"You remember now, Sam?"

"Yes, Gabrielle." His face felt hot and flushed.

"Relax, Sam. Everything's okay.

"It's… okay, that I've fantasised about you hypnotizing me?"

"Absolutely." Gabrielle smiled. "Sam, why do you think I offered to hypnotize you? Why do you think this is our third date?

"I like you. And when the topic of hypnosis came up, it was clear you had a fascination with it. What it was like, how it worked, how it felt…"

"And… it was obvious I wanted to be hypnotized? To be… controlled?"

"No, it wasn't clear. But I hoped."

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Sam, you think about a woman hypnotizing you. Controlling you. You fantasise about it. It excites you. Turns you on."

"Y… Yes. So…?"

"I fantasise about hypnotizing a cute boy. Controlling him. Having him under my thrall. It excites me. Really."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Gabrielle laughed. "It took you this long to put the pieces together, Sam?"

"I… Okay… Wait. So is that why you hypnotize all your dates? And friends?"

"Sort of. Most of them don't enjoy it like you do. But it's worth a try. And I'm at the point in my life where I'd rather just know if we're compatible that way.

"And with friends… Well, it's still just fun. I like to practice — it's good to practice with a bunch of different people. So even if they don't enjoy… being controlled… it's still something I enjoy."

Gabrielle crossed one leg over the other and leaned forward, fixing her gaze on Sam.

"But enough about me. What do you enjoy, Sam?"

Sam felt his heart race again. Especially with Gabrielle staring at him like that. He tried to slow down, answer carefully… He didn't want to mess this up.

"I…" Sam felt himself blush again. It was so much harder to say without that haze of hypnosis. "I enjoyed you controlling me. Really… enjoyed it, I mean."

Gabrielle smiled. "That's good to hear.

"Would you like to be under my control again, Sam?"

Sam took another deep breath. "Yes, Gabrielle."

"Good boy."