“There’s been something of a…development,” Rose ventured, desperately trying to project confidence. She knew it wasn’t working; her shoulders drooped, her eyes kept flitting to the floor, and her fingers had been fidgeting with the hem of her skirt all morning. “Because of shifting schedules, Mistress will have a shortage of companions over the next several days. So if you join the harem now, you’ll be able to start at a much higher level.”

Rose looked at the girl across from her—a short, tanned brunette named Zoe—with hope and the tiniest hint of desperation in her eyes. 

Zoe frowned. “I’d have to join now?” Her voice was low, with a slight purr to it.

“Within the next three days, yes.” Rose nodded quickly several times. This was always the worst part: When she knew she’d screwed up somehow and was simply waiting for her lead to say no. The tension of looming failure made Rose nauseous.

Idly rotating her coffee cup a few times, Zoe looked lost in thought for a moment before finally responding. “I think…it’s too much of a commitment for me right now.”

Resignation threatened to overwhelm Rose. “Is it about the hypnotic inductions? Because they’re very flexible—I u-used to be much deeper under b-before I started recruiting for—”

“Nah, it’s not that. I’m just…not in the right headspace for it right now, I think.” Zoe shrugged. “Thanks anyway.” She rose from her seat, leaving the empty coffee cup on the table.

“S-sure,” Rose sighed. 

Once upon a time, she’d been Mistress’ only submissive: a dutiful, spacey maid permanently under complex hypnotic programming. But once her Mistress had decided to form a harem, Rose had jumped at the chance to recruit for her. For Rose, it wasn’t about being higher up in the harem hierarchy—though having fewer responsibilities was nice—but about being more valuable to her Mistress.

Recently, though, she’d started to question her value-add. None of the leads she followed were even remotely interested in joining the harem, even though they’d all submitted applications not long before. The other girls in recruitment told her not to worry, that leads always got spooked once the idea of joining a hypno-harem became the real thing, but Rose wasn’t so sure. Though she was loath to admit it, at times she still felt remnants of her prior conditioning interrupting her focus and clouding her mind. 

Sighing and gathering her things, Rose exited the coffee shop not long after Zoe and scurried across the rain-drenched street back home. She shook some of the loose raindrops out of her coat and brunette curls, smoothed out her dark gray dress, and wiped her heeled boots off on the welcome mat as she entered—some of her old maid instincts kicking in, she supposed. The house beyond was spotless, and she had no intention of being the one who changed that. 

Rose saw her first fellow submissive in the living room after trekking through the warmly lit entrance hall.

“Unbelievable,” Alex mumbled under her breath, staring down at a partially crumpled application. The lanky blonde had been the second submissive to join the harem, and the months since had only slightly tamped down her abrasive attitude and informal sense of style. She’d swapped her torn jeans and tees for leggings and flannels, though her worn pairs of Converse sneakers were a constant. She glanced up when Rose entered the room. “I reached out to this girl and she pretended she didn’t know who I was or what I was talking about, despite having written a whole fucking essay on how hot she found hypno.”

Rose flinched at the profanity—for whatever reason, her hypnotic trigger to avoid harsh language had remained particularly strong. “Maybe she was embarrassed.”

Alex scoffed. “Then she could at least save me the trouble and tell me to fuck off right away.”

Another wince. “Um.” Rose sucked in a deep breath. “Could you…” Her voice trailed off as her courage left her. She’d planned on asking Alex to stop using bad words, but knew doing so would only invite the brat to tease her more—although she’d likely comply. She and Rose were somewhat close after spending months in mutual submission, though it didn’t stop her from toying with the former maid.

Rose changed the subject instead. “Do you know what today’s meeting is about?” 

“Getting us some better leads, hopefully.” Alex nearly tore up the application in her hand before sighing and putting it on the coffee table. “Because I really don’t wanna call this girl back.”

“I heard our ‘lieutenant Mistress’ has found some new way to be pains in our asses,” drawled Annabelle as she entered. The ultra-femme had a slight smirk on her pink lips and a serious swish in her skirts as she walked. “But that’s all hearsay, of course.” She let out a contented sigh as she plopped down on the couch right next to Rose, practically sitting on the brunette’s lap.

“Ah, um…” Rose always felt somewhat in awe of Annabelle—her charisma and forwardness felt downright alien to the shy, introverted brunette, while her bleach blonde waves and skill with makeup and fashion were enough to make even a model jealous. “Hi, Annabelle.”

“Hello, my little flower.” Annabelle kissed Rose on the cheek, causing her to blush almost as bright red as her namesake. “How was your meeting today?”

Rose stared at her boots. She could practically hear her old conditioning sternly telling her to act properly in spite of the warmth pooling in her belly from Annabelle’s touch. “She…said no.”

“Aww. I’m sorry, darling.” Annabelle naturally progressed from warm and friendly to downright handsy as her fingers slipped beneath Rose’s skirt. Her other hand caressed the former maid’s chin and turned her head to make eye contact.

Rose nodded ever so slightly, only a tiny bit ashamed of the lewd conduct she’d just consented to. Not that there was anything wrong with it, of course—all the girls in the harem were free to and often did go at one another. Alex even offered a wolfish grin and watched Annabelle slip her hand beneath Rose’s panties and start to gently caress her folds.

“What about you, Annie?” The brat chimed in, her pride edging out her voyeuristic instinct. “Any luck with whatsername?”

Annabelle grinned and nipped Rose’s earlobe, who for her part had closed her eyes and started letting out happy little sighs. “Hook, line, sinker.”

Alex frowned. “Seriously?”

“Don’t be surprised if you see her here in a maid outfit within a week.”

“Christ,” Alex groaned, running a hand through her hair. “If I got the same leads as you, I’d be bringing them in too, believe me.”

Annabelle didn’t respond, far too busy enjoying Rose’s gentle rocking and whimpering. “You like that, little girl? Hm? Does our cute little flower like that?”

“Mm…”

The living room door flew open, a hand stopping it just before it slammed into the doorstop. Mia, head of recruitment and the tallest of the three girls, strode in. Her short pencil skirt and blazer surpassed even Rose’s attire in terms of neatness, while the confidence in her posture far outshone Alex’s bratty defiance. Even Annabelle peeled her eyes away from her prize for a moment to take note of her. She wheeled in a whiteboard behind her with a simple chart written on it:

ANNABELLE: 4

ALEX: 2

ROSE: 0 

Mia “Alright, girls, stop complaining about how indecisive applicants are or how the other subs don’t respect you and let’s actually talk about something important.” Mia plucked her round-rimmed glasses from her shirt pocket and put them on, completing her ultra-professional ensemble. Rose moaned as Annabelle’s questing fingers found her clit.

“Get your hands out of her fucking panties,” Mia snapped.

Rose whined in protest. “Please, Mia?”

“Cumming’s for closers only.”

Annabelle giggled.

“You think I’m fucking with you?” Mia continued, slinking forward. “I am not fucking with you. Mistress sent me, and she sent me here on a mission of mercy.”

Annabelle reluctantly withdrew her fingers from Rose’s panties, still glistening with her arousal. Mia turned and started pacing the room. “You call yourselves submissives, you little whores?”

“Fuck you.” Alex growled, crossing her arms.

“Oh, you certainly will. Because as of right now, you’re all officially demoted to fuckslaves.”

The room went silent. 

Mia grinned at Alex. “Good news is, you all have a week to regain your positions in the harem. Because we’re adding an extra incentive to this month’s recruitment contest.” She rapped a knuckle against the whiteboard. “First prize is three hypno sluts working under you. Second prize is getting to pick your own wardrobe. Third prize is you get so horny you lose the ability to think. You have leads. Good leads, each one someone interested in the harem—”

“The leads are weak.” 

Mia whipped around to face Alex. “The leads are weak? Fucking leads are weak? You’re weak.” 

The two of them stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment until suddenly, they both lunged and started furiously making out. They fought hard for control, but Mia’s expert tongue and a hand squeezing Alex’s ass made the brat melt into the arms of her better. When they broke their kiss, Mia was breathing normally while Alex was a gasping mess.

“Look at me.” Mia grabbed a handful of Alex’s hair and forced her to make eye contact. “Good girl. You know Mistress and I care about you deeply, yes?” 

Alex struggled to free herself, but let out a grumpy ‘yes’ once she realized she couldn’t. 

“And you know we both can shape your pretty little mind, yes?” Mia held up a finger, and Alex immediately focused on it—she’d had too much conditioning not to. Even Rose and Annabelle found themselves drawn a little closer in when the finger went up. 

“…yes.”

Mia nodded approvingly. “Watch closely, Alex. Relax for me. Feel all your muscles unclench, all your petty resistance flow away. You’re in my arms and under my spell, completely and totally owned, warm, and safe.” Her finger traced lazy circles, drawing closer and closer to Alex’s face. The brat’s eyes didn’t leave it for a second.

“M’ yrs. Owned. Warm, n…” 

Mia’s finger tapped Alex’s nose, and the brat went limp. Annabelle started at the motion and regained her awareness, while Rose dutifully dropped right along with Alex even from across the room. Annabelle shifted slightly, allowing the brunette to slump into her lap. 

“Good,” Mia breathed into Alex’s ear, making sure her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. “The way you’re feeling right now? This is how every lead wants to feel, as desperately and as needily as you do. If not, they wouldn’t have filled out an application. The question really is: Are you domme enough to give them what they want? Because if not, then maybe you’re better off with an empty head polishing my cock.”

Alex whined softly, her eyes still glassy and unfocused. Across the room on the couch, Rose started sucking on her lower lip—any time she went into trance, her oral fixation returned. Annabelle slipped a finger into the poor girl’s mouth, who eagerly suckled it right away.

Mia chuckled. “Don’t deny you want it. You know why I’m here? Because Mistress wanted you three to be her fuckslaves right away. But me? I like to see you struggle. I like to watch you play-act defiance before it all slips away and you give in to your basest, sluttiest desires. So I convinced her to give you a second chance.” She patted Alex’s narrow ass. “Now go out there and close. If not, you’re going to be shining my cock.”

She slapped Alex lightly across the cheek to wake her up, made sure she could stand freely on her own, then strode out of the room as quickly and as confidently as she had entered it. 

“Fuckin bitch,” Alex murmured, trying to conceal the dreamy smile lingering on her face. Rose harrumphed at her choice of language.