Dr. Santos set down my exam and gave me another serious glare. “That means, as of this moment, I am officially no longer your professor, so we can finally have an open, honest conversation, without consequences for either of us. Now, tell me what’s actually been going on with you.” 

My heart leapt to my throat. I thought I had escaped this conversation. “Nothing‘s been going on with me,” I said about as naturally as an automated telemarketer message.

Dr. Santos rose and came around to lean on the front of her desk, folding her arms. “Now, we both know that’s not true. Spit it out.” 

Suddenly, the damn burst. I hadn’t realized how desperately I’d wanted to talk to someone, anyone, about all the guilt and loneliness I was feeling until the words were already pouring out of me. “I’ve had a crush on Caleb since sophomore year, and finally worked up the nerve  to ask him out. Our first date was magical, until he told me about his hypnosis kink and asked to hypnotize me. I had no idea what to do, I’d barely had sex before, never mind being hypnotized during. But I tried it. I liked it. I really liked it, maybe too much. After that, everything was going perfectly, well kind of, until you walked in on us. Then I was sure my life was over, but you didn’t say anything and I started to think everything would be fine.

I paused just long enough to suck in air before pressing on. “But then I got paranoid that I only loved hypnosis because Caleb hypnotized me to love being hypnotized, but it turns out I’m just freaky. Then just when I thought everything was finally solved, I found out Caleb had been posting hypnosis videos on the Internet the whole time without telling me and I felt super betrayed, and I texted him a big angry rant. Except I didn’t text it to him. I texted it to my friend and then she blew him up and now his life is ruined and now my life is ruined because I ruined his life and I feel horrible about myself and everything so that’s how it’s going,” I finished, practically panting for breath.

Dr. Santos remained perfectly stoic and calm “I see. I understand.”

“No offense, professor, but I really don’t think you do. You can’t possibly know how I feel.”

She cracked a second smile. Wow, two in a few minutes. I was on some kind of a tear. “Annie, what I’m about to tell you does not leave this room. Is that clear?”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” I said, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt.

“Oh, to be young and naïve again. Do you really think you’re the first person to have sex while hypnotized?”

“Dr. Santos, You!?” I gasped. 

“You should probably call me Nina at this point.”

I stood dumbfounded. Intellectually I knew professors had sex like anybody else, but not kinky hypno-sex. “So you hypnotize people, like Caleb?” 

“It’s been a long time,” she said with a sad smile. “I played the subject more often than the ‘tist, but yes, I’ve done both. But never with my students!” she added defensively.

“Dr. Santos!? I mean, Dr. Nina. I mean Nina,” I sputtered. “You were a subject?” 

Dr. S . . . erm, Nina stared off into the window, a wistful expression on her face. “I was. Like I said, it’s been a long time.” 

“You can’t just say that! I want to know everything.” 

“I was his teaching assistant,” she whispered. “Remember, you won’t tell anyone about this.” The softness in her face snapped back to the usual mask of composure and judgement.

“I pinky promise!” 

Her features softened once more. “I wasn’t much older than you are now. I applied to be a TA for one of my program’s most illustrious professors, Dr. Bruce Hayes,” she said his name with a breath of warmth I’d never seen from her. “A lot of the grad students had crushes on him, even though he was older. Of course, I never imagined anything might happen. He was my employer, after all.”

She wandered to a shelf at the side of the room and picked up a small round object. I didn’t recognize it as a pocket watch until she let it fall and dangle by its aged brass chain. “It all started so innocently. It was just a simple hypnosis demonstration for our class, all part of the curriculum, mind you. What neither of us accounted for, was that I would be such a good girl, excuse me, good subject. Old habits die hard.”

“What happened next?” I asked with rapt attention. 

“I barely remembered the demonstration, but I could never forget how his voice made me feel. Things changed between us after that. I couldn’t get him out of my head. He noticed the change in my behavior. My eyes lingered just a little too long. I would rest my hand on his whenever he’d ask for a paper. Eventually, the tension grew unbearable. He asked if I would meet him at his home for some research, although we both knew what he was really asking.” Nina paused, lost in the memory. 

“And then?”

Her dreamy smirk took on a surprisingly mischievous character. “Well, we did research, of course. We researched late into the night and even into the morning.”

I couldn’t help but return her smile. “I see, I see. I may have done some research myself.” 

“I assumed as such. You must’ve wondered why I didn’t turn you two in and now you know.”

“Because you get turned on by hypnosis too? But how did you even know I was hypnotized?”

“Well, for one, you asked me how I got past the palace guards. Not exactly a typical question for the situation.”

“I . . . Don’t remember saying that.”

“Regardless, I knew the second I saw your eyes. I’d know that look anywhere. That blank stare, seeing without seeing.” 

I nodded quietly. I hadn’t ever seen my own face while hypnotized, but I could imagine. I remembered the look of complete peace Olivia displayed as she slumped in the booth. No worries, no cares, no thoughts. Oh, fuck. Suddenly I was imagining that dreamy, vacant expression spread across Nina’s face too.  “Uh . . . yeah . . .I think I know what you’re talking about.” 

Nina’s eyes lit up. “So you’ve been on the other side too.” 

“Only once. I just kind of stumbled into it,” I mumbled. “But what about you? You never finished your story. What happened with your professor?”

“It ended.” She answered flatly, the curl of her smile returning to a hard line. “As I said, it was a long time ago.” 

“Oh.” Shoot, I hadn’t meant to dredge up an unpleasant memory. Why did I always hurt everyone?

“But I didn’t bring you here to talk about me. You clearly have some difficult feelings to process, Annie.”

“That’s an understatement.” I swallowed hard.I had gotten so lost in Nina’s story that I’d been able to forget my own failures. “But honestly I don’t even know where to start. I can hardly think about Caleb without feeling my stomach twist in knots, but I can’t stop thinking about him either.”

“I understand,” she said, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. 

I opened my mouth, ready to say that she couldn’t possibly, but somehow seeing the look on her face and hearing her story, I knew she did. “Thank you, but I’m not sure there’s anything to do. Caleb hasn’t talked to me in weeks. He doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore,” I finished, suppressing the whimper in the back of my throat. 

Nina nodded, remaining calm. “I can’t speak to the specifics of your relationship. I don’t have Caleb here either, so I can’t know how he feels, but I think you should avoid assuming his feelings either.” 

“Obviously, he hates me,” I said, words tumbling over each other. “He trusted me, and I exposed his secrets. I screwed everything up for him. He’s right to not want me.”

“You said yourself that it was an accident.”

“What difference does that make? The damage is still the same and it’s all my fault.” My head sank forward, heavy with shame. 

“Annie, look at me,” she said with a firm, but gentle voice. 

Slowly, my head rose to meet her gaze. She looked down at me, warmth in the dark pools of her eyes. “Annie, if you’re anything like me, you’re being too hard on yourself. Caleb made his choices. You made yours. Your friend made hers. It’s not anybody’s fault. You had every right to your feelings.” 

“I, just. . .” I stammered. “I just have trouble seeing it that way.” 

“I know. Even from all the way across the lecture hall, I can see how unhappy you’ve been.”

“Thanks,” I replied glumly, letting my gaze sink to the floor again. 

“Annie, I don’t say that to make you feel bad. I say it because it’s clear you need a little help and there’s nothing wrong with that. No one should have to face these things alone.” 

“Thanks Dr. S . . Nina. But I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do. My friends tried, but nothing made a difference.”

A slight, metallic clink echoed in my ears. “I’m glad you have friends to support you. However, I think this situation calls for someone who speaks your same language.”

I looked up to see the pocket watch, dangling in front of my eyes, light softly glinting off its bronze casing as it lazily turned at the end of its chain. “Nina!? You’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting.”

“I haven’t suggested anything yet,” she said, that same smirk beginning to reappear. “Merely made an invitation. Hypnosis isn’t just for sex, you know. It can be a powerful therapeutic tool, and you’ve already demonstrated an aptitude for the technique.”

“I don’t know.” My mouth felt suddenly dry. Just a few days ago, I had dreaded the prospect of Dr. Santos hypnotizing me. Then I’d felt silly for even thinking she might. Now, here she was, holding me at pocket watch point. And, even more shocking, I was seriously considering saying yes! 

I eyed the dangling piece of brass with wary scrutiny. “Well, it’s just . . .” that I had never let anyone besides Caleb hypnotize me? That I wasn’t sure she wouldn’t take advantage of the situation? That part of me hoped she would? It was all of those things and more. I swallowed nervously. “I’ve only ever done . . . that . . . with Caleb.”

“I know,” she replied, stoic demeanor never faltering. “You’ll have to trust me.”

My head spun. Did I trust her? On the one hand, I had lived in fear of her exposing us and seen her as a harsh judgmental figure. On the other hand, she never did expose us. She kept my secret, and even shared her own with me. She said she wanted to help. Still, the nagging voices in my mind whispered that this could all be a trap, an elaborate rouse, carefully engineered to maneuver me into just this situation.

Nina’s gaze remained unwavering, patient. I swallowed hard and tried to think clearly. Even if the whole offer was a trap, a trance sounded devilishly tempting right now. It felt like it had been an eternity. Whether she could really help me or not, just the chance to silence the relentless chorus of guilt was well worth the risk. “Ok, let’s do it.”

Nina smiled and led me around to sit in her computer chair. It offered far more padding than the simple office chairs meant for guests. Part of me doubted if she even could hypnotize me. Caleb had failed on his first try. Of course, that almost felt like another life.

My doubts vanished almost the moment the watch began to swing. If it had, in fact, been a long time since Nina had hypnotized anyone, it did not show. Her voice fell into a calm, soothing cadence, ringing with the command of a practiced lecturer. “Annie, I just want you to watch the watch. Keep your head steady and let your eyes track the motion as it swings from side to side.”

I did as I was told, letting my eyes swing along with the timepiece. Absently, I wondered if I looked like one of those old, cat clocks, eyes swinging back and forth, back and forth, bound to the inexorable rhythm of the gears that turned inside.

“Allow all the distractions to drift from your mind as you watch. It’s ok if other thoughts come to the surface. Just let them pass through your awareness, your focus always returning to the watch.”

The image of the cat clock faded. Other thoughts came to replace it. My guilt at outing Caleb, my frustration with Caitlyn, my loneliness, but they all faded too. The thoughts were just brief flashes, but the rhythm of the watch was constant. Never changing, never deviating from its lazy arcs through the air. Time always carried on; the watch always carried on.

“You’re doing well Annie. Feel your awareness narrowing down to the watch now, as you watch it swing back and forth, back and forth. The longer you watch the easier it gets to focus on it. The harder it becomes to think of anything else. You don’t have to try not to think, don’t have to do anything. You just find your mind growing quieter, calmer, more peaceful. All those worries and thoughts don’t matter right now. Right now, you’re just watching the watch.”

Just as she said, the gurgling miasma of negativity in my mind began to calm. It felt so much nicer just to watch the watch. My brain had been running in a tight circle for weeks. Just letting it slow down felt amazing. A warm tingling sensation began to settle over me, like a soft blanket. My lungs released a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. It was starting.

“That’s it, Annie. It feels so good to watch the watch, so good not to think, so good to follow my words.”

“So good to obey,” I mouthed quietly.

Nina sucked in a sharp inhale. For the first time her professional facade cracked, but she gained her composure quickly. “That’s right, Annie. You know I’m just here to help you. So you can obey me and trust me.”

“Trust you.”

“That’s right. So you can trust what I say when I tell you how heavy your eyes are getting. It’s so much work to follow the pocket watch as it swings back and forth, back and forth. Your eyes are getting heavy now.”

I could swear the watch had lowered in my eyeline. Had she subtly moved it, so my gaze would follow it down? Or were my eyes really just getting that heavy? Either way, the effect was the same. My eyelids began to droop. Still I followed the watch, back and forth, back and forth.

“So much work to keep them open. It’s alright to let them drift closed. This is for you, Annie. So you can close your eyes any time you want because you know you’ll still be able to see the watch swinging back and forth in your mind, even with your eyes closed.”

I didn’t know when I closed my eyes or how long I managed to keep them open. Eventually the watch was swinging by itself, in the void of my imagination. There was nothing else, just the endless march of time, and Nina’s voice.

Nina kept talking, guiding me deeper down, though the words started to blur together. I walked down a spiraling staircase. She told me that every step would take me deeper into trance. Of course, I believed her because I trusted her. She explained that when I got to the bottom, I’d go deeper than I ever had. I remembered walking down as she counted to guide me. I pictured a grand staircase, made of richly veined marble, covered in a thick red carpet. I remembered taking the last step, out into the void and then nothing.

Nina talked for a while, though I couldn’t recall exact words, they still made me feel safe. I could say anything, do anything and it would be alright.

Some time later, my eyes drifted open. Nina sucked in another short, sharp breath as I did.

“Damn, that look,” she mumbled to herself, before regaining her poise. “Annie, can you hear me?”

“Yes,” I said flatly.

“Now you’ll find it easy to answer my questions and follow my suggestions, even if they bring up difficult feelings.”

My subconscious settled into a warm, familiar rhythm, ready to receive commands, ready to please. I would answer. I would follow. I would obey. “Your wish is my command,” I said with the same empty affect.

Nina shot up from her seat and began pacing the little office. “Fuck. She’s so ready. It would be so easy, so easy.” Eventually she slapped herself lightly on the cheek. “Get a hold of yourself, Nina.”

She hadn’t given me any commands or questions, so I just watched and waited. Eventually she settled back into the seat across from me. “Sorry about that. Now where were we? Ah, yes. Annie, I want you to tell me how you feel. Just let whatever emotion comes to mind flow freely.”

The world spun for a moment. My dazed self hadn’t expected to be asked to think. For a moment, my subconscious thrashed against the suggestion, but then I remembered I’d promised to obey. “I feel angry,” my lips said on their own.

“That’s ok. It’s natural to feel that way. Why do you feel angry?”

“I’m angry at Caleb for not trusting me with his videos. I’m angry at Caitlyn for attacking Caleb. I’m angry at myself.” The words just came without thought.

“That’s a good start, Annie. We’ll take those one at a time. Did Caleb say why he didn’t tell you about the videos?”

“He didn’t want to lose me.”

“I see. Then at least his actions came from a place of care. That doesn’t mean what he did was right, but can you see why he would have been afraid and how that fear could lead to a mistake?”

“Yes.”

“So with that, do you still want to feel angry? Or are you ready to let that anger go?”

“I want to let go.” I wanted to so badly.

“Then I want you to imagine that anger as a weight on your shoulder.”

I almost fell out of the computer chair. I slumped so quickly to the side. Nina scurried up from her seat and caught me. Her arms felt warm around my body.

“My goodness, you are suggestible. Calm, Nina. Behave, Nina,” she muttered to herself again before loudly clearing her throat. “Now Annie, if you’re ready to let go then just reach up, and brush it away.”

I did as I was told. A faint tingle ran through me as I finally had a command to obey instead of a question to answer. My hand eagerly floated up and pushed the weight from my shoulder. Instantly a wave of relief washed over me like warm, soothing water and I sighed.

Nina delicately let me go, as I’d seemed to regain my balance. Though she stayed hovering just beside me. “Now let’s talk about your anger towards your friend.”

“She hurt Caleb. She hurt me. I don’t need her to protect me all the time.”

“Annie, imagine if Caitlyn was dating a guy.”

“Easy,” I said blankly.

She laughed. “Now imagine she was dating a guy who was taking advantage of her, who never cared about her and was just using her. Imagine she couldn’t see it, but you could. What would you do?”

“I’d kick him.”

Another friendly laugh. She had a nice laugh. I liked pleasing her. “Now does that help you see things from her perspective? She only did what she did because she cares. Again, it doesn’t make the way she handled things right. But can you see where she was coming from?”

“Yes.”

“Now if you want to let that anger go, then we’ll do the same thing again.” This time she was ready to catch me, as I nearly toppled the chair a second time. “Now just brush that weight away.”

Once again, I brushed the imaginary weight from my shoulder, and my posture straightened.

“Now let’s talk about your feelings towards yourself.”

“It’s all my fault. I betrayed Caleb’s trust. He’s a pariah now, and it’s all because of me. He doesn’t want me anymore, and it’s all my fault.”

“Annie, it’s not your fault. You reacted the way anyone would. We just talked about it. Caleb wasn’t honest. Caitlyn overreacted. You forgave them. Don’t you think they would want you to forgive yourself?”

“Caleb doesn’t want me anymore,” was all I could think or say.

“We don’t know that,” she insisted. “He’s reasonable to want some space after what happened, and he could have other reasons. Don’t make those kinds of assumptions.”

“He doesn’t want me,” I said, voice barely a whisper.

“So, we’ve found the heart of it then. I thought this had been going too easily.” She paused for a while after that, chewing her nails in thought. “Has it occurred to you that he could be trying to protect you?”

“He can’t protect me if he’s not with me.”

“He could be protecting you by staying away from you.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

Another pause. After another round of nail chewing, Nina spoke. “You had asked how things ended with Bruce. Well I’ll tell you, then maybe you’ll understand. We didn’t just do ‘research’ at his house. We ‘researched’ in his office, in the teacher’s lounge, in the classroom after class. Sometimes I was hypnotized during class, living out all sorts of fantasies with our students none the wiser.”

In my trance, the story somewhat washed over me, but the passion in her voice as she spoke was infectious. That familiar heat had started up again.

“But one day we were discovered in a public restroom after hours. We thought we had the place to ourselves, until some drunk students stumbled in. They told. There was never a public scandal like yours. The university preferred to keep things quiet, so Bruce was asked to resign. Despite the university’s efforts word still traveled around the academic circle. Nowhere would take him after that. No one blamed me, the innocent victim, and Bruce kept it that way. He stayed away from me. His career was almost over, but mine was just starting. He sacrificed what we had to protect me. At the time, I was grateful, but today I feel differently. I miss him. I miss what we had, but it’s too late. I should have gone to him when I had the chance. Now, all I have to remember him by is this watch.”

I stayed silent, letting the story wash over me. “Are you saying Caleb is doing the same thing?” Forming a question from the depths of trance felt like wading through mud.

She sighed. “Perhaps, perhaps not. I’m saying I don’t know how he feels and neither do you. I just shared that to show things might not be as simple as you think. He may still want you, and if he doesn’t your life will go on. It’ll be alright.”

I couldn’t bring myself to speak; suddenly even the entranced rhythm of my breathing felt short and stuttering, but I nodded my head.

“Now are you ready to let go of your anger towards yourself.”

I nodded, a shaky, uneven nod. Immediately I felt a crushing weight bearing down on me. Even the steadying embrace of Nina’s arms could barely keep me up.

“Then just wipe that anger away, now.”

I raised my hand to my shoulder, but the weight wouldn’t budge. It felt as though I was pushing against a granite block. My muscles strained and twitched, but it still did no good. Finally, I just shook my head. “I can’t. It’s too heavy.”

“That’s ok. Stop feeling the weight,” Nina said, though I could hear the disappointment behind her words. “These things can take time. I’ll give you one last suggestion.” She fixed me with the most intense glare yet. “Whenever you’re ready to let that go, in your own time, you’ll be able to brush it away like nothing at all. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Nina,” I sighed as my muscles let the crushing burden recede into the depths of my mind.

“Ok, I think that’s all the good we can do for one session. Now I’m going to wake you up.”

“No,” I said in the same flat monotone. Somehow that felt wrong. My subconscious was feeling around, reaching for something missing.

Nina raised a quizzical eyebrow. “What do you mean, ‘No?’”

Then my subconscious found what it had been searching for, something it had been deeply conditioned to do, and eagerly awaiting. “I haven’t pleased you yet.”

The other brow joined its twin as Nina’s eyes widened in shock. “Um . . um . . . Annie, that’s ok. Really,” she stammered, like a flustered schoolgirl. “You’ve made a lot of progress today. That pleases me enough,” she said as much to convince herself as me.

“No.”

“No?” She squeaked.

“You want more,” I said with more certainty than I’d had with anything about myself. I recognized the hunger behind her eyes, despite her attempts to mask it, and my hypnotized self yearned for someone to serve, someone to please.

“Annie, you’re my student. I can’t.”

“Not your student. Not anymore. You said.”

She whimpered, then set about pacing the office again and biting into her nails. “It’s been so long. It’s been so long,” she murmured under her breath. After a while she turned to me. “You’d really do that for me.”

The heat came back. “Yes, Nina.”

“Whatever I want?”

“Anything.”

“Anything,” she whispered, savoring the word with a sense of awe, like I had just given her a precious gift. “I’m not even sure you can do it, but if you’re willing to try . . .” Her voice quivered with anticipation.

“Anything,” I repeated. I didn’t know what she wanted and I didn’t care. It felt so nice to just have the voices quiet for a few minutes. She had done so much for me, and I wanted someone to serve so badly. Caleb and I weren’t exactly together at the moment. Her suggestions had rendered me unable to lie. If she’d asked me to strip down and eat her out right there, I would have done it, and happily.

But she didn’t; she just said, “Annie, sleep.”

So I slept. More words poured into my mind, a lot of words, though I didn’t register them. Memories, rules, identities all formed as Nina delicately sculpted them with her words. I vaguely felt something slip around my shoulders, but it felt correct there. Then with a snapping noise, I awoke. My eyes blinked back open as I slowly took in my surroundings. Had I fallen asleep at my desk? I picked my head up from the wooden surface, wiping a thin line of drool from the corner of my mouth.

I was in my office, my degrees and awards lining the walls, my books filling the shelves, my teaching assistant sitting across from me. Oh, right, my assistant. It came back to me. I sat up, straightening my usual blazer, and trying to look imposing. “Yes, Nina, thank you for joining me. Do you know why I called you here today?”

“No, Doctor. I have no idea,” she said, batting her eyes with exaggerated innocence. “Is there something I can do for you?”

She looked awfully chipper for someone about to be disciplined. She was lucky to be so cute or I’d go even harder on her, the little vixen. Had she been dressed like that when I saw her last? I could have sworn she had a jacket, but now she was just wearing a skirt and a simple white shirt, unbuttoned scandalously low. Her hair had been clipped up before, but now the luscious, black locks fell around her shoulders. She must have known she was in trouble. Why else would she try to distract me like this? Lucky for her it was working.

“You’ve been a very naughty girl, Nina.”

“I have?” she gasped. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Save the theatrics for your improv classes,” I said sternly. “You know what you did. You got off to watching me in the gardens didn’t you? It turned you on, didn’t it? I know you laid there, thinking about me and touching yourself, rubbing that wet little pussy of yours.”

“Oh, that. I may have done something like that,” she said, bringing her arms together with the delightful side effect of pressing her cleavage together as well. “Is that a problem, Doctor?”

I tutted, rising from my seat to tower over my student. “You know you’re not allowed to cum without my permission.”

“I guess, I forgot,” she said sweetly. “Can’t you forgive me?”

“Now, Nina.” I stood and began pacing around my TA, like a shark circling its prey. “What kind of example would that set? If I established a rule and then tossed it aside the moment it became inconvenient, what kind of precedent would that set?” I stopped behind her and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You would never respect my authority again. And we can’t have that.”

Nina shivered as my breath tickled her ear. “No, that would be just awful.”

“So you agree that you need to be punished.”

“Punished?” She said in a breathy gasp. She knew exactly what she was doing. 

“Yes, I’ll have to take custody of your mind for a little while. For your own good, of course.” I reached into my jacket and extracted my trusty pocket watch. I let it fall in front of her eyes, chain snapping as the watch’s weight pulled it tight.

“Well, if that’s what you think is best,” she said, voice dripping with anticipation. 

With a gentle twitch of my wrist, I set the timepiece in motion. Even though I’d used it a thousand times, the balance felt strangely unfamiliar, but I found the rhythm quickly enough. Soon the pocketwatch was weaving its familiar spell over my helpless student. “Can you look away from the watch, Nina?”

“No, Doctor,” she said, eyes never leaving their focus.

A wolfish grin crept over my face. I knew this would be easy; after all I’d hypnotized her dozens of times. “Of course you can’t. You never could, not even that first time in class. Your mind has always been open, so easily led, easily hypnotized. Isn’t that right?”

“I am easily hypnotized,” she repeated, some of the giddy excitement beginning to drain from her voice. 

“And that was before we had done this so many times. Now your subconscious has been trained to respond to the watch. You know exactly what to do as soon as it starts swinging. It knows to go to sleep, to surrender control to me.”

“Oh, please, I want to surrender, Doctor. It’s been so long.”

That didn’t make sense. Since we taught a class together, I saw her all the time, and usually hypnotized her and fucked her after every class. But perhaps she just missed my control so much that even a few days felt like an eternity. “Of course you do, Nina. That’s because you love being hypnotized. You love being under my control.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Allow all your thoughts to focus on that feeling, how wonderful it feels to be under my control, to be hypnotized. Keep imagining it, all your thoughts drifting away, letting yourself sink down into that familiar, peaceful sleep. The more you imagine it the more real it feels.”

“Mmm,” was the only sound that escaped her lips. 

“And the more real it feels the deeper you want to go, and the deeper you go, the better it feels. Deeper and better, deeper and better, spiraling down into that perfect sleep for me. Until you can’t tell if you’re imagining being hypnotized, or actually being hypnotized.”

“Hypnotized.” All the color had drained from her voice now. Her head had begun listing forward. She was close. 

“That’s right. Are you imagining being hypnotized because you want to be hypnotized and that makes you hypnotized? Or are you hypnotized to imagine being hypnotized?” I knew the question was nonsense, far too circular for her sleepy mind, but it would leave her tripping over thoughts of hypnosis. 

“Hypnotized,” was all she managed.

“Yes, you don’t know and you don’t need to know. You only need to know that you’re hypnotized. That’s the only thought you have, the certainty that you are deeply hypnotized for me.”

“Deeply hypnotized,” Nina mumbled. 

I bent forward, careful to keep the watch up as I whispered in her ear. Her trigger came to me like I’d always known it, which, of course, I had. “Then, Nina, stop the clock.”

I caught just the briefest glimpse of her eyelids flutter before they slammed closed. Nina crumpled at the waist, bending forward in the small visitor’s chair until her head rested against her knees and her arms flopped down by her side. 

I smiled as I lifted one of her arms. It felt like limp putty in my grasp, just as weak and pliable as her mind. In some corner of my awareness, I remembered that Nina hadn’t been sure if I would be able to do this, but that made no sense. She had always been a superb subject and easy to drop. In any case, now I could begin the real work. 

I kept whispering in her ear, deepening her trance, guiding her further under my control. Nina responded in typical form, happily obeying all my suggestions. At one point, I took her face in my hand, and rolled back her eyelid with my thumb. Not so much as a flinch. Then I knew she was ready. “Nina, if you can hear me I want you to stand up.”

Her body responded with slow, languid movements, one foot planting itself on the floor, then the other. She gained her feet, wobbling only slightly, and came to stand. Her head remained tucked forward, sending a cloud of luscious dark hair over her face. “Yes, Master.” 

A lightning bolt struck my spine, sending surges of desire coursing through me. That was right, I was her Master. How had I forgotten? That one little word proved it all: all the power I had over her, all the training I had drilled into her mind, the fact she was mine. No wonder Caleb wanted me to call him that. Wait, who was Caleb? I shook my head, trying not to get distracted. I had an important task at hand. “Now, slave, I want you to bend over the desk on your elbows.”

“Yes, Master.” The faint image of glazed eyes appeared from within the thicket of hair, and she began to move. She pushed some papers aside until she found purchase for both elbows and bent forward as instructed. 

“Deeper.”

She arched her back, sending her ass higher into the air, and causing her black business skirt to ride up her thighs. Already they revealed a glimpse of utilitarian, gray cotton panties beneath. 

“Now when I snap my fingers, you’ll awaken, but your elbows will be stuck to the desk, totally unable to move.” I snapped and life returned to my grad student. She began to squirm and toss her head from side to side, but never moved from her bent over posture. “Master?” She asked, trying and failing to get a good look at me. 

I replied with a firm smack to her ass. The slapping sound echoed satisfyingly around my small office. “Say you’re sorry for coming without permission.”

“I’m sorry, Master,” she whimpered. 

“Better, but not good enough. Again.”

Smack.

“I’m sorry, Master.” Nina flinched, but almost leaned into the blow, like she was expecting it, wanting it. “Master?”

“What is it?” I paused, hand hovering over her backside. 

“I can’t see. I can’t reach my hair to get it out of my eyes. Would you please fix it for me?”

“Of course dear,” I said, as I threaded my fingers through her luscious locks. I was a firm master, but not a cruel one. I delicately tucked her tresses behind her ears, grazing her cheek as I did. I absently noted a few strands of gray amid the raven sea, which struck me as odd for a grad student. I would have to tell her not to push herself so hard after this, maybe sleep more. I could certainly see to that. 

Nina let out a happy little sigh at the gentle touch, so I kept going, tracing my finger tips down her neck, outlining her shoulders and running my hands down her back until I could grip the giving flesh of her hips. She twisted her hips, almost trying to pull herself back to grind up against me, but I kept my distance. She hadn’t earned that yet. 

With a little smirk, I seized the hem of her skirt and yanked it upwards, pushing the fabric up around her stomach until it exposed the curve of her shapely ass. 

“Annie, that’s a little much,” she gasped. 

The name only half registered with me. Who was Annie? That sounded vaguely familiar, but I knew for certain that I was her psychology professor, Bruce . . . Something. Regardless, I wouldn’t tolerate being talked back to. I brought my hand down in another blow, harder than the last. “What did you just call me?”

“Sorry, Master. I call you Master,” she mumbled through the pain. 

“So if I’m your Master, it only makes sense I’d decide what you wear. Say ‘I wear what I’m told’,” I prompted as I brought my hand down once more. 

“I wear what I’m told,” she said with a yelp. 

“That’s better.” I ran a possessive hand up the curve of her ass. That seemed to end the debate. “Well almost.” I hooked a finger into the elastic of her panties, drew them back and let them snap against her flesh. “These are still in the way.”

“Annie, that’s . . .”

Smack. 

“Who am I?” I reminded her.

“Master,” she mumbled. 

“And what do I do?”

“Decide what I wear.”

I bent forward, pressing my body against hers, resting my head just behind Nina’s so I could whisper in her ear. “I don’t just decide what you wear. I decide what you do, what you want, when you cum, what you think. You don’t want your panties anymore. They’re in the way.”

Nina trembled as she released a slow, stuttering gasp. “Yes, they’re in the way.”

With a flourish, I stepped back and yanked the panties down, all in one fluid motion. She didn’t resist, simply stepped out of the panties as they hit the carpet. Finally my TA stood, bent over, spread eagle and perfectly exposed. The position gave me a superb view of her pussy. I tenderly reached down to caress her lips, but she flinched again, shying away from my touch. 

I didn’t know where this hesitance had come from but I’d have to break her of it. “Nina, your training seems to have grown quite lax.” 

“It’s just a little further than I thought we’d go. It’s not part of the suggestions I gave you,” she said, voice shaking and unsteady. “You’re really getting into character.”

Character? Again she was talking nonsense. “Nina, there’s no characters here, no acting. You know I can’t hypnotize you to do anything you don’t want. I can only open doors for you, not force you to step through them.” Those words felt oddly familiar, though I couldn’t place them. “If you really wanted to, you could get up, get dressed and storm out of here. But you haven’t. You’re rooted to the spot, spreading your legs and giving me a show.”

“You told me to be stuck.”

“And your subconscious obeyed, just like it always does. Because deep down, you know how good it feels to submit. You want to do as you're told.” I returned my hand to her ass and began slowly walking my fingers towards her entrance. “If you don’t want me to finger you, you can just say so. Of course, we both know what you really want.” 

“I . . I want . . .”

I tenderly traced the edge of her entrance, already feeling the dampness dripping from within. She tensed, but didn’t pull away this time. “You want to be broken. You want to be punished. You want my power over you to grow and grow until you’re not sure where your desires stop and my suggestions start.” Again the words felt familiar. “Now, what do you want, my pet?”

“Oh, fuck, Annie,” she said, head falling forward in surrender. “I want to be broken. Please break me.”

“Good girl.” Without any further hesitation, I plunged a finger inside my TA. Wet, squishy warmth enveloped it immediately. That gave me an idea. “Now the wetter you get, the blanker you’ll get. Every sensation of arousal drains more of your thoughts, more of your will, until you’re a mindless, broken, perfect slave.” I snapped with my left hand to drive the suggestion home.

“Oh, oh, yes, Master,” Nina growled through gritted teeth. 

I smiled as I felt her clench around me. There was my Nina, coming back to herself. No resistance, no hesitation, only obedience. I slowly slid my finger out and back in, taking my time, savoring her every little shudder. “That’s it, just feeling all the thoughts drip out of that little pussy of yours. You can’t help it, you can’t stop it. It’s too late, your mind’s already accepted the suggestion.”

“Yes, Master,” she said, some of the color already draining from her voice. 

“But no matter how good you feel, you won’t cum without my permission. You’ll just remain on the brink, as long as I desire. Do you understand, slave?”

“Yes, Master.”

With that crucial groundwork established, I accelerated my pace. Her entrance easily accepted a second finger, as she grew wetter still, arousal dripping down my hand and her inner thigh. “Because you only cum when you’re told. Isn’t that right?”

“I cum when I’m told.” Her voice was almost flat now, save for the shaking of her unsteady breath.

“Repeat the rest of your programming,” I commanded as my left hand slapped her ass again.

“I wear what I’m told.”

Smack

“I do what I’m told.” Her breathing became more labored still. 

Squelch

“I want what I’m told.”she whimpered.

Smack

“I think . . . what . . . I’m told,” she practically shouted between gasps.

“Again, faster.” I prompted, as I sped up my own rhythm. 

“I cum when I’m told, I wear what I’m told, I do what I’m told, I want what I’m told, I think what I’m told.” The words tumbled out of her, each edict tripping on the one before. I kept her going for a few more repetitions until I could be certain the drumbeat of obedience had driven away everything else in her mind. “Now, Nina, do you have any thoughts besides the ones I’ve given you?”

“No, Master. I think what I’m told,” she said immediately.

“Are you on the edge?” I asked, though I already knew the answer from the quivering of her flesh around me. 

“Yes, Master.”

“And you haven’t cum?”

“No, Master. I cum when I’m told.”

“Excellent.” It had taken some doing to get her in the right frame of mind, but I believed my student was finally ready to learn her lesson. “You may stand from the desk now.”

With lazy, languid movements, Nina propped herself up to standing, though she still hunched forward with her chin tucked down, swaying gently from side to side. 

“Is that any way to greet your Master? Stand to attention,” I said with a smirk.

“Yes, Master!” Nina moved like a marionette whose strings had all been given a sharp, sudden tug. She whirled on her heels to face me, bringing her legs together, straightening her posture and snapping one arm into a crisp salute. Then she stood motionless, awaiting further commands, like a good slave. 

A fresh wave of heat bloomed between my own legs as I drank in her expression. She stared straight ahead with hooded, glassy eyes, every muscle in her face perfectly calm and relaxed. Experimentally, I ran a finger through her pubic hair, and down to the top of her clit, spreading a trail of her juices as I did. Nina didn’t so much as blink. “Your pussy is my toy and I’ll do with it as I please.”

“My pussy is your toy,” she agreed matter-of-factly.

I brought the sticky digit to her lips and said, “Suck.”

She complied instantly, wrapping her lips around my outstretched finger and happily lapping away at her own juices.

“Your mouth is my toy.”

She mumbled something, no doubt an echo of my assertion. Her tongue vibrated against my skin. 

Satisfied with that I withdrew the wet digit and ran its tip across her forehead. “Your mind is my toy.”

“My mind is your toy.”

“Take off your shirt, leave the skirt around your waist. It’s a look.” I mostly just issued the command to test her obedience, a test which she passed with flying colors.

With a quick, “Yes, Master.” Her hands flew to the buttons of her shirt, mechanically releasing each of them in rapid succession. Then she let it fall heedlessly to the floor. 

I smirked at the quick compliance. “The bra too.”

“Yes, Master.” With the same robotic efficiency she unhooked the clasp and let her bra fall to her feet. She looked absolutely stunning, full breasts hanging exposed with raised nipples in a salute of their own. The slick sheen of arousal still coated her pussy and one of her thighs. The only trace of clothing she had was the skirt, which remained scrunched into an effective belt around her waist, the sole intermission in a sinuous symphony of skin and curves.

I stood for a moment, admiring my prize. Any hesitancy or conflict within her had been thoroughly extinguished. Nina stood at attention, without a thought in her head, fully broken, fully mine. Still, she needed her punishment. The idea kept occurring to me over and over. I didn’t know why I thought of this specific punishment, but I was certain she needed it. “Now you’re ready to learn your lesson. Come sit behind the desk.”

“Yes, Master.” She obeyed, and sat gracefully at the computer chair, tan flesh a striking contrast against the black mesh. 

“You’re still on the brink of an orgasm?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Very good.” I stepped behind her, and turned the chair to face the massive stack of exams. “You’re going to remain that way until you finish grading all of these. Every test you score, every question you mark will only stoke that arousal further, but you won’t be able to cum until you finish the last one. Understood?”

“Yes, Master,” she said with the same monotone. 

I felt a surge of satisfaction as I followed the suggestion planted in my mind. Still it needed something. “Oh, and you won’t be able to stop masturbating the whole time. And wide awake!” I finished with a snap. 

Some of the sparkle returned to the inert orbs of Nina’s eyes. She began looking around. “Wasn’t I standing before?” A few seconds later her hand shot between her legs and began rubbing rapid circles over her clit. “And why am I sooo horny?”

“Because you have to learn not to cum without permission,” I gloated. “You won’t be able to finish until you finish this whole stack.”

“I can’t cum? But I’m so close,” she whimpered. Her fingers picked up their pace, but it proved to no avail. With a frustrated pout, she jerked one of the desk drawers open and extracted a long, black vibrator. She switched it on and went to work, but even that effort lasted only a couple of minutes, before she looked up at me, pleadingly. “It’s no good.”

“Good, glad your training is sticking. You’d better get to grading.”

“All of them?” She asked, studying the brick of white paper before her. “But there’s so many.” 

“Well then, better hurry.”

“But . . . But . . . Master, I’m supposed to be the faculty supervisor for the Senior Night party tonight. I’m not sure I can do it all in time.”

For some reason, the words Senior Night felt like a punch in the stomach. I did my best not to think about it. “All the more reason to get started,” I answered, trying to push that feeling down. 

She looked up at me with those gorgeous, dark eyes of hers in a silent prayer for relief, but finding none, let her head fall. With a resigned sigh, she passed the vibrator to her left hand and took a pen from the desk. “Pairing a bell with a reward turned it from an unconditioned stimulus to . . . C. a conditioned stimulus,” she mumbled as she marked the paper. “Oh, fuck, just like you’re conditioning me right now. I’m helpless to resist it, even though I know exactly what you’re doing.” Her hand on the vibrator spasmed as her head shot back. 

I couldn’t help but grin as I watched her start to sweat. “Careful. You’re a bright girl, Nina, but you shouldn’t let yourself get distracted. Otherwise you’ll never finish in time.”

She only answered with a moan and then cast her eyes back to the papers. 

I stood and headed towards the door. “Well, I suppose I’ll leave you to it.” 

“You’re leaving!?”

“Of course, slave. The point of this exercise is for you to learn to follow my commands when I’m not present. After you cum you’ll awaken free of suggestions, but hopefully with a better understanding of your place.” I opened the door, and started to walk into the hallway, but Nina’s voice stopped me. 

“One more thing!”

I looked over my shoulder. “Yes?”

“Thank you, Annie,” she said with a surprising level of warmth for a woman engaged in frantic masturbation. 

“I don’t know why you keep calling me that. If it happens again, I’ll have to devise another punishment for you,” I warned. “But, you’re welcome, and thank you,” I said, though I wasn’t quite sure for what. 

I stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind me. I could faintly hear Nina’s mumbles and ministrations coming from within. However, the corridor looked empty this late in the semester, so I doubted it would be an issue. That would certainly teach her a lesson, I mused to myself. 

Then I blinked. What had I been doing? It all rushed back to me. A bright scarlet swept over my face as the memories flooded my mind. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I thought I was her professor,” I mumbled into my hand. I can’t believe I did all that!

“I fingered my professor,” I gasped. I stared down at my palm that still glowed faintly pink from all the spanking, as well as my index that glistened with Dr. S. . . Nina’s drool. “I fingered my professor,” I repeated again in stunned wonder. I started to run away down the corridor, but felt an unfamiliar weight in my jacket pocket. Jacket pocket?

I was still wearing her blazer! I reached inside and extracted the old brass pocket watch. “Shoot I still have this too!” I scurried back to the door, ready to return it and apologize. As I placed my hand on the nob I heard her muffled voice from within.

“Oh, thank you Master. It’s been so long. Thank you, thank you.”

My hand froze. You know, maybe I did a good thing. My subconscious had just been acting on the deeply ingrained desire to please, but it sounded like Nina needed that. The tide of startled terror in my belly started to recede. As it did the memories of the therapy session came back too. I did feel lighter, not totally over everything by any means, but still lighter. I released the door knob and started slowly down the hallway. I was rapidly coming to terms with dominating my professor. Maybe that would need its own therapy session to fully accept, which of course could lead to a self-perpetuating cycle. I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of that. At least I had met someone else like me. For the first time since Caleb broke up with me, I didn’t feel so alone. 

Back at my dorm, I shimmied out of Nina’s Jacket, carefully resting the pocket watch on my bedside table. I would have to find some other time to return it to her. I knew she would be at Senior Night, but I certainly wasn’t going there. No, Caleb had made it pretty clear that he didn’t want to see me. Everyone would be there, certainly Caitlyn and even Olivia and Roger, which left me at loose ends for the night. I grabbed Wally, my stuffed Koala, as I pulled him into my lap. 

I cracked a little smile, remembering how I’d talked to Wally before I first texted Caleb. “So I guess this is how the story ends, just the way it started, you and me sitting alone while everyone else goes out and parties.”

Wally, silent as always, looked up at me with unblinking button eyes. 

I remembered how Caleb had made Wally fly around the room and then speak for real, and a sadness crept into my smile. Even now, it was hard not to think about him, his smile, his laugh, his voice. As I reflected over the memories, I realized I didn’t regret it, any of it. For a while I had. I had caused much more pain than I’d ever meant to, but I’d learned so much about love, about hypnosis, about myself. I decided that even if Caleb never spoke to me again, the experience had been a good one for me. 

I didn’t think I’d have been able to see that this morning. I made a mental note to thank Nina whenever I saw her next. 

Of course there was still the guilt.

That nagging weight settled back onto my shoulders and I slumped onto the bed. Maybe the relationship had been worth it for me, but Caleb probably wouldn’t say the same. 

The sight of Olivia’s lunar agate bracelet sitting on my bedside table shook me from my reverie. It reminded me that the journey hadn’t been all bad. I was pretty sure I'd actually helped Olivia get over her fears, albeit with some . . . unintended consequences. She still had never mentioned the hypnosis and perhaps she never would. Regardless, I was happy to call her a friend. Even Roger was my friend now. 

I stood up, letting the crushing weight recede into the background once more. I resolved to try and not think about Caleb for the rest of the night. I stretched and looked over my shoulder to Wally. “What do you say, I go out, get us a bottle of wine, and we pick a nice rom-com to watch.”

Silence. 

“Yes, I did swear off drinking forever, but that was at least one forever ago,” I said, rolling my eyes, and answering my own imaginary quip. “Besides, you’re one to talk. I’m pretty sure you’re not even twenty one.”

The bear remained inert. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell,” I said with a laugh and headed toward the door. Just as I reached for the handle the sound of a knock echoed from the other side. Not just any knock, the distinctive rapping of shave and a hair cut two bits. I gasped. The same knock I used at Caleb’s. I seized the handle and flung the door open without a second thought. “Caleb!” I yelled before I’d even seen it open. 

The swinging panel revealed two silhouettes on either side of the door. The first was Olivia, decked out in full makeup, black hair in a delicate french braid, and body wrapped in a scandalously small red cocktail dress that matched her red lipstick. The dress hugged her pear shaped frame with a low cut that drew the eye to her generous cleavage. Only the rainbow beads of her various bangles and bracelets clashed with the black and red outfit. She smiled warmly and extended a bottle of vodka. She had applied a home made label that simply said “House” in black marker. “I told you she’d be here,” she said to Caitlyn.

Beside her stood Caitlyn, tall, tanned and confident as always. Seeing her in the flesh still felt surreal on some level. Her blonde tresses had been artfully curled and tumbled with a perfectly polished air of poise down her back. Her blue dress flowed more loosely than Olivia’s red one, but showcased Caitlyn’s trademark sense of style. A long slit traveled up one leg, revealing an enticing glimpse of her upper thigh. A narrow shoulder strap counterbalanced the slit, supporting the dress off one shoulder and leaving the other bare. She carried a long, black garment bag and still had the other hand extended from knocking. “Lo siento, no Caleb here, but I’d argue we’re more fun anyway.”

The sudden hug caught Caitlyn off guard, but she responded with her own free hand. “I’m sorry I’ve been so distant since you’ve been back.” The words felt so easy to say now. I made a mental note to thank Nina again. 

“No need to apologize. If anything, I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“No, it’s ok. You were only trying to protect me,” I said, leaning into her embrace. “How’d you know that knock? It’s the one I’ve been using with Caleb.”

She snorted. “Annie, you’ve been doing that silly knock for as long as I’ve known you. You have a life outside Caleb, you know.” 

“Oh yeah, I guess so.” I finally pulled back and examined my two closest friends. “But what are you two doing here?” 

They exchanged a look. “Well, we got to talking about how down you’ve been lately,” Olivia started. 

“And neither of us wanted to celebrate the end of our college lives without you,” Caitlyn finished. 

I gulped, suddenly comprehending the splendid outfits for the first time. “So you mean. . .”

“That’s right,” Caitlyn said, pushing into my tiny room. “We’re going to Senior Night, and you’re coming too!”