pretty gem… feeling more and more relaxed and obedient for me. Isn’t that right?”

“Mhm…”

“Yes, it is. So, what should I do with you now? Hmmm…” She pretended to contemplate it for a few seconds as she continued to stroke Marissa’s hair, although in actuality, Taylor had a fairly well-laid-out plan for how she wanted the evening to go. She hadn’t run it by Marissa yet, as she’d asked for the Mechanist to surprise her, but she was pretty confident the blonde would like it.

“I think I want to play a little game with you, hm? I know how much you like following my orders, but sometimes it’s fun to pretend to be disobedient, isn’t it? So, in a couple of minutes, I’m going to snap my fingers, and your eyes will open and you’ll sit back up, feeling wide awake and energised; feeling like you were never in trance at all. But, in fact, you still will be - you’ll be ready to fall back asleep when I ask you, as long as you’re safe and comfortable to do so. And you’ll be ready and able to act on any orders I give you, again as long as you’re safe and comfortable to do so. However… you’ll feel so awake and free, you’ll find it impossible to believe you were ever hypnotised at all. You’ll believe hypnosis is total bunk, in fact; just letting yourself temporarily forget everything you know about it. And because of that, when I ask you to do something, you’ll actively refuse, no matter what it is, just to prove me wrong… unless I snap my fingers before giving the request. If I do that, you’ll find that, if it’s safe and comfortable to do so, your body automatically obeys me, without even realising I gave you an order. Because if you did something, it can’t have been because I told you to, because you’re not hypnotised. Let’s see if you remember all of that; I know it was a lot to take in, but I’m sure such a good girl will easily remember it, yeah? So, when you wake up, how will you feel?”

“Energised and alert.”

“Will you think you’ve been hypnotised?”

“No.”

“Will you think you can be hypnotised?”

“No.”

“Will you obey orders I give you?”

“No.”

“Unless?”

“You snap your fingers before giving them.”

“And if you do that, will you realise you’re obeying me?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not hypnotised.”

“Very good; you’re getting the hang of this already! And, just so I’m sure, colour?”

“Green.”

“Lovely. Waking up for me, feeling energised and definitely not hypnotised, in 1… 2… 3…”

Taylor snapped her fingers, and Marissa startled. “Buh? Sorry, what were you saying? I must’ve zoned out there for a second.”

Taylor laughed. “You did more than zone out there, darling; I hypnotised you.”

Marissa frowned. Something seemed correct about that statement… but that was ridiculous. After all…

“No, you couldn’t have. Hypnosis isn’t real.”

“Really? I could’ve sworn you were out just now… So you’re not feeling even a little bit obedient, or sleepy?”

What a ridiculous question. “Of course not! Why would I be? Hypnosis isn’t real!”

“Okay… So, you’re not going to sit on my lap and kiss me like a good girl?”

“Not if you’re going to keep acting ridiculously like that…”

“Hmmm… Bark like a dog? Do a striptease for me? Forget your name?” Marissa shook her head at each one, smiling.

“Sorry, babe, but I don’t know why you think any of those’ll work.”

Taylor didn’t seem perturbed. “That’s alright, I suppose it was worth a shot… So what do you wanna do tonight, if my little scheme didn’t work?”

*Snap.* “Cup your boobs and start bouncing them.”

“Well…” Marissa ran her hands up her torso, finding her breasts and beginning to give them a jiggle. “I have a few ideas…”

“Ooh, feeling frisky already, are we? Sure the hypnosis didn’t get you going?”

“Of course not! What are you talking about?”

*Snap.* “Stand up and strip down to your underwear.”

Marissa stood up and began slowly pulling up her nightie.

“Well, I’m still not convinced. Especially given that you are now stripping off for me, just like you said you wouldn’t do…”

“I- uh-” Why was she doing that? Marissa floundered for a second before remembering. “It’s getting kinda warm here… and I’ve got more interesting things to be doing than sitting around all covered up anyway.” She pulled the garment off with a flourish, revealing a lacy pair of panties and, naturally, no bra - she’d been getting ready for bed before Taylor had derailed the conversation, after all. Speaking of Taylor, her girlfriend was now unabashedly ogling her breasts, which swayed slightly as Marissa sauntered back over to her. “See something you like there, babe?” With only a slight hint of shame that was rapidly replaced by a grin, Taylor reached out a hand, only for the Enchanter to duck out of the way. “Nuh-uh! It’s not fair if I’m the only one shirtless here, is it? You repay the favour, and then we’ll talk.”

“Tempting… or, I could-”

*Snap.* “Stand straight, put your hands behind your head, thrust your chest out, and don’t move from that spot until I say you can - whether it’s a command or not.”

Marissa found herself suddenly changing her mind and posing for Taylor, presenting her body for her inspection. “S-sorry, what were you saying? I must’ve zoned out during that last sentence…”

“Eh, nothing much, really. But look at you now, all ready and waiting for me. You changed your mind, did you?” Taylor stood up and walked over to the posing blonde, running a hand gently down her cheek, over her collarbone, and slowly stroking one breast. Marissa suppressed a shudder of pleasure.

“Y-yeah. I… thought it might be more acceptable to you, Miss?” She wasn’t sure she was entirely convinced by the statement, and neither was Taylor.

“Hmm, maybe… But I will say, you seemed pretty fixed on not letting me do this-” she gently squeezed the breast she was cupping, followed by the other- “until just now, when you decided to stand there, perfectly still and accessible to me… I don’t think you could’ve done a better job if you’d followed my orders exactly… or maybe you did.”

“Nuh- no, I would’ve remembered that, I think, Miss?” They’d only begun experimenting with titles recently; right now, “Miss” was the one they both felt most comfortable with. Marissa found herself leaning on it as something that was making complete sense right now.

Taylor chuckled in answer to her not-quite-question. “Would you, now? Even if I’d hypnotised you to forget it?”

“O-of course. Hypnosis i-isn’t real. I- I’m not hypnotised.”

“Sure.”

*Snap.* “Stick your tongue out. Don’t put it back in until I say.”

Marissa’s tongue flopped out of her mouth. “Whuh? Whuh’s happ’n’n’?”

Taylor cooed at the baffled, dopey expression now on her face. “I dunno, you tell me. After all, you’re not hypnotised, so it can’t be because I just told you to stick it out, can it?”

“Uh… uh?”

*Snap.* “Tongue back in; tell me it’s because you’re my hypnotised toy.”

“I did it because I’m your hypnotised… toy. What the fuck?” Taylor’s fingers slipped down to her waistband, and Marissa suddenly became aware she was intensely horny. She tried to move, but found her feet still planted to the floor. “Babe, what’s going on here?” She was starting to freak out a little, which Taylor seemed to recognise immediately.

“Okay, darling, I think it’s time for you to a), move your feet again, and b)...”

*Snap.* “Remember.”

Marissa blinked a couple times in confusion as the memories slotted into place. As she realised what had just been happening, her legs nearly gave out under her from the wave of arousal that washed through her; Taylor rushed to support her.

“Wow.”

“Good wow, or bad wow?”

“Good wow, absolutely- great- incredible- green. That was… are you sure this isn’t your first time hypnotising someone, babe?”

Taylor guided the two of them back to the bed, sitting them down. “Pretty sure! I… might have become a bit obsessed with it for a spot there, though. I thought I’d try out a couple ideas at once there and just see what stuck; the answer seemed to be, uh, all of them so far. I hope it wasn’t too intense?”

“It almost got there, but you stopped me from spiralling, so no harm, no foul. Is… uh… is that it?” She was trying to disguise how much she didn’t want that to be it, a fact Taylor clearly caught.

“Not if you don’t want it to be. I’ve got one more thing I wanted to try out, which might help with that little problem you seem to be having there.” She gestured vaguely towards Marissa’s body, which was clearly aroused.

“Alright; let’s do it. Is there anything I need to-”

Taylor held up the pendant again, and Marissa found her gaze instinctively drawn to it, the thoughts tumbling right back out of her head. Taylor, she could just see out of focus behind the gem, was smiling. “No, there’s nothing you need to do, other than watch, and listen, and sleep.” She snapped her fingers, and Marissa found herself falling against the Mechanist’s body, deep in trance and dropping deeper with every second once more.

She felt - or acknowledged, perhaps, was the best way to describe it - that her body was moved gently to lie flat on the bed, as though she were actually sleeping. Some time passed - how long, she had no idea, nor did she care, this deep in trance - and then Taylor was speaking again, Marissa’s brain latching and clinging onto her words as though they were her everything.

“Very good, dropping deeper and deeper with every breath you take, every word I speak, every second that passes, just dropping you deeper. You’re doing so well for me; it’s like you’re a natural at this…

“In a moment, I’m going to snap my fingers again, and you’ll wake up for me, feeling perfectly normal, but aware this time that you’ve been hypnotised. You’ll feel your normal self, until I touch you. When I do that, you’ll find that, just like right now your ears are only hearing me, and just then your eyes were only seeing the pretty gem, when I touch you, your skin will only feel me. Every other touch on your skin will be unimportant, because my touch will feel amazing. Or maybe it’ll feel amazing because that’s the only thing you’re aware of. Either way, you’ll become hypersensitive to the feeling of my skin on yours. It’ll feel so good, it’s like anywhere I touch becomes an erogenous zone; so good, that your mind might blank out for a second; become too focused on the feeling of my touch to form any other coherent thoughts than wanting more. Does that sound nice?”

“Yes,” Marissa breathed.

“Very good. And remember that, even if it doesn’t feel as intense as what I just described, that doesn’t matter. As long as you’re feeling safe and comfortable, and as long as you’re having a good time and trying to follow my instructions, that’s what matters, okay? Coming back to yourself, hypersensitive to my touch and only my touch, in 1… 2… 3…”

Taylor snapped her fingers, and Marissa blinked groggily, sitting up once more. The Mechanist was smiling softly at her. “How’re you feeling?”

“All good. Uh… I don’t exactly remember what you suggested, though… is that alright?”

“Huh. Well, I didn’t tell you to forget, but I didn’t tell you to remember, either, so maybe your subconscious is just good at hypnotic amnesia. Do you want to remember, or would you rather find out for yourself?”

“I think I’m good? As long as it’s not too emba-ahhhhh…” Marissa cut herself off with a groan of pleasure as Taylor gently stroked one shoulder with her fingers. Her touch was electric, sending sparks shooting throughout Marissa’s body, and she completely lost her train of thought, mind solely focused on her girlfriend, who she was just about aware was smiling at her reaction. Then the brunette pulled her hand away, leaving Marissa feeling more coherent, but whining slightly in disappointment.

“So… I take it that that went well, then? How’d that feel?”

Marissa floundered for words for a second. “I- uh- incredible! That was… wow.”

“Want more?”

“Please.”

“Please…?”

“Please, Miss.”

“Certainly. What good manners!”

Taylor’s hand returned to Marissa’s arm, causing the blonde to shudder with pleasure once more. Even the lightest touch from her girlfriend had her gasping; when her other hand came trailing down her collarbone, Marissa found herself slumping back down onto the bed, mind too consumed with arousal to keep her upright at the same time. Taylor briefly lost contact with her, but before Marissa’s mind recovered enough, the Mechanist was straddling her, resuming her caressing with one hand as she propped herself up with the other. Taylor leaned forward to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead as the hand trailed down to the Enchanter’s flanks and towards her navel, both sending waves of heat throughout her body. Marissa writhed and mewled beneath her girlfriend as she was played like an instrument, Taylor barely needing to lift a finger to send her into waves of moaning ecstasy beneath her. The Mechanist briefly pulled back, reading Marissa’s expression, only for the blonde to lift a hand to pull her back down for a kiss. If regular touching had been bliss, the kiss was Elysium. Her vision narrowed; she felt she almost could have climaxed just from that alone. But Taylor smiled against her lips, feeling Marissa’s trembling breath against hers, and whispered, “Not yet,” and Marissa, with the last vestiges of what remained of her self-control, obeyed, staving off her peak for just a little longer. Taylor’s hands now came to gently cup her exposed breasts. Marissa somehow went even limper against the bed, her eyes rolling back and mouth flopping open, even before her girlfriend had reached her nipples. As she did, Marissa’s universe narrowed completely to the two of them; she was not certain she would have noticed if the universe had indeed become just the two of them. Taylor’s touch, still gentle, was like fire and ice and lightning against her skin, and all Marissa was able to do was moan quietly against her. And then one hand moved down to the waistband of her panties, gently pulling them down as they clung to her slit with moisture. Taylor’s hand was now just resting on one of her thighs, but even this was enough to cause her to thrust weakly upwards, silently begging for more as Taylor’s mouth came down onto her abandoned breast. Marissa’s vision was whiting out; every one of her nerves felt as though they were on fire with pleasure, and still Taylor didn’t touch between her legs, even as Marissa bucked towards her hands. “Please,” she whimpered again.

“Not yet, darling. Be patient.” Marissa tried, she truly did, as Taylor’s lips and hands ran across her most sensitive zones. All her senses were solely focused on Taylor: her eyes, when they focused, looked solely on her; her ears could only hear the wet noises her mouth was making against her chest; her nose and mouth were filled with her scent and taste; above all, her skin could only feel Taylor, Taylor, Taylor, and still it wasn’t enough; it was getting too much, her body feeling too much and somehow not enough, and-

“Yellow,” she distantly heard herself gasping.

Taylor jolted in response, eyes immediately locking onto hers and seeing what was going on inside her head. “You can’t wait?” Marissa weakly shook her head. “Then don’t.”

Taylor’s fingers finally pushed against her weeping slit, and Marissa howled with pleasure, her climax hitting her like a dragon’s flames even before Taylor thrust into her, gently thumbing her clit. Marissa cried out and sobbed and shook and moaned, the pleasure of her girlfriend’s touch now multiplied a thousandfold as she finally hit home, and she toppled right from one climax to another, and another, and ano-

“-rissa? Can you hear me?”

Marissa blinked groggily, eyes focusing on a now concerned-looking Taylor, who was hovering above her. “Did- did I pass out on you there?”

“Yeah, for a couple seconds. You alright?”

“Better than alright; that was fucking incredible. You’re amazing.”

“So are you; you responded so well to everything I suggested tonight. That was- I hope I didn’t go too far?”

“No, that was - I couldn’t have coped much longer, but that’s why I safeworded. I’m feeling, uh, a bit wrung out now, but you did good, I promise.” She gestured for Taylor to sit next to her, before realising why that may not be a good idea. “Uh… is the sensitivity thing still on?”

“Maybe? That’s up to your subconscious, unfortunately. D’you want me to make sure?” Taylor held up the pendant, one hand around the gem so Marissa couldn’t see it. She nodded.

“That’d be good, I think.”

“Alright.” Taylor took her hand away, and Marissa found herself slipping again. “There we go; good girl. And what you’re finding now is that you’re no longer hypersensitive to my touch; it just feels normal when we come into contact, okay? And waking up again, 1 2 3…”

Marissa found herself briefly disoriented as Taylor moved to sit next to her, pulling her up into a seated position as she called for Krini again, the water-dispensing Autom hovering in after a couple of seconds. As Marissa slumped bonelessly against her girlfriend, greedily drinking down the water, it took her sluggish mind an embarrassingly long time to realise what should’ve been obvious.

“What about you? Hells, you’re still fully clothed!”

“Don’t worry about me; I can take care of myself later. I don’t think it’d do to push you any further tonight; I put you through your paces there.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely. What we’ve done so far was more than enough for me anyway.”

Marissa hummed sceptically. “If you say so… but I don’t want that to be a recurring thing, okay? Next time, you’re coming first.”

She could hear the smirk in Taylor’s voice as she asked, “Is that a promise?”
“I’m sure you’ll make me regret it, but yes, that’s a promise. You’re too incredible for it not to be.”

Marissa tried to stand up, but found her limbs still uncooperative. Taylor put out a hand to steady her. “Whoa, there. You alright?”

“I… thought I should start cleaning myself up, but clearly my body has other plans.”

“I’ll start running a bath, shall I?”

Marissa mock-pouted. “But then you’ll be abandoning me! I’ll say yes, if when you come back you get naked as well. Sound fair?”

Taylor smiled as she kissed the crown of Marissa’s head. “Deal.” As she watched her girlfriend walk into the bathroom, a tired smile spread across Marissa’s lips. She was so lucky to have a girlfriend this nice.