Down…

Again, a single word felt capable of directing the deepest, most integral parts of Samantha. Heavy with meaning and irresistibly alluring, Mary’s one word was an anchor tied around Samantha’s free will and her libido both.

So many mitigating aspects of her mind—Samantha’s inhibitions and self-control amongst them—were now silent.

There was only one concept.

There was only one direction.

Down…

Feels like I’m… even… further down… like… Her thoughts weren’t things that Samantha could direct, merely ideas that drifted through her head and then fell away largely forgotten. Stronger… or I’m… mmm… weaker…

No desire existed in Samantha for further analysis of the feelings overwhelming her, but even if there were, she lacked the grasp on her consciousness to act on it. Mary tilting her head down, quicker than the other directions, had felt powerful before. Samantha was too far down to work her way through anything logically.

Like sand in an hourglass Samantha could only fall.

Her glassy eyes stared ahead, but the sight was as meaningful to her tired mind as if they were closed instead.

“That’s right.” Mary’s voice was more than just a distant droning hum like the rest of the world. Somehow she cut through everything in a way that sounded completely effortless. Even the thick haze that kept Samantha’s thoughts from being more than vague processing of her immediate circumstances couldn’t help but hold Mary’s words and keep them ready to give greater context to the next.

The younger woman’s smooth, confident voice was in crisp focus, the only thing that felt so sharp, so bold. It demanded Samantha’s full attention, and she didn’t even try to resist it.

Each word was a new surrender that Samantha was safe from the reality of acknowledging.

“You’re down.”

Samantha gasped. It was a soft, trembling sound that passed so quickly, but it was still dramatic for how little Samantha was doing anything beyond breathing. Her hips jerked forward several seconds later, as if there was some disconnect in time between parts of her brain.

I’m… down…

“You’re in a trance, Samantha. The only thing you need to do when you feel like this is listen to my voice. The rest of the world just doesn’t need to matter for a little bit.” A calm, relaxed sigh melted its way through Samantha. So many weighty things might be there on the other side of the feelings she was lost in indulging, but they weren’t there now. They didn’t exist in her limited perception, and her mind was too sleepy to see anything outside of her view. “You’re hypnotized. That means that your mind is relaxed, but even if you feel so tired, so sleepy, you’re not actually sleeping… Well… parts of it sort of are…?

“Some parts of your mind are there to protect you, to keep you from just thinking whatever anyone tells you to think? But right now?” Mary quietly clicked her tongue in a mockery of disappointment. The smile on her lips protected Samantha from any bad feelings that sound might have dredged up. “Your mind doesn’t need those, because I’m here.

“I’m here, and I can keep your mind safe while you’re hypnotized. I can make sure nothing happens to you that you don’t want to happen, because I’m the one in control of this trance.”

Hypnotized… I’m… hypnotized… don’t need some parts of my mind… Mary is here…

Samantha’s lips faintly moved as if she couldn’t keep the ideas to the inside of her mine, or there was no barrier from what she took in and what she needed to express. Even an ear pressed right against her lips would have heard nothing at all, and the lazy movements of her lips wouldn’t have been enough for anyone to read. They weren’t for anyone else, or even for Samantha—they were merely something instinctive that Samantha had no will to hold back.

She’ll keep my… mind safe… because she’s the one in…

Samantha whimpered.

Control…

“The great thing about hypnosis is that turning off all of those little things makes it easier to see things that are already there inside of your mind with a little help—or to accept new ideas from the person guiding your mind along. It opens you up in ways that you just can’t when you’re not in a trance…” Mary’s fingers began to move, so slowly caressing along either side of Samantha’s face. She mewled at the sensation, but otherwise barely reacted. “And talking to you like this, helping you just soak in how this feels helps make you go deeper down.

“How does it feel, Samantha?”

“F-feeelssss…” Speaking took effort—a dizzying amount of effort that made Samantha feel so incredibly aware of the many ways her lips, jaw, and tongue, all needed to move to make even the simplest of reply. “G-good… c-calm… ssssoft-t…”

“Good!” Excitement rang through Mary’s voice, making Samantha gasp. It was as though she could feel Mary’s delight at her reply. It was a good feeling, a very good feeling. “I like you being able to feel good, calm, and soft for a little bit. I like you being able to just let go for a little while. You’re always so nice to me when I stop by… Chloe only has nice things to say about you…” Mary’s fingers paused alongside her voice. Samantha mewled questioningly without even realizing she had. “Oh… I was just realizing that I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen your wife…”

Samantha’s low mumble of a reply was quiet, and more summoned by Mary’s curiosity than any conscious attempt on Samantha’s part. “Shhhe’s… gone…”

Mary’s fingers paused again. Her voice was softer. Concerned. “Gone…? What do you mean she’s gone, Samantha? Don’t worry… you can tell me. I won’t even tell Chloe if you don’t want her to know or anything like that…”

“Ch-chloe… knooowwsss…” Her voice couldn’t help but slur, and the simple act of communicating while feeling so hazy, so fuzzy, meant that she had no ability to correct the sounds coming out of her mouth. All she could do was let them fall messily in whatever state her mouth managed to get them out. “G-gone… b-busssinesss… always… gone… working… late… s-soooo… busyyy…”

“Oh.”

Mary spent a moment staring down at the woman’s head in her hands, doing little more than keeping Samantha’s head carefully held. Thoughts raced behind her eyes, and a soft, thoughtful smile slowly replaced the one she’d lost at Samantha’s revelation Mary hadn’t even realized she’d asked to receive.

“And how does that—your wife being so busy, so… absent… make you feel, Samantha…?”

A pained whine stuttered from deep in Samantha’s throat.

How does it… make me… feel… Samantha’s face twisted. She felt less down, less lost in the fuzzy haze that Mary had drawn around her mind, but not enough to shake it off entirely. It wasn’t even enough to be completely aware that’s what she was feeling. It was easier to feel the pain, and know that it was far closer than she wanted it to be. Janice…

“L-lonelyyyy…!”

Samantha vomited the word like a sob. Her whole body shook without any of the prior clenching of her thighs or rolling of her hips. There was nothing sexual, only emotion in her plaintive cry.

“S-so… lonelyyyy… t-tired of doing… so much… alone… feeling… s-so… alone…”

Aftershocks of emotion pulsed across Samantha’s body, drawing out more whines. With such little extant in her world, such little able to hold her focus, there was only Mary and the pain. Now, with Mary’s simple question, half of her mind was trapped drowning in the flood of miserable feelings Samantha had been hiding from herself.

For far too long, Mary could only watch and listen. Her eyes were wide with shock. Lonely… that lonely? I had… absolutely no idea! I knew that she was busy, can’t remember the last time I actually saw her or that Chloe said much about her being around, but… huh. Slowly, the expression on Mary’s face shifted into a frown. How could anyone stand to do this to someone as beautiful—and nice to have around—as M—Samantha?!

Mary’s frown deepened as more and more frustration dug into her features. A pained, worried frown was quickly replaced by a scowl. Her heart beat faster, louder in her ears. So much like Samantha in her own way, there was little that Mary could do but stare down at the woman who had allowed herself to be so completely at her mercy.

It’s not like she let me do this—like she wanted this because she secretly wants me or something like that. There’s no way she ever even noticed me like that. But. Mary reached deep inside of herself, and past all of her rage and uncertainty was a shining steel structure of inner focus and calm. Grasping it tight as she could, she pulled herself back beyond the burning hot emotions that roiled inside of her and found herself in a place not of patience, but action.

Before she trusted herself to speak, Mary slowly shifted forward, and helped the slumped Samantha’s head rest on her shoulders. A distant worry about Samantha having a sore neck later briefly interrupted Mary, but not enough to stop her from slowly stroking her fingers through Samantha’s hair.

So soft… Mary smiled. Samantha was close now—even closer than before. So much of her weight was resting on, or against her. Instead of making Mary feel pulled down, Samantha’s presence felt increasingly like a pillar of support.

Samantha needs someone to care about her right now. There’s no way a reaction like that means she’s reached out to anyone for help. That means it’s up to me!

Mary sighed, one of her hands drifting to reach around the small of Samantha’s back.

“I’m so sorry that you’ve been feeling like this, Samantha… but you’re not alone anymore.” Mary paused, letting the words sink in before she continued. The quiet sounds of discomfort from Samantha quieted, replaced with confusion and curiosity. “That’s right, Samantha…” Her voice shifted softer, quieter, the sort of voice that was reserved for nurturing someone special. “You’re not alone anymore. You’re not alone right now. You have someone here who wants to help you—who is going to help make things better for you...

“You have to help me a little… but that won’t be too hard. I won’t let it be too hard, okay…?”

If Samantha could be aware enough to realize that a younger woman—her daughter’s best friend—was talking to her like she was the younger woman needing to be coddled? She would have been blushing so hotly she would have burned a path through Mary’s shoulder all the way down to the floor.

Instead, her lips twitched in a cute, tired smile.

Not alone… someone to help… someone to… make things… better…

Tension Samantha didn’t even know she’d been holding loosened in her shoulders. Samantha’s legs relaxed as she leaned more and more against Mary who was perfectly ready to support her.

She won’t let it be… too… hard… Samantha made a sound that wasn’t quite substantial enough to be a giggle, but was more than a sigh. Sounds… so nice… things… being better…

Don’t want to be lonely…

“O-okaaaayyy…”

Mary smiled, her arm drawing Samantha tighter. Her warmth burned into Mary, but as exciting as it felt, that feeling of calm inside of Mary was holding fast enough that she was able to hold back her reaction. Once again back in the security of her trance without a deluge of anguish, the older woman only reacted with a distant mewl, her arms still hanging limply at her sides in nearly the same useless state they’d been when the now long forgotten book slipped through her fingers.

“But to be able to help you, Samantha, I need to know what it is that you need. I need to know what it is that you want. I know that might be hard, but if I try to figure it out on my own?” Mary allowed herself to laugh, and letting it out helped her smile grow calmer and her own muscles loosen even as she held Samantha every bit as tightly and carefully. “I might make things worse! I don’t want that. You don’t want that. So!

“What would help you feel less lonely… less alone…? Don’t worry about what it would be, or if it’s okay, or… anything like that.” Mary’s arm gently squeezed Samantha tighter for just a moment. Her hand making its way through wavy brown hair gently squeezing at the back of Samantha’s neck. “All you need to do is just find those ideas inside of yourself, those things that would help…

“And tell them to me, so I can do that for you.”

Samantha let out a quiet, distant mewl, melting even more bonelessly against Mary.

Feel… less… alone… With Mary’s words guiding her, it was easy for her mind to glide so close to her feelings of such extreme sorrow without even feeling her eyes grow wet. Mary was keeping her safe. She didn’t need to feel pain or to wonder if what she needed was good or okay. All she needed to do was just do what Mary told her to do so she could make everything better. What would… make me feel… less…

“Kisssss…” Samantha mewled, and the force of the sound making its way out of her when she was so limp had Samantha lightly quivering. It still wasn’t a return to the more sexual feelings racing through her, but there was some resemblance in the way she shook. “Want… to be held… and… kissed… someone say… nice… things about me… Just… being… gentle…”

Samantha quivered. Voicing those desires, making them known somewhere in the world outside of the loneliness of her mind, it relieved yet more of the strain she’d been carrying all on her own.

She felt so much lighter, even if her body was far too heavy to even think of moving.

Even before Samantha finished answering, Mary was already giggling. There was no judgement in the sound, no cruel delight. Instead there was a relief that mirrored Samantha’s own, and an excitement not unlike Samantha’s racing heartbeat before Mary had pulled her down, and then back down, into hypnotic trance.

“That’s it, huh…? You just want to be…” Mary squeezed Samantha a little tighter, earning a low, breathy mewl. “Held… kissed… praised… huh…?”

Samantha made a small sound of agreement, and sunk more against Mary as her fingers returned to stroking her hair. The fingers at the small of her back even began to slowly caress, another tender touch to soothe at Samantha’s bruised heart.

“Well… then I’m holding you… so that’s one part of it…” Mary squeezed Samantha again, earning a sound somewhere between a mewl and a squeak. “But we can’t stop there! We need to make you feel a lot better so you can really enjoy yourself! So, let’s move on to the next thing that’s easiest to do, huh?

“You… Samantha… are so…” Mary sighed, not hesitating so much as taking a moment to order her thoughts. “Kind. You’re so warm.” Samantha mewled, and her cheeks flushed. “It’s so fun to see you get all red and whiny, but it’s just as nice to see you smiling. It’s really nice to just… be around you with how thoughtful you are, how… sweet you can really be.”

Every sweet word that Mary spoke made Samantha make another quiet sound of joy and delight. By the time the younger woman took a pause in her fulfillment of Samantha’s longings, the older woman’s eyes were wet and full of tears.

Kind… warm… likes it… when I… embarrassed… smile… near… sweet…

Her limp hands grasped at the air. Her arms shifted like they were trying to move, to return the embrace, but she just couldn’t. She felt too heavy. Her control wasn’t something she could reach, and Mary hadn’t told her to move her arms. She’d only told her so many kind things that Samantha couldn’t stop herself from silently crying.

“But that’s only two out of three, and I think that I can do a little better than that.” Mary rubbed her lips together. “If there’s something that can make you feel better, something that can make your life easier? Well.” Mary giggled again. Only a hint of nervousness slipped into the sound. It was far too little for Samantha to be aware with the warm, wet feeling at her face taking up so much space. “Why would I not want to do that? Why would I not do that, if it was something that I wanted too, something that I’ve wanted for a long time?”

Samantha mewled in confusion.

Why… why would you…? Or… wouldn’t… Don’t… nnnn…

Mary laughed.

“Exactly.”

Carefully to not let the limp Samantha drop to the floor as she did, Mary pulled Samantha away from her. It wasn’t very far, just far enough that when she guided Samantha’s head back, it was easy for their foreheads to fall together.

“Let’s cheer you up, Samantha.”

Before her nerves could fail her, or Samantha could comprehend what was happening, Mary’s lips melted into hers. It was a soft kiss, tender and innocent, except that it didn’t end. It only stretched on, with Mary holding Samantha so tightly against her.

After a quiet sound of surprise, and excitement, Samantha felt her lips moving on their own. Mary’s lips were so soft, so warm, and it was easier to lose herself in an intimacy that her heart had ached for so quietly for so long than to question why the lips against hers felt so unfamiliar. It was easier to let the younger woman take control of her body, of her mouth, and let the kiss last for a small eternity.

Their lips didn’t part, and their tongues didn’t meet, but the kiss was still enough to make Samantha more relieved than she could ever remember feeling.

When the kiss ended, both women mewled in perfect unison.

Mary quivered. I really did that. I really kissed Samantha. I’ve had a crush on her for at least two years. Longer. Definitely longer. That was just when I stopped lying to myself about it. I’m kissing my best friend’s mom—my best friend’s married mom. Mary quivered again, her eyes hooding.

And it was amazing.

“Do you feel better now, Samantha…?” Mary’s voice was soft and gentle, a calm melody carried on a warm breath that teased sweetly across Samantha’s lips. “Was that what you’ve been wanting?”

“Yesssss…!” Samantha’s reply was quiet and breathless, yet also immediate. “C-could be… more but… was what… needed… thank… y-youuu…”

Mary giggled, slowly shaking her head. Her nose brushed back and forth against Samantha’s, her forehead gently rubbing against Samantha’s. “You don’t need to thank me, Samantha. Getting to kiss a woman as beautiful, as pretty, as… as sexy as you? That’s more than thanks enough.”

S-sexy…Samantha shuddered. Her thighs clenched. Her whole body flushed. She… she thinks I’m sexy… she… I…

“Wish we could stay like this forever, Samantha, but I don’t really think that would make you very happy in the long run, huh?” Mary lifted her hand that wasn’t still coiled around Samantha’s back, and held out a single finger to press softly against Samantha’s lips. “I think that would make a lot of consequences neither of us is ready for, and it might make you a lot less happy about that kiss we just shared. I don’t want that. I want you to think about it, to think about me kissing you a lot, so…”

No… Samantha shivered. Her body started to tense. Please… no… Not… yet…

“Up.”