Sydney felt like the quad was somehow getting longer as she trudged her way toward the spot Austin had picked out for himself; no matter how many awkward, uncomfortable steps she took in his direction, it seemed like the inevitable confrontation only loomed more ominously in her imagination instead of actually getting closer. And it wasn't even like she could decide to put off the conversation, either--the smug, lopsided smile on his ruddy cheeks that no doubt passed for a seductive expression in his overactive imagination told Sydney that he'd already seen her. She closed the last twenty feet or so with a wince involuntarily building on her face, and finally, gracelessly mumbled, "Um, look. About last night...."

He licked his lips. He actually licked his fucking lips. Even coming from a guy with tanned, toned abs and a mop of adorably curly blond hair that made him look like the only surfer in Texas, that still looked dumb. "You liked it, huh?" he asked, clearly not picking up the vibe Sydney was putting out. "Because there's plenty more where that came from, babe." Oh god. Had she actually asked him to call her 'babe' last night? It was distinctly possible, she knew. Big chunks of the evening were nothing more than a haze of warm, sensual pleasure, and Sydney was all too aware of how she got when she... well, when she got the itch again. Nothing would surprise her too much to discover.

But that was then and this was now. Sydney squared her shoulders, brushed back her long chestnut hair, and said, "Look. I'm not going to say what happened last night was a mistake, because I really do like you and I'd like to keep seeing you and I'm not ashamed of--of what we did together." She stumbled slightly over those last few words, but Sydney felt confident that he'd think it was some usual morning after shyness about sex and not a fuzzy gap in her memories regarding the actual events of the previous evening. "But I want you to understand that I'm not usually that kind of girl and I don't want you to think that's going to happen every time I come over to your place."

"Oh, really." He leaned back against the tree and put his hands behind his head, not incidentally exposing his bare chest in a way that Sydney had to admit made her body twinge ever so slightly in arousal. "And just how often can I expect it to happen?" he asked, still trying to put that macho condescending 'big strong man' act on that had probably worked very well for him last night. Sydney had vague memories of mewling and whimpering and... had she called him 'Daddy'? Oh Jesus fuck. Why did this have to happen on the first date, when it could develop into a huge entitlement complex?

"It's getting less and less likely by the minute," she said tartly, and although his expression went petulant, he at least stopped flexing for her. "Look, I, um... I'm a little embarrassed about it, but there are some times--some rare times--when I kind of lose control of my sex drive, okay? And last night was, well, it was one of those very rare times." She knew how vague and fuzzy her description sounded, but the last thing she wanted to do was give Austin an idea of what her triggers actually were. Who would possibly imagine that a man barely out of his teens would put Vitamin C on his fucking 'Seduction Mix'?

Sydney sighed, plowing forward as best she could. "I enjoyed it, I'm fine if you enjoyed it, and I'm not saying we'll never be intimate again. Just don't expect that kind of, of... performance out of me, okay? Because you're not likely to see that side of me any time soon." Because she'd be picking the music for their next date. And as far as Sydney was concerned, 'The Itch' was never coming out of any speaker within a hundred-yard radius of her and Austin Bradley ever, ever again.

Jesus fucking fuck. How the hell did she wind up with a fucking deep dark secret past at the fucking age of fucking twenty already?

Because she'd been so excited to turn eighteen and finally start exploring all those fetishes that had been bubbling up inside her horny teenage brain. Because she'd overconfidently believed that hypnosis wasn't really real, and if it was she was more than capable of handling herself. Because older men were always on the lookout for naive young women like her and they knew exactly what drives and kinks and turn-ons to exploit to keep them from realizing just how much of themselves they were surrendering every time they sank into that hypnotic power that always felt so, so fucking good. Sydney was lucky she'd gotten away at all, really. A few triggers left over in her head were a small price to pay for her independence, even if Sydney was learning the hard way just how tenuous that independence was.

Austin gave her a sullen glare. "That's not what you said last night, babe." He practically spat the last word at her. "You told me you never wanted to stop sucking my big cock. You said you wanted us to go out shopping today and pick out a dog collar for you so I could always remind you of what a needy little bitch in heat you were. Any of that ringing a bell? Because you were pretty damn into the idea while I was fucking you." Sydney winced, and not just because Austin's voice had picked up enough volume that she was beginning to worry about him making a scene. He'd clearly learned a little something about his own desires last night, and finding out that he was getting his new plaything taken away had awoken something ugly in him. She was beginning to feel like even prolonging this conversation was a mistake, let alone seeing him a second time.

But she didn't want him getting the wrong idea... or worse, telling someone else the wrong idea. "That--that wasn't the real me," she stammered, flustered by the effort of having to come up with so many half-truths on the fly. "That was, um, I--I lost my self-control, okay?" She could feel her cheeks burning and tears pricking at the corners of her hazel eyes. This wasn't how this conversation was supposed to go. Austin was supposed to be a gentleman who realized he still had a shot with her if he played it cool, not some entitled dude who only wanted her when she was a vapid horny slut.

Austin smirked. It looked a lot less dumb and a lot more natural than the one he wore when she first walked up. "Yeah, I kind of got that," he said, his tone so patronizing that Sydney wanted to reach out and slap him. "I guess you were really telling the truth last night when you said you'd never remember anything, weren't you?" Sydney felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She--she wouldn't have, would she? Even once she was triggered, even in the absolute depths of her submissive trance state, she wouldn't have been dumb enough to simply babble out the full truth to the first guy who made her pussy wet, would she?

Of course she would. Sydney was pretty much made to be a ditzy little sex kitten when her triggers kicked in, and a sexy stud with a big dick--Sydney definitely remembered that much--was exactly the kind of guy she was programmed to be vulnerable to. It wouldn't have taken much at all to convince her to spill the beans to her new Master in the hopes that he'd relieve her of the burden of having to think for herself. "I... okay, so you know," she murmured reluctantly. "That doesn't change anything."

Austin shifted position slightly, revealing a bulge in his pants that a part of Sydney remembered very well. "Oh, I think it does," he said, sadistic arrogance dripping from his every word. "You told me all about it last night, Syd. Not just the hypnosis but how much you loved it. How much you wanted someone to take control of you again. You might not remember it, babe, but the sexy little girl in the back of your head knows how good it felt to have someone tell you what to do and she wants me to break you down and make you mine. She knows how much happier you are as a slave. And she told me everything I need to know to tame you like the good slut you are."

Sydney was furious with him. Of course she was. She was mad at Austin's condescending attitude and his lack of respect for her agency and his entitled belief that simply having a big dick and knowing how to use it was enough to let him take charge of her mind and her body. It absolutely infuriated the young brunette... but that didn't mean it didn't make her pussy wet as all hell, too.

Because whether by accident or from some inside information Sydney's silly, slutty alter ego had supplied him, Austin was using the exact phrasing that always made Sydney tremble with helpless arousal and sink back into her old Master's hypnotic power. The othering language, the description of her slave self as a separate person and the unsubtle implication that she was stronger and happier and more complete than Sydney herself? All that still worked on her. It still made her pussy leak in her panties, at least on those days when she was able to resist the lingering suggestion to go commando, and Austin was hammering on her hot buttons with it like a lucky beginner playing an arcade game.

But Sydney hadn't spend an entire year digging herself out from under a shitty, exploitative Dominant just to give in to the first guy who found out about her fetishes. "She's happier as a slave, jackass," she snapped, her whole body poised to turn and walk away. "I've got other things I want to do with my life. And you can fucking believe me when I say you have officially stopped being one of them." With that, she wheeled around, determined to get the last word and deeply, desperately wishing she didn't have a calculus class with him in three hours.

He let her get three steps away before he called out to her. "Argue all you want, babe, but we both know you're going to get the itch again soon." Sydney stopped dead in her tracks, swooning as the trigger slammed into her brain like a pot brownie washed down with a fifth of whiskey. It wasn't the song, not this time, but some deep and yearning part of her recognized the insistent demand to drop into trance--and even when she thought she was ready for it, Sydney could still feel that numb, foggy feeling tugging at her brain and making her feel so blissfully sleepy.

It wouldn't mean she was giving in for good, Sydney's slave self rationalized for her. She could just drop this one time, give in and skip a day of classes and have a lot of giggly, bubbly fun with Austin and his nice big cock. She could let go and enjoy herself, sink into that wonderful tranced-out sensation she'd been craving for almost thirteen months now and let her thoughts float away on the breeze and not even have to remember everything she did for her new Master, and when she woke up she could simply slip away and avoid talking to him until she got her head together and her willpower back. It didn't mean she was going to lose herself to that pounding, throbbing ache of submission between her thighs, solely because she gave in this one time and spread her legs like a braying piece of livestock to be fucked. Sydney's eyes rolled back in her head until only the whites showed, her jaw going slack as she desperately fought for self-control.

"You don't want to satisfy the itch with me?" Austin asked, his voice sounding closer as Sydney's mind teetered in the balance and he did his best to put his thumb on the scales. His voice radiated that smug, sadistic condescension she'd heard earlier, and she knew he was loving every second of this. He wanted to be her Master. He wanted her to be a happy, horny slave. Was that even so wrong when it felt so fucking good? Sydney's thoughts whirled in confusion, looking for a reason to deny the pleasure she knew awaited her.

"I'm feeling the itch again," Austin cooed in her ears, his soft baritone not quite carrying the tune perfectly, but more than enough to tell Sydney exactly what he was singing. "I need to get tricked again, I'm starting to twitch again...." Sydney felt that twitch, her whole body starting in surprise as she felt her center of gravity shift and realized she was about to topple backwards into his arms. Into his strong, manly arms. Into his powerful, controlling grip. Sydney sighed, exhaling all her tension in a single whooshing breath....

And stopped. And forced herself to think about that smug, arrogant, fucking obnoxious grin on the entitled little shit's face. Sydney dug her nails into her palms so hard she almost drew blood, and made herself open her eyes. If she gave in now, he'd never stop trying to trigger her. He'd never give up until she was wholly, thoroughly, completely his, and Sydney already knew how that particular addictive obsession turned out for her.

Never again. Not until she found someone who saw her as a person first and not just a piece of ass. "Go fuck yourself, Austin," she called out, not even bothering to look behind her as she forced her legs into motion and walked away. If he had anything to say in response to that, Sydney chose not to let herself listen.

THE END