Austin took a step back and wrapped his arm around Maggie.

“What do you think?”

It was perfect. He’d spent all weekend putting it together.

“Um,” she said. “It’s very… big.”

Austin deflated. Of course it was big. It was nine sets put together. This was several thousand dollars worth of Lego. The police station, the fire station, the townhouse and more.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s very impressive, it must have been a lot of work,” Maggie continued, “I just wasn’t expecting this when you said you had something I needed to come over and look at.”

“The train actually moves,” he said. “Here, let me show you.”

“Um, maybe later, I’ve got a headache coming on and I think I want to lie down,” she said, then planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

Austin wasn’t sure if he’d done something wrong. He’d never been very good at reading people. He took a moment to appreciate her body as she ran off to the bathroom, presumably to get to the medicine cabinet.

Maggie had been the best thing that happened to his life this year. After thirty-four long years of being single, Austin had finally attained that which he once believed unattainable – a girlfriend. He’d had sex a few times, only once that he hadn’t had to pay for – until now.

She was pretty, she was energetic, and she was so short she made him feel tall at 5-foot-7. She was almost a decade younger, but he’d done the maths to confirm it wasn’t in the creepy zone. She was everything he’d ever hoped for in a woman and more, physically. She was slender, a little athletic, and her breasts, though not large, looked fantastic in her workout gear. She took great care of her long black hair, which looked good whether she had it up or down. He never tired of seeing her from behind, either, with a cute little arse that just made him want to reach out and slap it.

They didn’t have that many interests in common, and he knew he could ramble on about his interests for way too long sometimes, but somehow, it seemed to just work.

This must have been what people meant when they talked about that spark some people had together. It wasn’t a rational thing. It was chemistry.

Maggie called out for him, and he pursued her to the bathroom.

“The cabinet is right there in front of you,” he said.

“Hmm,” she said, rubbing her temples. “Well you know, there is something people say can help with headaches.” She drew closer to him.

“The type of headache determines whether paracetamol or ibuprofen will work better, but you can actually take both at the same time because they work in different ways. There’s no medical interaction, so it’s safe,” he said. “But I think staying hydrated is the main thing. I’ll get you a glass.”

She grabbed him and pulled him towards her.

“God you’re so oblivious sometimes,” she said, then kissed him.

Oh, he thought. She meant sex.

The doors unlocked as he pulled to a stop, and he gave her one final kiss before sending her on her way back to the accommodation. It was on campus at the university. She was doing her PhD, which meant her income wasn’t spectacular, but she got by and had her accommodation paid for by a scholarship. If things got serious enough for them to move in together, Austin could more than make up for it.

He waited until he saw that she’d made it to the door and gone inside before he turned on the engine and started to move. A few moments later, he recognised somebody walking a little bit further down the street. He pulled over, wound down the window and leaned out.

“Hey, Doc Rob! Fancy seeing you here,” he said.

“Hey man, how’s it going?” the tall, tanned man said as he approached the vehicle. Are you here visiting Maggie?”

“Just dropped her off, actually.”

Roberto grinned. The two men had been close friends since their first year of study here, all those years ago. Rob had a way with women, Austin didn’t. He was tall and handsome, Austin wasn’t. He had a fancy Doctor title, Austin just had a masters. All those years single had made scheduling events a breeze, at least.

“I’m glad that you two lovebirds seem to be really hitting it off. Do you think it’s serious?”

“God, I hope so. I’m done being single.”

“Hey, the single life ain’t that bad if you know what you’re doing. And you better be treating her well for the sake of my reputation,” said Rob.

“I won’t let you down,” Austin said, giving a mock salute. “Nor will I ever doubt your ability to wingman again. Anyway, I’ve gotta go, talk more on the weekend, right?”

“See you then. And don’t forget: you owe me big time!”

Austin smiled and nodded, then Roberto continued walking past the car and waved a goodbye. As Austin slowly accelerated down the street in the twilight, he glanced up at his mirror and noticed something odd. It looked like Rob had just walked straight up to the door on Maggie’s room. His eyes darted back and forth between the road and the rear view mirror. He couldn’t be totally sure of it.

He tried to dismiss the thought.

Two days later, he started to get worried again. It was board game day, and Roberto had evidently arrived very early. He saw his bike parked out front in the usual spot. The event didn’t start for another hour. He opened the door and heard voices speaking from inside. The living room was a disaster zone, Maggie obviously hadn’t tidied anything up like she’d told him she would. As he put the grocery bags down, the sounds stopped. He moved to the hallway just in time to see Rob standing in the middle, carrying something behind him. Whatever it was, he was holding it just out of view.

“Oh hey dude,” said Rob, “Sorry, I forgot what time you said and got here a bit early, as you can see.” He laughed.

“No problem,” said Austin, trying to play it off. “Make yourself at home. I’ve just got some tidying up to do in the living room.”

Maggie slinked out of the bedroom, her hair a mess.

“Oh, sorry hun,” she said, the final syllable half cut off by a yawn. “I was taking a nap. I didn’t realise how late it had gotten.”

Austin looked back and forth between them for a moment, realised that he might look angry or upset, and forced himself to smile instead. The standoff eventually ended when Austin hesitantly backed out into the living room. He never did get a glance at what Rob was carrying. Maggie jumped straight into the shower, while Rob relaxed on the couch as he finished tidying.

Eventually, the others arrived and they settled into a game of Twilight Imperium. Normally, this was his favourite day of the month, but he spent the time worrying about Rob and Maggie. He tried to read their expressions and the looks they gave each other. Was it just friendship, or was it something more? Years of forced socialisation had beat him into the shape of a normal-ish person, but reading subtle expressions and picking up on social cues was still a struggle at the best of times.

He didn’t want to believe that it was anything like that. That Rob would betray his friendship to sleep with her, and that she would be ready to drop him like a hot potato for the next thing that came along. But it wouldn’t be the first time in history somebody had started an affair with their friend’s partner. Roberto De Luca was known for being something of a player, and nobody could ignore how much more attractive and charming he was than Austin.

He eventually started to push the thoughts aside. The game stretched on for hours, and he started feeling exhausted by all the worrying. When they took a break for dinner, though, it flared back up. He’d gone into the bedroom looking for a spare charging cable when he noticed that the drawer on the left of the bed was open – the one with the lube and the condoms. He rummaged through for evidence that it had been used recently, and noticed that the lid to the lube was open. He was pretty sure it wasn’t where he’d left it, either.

Maybe she was just having a bit of solo time. But he’d seen Rob right near the room. Maybe he was just in the bathroom as she was sleeping.

He returned to the game, but it kept gnawing at him. A friend indeed, he thought, as Maggie smiled and laughed at something Rob had just said.

Despite all of this, Maggie was being nothing but doting. She slept over again, and prepared him breakfast. She gave him a long, passionate kiss as he left. In the evening, she came over, and he prepared dinner for her. He wasn’t much of a cook, and he was a fussy eater, but she didn’t seem to mind. She smiled and laughed at his jokes. She even asked questions as he talked about what was going on at work and his hobby projects for much of the meal.

As they spooned on the sofa watching an old Bond movie, his doubts from the weekend seemed so remote. He enjoyed the sensation of just being near her, of touching her, of hearing her voice.

The following day at work, he was chatting with one of his colleagues at lunchtime. Noah, the oldest employee at the firm, was always happy to listen to whatever Austin wanted to ramble about. He told him all about the weekend, and how silly he felt now. Noah scratched his smooth, bald head.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it kid, you were right to have doubts. I’ve had three wives and I’ve yet to meet a woman who I’d trust alone with one of my friends. And they’re brothers to me, all of them. It’s nothing personal, it’s just biology.”

“Look, maybe I told the story wrong,” said Austin. “He’d probably only just got there a few minutes before I did.”

“… and was also probably just visiting her neighbour the week before, too?” Noah rolled his eyes, stepped out into the open and took a drag on his cigarette. Austin took a bite out of his sandwich and tried to stand upwind of the smoke. “You say she’s being really great? Really loving?”

“Yeah. She’s amazing.”

“In my experience, when somebody’s suddenly being extra sweet, that means they’ve got something to hide. Something they feel guilty about. They’re overcompensating.”

Austin laughed it off, but the idea took root. That evening, they grabbed some food from a burger van that had just opened up then went to her apartment. It wasn’t a bad place exactly, it was just a little spartan. Now came the hard part – finding something to watch.

“It was one of the biggest air disasters in history,” he said enthusiastically, gesturing at the TV. “Anyway, there’s a great episode about that I’ve got that we could watch. I’ll just need to sign in on my account.”

She smiled at him.

“I dunno, that sounds a bit…”

“Boring? That’s OK. I can pick something else.”

She looked down, and started muttering something under her breath. Then she looked back up at him.

“Actually, you know what, to hell with it. I’ve got to keep an open mind about these things.”

He raised an eyebrow, thinking back to what Noah had said. As they watched, she seemed to be struggling with it. She yawned quite a few times, and eventually fell asleep on his lap. He stroked her hair gently, but he couldn’t stop wondering.

The next morning, he started driving to work. He made it a few blocks before realising he’d left his swipe card at home. He looked at the clock, debating if was worth going back for.

“Fuck, OK, fine,” he said out loud to himself as he started looking for the best place to turn around.

She liked to leave the door unlocked while she was home, so he walked straight in. He grabbed the card off the kitchen bench, but heard a small moan. He froze. There was another one. He walked slowly to bedroom door, creeping on his toes. It was open a few cracks.

Maggie was lying on her bed, legs spread wide, earbuds in, mouthing something quietly as she fucked herself with a dildo. He couldn’t make out the words exactly, but he could have sworn he heard one word in particular – Luca.

His blood boiled.

He stepped back from the door and tried to compose himself. She still hadn’t noticed him. He coughed loudly, then stomped around the kitchen a few times, hoping she’d hear him. He then went back to the door and opened it wide. She obviously had noticed him coming, because she’d hidden the dildo and taken her earbuds out. She couldn’t hide how ragged she was breathing, or how flushed her cheeks were.

“Oh, hey, I thought you’d gone out already,” she said breathlessly.

“Maggie, we are exclusive, aren’t we?”

She looked confused, or what he thought was confused.

“Well, I don’t know if we talked about it specifically, but yeah, I don’t like dating several people at once. Baby, what’s wrong? Are you OK?”

“I’m fine. I’ve got to go to work.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here with me a little while longer?” she said, pulling the top blanket off and revealing her wide open legs.

He felt a very complex set of emotions. Shock, anger and arousal all mixed together. They were very nice legs, long for her size, with just the right amount of muscle definition. Her dainty toes wiggled playfully. It was also a very nice vagina. He’d grown rather fond of it all lately. He really should get to work, but maybe he could be forgiven, just this once.

She smiled wickedly as he started taking off his clothes and crawled onto the bed with her. She grabbed him and pulled him down on top of her. She was clearly revved up from what she’d been doing earlier, and she did a fantastic job of taking his mind off other things. She begged and pleaded for him to fuck her harder, to grab her by the throat, slap her around a little, and to give her everything he had then more. They traded positions, and she rode him from on top, this time choking and scratching him, calling him her good boy, squeezing his cock while he was inside her with muscles he didn’t even know existed.

She told him not to stop, that she was so close, and then screamed out an orgasm. When he moaned out that he was close too, she jumped off and started jerking his dick while she licked the head. He exploded all of her face, and she was grinning from ear to ear as she played with the thick ropes of cum that half covered one eyelid. It was easily the best sex he’d ever had.

They would both need a long, hot shower.

As he finally left, thoroughly satisfied but now very late for work, his mind was crystal clear. She’s definitely hiding something, he thought. He’d caught her in the act of… something. She was trying to throw him off the trail by fucking the shit out of him. No matter how much fun that was, if they were cheating on him, then he was determined to catch them in the act.

Local electronics stores may not have had CIA grade spycams, but they did have some rather small internet enabled cameras, some only four or five centimetres in diameter. As it happened, Austin was already very familiar with IP cameras and networking. Half of his home was automated, and not with one of those Google kits, it was managed with Raspberry Pi devices he enjoyed tinkering with.

The opportunity to set it up came soon after. Maggie had to go meet with a friend on campus, giving him an hour or so. He unzipped his bag and got to work. The battery would last a few days. If she noticed it, he was going to act dumb and say that it was something he was meant to take in to work. He was pretty sure she didn’t have the know how to check the WiFi router logs. Twenty minutes later, the system was working. It was motion activated to save power, but could also be remote controlled. It sat a tier above the bedside table, on a low shelf, concealed by an assortment of junk she kept there. He tested logging into the device from his laptop, and it all seemed to be working as advertised.

The next day at work, he found himself compulsively checking the device every time he got a notification about movement. Maggie was gathering clothes to put in the laundry – in her underwear. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat to hide his erection. He looked around the office nervously. He wasn’t on the work WiFi, but still, someone might have got the wrong idea if the saw what he was doing. Five other times she came to the room for something quickly, and each time he’d watch the feed for several minutes. There was no sign of Rob, or anyone else.

After another day of nothing, he started to doubt himself once again. He’d need to go in and swap out the batteries on the camera soon.

That evening, as he watched his girlfriend settle in for bed, she reached into her drawer just below the camera and pulled something out. It was a bottle of lube, and the dildo. He made sure this was being saved, and then maximised the window.

The resolution wasn’t incredible, but her form and movements were turning him on. She put something in her ears, lubed it up and slowly guided it in. She let out a moan that was picked up by the microphone loud and clear. Austin unconsciously started playing with himself as he watched. She reached over to her phone, and did something – but it was far to small to see what it was from the camera. She put the phone down next to her, stretched out her body and started rhythmically fucking herself.

The camera’s microphone was picking up something other than moans. As it was the other day, she was speaking to herself as she masturbated.

“Trust …. Open … Mind … Trust …”

He mentally scolded himself for not setting up a better quality, separate microphone. He turned the volume on his end up, so high that it was almost unpleasant with all the distortions and crackling from the cheap sensor, and he tried to work out what she was saying.

“… Trust Doctor De Luca. I must always keep an open mind and open legs. I trust Doctor De Luca. I obey Doctor De Luca. He knows what’s best for me. I must always keep an open mind and open legs. I trust Doctor De Luca. I obey Doctor De Luca. He knows what’s best for me. I must always keep an open mind and open legs …”

He turned the volume back down. He was going to need some time to process what the hell was going on.

He called Maggie first thing in the morning. She told him that she was busy, but she could see him in the afternoon. It was normally one of the days she took off, and in light of everything he’d seen, he was sure this meant his “good friend” Rob would be paying her a house call.

He called in sick for work, and parked a few streets away from the campus. He set up a stakeout position in the coffee shop on the adjacent street to the accommodation. It gave him a good enough view that he could see anyone coming or going. He forced a smile at the waitress and ordered a croissant. Half an hour later, his patience was rewarded – Rob was heading down towards the apartment.

Keeping a healthy distance, and wearing a beanie + coat ensemble, he shadowed him to the front entrance. He crouched down behind a small car, and some other passers-by gave him a strange look. As long as Rob didn’t see him, he didn’t really care. Being short may have been a deficit for dating apps, but it was helpful for stealth.

Roberto knocked on the front entrance, and shortly thereafter was greeted by Maggie. What’s he doing to you? Austin wondered. She’d been chanting a mantra while fucking herself with a dildo. She’d been listening to something from her phone while she did it. He’d come across things online before. Purported brainwashing videos promising to turn people gay, assist in “gooning” (whatever the hell that was) or deliver a hands free orgasm. It just seemed like fetish quackery. That little voice at the back of his mind told him that it seemed far fetched – that hypnosis didn’t work that way, that mind control wasn’t real. More than anything, though, he wanted to believe it. If it was real, if it did work that way, then she was a victim here as much as he was. The first girl he’d ever dated, the one that seemed so perfect hadn’t betrayed him, after all.

Rob was admitted into the apartment. Getting the live feed up on his phone, he couldn’t hear anything from that side yet. He broke cover and approached the entrance. The window on the street side gave him a peek into the kitchen, where they seemed to be chatting away. He kept out of sight and waited for a minute. When he poked his head up, they were gone. He moved around to see if they were visible from anywhere else outside, but it was no good. Deciding he wanted a cleaner view, he fished his laptop out of his satchel and pulled up the livestream there. He could see the corner of Maggie, sitting on the end of the bed. He wished he could adjust the angle, but fortunately, the two of them moved further into view. Maggie stared up at Rob, whose torso was visible but not his face. He held out something – a handheld device of some kind, and the lights on front of it started blinking. The camera wasn’t capturing it very well, and it was causing some havoc with the real time streaming compression. He’d kept the bitrate constrained to avoid noticeably degrading her home network, but every time it flashed, the sudden adjustment in luminance turned the image into a soup of pixels. He frantically opened up the connection to his home server, found the relevant settings and increased the bitrate. He swapped back to the other window, and it was now a much cleaner picture.

He put in his headphones and turned the volume up. Thankfully, he was speaking a lot louder than she was the previous night.

“Deeper and deeper. Allow yourself to relax,” said Rob.

“Deeper and deeper…” said Maggie.

“So deep for me. You’re so good at this now. And you don’t resist anymore, because it feels so good, and you know how helpful these meditation sessions have been. Don’t you love them?”

“Yes, I love relaxing for you,” she replied.

“Have you been keeping up with your homework, Ms. Wong?”

She moaned slightly.

“Yes, Doctor De Luca, I have.”

“I’m pleased to hear it,” he said. “Now, keep looking into the lights. Today, we’re going to move onto something a little more advanced. Are you ready to take the next step for me?”

“Oh Yes Doctor. Yes, my mind and my legs are open.”

“As you use the toys on yourself today, you’re going to stick one finger – just one – inside your ass. I take it you’ve still got some lube?”

“Yes Doctor… Plenty… but why?”

“It’s very simple, Ms. Wong. Studies have shown that anal stimulation is one of the most effective ways to relax. And you do want to relax, don’t you?

“Yes Doctor… I want to relax.”

“And you do want to obey, don’t you?”

“Yes Doctor… I will obey… You know what’s best for me…”

“Good, good,” he said. “You’re going to bring yourself to orgasm like this, with the toy in your pussy and a finger in your ass. You’re going to do it five times. And each time, you’ll sink deeper and deeper for me. Each time, you’ll find it easier and easier to cum. You’re becoming more and more sensitive, especially when your arsehole is being played with.”

“Yes Doctor… more and more sensitive… easier and easier… deeper and deeper…”

She began to do exactly as he asked. Austin couldn’t believe that he was still watching it instead of acting. But what could he do? Kick the door down? He rationalised his inaction as needing more evidence. In truth, he was scared. He needed to involve the police – or at least somebody a lot more physically imposing than himself. He watched for another two minutes as she fingered her arsehole and fucked herself silly, all the while that motherfucker just kept standing there verbally encouraging her. Maggie moaned and announced her first orgasm.

He finally reached a breaking point. He couldn’t let this violation go on. He couldn’t keep letting someone he once considered his closest friend cuckold him. He had to make it stop. He closed his laptop, stuffed it into his bag, stood up and marched to the door. He smashed the doorbell with his fist several times.

At first, nobody answered. He rang the doorbell again. thirty agonising seconds passed. Maggie opened the door for him. She looked dishevelled, just like she had the other day.

“Austin?” she said, sounding dazed. “I thought we weren’t meeting up until this afternoon. What time is it?” She let out a big yawn.

He looked over past her and didn’t see any signs of Rob. That suited him just fine.

“Babe, that isn’t important, but I need you to come with me to the car.”

“What?”

“I’m serious. I can’t tell you why right now, but this is really, really important. Please.”

“I’ve got stuff to do… I’m really busy right now…”

He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out the door. She started objecting, and twisted herself out of his grip.

“What the hell has gotten into you?”

“Ugh, OK fine. Let’s go inside then.”

“No I… I need to be… alone… it’s very important. I have to finish some things here. Alone. You need to leave.”

“No I don’t mind waiting darling, I’ll just play on my phone while you to finish doing whatever that is. I’ll wait in the bedroom, I think,” he said in a very loud voice. “I’m going to the bedroom,” he repeated, almost in a shout.

“No, you can’t,” she said. “Come back later. Please!”

He heard sounds coming from inside.

“Fine,” he whispered to her. But I’ll be waiting in my car,” he said. She shut the door.

He was pretty sure he’d scared Rob off for now. He scrubbed through the laptop footage back in the cafe, and sure enough, he’d gone out the window while he was at the front door shouting into the apartment. She returned to the room as she was instructed, but there was no hypnotist waiting for her.

Maggie was crying.

That evening, he’d brought around his laptop, and told her everything about what was going on. At first she didn’t believe it. Then he showed her the footage. She was furious he’d been spying on her, but when she realised that what he was saying was true, she broke down completely. He awkwardly put an arm around her, and then she embraced him, crying into his arms.

A few minutes later, she started composing herself.

“I think we have to go to the police, Maggie. This has to be exposed,” he said.

“Will they even believe us?” she replied.

“I’ve found a few sexual assault cases where a hypnotists was taking advantage of clients. I think considering all the footage we’ve got, with your testimony and mine, there is a case here.”

She looked him in the eyes.

“Thank you, Austin. I- I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t found out. What already has happened to me. God, I don’t remember. I don’t remember any of it!”

“I can’t believe it either. He was my friend, and he seemed so… normal. Well adjusted. I was always the weird one.”

That was always what people said in serial killer documentaries, it occurred to him. I never would have believed it, he was such a lovely boy!

“I don’t know if I have it in me today. I agree we have to tell somebody, but I need some time. Maybe we can try tomorrow, OK?”

Austin passed another tissue to her and wrapped his arms around her again. They stood and hugged in silence.

Time he was happy to offer her. There was something he needed – closure.

The cafe was as good a place to meet as any. It was close, there were always people around and he could shout if anything suspicious was going on.

Austin waited with a coffee anxiously. He’d asked Roberto to meet him here, and he had no idea whether he’d do that or just flee to the nearest airport. Much to his relief, his former friend walked in the door. He made the universal gesture of “I have nothing in my hands”, then took the seat beside him on the bench. For a few long moments, nobody spoke.

“So, you figured it out,” said Rob, finally.

“Yeah.” Austin took a sip. “I know exactly what you’ve been doing to her.”

“So, what happens now?”

“Tomorrow, we’re going to turn you in to the police. I’m going to turn over the recordings I’ve made, and I assume after a trial you’ll be sent to prison. Maybe some government guys will whisk you off before that, who knows.”

“Not exactly the ending to our friendship I’d had in mind. But I guess I can understand. I suppose you felt too guilty keeping things going like they were.”

“Keeping – what? I was obviously not going to let you keep brainwashing and fucking my girlfriend!”

Roberto looked over his shoulder to see if anybody else had noticed the sudden increase in volume, but it seems like the coast was clear.

“Austin, you’re a really smart guy, but I think you’ve misunderstood the situation quite severely.”

“I understand just fine.”

“No, you don’t. I have not been having sex with Maggie.”

“What, you’re just recreationally hypnotising her? You expect me to believe that all that was above board? I’m not an idiot, I have it on camera.”

“Dude, I have been doing all of that for you.”

The sentence hung in the air.

“How many dates have I set you up on over the years where you flamed out completely? How long were you on Tinder and Bumble and god knows where else, and all you had to show for it was a handful of one-off dates?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Austin, man, I love you, but you have zero charm. We all tried for years and everyone except me gave up on you ever finding somebody.”

“Wait, so you’re saying…”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I met Maggie at an event on campus. She was super interested in my research. She loved the idea of being hypnotised. She was an extremely good subject, and I have this fancy new device that’s very effective at bringing people into trance. My head lights up – you know what? She’s cute, she’s the kind of girl you like. So I did what I had to. I made sure she’d be into you.”

“Jesus Christ,” said Austin. Now it was his turn to look around.

“Yeah, I know.”

It was a gut punch. He didn’t want to believe it.

“So why were you there yesterday? Why did you keep seeing her?”

“To make sure it stuck. My dude, it was hard enough to get her to agree to go out on a date with you in the first place. Your profile pics are bad. And your dating performance leaves something to be desired.”

“What?” said Austin.

“She told me you spent half of your first date talking about 737 Max disasters and you somehow didn’t notice that she was falling asleep. You barely asked her anything about herself. She was absolutely not going to message you for a second date until I stepped in to patch that up.”

His head was swimming. How could he have been so blind? Nobody was ever going to love him. He was beyond help.

“So,” continued Rob, “Since you don’t seem to let her get a word in edgeways, I’ve been getting her to open up to some of your interests instead. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get her into trains, but Lego and major disasters, maybe. And god, after you started having sex, I helped fix that up too.”

“What? Our sex life is great!” said Austin.

“Yeah, thanks to me it is. She’s always had trouble achieving orgasms, and you aren’t exactly a pornstar, in terms of skills or size, no offence. I’ve been working on making it easier for her to achieve climax and opening her up to new experiences to keep her from getting too bored.”

Austin sank into his drink. He wanted to die. But everything was starting to make a twisted sort of sense. Things she’d said or done. The way she behaved. The fact that someone like her was dating him at all.

“Open mind, open legs,” he said dejectedly.

“Just so,” said Roberto. “Look, I don’t expect you to believe everything all at once. But I’ve got some of the early sessions recorded. I can prove this all to you.”

Austin drained the rest of the drink and was silent for a moment as he thought.

“If you go away, this is all going to unravel, isn’t it?”

“Probably, unless you find a magic potion that turns you into one of the lesser Hemsworths,” said Roberto. “She’ll want to see a professional to help undo all of my hard work, and it doesn’t seem like she’s going to stick around with the person who she was only dating because she was brainwashed into it.”

Austin sighed deeply.

“You know, you could just not turn me in. We can go back to the way things were,” continued Rob. “You seemed happy. Happier than you’ve been in a long time. And that’s what I wanted for you. For both of you!”

He couldn’t deny that there was an appeal to the idea. He didn’t want to lose her. He’d fantasied about marrying her some day, about having a family. But it just wasn’t right. Even if this was all true, and Roberto had done it for his benefit, there was no way he could let him control her any longer.

“I’m sorry, Roberto. But the answer is no. Things can’t go back to how they were.”

Maggie awaited him inside the house. When he walked through the door, she went straight in for a hug.

“Are you OK? How did it go? Did you find more evidence?”

Austin nodded.

“Grace was helpful enough. She let me into the lab. There were a bunch of recordings on the computers, they weren’t even protected. And I found this, too,” he said, pulling out a small device with a pistol grip.

It could have passed for a ray gun in a 50’s alien invasion film.

“What is it?”

“You don’t recognise it? It’s what he was using to induce you into a trance state.”

She looked at it and ran her hands along it.

“No, I don’t remember it at all. And that frightens me. God, I’m not even sure if we should turn something like that over to the police.”

Austin felt terrible for everything she’d been through. The idea that somebody could take control of you like that, transform you into their puppet, change and warp you then make you forget – it was the stuff of nightmares.

Which is why he felt especially bad about what he was about to do.

“I think you’re right about that,” he said, then raised the device to eye level.

“Austin? What ar-” said Maggie, before she was cut off by the strobing, colourful lights.

“I’m sorry, Maggie. You won’t understand yet, but I’m going to help you to. I just can’t let you go.”

Her jaw slackened, and her eyes became fixated. She started to fall backwards. He steadied her with one arm, then led her to the sofa. A fleck of drool fell out of her mouth.

“Can you hear me, Maggie?”

“Yes… I can hear you.”

“Good. You feel safe now that I’m here with you. Doctor De Luca won’t be hypnotising you any more.”

“Yes… Safe…”

He didn’t lie. He’d studied some of the recordings. Rob had helped to explain how the process worked in great detail.

“Now, in this wonderful, relaxed state, I’m going to help make some changes. You like being in this state, don’t you?”

“Yes…”

It was going to be a long night.

One Year Later

“I do,” said Maggie.

“Very well,” said the celebrant. “You may now kiss the bride.”

The two embraced passionately. The guests applauded. After the kiss ended, Austin turned to look at Roberto, standing beside him, and mouthed a silent “thank you”. His best man smiled back at him. The board game crew made up the rest of his groomsmen, while Maggie’s younger sister and some long time friends stood opposite them.

After the reception, Maggie excitedly paced behind him on the way to the hotel suite. They’d both kept the drinking to a minimum. They wanted their heads to be crystal clear. Austin unlocked the door and left it ajar, then smiled at his new bride.

“Shall I carry you through, Maggie Clark née Wong?”

“Oh, please do, Austin Clark née Clark,” she replied.

He lifted her up and took a moment to gaze into her beautiful brown eyes. Neither of them could seem to stop smiling.

He took a step forward. As he crossed the threshold with her in his arms, all expression suddenly drained out of her face.

“My mind is open,” she said. “I will obey.”

He was fully erect.

“I used to find it weird, but now I think it’s so hot when you get triggered. Maggie, tell me – who will you obey?”

“I must obey Austin Clark, MSc. He knows what’s best for me.”

“Just so,” he replied.

He took her over and laid her down on the bed.

“I think I want raw passion tonight. It’s appropriate for the occasion. You can’t remember how to speak. You’re just an animal. You only know that you want to fuck me to within an inch of my life. Nod if you understand.”

His petite bride nodded. He snapped his fingers.

She jumped on top of him and tackled him to the floor as she clawed at their clothes. She got the bottom of her dress off – it was one of those modern ones that separated easily – and stripped just enough of him off to get to his cock. She jerked him until she was sure he couldn’t get any harder, then made guttural noises as she mounted his cock and rode him to her first orgasm.

He started fighting back, and subdued her. She snarled at him as he took her back up to the bed and pushed her down. He pounded her from behind, and she started playing with her anus. These days, that was so ingrained it was quite difficult to stop her – not that he wanted to. She soon upgraded to two fingers, and looked up at him invitingly. He decided to oblige her.

Not that her pussy was loose, but her arse was divine. He had to slow himself down. The last year had seen him having almost daily sex with his insatiable, brainwashed girlfriend. Who could say if it was his own skills improving or the constant conditioning he put her through, but she now enjoyed their sex even more than he did. She screamed another orgasm, this time even bigger.

He pulled out and rolled her onto her back. She was walking a fine line between playing the aggressive animal and living the core truth that she loved every second of what he was doing to her. He pulled her face towards his cock. She gave him a smouldering look and licked her lips. She didn’t need explicit instructions. She began throating his cock like a porn star possessed by a succubus. It was the oral equivalent of topping from the bottom. She gripped his legs and was bouncing up and down, doing her best to suppress her gag reflex. It didn’t take long before he came down her throat. She swallowed every drop.

They collapsed onto the bed next to each other. He snapped his fingers and returned her to normal. As they sat gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes, he thought back to the start of all of this. He thought of all the feelings of betrayal and loathing. Of how happy they both were now. Of how beautiful she was. He looked over at the bag where he kept the trance inducer.

“What are you thinking about, my darling husband?” Maggie said.

“Oh. Not much.”

“I know that look,” she said, smiling even wider. “Something’s on your mind.”

“Hmm, I was just wondering if suggestibility ran in families.”

“What do you mean?”

He thought about where the bridal party were staying nearby and wondered if Roberto was still up. Maggie’s sister had looked ever so fetching in that bridesmaids dress. It was going to be a very memorable honeymoon.