I was down on the street at 7:25 sharp because Mariah had no patience for waiting. The air was chilly in a “summer’s finally over” way, and the cool felt good. I watched up the street and her black Town Car turned the corner. She pulled up and leaned forward over the steering wheel, looking at me.

God, she’s fucking sexy. With dark red hair and that wide mouth, and eyes seemed to change color, she was the sexiest woman I’d ever known.

One of them, at least.

I stared a heartbeat too long and she tapped the horn. I opened the door and got in.

“Jesus, you’re a thirsty little bitch,” she said, pulling away from the curve.

No point in denying it. She’s thin and strong and beautiful, standing a full four inches over me without heels — and I’ve never seen her without heels. The emerald silk top and tight leather pants sent blood into my dick.

She drove for a while and I settled back.

“I need you to do something for me,” she said, approaching a light.

“Anything,” I said a little too meekly.

She looked at me, her eyes turning hazel, and the corner of her lip went up.

“Billie Doyle. She’s going to be there tonight.”

Billie was the top tist in our group. She had turned so many of us into her little fucktoys it was hard to keep track.

“She’s after you now, huh?”

“And she’s not going to get me. I haven’t gone under for anyone since I started.”

Ten years, no eleven now. I knew Mariah’s history as well as my own.

“But she’s going to try. Already told me as much. And she’s very good.”

And you’re a trophy anyone would want, I thought.

She looked away as traffic started. I saw her eyes turn a little lighter as she stared through the windshield.

“Stick near me. If you see me with her, get close. If it looks like….”

She couldn’t even say it. Mariah could be a bitch, and she was proud — arrogant really — but she was scared of Billie. For good reason.

“I’ll be there,” I said. “I won’t let her do anything.”

She glanced at me with a worried look.

I’d do anything for her.

The house was half an hour out of the city. A remodeled 70s split-level. We parked on the street and went in.

There were about a dozen of us. I knew them all. Sarah Long, who owned the house, greeted us.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, squeezing my hand. I looked into her eyes and watched her weaken. Many times she knelt before me, dazed and brainless.

Mariah wandered, and I kept back a discreet distance. She went to the bar in the family room, poured her usual G&T, and chatted with a few people. Sarah flitted by and smiled at me, her face open and begging a little. 

But from the look in her eyes, I could tell she knew something was up.

Mariah made her way onto the back patio. Outdoor heaters were burning and the mood was nice.

Billie sat at a glass-covered table.

Billie was quite sexy, too, in a threatening, scary, knee-melting kind of way. Short jet hair and dark brown eyes filled her small face and pointed chin. She looked like a movie star.

Mariah gently set her glass on the table and chatted with Billie. Always the risk-taker.

I walked by and caught Mariah’s eye. In the moment she glanced at me Billie replaced her glass with another — and Mariah’s hand was reaching for it. In less than a second, she’d taken a good gulp.

There was nothing to be done now.

Billie spoke to Mariah. I waited. 

They talked a little more. Mariah kept sipping the spiked drink.

Billie was good, and I could see Mariah’s eyes starting to glaze.

I stepped up and took a handful of Mariah’s red hair, giving it a gentle tug. It was something so inappropriate for me to do she couldn’t help but break out of the spell she was falling under.

She looked at me. Gratitude and fear were in her eyes.

Mariah feared nothing but her own weaknesses. I’d figured that out a while ago.

She got up and followed me into the house.

“She, she said I drank something called Luna,” Mariah slurred. “Some new thing-”

“I know,” I said. “I mean, I know it. Come with me, I know what to do.”

I held Mariah’s hand and led her upstairs. Just that act, leading Mariah, was enough to make me rock hard.

We went into a guest room. I closed the door and had Mariah sit on the bed.

“This stuff works through fast,” I said. “I can help you get through it.”

She watched me as I pulled up a chair.

“This stuff feeds off anxiety. We need to diminish its effects, so I need you to relax.”

She gave me a trusting, grateful look. Her eyes were perfectly hazel and I was practically in love.

“So just relax,” I said. “Can you do that?”

She nodded.

“Just relax. Let’s breathe. Just slowly breathe. In, calmly and deeply.”

She began inhaling.

“Now out, slowly and fully.”

I watched closely. My skill was observation. I’d learned to read a subject’s mind by small changes in their body.

“We’re going to get you through this,” I said.

“By just relaxing. By just breathing.”

Her right shoulder dropped a little.

“By just letting your mind follow what it wants.”

I could see the beginnings of realization in her eyes. They reflected heartbreak and fear at the same time.

“As you slowly begin to fall.”

Her lips opened to say, “No.”

But she had no “No” left.

“As the Luna, and my words, slip past your defenses.”

A tear. She had trusted me.

“As you slowly succumb.”

The betrayal filled her eyes, and tears fell more quickly.

“As you fall under the spell of my voice.”

Mariah, strong and fierce, could feel the futility of her defense.

“Fall deeply, completely, utterly.”

Both shoulders were now slumped.

“Falling, falling, falling.”

Her head nodded forward.

“Just dropping, helpless, surrendered.”

Her eyes closed.

“Mine.”

Her head dropped completely.

I went to the door and opened it.

Billie came in and I closed the door behind her.

She sat beside Mariah. Two of the sexiest, most powerful women I had ever known.

Billie stroked Mariah’s red mane, then looked at me.

“Such a powerful hypnotic,” she said, looking into my eyes.

“You would know,” I said, gently closing her eyelids with the tips of my fingers. She fell back on the bed, completely in my trance.

“You would know,” I repeated.

Then, turning my attention to my sweet Mariah, I stood before her and said the magic word:

“Kneel.”