At first Paul had felt a little guilty about hypnotizing his girlfriend Mary. It wasn’t like he was doing anything wrong since they’d been dating for four months by then, and she was already willingly sleeping with him. It was simply a fun way for him to live out his fantasies with her. Watching her hazel eyes go blank at just a word. How confused Mary would get when she would suddenly begin to strip in the apartment, or that adorably embarrassed face she made whenever they were walking down the street and she was suddenly overcome with the unbearable urge to fuck him. Hypnosis had brought out so many fun possibilities for their relationship.
    There was the little matter of Mary not remembering any of that fun, but Paul made sure that Mary was happy with everything else in life, so he assumed that it would all even out somehow. Mary was the epitome of a girl who loved drama. Everywhere she went Mary was eager to spread gossip about coworkers and friends, even when she knew it wasn’t true, and if those rumors led to a huge fight then that only made Mary happier. Something about her personality thrived on anxiety and stress, and it made it impossible for her to date anyone without driving them away.
    Which is why Mary’s friends were amazed that she and Paul were still together. It was all thanks to the fact that she was programmed, of course. She was still free to start arguments, which she did regularly, and Paul was free to use her trigger word and put her into trance. He would ask her if the thing she wanted to fight over was really important to her, and most of the time Mary admitted that it wasn’t. The times when Mary really did have a valid point to bring up, Paul would calmly listen while Mary made her case, pausing between words to suck on his cock.
    Perhaps it was a little childish to make his girlfriend blow him while he was being scolded, but surprisingly enough Paul found himself whole heartedly agreeing with Mary by the end. If anything he helped Mary to be more convincing then she would have been just yelling.
    Even though it was an unusual arrangement, both Paul and Mary were happy with where they were in life. Right now he was driving over to her house to, as she put it, ‘save her from her bitch of a sister.’ Paul hadn’t met Ruth yet, who was going to a University a couple of states away, but from everything Mary told her she was a holy terror to live with. Of course, that’s the kind of thing Mary said about the mailman who was deliberately going through her mail and making sure that all of the bills came at once just to spite her.
    Mary was drop dead sexy but she really was too much sometimes.
    “I’m telling you, my sister’s insane,” Mary went on, the phone call coming over the car radio. “She’s been back for one day and already she’s trying to take over the house. I’m almost certain she went snooping in my room, too.”
    “I’m sure you’re just—” Paul stopped himself from saying paranoid, wanting to avoid a fight. “Getting used to having her back in the house. Usually you have the place to yourself.”
    “I know. But I’m serious, you have to watch out for her. You’ll see what I’m saying. Ruth will probably even try to seduce you somehow.”
    “I highly doubt your sister would bother trying to seduce me,” Paul chuckled. He was lucky enough to get Mary to date him, and it wasn’t like women were throwing themselves at his feet all his life.
    “Hey, Mr. No Confidence. You’re dating me, and I’m hot as hell. Which means you’re definitely a catch, and therefore definitely seducible.”
    “One, that’s not a real word. And two, I like how you trying to cheer me up was a low key way for you to praise yourself.”
    “Am I wrong though?”
    Paul sighed. “No, you’re not wrong. Thanks Mary. I’ll be sure to be on guard against your succubus of a sister.”
    “She’s really tricky,” Mary warned from the phone. “And a slut too. I have so many stories to tell you about all of the guys I heard she was hooking up with.” He heard her moving the phone closer, whispering excitedly. “And girls too,” she hissed.
    “Well I’m pulling up now so I’ll see for myself.”
    “Alright, the front door’s open,” Mary said as she hung up the call. By the time Paul pulled his car up to the curb he was shaking his head. He really needed to hypnotize Mary and sit her down for a long talk about not judging people. So far he’d tried to keep his changes from altering who she was as a person, but overall Mary really was too paranoid about people sometimes.
    Paul picked up the large bouquet of violets from the passenger seat, wearing a happy grin. The flowers were a secret code that he’d set up a month ago and so far it had quickly become one of his favorites. Depending on the type of flower he brought her, Mary would react in different preprogrammed ways. Roses were obviously meant to put her in the mood, that seemed like an obvious one. While yellow flowers made her burst out into song, something she rarely did since she hated her voice, but Paul loved it. White flowers were a special one he’d tried out last week, when he’d installed the one for purple flowers as well.
    Even before the hypnosis Mary was more on the submissive side during sex, so being curious, Paul told her that whenever he gave her a white flower she’d shift into dominant mode. Being the one given orders wasn’t something Paul was really into, but he had to admit that the results were amazing. He’d surprised her in the bedroom with white flowers, and the second she saw them Mary’s entire demeanor changed. Her eyes had locked onto him as she laid out on the bed, ordering Paul to strip for her with all the confidence in the world. It was exciting, seeing the way Mary was licking her lips and gazing at him like a piece of meat she wanted to devour. He didn’t have any idea what to expect and was honestly a little frightened, when Mary suddenly rolled onto her back and hung her head over the side, grinning.
    “Come over here and face-fuck me,” Mary commanded, and Paul happily obliged.
    It was a fun night to be sure, though he was used to giving the orders, but turns out being dominated by a gorgeous brunette was just as satisfying. He’d debated on bringing more white flowers tonight, but thought against any sex triggers since Ruth would be in the house with them. Instead he had brought the purple flowers, a more modest effect, which just made Mary instantly strip off her panties and hand them over with a smile.
    Already smiling in anticipation of the little bit of harmless fun, Paul walked through the front door and was surprised to see Mary already in the kitchen, her curly brown hair tied up in a ponytail. Paul studied the freckles running down her neck approvingly. She hardly ever wore her hair up like that, but Paul was certainly going to recommend it more.
    “Hey Mary, looking good,” Paul said, and Mary actually jumped in surprise. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” he teased.
    “You didn’t scare me,” Mary replied with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, something she always did when she was flustered. “You just caught me off guard.”
    “Then let me make it up to you.” Paul checked to make sure that Mary’s sister was nowhere around. It certainly would make things uncomfortable if anyone saw Mary responding to a trigger, but luckily it seemed like he and Mary were the only ones downstairs. Confident that the coast was clear, Paul produced the bouquet of violets from behind his back, much to Mary’s delight. He grinned wide as she happily accepted them, then waited for the fun follow up.
    “Aw, they’re beautiful sweetie, thank you.” Mary flashed a winning smile. And nothing else.
    Paul waited, his smile straining. “Are you forgetting something, Mary?”
    Mary froze, concern flashing in her eyes. Then her typical bright smile returned and she leaned in, kissing him on the lips.
    Paul’s smile faded completely now and that made Mary nervous. Wringing her ring finger in one hand, she asked, “Did— Did I do something wrong?”
    “No, it’s my fault,” Paul said reassuringly. “It was pretty new after all.”
    She looked at him confused, and confusion gave way to bewilderment as Paul casually reached out and placed his thumb on her forehead.
    “Go ahead and go into trance for me, Mary.”
    Mary’s mouth dropped open as she stared at him blankly.
    “Good girl, just let yourself go completely. Nice and deep now, back into trance.”
    She let out a sigh and relaxed, her eyes nearly closing.
    “Are you in trance for me, pet?”
    “Yes,” Mary answered, her voice low. Something pricked at the back of Paul’s neck, some worry that her voice sounded off, but this was just a quick reminder so he didn’t see the harm there.
    “Is your sister anywhere that she can hear us?” Just a formality to ask, since Mary had been programmed not to go into trance if she knew anyone else might overhear.
    “She’s upstairs. She can’t hear us.” The corner of Mary’s lip twitched, like she was suppressing a smile. Paul just chalked that up to the tension of going into trance while the threat of her sister loomed just a floor away. Even if Mary didn’t consciously know anything about the hypnosis, Paul had made sure that her subconscious looked out for her safety.
    “Mary, I want you to remember the hypnotic trigger I gave you earlier. Whenever I present you with a purple flower, you’ll strip off your panties and give them to me, without questioning at all why you did it. Understand?”
    Mary’s lips twitched again, but she let out a sleepy sigh and answered, “Yes.”
    “Good girl,” Paul replied as he took the flowers back from her, watching as Mary’s hands fell limp to her sides. “Forget about receiving the flowers and forget this trance completely. You’ll count to three and wake, unaware that anything else has happened.”
    Mary nodded, her ponytail bouncing, and then she stretched out her arms and took a deep breath. She flashed open her eyes and gave Paul a dazzling smile. “Sorry, lost my train of thought there.”
    “It happens,” Paul said knowingly, handing over the purple flowers. This time as Mary took them she gave a small shiver, and clutching the bouquet against her chest she let her other hand reach down. Luckily she was wearing a short green dress, something new and decidedly cute on her, so she had no problems hooking her thumb into the elastic band of her panties to slide them down. Sometimes it was fun watching Mary strip out of a pair jeans, but Paul was glad she was able to take her underwear off quickly. Wouldn’t want her sister Ruth to walk in on such embarrassing sight. Not only would it be tricky to explain to Ruth, it would be even harder to explain to Mary why she’d just stripped off her underwear.
    With a proud smile Mary straightened up, holding out a lacy black thong. Paul accepted it happily, running his fingers over the material. “A new pair? I like em, very sexy.”
    “Thank you, honey,” Mary said sweetly. “I’m glad you approve,”
    She batted her eyes, and Paul noticed they looked darker than usual, some new kind of makeup. Did Mary get a whole new look for her sister’s visit? More likely she’s trying to show her sister up, which made sense.
    Paul was knocked out of his thoughts when a hand landed gently on his crotch, wrapping itself around the outline of his erection. Mary made one long, teasing stroke and Paul let out a whine. There wasn’t likely to be enough time for a hand job with her sister around, so Paul let himself enjoy the cruel, wonderful touch while he kept running his fingers over the the lacy material of the panties.
    “You’re never usually this much of a tease,” he said, clearing his throat nervously. Mary only kept the same sultry grin, stroking his cock a little faster now, working him up.
    “Do you want me to stop?”
    “Hell no,” he grunted, leaning back against the wall for support as Mary continued to jerk him off through his pants. “But you better make it up to me by blowing me under the table at the restaurant.”
    Mary let out a theatrical gasp and put a hand to her chest in shock. Thankfully not the one rubbing slowly over his dick.
    “Just what kind of a woman do you think I am? There’s no way I’d ever do something as shameful as that.” There was something in Mary’s voice, like she was challenging him playfully. It stoked Paul’s libido and brought it roaring up to the surface. He’d meant it as a joke, but now he wanted that under the table blow job more than anything.
    “Oh, I have ways of convincing you.” Paul grinned, and Mary grinned back.
    “I bet you do,” she said, squeezing his cock. 
    Weird, Paul thought. She’s smiling like she’s in on the joke.
    Paul reached out and kissed her as Mary squeezed his cock tight, making him groan against her lips. He was just at the point of saying fuck it, who cares if the sister’s home, when they heard a door slam upstairs.
    They both let out disappointed whines, and Paul stuffed Mary’s panties into his pocket. Only Mary kept stroking his cock, even as footsteps started moving towards the stairs.
    “Easy Mary. We’ll be in trouble if your sister catches us like this.”
    “You don’t know the half of it,” she said with a strange, dark chuckle that Paul had never heard Mary make before.
    That’s when he heard someone calling down from upstairs. Calling for him in what was unmistakably Mary’s voice.
    “Is that you, Paul? I’ll be right down!”
    Paul went pale. His eyes slowly focused back to the Mary he’d given the flowers to and found her wearing a toothy grin, almost like a wolf’s smile. An expression he’d never seen on Mary’s face before.
    “So your name’s Paul,” she said casually, bringing the flowers up to her nose to smell them. Her other hand kept it’s tight grip against his cock. “I was wondering what Mary’s new boyfriend’s name was. She refused to tell me, as if me knowing your name would be enough to steal you away.”
    Still fighting the vertigo that struck him as he stared at this perfect copy of his girlfriend,  Paul forced himself to try and get his racing heart under control. Weakly, he asked the question. “Ruth?”
    “A pleasure to meet you,” Ruth said with that same dangerous grin. “I’m guessing Mary didn’t warn you that we’re identical twins, huh?”
    Paul shook his head as cold panic washed over him. Oh god, Ruth had kissed him. He had her panties in his pocket. She was still jerking him off! Paul shoved her away, harder than he’d meant to, but Ruth didn’t seem to mind. Even as she stumbled back she still had that wide smile on her face. Then the worst realization of all finally hit him. He’d just hypnotized Ruth with a trigger she didn’t have.
    “So that whole hypnosis thing you tried on me seemed pretty fun.” Ruth giggled, and though it was nearly identical to Mary’s sweet laugh it sounded sinister coming from Ruth. “I’m guessing you do that to my sister a lot if you’ve mind fucked her into handing over her panties for flowers.”
    Realizing that he had the wrong sister’s panties in his pocket, Paul numbly pulled the thong out and held them out to Ruth, as if that would fix anything. Ruth just laughed.
    “Oh no, you keep those, big boy. Consider them a present.” She winked at him, before putting the purple flowers aside on the counter. Hands resting on her hips, Ruth fixed her eyes on him. “I bet you have other fun things you do to Mary too. I don’t know a lot about hypnosis, but I can come up with plenty of ways to use someone for fun.”
    Paul flinched back as Ruth licked her lips.
    “The only question I have, Paul, and this is an important one, is if Mary knows about all this hypnosis stuff too.”
    The terror on his face must have been obvious as Ruth cackled with laughter. Paul heard Mary’s footsteps coming down the stairs and quickly shoved Ruth’s panties into his pocket, desperate for someplace to hide them. He grabbed Ruth by the shoulders, tight.
    “Please don’t tell her, it’s not what you think. I swear I’m not taking advantage of her or anything.”
    “Hey, I don’t care what you do to her,” Ruth said with a shrug. “But it sounds to me like you’d be in a lot of trouble if I did choose to tell her.”
    “Please,” Paul begged again, only to see that ravenous, toothy grin return to Ruth’s face.
    “Guess that means you better stay on my nice side then, Paul. Wouldn’t want to make me mad, now would you?”
    Paul felt his strength vanish, and was all too aware of how painfully hard his cock was against his pants. Was she going to blackmail him? What did she want, money? He was desperately trying to size up what his bank account was like when Mary bounded down the stairs, showing off her sexy black and red dress with a flourish.
    “So what do you think, Paul?” She cocked a hand on her hip and posed, and even in his shocked state Paul saw what a knockout she was. Mary had gone all out with herself for date night, and it was clear she had been hoping to take Paul by surprise. Only Paul was too terrified of what Ruth might say that he couldn’t bring himself to do anything.
    Mary’s enthusiasm started to sizzle out, her eyes narrowing. She seemed to notice Ruth for the first time, also done up with make up and the green dress that Paul had thought looked so great on her. On Mary, not Ruth.
    Paul couldn’t escape the déjà vu swallowing him up as there were two versions of his girlfriend in the room, perfect doubles of each other physically, and yet polar opposites in personality. Mary, dressed in crimson and glaring angrily at her double, while Ruth kept that toothy grin as she turned and swished her green dress, acting innocent. And there was Paul trapped between them, unable to say anything.
    Mary focused her attention on Ruth, marching up to her sister. “You seem pretty dressed up,” she snapped, clearly pissed that her sister was trying to look as good as her.
    “Oh, I just threw this on a minute ago,” Ruth said dismissively. “I figured I may as well try to dress up too since Paul here so graciously invited me to go on date night with you both.”
    Paul gulped as he watched Mary turn to him, murder in her eyes. “He did, did he?”
    “Yes, he was quite insistent.” Ruth stepped back a few feet, clearly excited for the fight she’d just ignited. Paul didn’t have time to worry about her, though, with Mary about to go nuclear on him. He held up his hands and was going to plead innocent, when he noticed Ruth mouthing the words ‘I’ll. Tell. Her.’
    Shit. No choice now.
    “I just felt bad leaving your sister behind,” he said carefully. “I mean, I’ve never met your sister before and— and I thought you two would enjoy having time to talk to.”
    Mary looked at him like he was the biggest idiot on the planet. He certainly felt the part at that moment.
    “Paul. I told you how much I was looking forward to having some alone time.” She stabbed him in the chest with her finger to emphasize the last two words. Mary had made it clear how she felt about her sister, but he had to find a way to make this work or Ruth would expose how he’s been hypnotizing her. And however mad Mary would be over her sister crashing dinner, it would be nothing compared to her apocalyptic anger over learning about being hypnotized.
    Seeing no choice left, Paul reached out and cupped Mary’s chin, looking purposefully into her eyes. Before she could say anything, Paul spoke in a firm, commanding voice. “Mary Herschberg, you will politely ask your sister to join us for dinner.” She froze, eyes glassing over as his words sunk into her mind. Before she recovered, he quickly added, “And you will be as friendly and courteous to her as she is to you.” He threw Ruth a meaningful look, making sure she noted what he said. If she was nice, Mary would be nice, but if she started being a problem then Mary would respond in kind. It wouldn’t do anything to stop Ruth from blackmailing him, but hopefully it would make dinner go by easy enough. At least until he figured out what Ruth wanted from him.
    “Do you understand, Mary?”
    “Yes,” Mary replied in a weak voice, remaining open to his words for as long as he held her chin.
    “Good. You have full permission to scream and rage at me when we’re alone later tonight.” Mary nodded and Paul sighed. He could’ve tried to rationalize things in Mary’s mind where she wouldn’t be furious with him for inviting the sister, but Paul knew he deserved to be chewed out for putting himself in such a stupid situation. Ruth giggled across the room.
    Paul finally pulled his hand away and Mary straightened up, her curly hair bouncing as she came awake again. His girlfriend threw him a hateful, venomous look, then forced herself to wear a smile as she turned to Ruth.
    “Sorry for being rude before.” It was clearly paining her to say it, but Mary pushed on. “I was just looking forward to spending time with my boyfriend. But you’re more than welcome to join us, Ruth.”
    Mary braced herself, and even Paul wasn’t sure about the expression on Ruth’s face. She had her eyebrows furrowed and was biting her lip, like she wasn’t sure how to respond. Mary was clearly waiting for a hurtful remark, but to her surprise Ruth finally gave a gracious smile.
    “I’d be happy to join you both, Mary. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure you both get time to enjoy yourselves too.”
    Paul noticed Mary blinking in shock. From everything she’d told him about Ruth’s behavior it made sense that Ruth acting nice would catch her off guard. Of course, Paul knew all too well that Ruth was up to something sinister, though he couldn’t warn Mary about that. Usually Mary complained about people in hyperbole, but unfortunately for him it seemed like Ruth was just as evil as Mary had made her seem.
    As if to prove that thought, Ruth suddenly clapped her hands together and smiled brightly. “I forgot to tell you, Mary. Paul got you the most beautiful violets.”
    Mary actually lit up at that. Violets were her favorite. It’s why he’d used them for what he’d wanted to be a commonly used trigger. Now, though, Paul was terrified at the idea of Mary having the flowers.
    “Why don’t you go on and give them to her?” Ruth asked sweetly, pointing to the bouquet of violets on the counter.
    Paul hesitated, but Ruth had her arms on Mary’s shoulders and was leaning in to whisper something, and Paul had no choice but to force himself to walk over to the counter. He grabbed the flowers and saw Mary standing there, smiling expectantly, while Ruth stood next to her, still hugging her shoulders warmly, like a loving sister should. Only she still wore that predator’s grin, eager for the show that she knew was coming.
    Arms heavy as lead, Paul handed over the bouquet, praying that it wouldn’t work. It was still a new trigger, after all. He hadn’t questioned it not working when he’d done it on Ruth, so maybe Mary wouldn’t remember and—
    Mary let out a dreamy sigh as she held the flowers in one arm, her other hand sliding down under her dress. Things moved in slow motion as Paul watched Mary bend her knees and crouch lower, her white panties sliding down into view.
    “Mhm, cute panties, sis,” Ruth giggled, and Mary instantly went rigid. Her eyes snapped angrily to Ruth, then looked down at her panties, now rolled down to her ankles. Confusion set in, as if Mary suddenly realized what she was doing.
    “I… I was just…”
    Mary was faltering, and Ruth shot Paul a look, waving her hand in an encouraging motion.
    “It’s alright, Mary,” he forced himself to say. “Don’t mind that Ruth’s here, you can keep going.”
    Hearing permission made Mary relax, although her face was still bright red as she stepped out of her panties with Ruth watching closely. Humiliated, she snatched up the panties and quickly handed them to Paul, hiding her face from both of them. At least Mary wasn’t having a breakdown over it. To her it was just an embarrassing incident, like people watching a display of public affection.
    “You must have really loved those flowers to thank him like that,” Ruth teased, setting Mary off again as she crossed her arms and stamped her foot.
    “It’s nothing like that,” Mary snapped. “I only gave him my panties because…” All of Mary’s anger vanished as she stared off into space, suddenly realizing that she didn’t have an explanation. Mary turned to Paul and gave him a helpless expression as her eyes kept darting between his face and her own white panties still in his hand.
    Paul wanted to help her, but there was nothing he could say without exposing everything. He snatched a glance at Ruth, who was smiling to herself, and wondered if this was all she was after, just humiliating them both. Mary was questioning herself now because of Ruth’s comment and the only choice he had left was to reveal that he’d been hypnotizing her. Ruth would lose her leverage over him, but he’d lose Mary forever. Was that really all she was after?
    He stood there with his fist in a tight knot, nails digging into his skin, but before he could get the nerve to tell Mary the truth and end all of this, Ruth suddenly surprised them with a delighted laugh.
    “Lighten up, Mary, I’m only teasing.” She gave Mary a reassuring grin. “I mean, obviously you gave Paul your panties. It’s only natural.”
    Mary blinked and didn’t seem to comprehend. “It… it is?”
    “Well yeah. If your boyfriend gives you purple flowers you hand him your panties. Everyone knows that. It’s common courtesy, duh.”
    Paul’s jaw actually dropped as he stared at Ruth with disbelief. There was no chance in hell that Mary was going to fall for that. And yet, incredibly, Mary’s fear was vanishing by degrees and replaced with budding hope.
    “I guess… if that’s normal… then it’s fine.” She furrowed her brows. “But I don’t remember…”
    “Don’t think about it too much, sis,” Ruth said. She threw an arm around Mary’s shoulder’s and Mary instinctively flinched, but it was clear that she still desperately wanted to believe what Ruth was saying. Any explanation was better than believing that she had suddenly handed her panties over like some kind of freak.
    “Is it really normal?”
    “But of course,” Ruth assured her, and Mary let out a relieved sigh.
    “I guess I was just a little self conscious about it,” Mary muttered and rolled her eyes in embarrassment, and Paul was amazed that she’d really bought it. Ruth may have been cruel putting him into this spot, but at least she had kept Mary from freaking out. His hopes that things would work out between them were ruined, however, when he watched Ruth put on a guilty face. 
    “I wasn’t going to tell you, since I was afraid you’d be upset at Paul, but I actually handed my panties to Paul too.”
    “What?” Mary shouted as she turned to Ruth, hellfire burning in her eyes.  Then Paul felt ice water wash over him as Mary glared his way.
    Ruth held her hands up in apology. “Hey, he handed me purple flowers, and I was just being polite.”
    Mary seemed to wilt at that. She’d needed to accept that was a real custom, but…
    She snapped her attention back to Ruth. “It’s only polite to hand over your panties if it’s YOUR boyfriend!”
    In another situation Paul might have found it ridiculous to watch Mary argue about the particulars of this imaginary rule, mustering all the conviction she had behind it.
    Ruth put a hand over her mouth and flinched back, as if she were the victim here. “He surprised me with the flowers and I panicked! I was so nervous meeting your boyfriend for the first time that I didn’t want to make a bad impression.” Ruth flashed her tearful eyes at Paul. “He knew what purple flowers meant but he handed them to me anyway.”
    Mary watched her twin sister suspiciously, and Paul hoped that she knew Ruth well enough to see through the innocent act she was putting on. Sadly for him, Mary must have still been shaken by her doubt earlier, because she rounded back on Paul.
    “How could you give my sister purple flowers like that, Paul? Did you want her panties?”
    “I…” Paul looked for help but only saw Ruth standing behind Mary, laughing silently at him. “I thought she was you.”
    “And did you give the panties back when you found out she was my sister?”
    Paul gulped, realizing he still had Ruth’s black thong in his pocket.
    “Well, there wasn’t time for…”
    She stomped her foot loudly and held out her hand. Paul dropped his eyes and guiltily pulled the thong out of his pocket, handing Ruth’s underwear over without a word.
    “Paul, I’m really disappointed in you. I’ve almost got half a mind to take my panties back too,” she said, crossing her arms. “But I’ll let you keep them, because at least one of us knows how to respect common courtesy.”
    At this point Paul had given up trying to understand Mary’s logic over the rule and simply said, “I’m sorry.”
    “Good, now let’s hurry up or we’ll miss our reservation.” Mary seemed to hesitate, before turning to Ruth. “And you’re still welcome to come too, if Paul hasn’t scared you off.”
    “I didn’t really mind handing over my panties,” Ruth giggled. “I just wanted to make sure you knew what your boyfriend had done.”
    “Duly noted.” With that Mary grabbed her purse and headed for the door. Paul was glad to get out of the argument in tact, when Ruth suddenly ran up to him and put the bouquet of violets into his hands.
    “Go give the flowers to your girlfriend, you idiot. Are you just going to let her go angry like this?”
    Paul was taken back. What kind of game Ruth was playing? She’d just caused this whole argument with Mary and made him take the blame for it, but now she was helping him make up to her? Part of him wondered if Ruth actually cared about Mary, even if she was messing with the both of them for her own amusement.
    Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Paul took the bouquet and ran after Mary, catching her before she made it to the door. She glared at him, but her anger softened when she saw the violets. They really were her favorite flowers, and he’d made sure to get the most beautiful ones.
    “Mary, I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
    “Oh, Paul,” she whispered happily, taking the violets and smiling at him. She reached out for his hand and Paul took it, only to feel her drop Ruth’s panties into his hand. They both stared at the black thong in his hand as understanding dawned on them both.
    “Paul.” He looked up, noticing the fury in her eyes. “Why did you make me give you back Ruth’s panties?”
    “I wasn’t,” he stammered, tossing them onto a desk by the door. “I just wanted you to have the flowers, I swear.”
    “Sure,” she growled. Mary reached out and snatched up the panties, shoving them back into his chest. “Here, keep them if you want my sister’s thong that much. It’ll go great with mine.”
    “Mary, I swear—”
    “But I’m keeping these,” Mary cut in, holding up the bouquet of violets and waving them hard enough to send purple petals fluttering to the floor. “Wouldn’t want you handing them out to get any other cute girl’s underwear too.”
    He wanted to explain that he would never do that. That he never could do that, because the trigger only worked on her. But no matter how angry she was now, Paul knew it was nothing compared to how pissed Mary would be if he revealed all the hypnotic triggers he’d given her. And so he said nothing as Mary stormed out the door and out towards his car to wait for them.
    Just when Paul felt like he couldn’t sink any lower, Ruth hugged him from behind, cackling loudly.
    “Oh my god, you really did it! I was certain you couldn’t be dumb enough to forget about the whole panties rule, but you just went and handed her the flowers!”
    “Haven’t you caused enough trouble?” Paul snapped.
    Ruth flashed her dangerous grin, all blood red lips and bone white teeth. “I’m just getting started with the two of you. I’m betting you’ve got plenty of others fun things you hypnotized her to do, too.”
    Paul said nothing, but he was hurriedly thinking about every trigger and subliminal command he’d given Mary while they’d been dating. It had all been harmless fun, but now all of that conditioning was at Ruth’s command, an arsenal she could use to humiliate them both. 
    “I mean, that thing you did where you held her chin and said her name, and she just did whatever you told her? Fuck, I can see why you find this hypnosis stuff hot.” Ruth kept her arms tight around Paul, and he became uncomfortably aware of how soft and warm her body was. As Paul watched, Ruth plucked her black thong out of his hand and tucked it into his coat pocket, patting it for safe keeping. “I have to confess, watching you control my sister got me so wet.” Ruth licked her lips, pressing herself closer. “Do you want to feel how wet it got me?”
    He assumed she was trying to tease him again, but something in her dark eyes told Paul that she was completely serious. Ruth really would let him do it, and somehow that frightened him more than if she’d been toying with him. She lifted one leg up against him, pressing her crotch against his hip and Paul realized that she had nothing on underneath the thin green dress. He swore he could almost feel her wet pussy through their clothes.
    Paul’s phone chimed in his pocket, and even with this gorgeous woman draped against him, Paul still brought his phone out by force of habit. Which probably saved him, because when he saw Mary’s name he remembered where he was and pushed Ruth aside.
    “It’s Mary, we should probably head to the car.”
    “You’re right,” Ruth sighed. Her hand dropped down to cup his crotch and she smiled when she felt how hard he was. “Wouldn’t want your girlfriend thinking that we were doing anything inappropriate.”
    Then her hand was gone as she sauntered away, and Paul tried to get a grip on himself. He opened Mary’s text.
    EVEN THOUGH I YELLED AT YOU OVER THE PANTIES I KNOW MY SISTER WAS PROBABLY BEHIND EVERYTHING. SHE’S ALWAYS DOING STUFF LIKE THIS TO MESS WITH ME, BUT YOU CAN’T BE DUMB ENOUGH TO FALL FOR ANY OF HER TRAPS.
    Paul gulped. Too late for that.
    YOU DIDN’T HELP BY INVITING HER TO DINNER!!! SO LET’S JUST GET THROUGH THE EVENING QUICK AND THEN WE CAN GET RID OF HER SKANKY ASS.
    It sounded so easy. Mary had been dealing with Ruth’s manipulative nature all her life so she must have known how to deal with her. Only because of Paul’s mistake, he had no choice but to do whatever Ruth wanted. Mary had no clue the power that Ruth had over them now, and even he didn’t know what Ruth was going to do with them now.
    “Come on, handsome,” Ruth called, purse over one shoulder as she held the door open. “I’ve got soooo many ideas for what do during date night. And don’t worry,” Ruth winked, “I’ll make sure you enjoy yourself thoroughly too.”
    Standing there, Ruth looked identical to his girlfriend. Or a version of Mary where she’d been possessed by a succubus ready to devour his soul. Paul shuddered, realizing how hard he still was. This was going to be a hell of a night.