Ines felt, as she drove, as if she had recently gained a completely new clarity on her own life. It was a welcome feeling, not least because she felt much less of a hypocrite as a result.

There were a lot of factors that went into the feeling of hypocrisy, but ultimately they all came from the same thing; people still regarded Ines with the same reverence they had when everything in her life was going right.

As her situation had changed, little by little, she had worked hard not to let the added stress and frustration show, feeling as if it would be admitting failure.

Now, the mask was second nature. Which would be fine - was fine, mostly - except that the team, among others, all still looked at her as if she were the same success she’d always been. And where that had once been a warm feeling in which she could bask, it was now something she’d come to dread.

Now, of course, they had not just a cox but a Cox, and he believed in his team. In the team she had built; that she had once considered her own - as unnatural and wrong an idea as that had been. And then he had told her to deliver them up to him, and while he had had much more to do with the success of that, she had played her part just as she had been directed.

This was a much simpler but, crucially, also a much truer understanding of the world than she had stuck to before. And in that simpler, clearer, truer perspective, she was a success, no question.

But nobody thought she was anything she wasn’t. The team all understood they were not Ines’ team. They belonged to Leo, and they were proud to. It was natural and right to serve the Cox.

When Leo had planted the suggestion in her head that her nipples should be pierced, it had also been important that she not remember it was due to his instruction. She had woken up, instead, with the desire to get her nipples pierced. She had done her own research, found someone, checked reviews.

Leo’s team would benefit from that work. She was simply ferrying them across town to do so. Afterward, she knew, there were other instructions buried in her mind. She didn’t know what they were yet; Leo had said this was because “You’re so much sexier when you’re completely fucking oblivious.”

Just remembering those words, she squirmed in the driver’s seat. It was so hot that he found her sexy. It was so hot that he could make her oblivious.

After she got home last night, when she had privacy, all she’d been able to think about was how hot it had been to carry out his orders so he could hypnotise the team and make them all his. As much as they’d pleasured each other, as much as he’d used them, she still had more desire burning inside her.

She had gone straight to the high-backed chair that was her usual perch in the kitchen, the one closest to the coffee machine, thinking only of how needy and excited she felt.

It had not been a place she went for pleasure before, but she would always associate it now both with desire and submission, because she had sat on that chair with a glass of wine on the evening she had called Leo and lost her will to his hypnotic words.

And as soon as she was sat on it again, her hand found its way back into her pants, her pussy still slick and eager to receive her fingers.

For only the second time in her life, she was trying to imagine those fingers were a cock.

She had arched her back against the chair, one leg lifted up and thrown over the armrest so she could properly spread her legs, all so she could get the angle that she craved. Her fingers weren’t as long or as thick as Leo’s cock, but that actually helped; she was much more used to hands and toys, and for toys she’d never really bought phallic.

It was strange, the things that became issues for a lesbian under male hypnotic control. Strange, but inevitable and backed by ongoing pleasure conditioning.

She had still been fingerfucking herself when he had called her again.

She loved that she only remembered the start and the end of the call. Between the two she had moved from kitchen to bedroom, where she found herself with her face buried in the pillow, her ass in the air and her knees apart, humping backward against… nothing. (But it had not felt like nothing.)

Leo had chuckled and simply said “Well, we’ll speak again tomorrow. You don’t need to know when or why.” Then the phone resting on the pillow next to her head had rung off.

Ines was left with a delicious sense of total helplessness against his control. She hoped at least some of what she’d been primed to do would involve worshipping her friends’ bodies. Unlike Leo’s cock, the tits, pussies, mouths and necks of her teammates, while not exactly familiar territory, caused her no cognitive dissonance.

*

“Oh, I think I know where we are,” Miranda remarked, a couple of turns before Ines found a parking space. There was a side of town with a bunch of ‘alternative’ businesses, catering to goths, emos, punks, fetishists and the other associated freaks and geeks. She didn’t know it well (and had always considered it annoying that this sort of thing was given the respect of being labelled ‘the alternative’ when her own identity as a woman who worked hard at her fitness was treated as a strange curiosity) but the sudden sight of a takeout place she sometimes used had helped centre her mental map.

Ines pulled into the space. “That’s good,” she said. “Because I’m delegating you to oversee this, Miranda.”

She looked across to her - Miranda always called shotgun when she wasn’t driving; her legs needed the room more than most - with an expression that Miranda couldn’t read but which was obviously intended to send a significant message.

“You are?” she asked. Ines never delegated. She took responsibility seriously - too seriously, to the point of being a frequent micromanager. Getting this treatment from one of her superiors in the team was, Miranda discovered, a dizzying experience; her head whirled in a way that was surprisingly pleasant. It carried with it a strange, delicious inevitability; something would happen, because those above her willed it so. They had simply chosen for Miranda to be the instrument making it happen.

“I am.” Ines’ lower lip trembled for a moment. “Because I am to stay in the car.”

Oh. Miranda smiled. This delegation, then, came all the way from their Cox. “I won’t let you down,” she said, and got out of the car. Lucy and Rekha followed suit immediately.

“I thought she was coming with us,” Lucy said.

“I think so did she,” Rekha replied. Lucy shot her an odd look, but Miranda was nodding. It seemed to fit the bill.

“She didn’t remember what Cox had her do to us,” she pointed out. “Not until he’d arranged for her to. He didn’t have to do that, so my bet is he enjoys it.”

Lucy was already nodding. “I thought about that last night,” she said, and then cleared a suddenly dry throat. “All of last night,” she said, blushing deeply.

Miranda grinned, reaching out and patting her shoulder. “I think we all had our minds on the cox last night,” she assured her friend. “I wasn’t thinking about that, but I did spend a lot of time thinking about how hard he got when I was kissing Ines.”

Lucy smiled back at her.

As they walked toward the studio Ines had researched and picked out, Miranda looked expectantly at Rekha. When she realised she was the centre of attention, she blushed, bowing her head away from their gaze. Her curly hair dropped back down in front of her face, screening her embarrassment from view - if only belatedly.

After a moment she said “I’ll never say this again-”

“You will if Cox tells you to,” Miranda returned. She was smiling broadly. Sassing Rekha was always the best.

“Well, he won’t know to unless one of you two rats me out, so I’ll know you did if he does,” Rekha retorted. “But seriously. I’d never say this except that we’re sharing,” the like a good team shares that they all thought remained unspoken, “but I kept thinking about taking your sloppy seconds on rotation.”

“Cox is not my sloppy seconds,” Miranda retorted, oddly defensive of an accusation that cast no shade on her. And yet she had known immediately what Rekha had been talking about, had loved the by-the-numbers station drill that saw the team pleasuring each other in show for him while worshipping his cock with their mouths into the bargain.

Miranda was wet again, and only her Cox or her team could sate her need.

Of course, she couldn’t stop to have that done. Responsibility for a task had been delegated to her.

Just outside the studio’s glass doors, Miranda paused. “Are you two as hot and bothered thinking about what happened yesterday as I am?”

“Oh, fuck yeah,” Lucy exclaimed.

“More so,” Rekha muttered.

The woman behind the counter was wearing a skinny tank top. Intricate designs ran down both arms in ink; a complex collection of animal heads in different styles on her left, most of them brightly coloured, a few smaller interstitial pieces still just stark outlines, and long ribbons of scrollwork on her right bearing writing. Quotes, Miranda assumed, and would have bet many of them were lyrics, though she had no chance of guessing the songs. Her long hair had been bleached blonde, and all but the lowest three inches had then been dyed with a vibrant purple.

She had a ring through her nose from which an anchor dangled and two studs through one eyebrow, and she looked at the three young women in front of her with a professional smile. “I’m guessing one of you is Miranda Bell?”

“That’s me,” Miranda confirmed. The woman smiled.

“We spoke on the phone,” she told Miranda. “Three of you, three bookings, right enough. I’ll be honest, though, you ladies aren’t quite what I expected.”

“We get that a lot,” Rekha deadpanned, and was rewarded with a laugh.

“Brilliant,” she said. “Well, you’re Miranda. I’m Mel. And you two are-”

“Rekha and Lucy,” Rekha said, indicating herself and their junior with her thumb.

“Rekha and Lucy. Cool. Three pairs of piercings?”

“That’s right,” Miranda confirmed.

“Not often we get three people in at once,” Mel said. “This way.” She had opened a door behind them and gestured them through.

“When we do get group bookings,” she continued, “usually it’s a hen party, and it’s three little tattoos behind the ear or by the wrist, something like that. I don’t think I’ve ever had a triple nipple before.”

Rekha laughed. “No hen party here,” she said. “Miranda’s too picky to get a man.” It had been a stock jibe for a long time, to the extent that Miranda smiled rather than taking offence; only afterwards did it occur to her that actually, a man now had her.

She doubted she would be permitted to continue using dating apps or searching for anyone else. Her read on Leo was that he would consider the four women exclusive to his cock, even as he had four to choose from.

Not that Miranda objected to that. He was her Cox. Anything he decided must be natural and right.

“We’re a team, actually,” Miranda told Mel. “Rowing. And it’s kind of… A team bonding exercise.”

Mel looked at her sideways. “No kind of team bonding I ever heard of,” she said. “I guess maybe rowers are more hardcore than most. So, question - does anyone want privacy? I don’t know what rowing team hazing is like but I’ll tell you this, nobody gets to taunt anyone here for wanting privacy while I work on them.”

The trio were quiet for a few moments. “Actually I want to watch,” Lucy confessed suddenly, which led to sheepish grins and half-laughs of amusement from Miranda and Rekha.

“I think that’s mutual,” Miranda said quickly. She took hold of her shirt by the hem. “Should we get topless?”

Mel blinked a couple of times, then laughed. “And people say punks are keen,” she said. “I knew jock girls would be ballsy, but I didn’t see this coming. Ladies, it’s a pleasure.” After a moment she went on, “But no, hold on just a few seconds. There’s some stuff I should go through with you before we do this, because one or more of you might opt out if you hear it. And again, nobody gets to mock anyone for bowing out.”

“Lay it on us,” Rekha said.

Miranda barely listened as the woman ran through a practised spiel. She was discovering, for the first time, the frustration of having to sit through a delay because outside the team, nobody would believe We’re getting these no matter what because our Cox brainwashed us and commanded us to get pierced.

“So, anyway,” Mel finished up. “This is your chance to take a pass if you want to.”

And perhaps it was the frustration that it would not have worked that had Miranda governed by a wild impulse. As the seconds of silence ticked by, becoming (to Miranda at least) more awkward at every tick, she found herself breaking it. “No, we’re all going through with it. You see, our Cox brainwashed us and commanded us to get pierced.”

Rekha and Lucy both looked shocked, but Mel didn’t notice. She gave Miranda a moment’s bewildered look before starting to laugh instead. “I guess I asked for that,” she said. “Well, that’s three pairs of piercings, then, and all of us happy to go ahead with it. In which case, who’s first?”

“I should go first,” Miranda said. She sat down where Mel indicated and pulled off her tee shirt.

A lascivious half-smile settled on Rekha’s face. Suddenly Miranda heard Leo’s voice in her head: And after you put your top on, you will not notice you’re not wearing a bra until someone comments on it or a teammate is visibly horny for your tits. Do you understand?

She bit down on any noise she might have made. Leo was in her head, and it was natural and right that he control it.

Mel was looking at her with a very different expression. “Holy God,” she said. “What was it you said you three do again?”

“We row.”

“I guess if someone asked me if you got great arms and shoulders rowing I’d have said yeah, stands to reason,” she said. “But I wasn’t prepared for the reality.”

Rekha laughed. “Don’t worry, the rest of us don’t quite measure up to that,” she said. “And truth be told I think we’re happier that way. Miranda’s a gym rat.”

Miranda grinned sheepishly.

“Okay, now I know that, I’m going to have to ask you to flex,” Mel said firmly. Miranda’s grin became a blush, but she obliged.

“Girl, your body would be a dream canvas for ink,” Mel told her, and then raised both hands as if surrendering; Miranda wasn’t sure who to. “I promise myself I’m never going to become one of those zealots about this,” she said. “So that’s the end of the sales pitch. But it’s a shame to see that skin without something you chose written on it.”

“I’m flattered,” Miranda assured her. “But if I’m going to get any ink, I don’t know about it yet. I might not know much sooner than you.”

“Spontaneous decisions, huh?” Miranda grinned. “I like it.” She paused and turned to check her equipment. “Now, then…”

When it came, the pain was a brief sting, and it brought with it a satisfaction. Pain taken in service was pleasure, as it turned out.

*

Ines had remained sat in the driver’s seat of the car. She didn’t know why - until she had spoken to Miranda, she had assumed she was going with them; only after the three women left did she recall that when she’d phoned the studio to book them in, she’d given her name as Miranda Bell. The decision that she would not go with them had clearly been taken before then, and not by her.

She knew how much it excited her that Leo could do that. She wondered if Leo knew, and then wondered whether or not Leo was the reason she was excited by it.

It came to her quite suddenly that she would never again know for sure which of her opinions were really her own. At any given time, Leo might choose to override another, and she would only even discover that he had if and when it suited him to tell her.

She tucked her phone back into her purse, having taken it out when the others left. It didn’t occur to her that she didn’t remember doing anything with it; after all, even before the call with Leo she had, like everyone else, occasionally taken out her phone with a purpose, looked at the display, seen an alert, dealt with something else, and put the phone away with her original goal forgotten.

All the same, perhaps if she had realised that she had written and sent a message while the phone was in her hands, she might have been less baffled when she heard a tiny, muffled buzz at the same time that something firmly planted against her clit began to purr.

Ines gasped. Her first instinct was to look around for anyone watching; it took a few moments to remember that she was sat in her car, in a street without much foot traffic, and that nobody had reason to be looking in there.

She squirmed around the vibrator she now remembered tucking into place inside her panties and turning on. It was remotely controlled, and if it was the one logic told her it must be, it had been sat in a drawer by her bedside untouched for over two years. She’d bought it as a surprise for Michelle, while they were still together, when her work had taken her away for an extended period; it had been to watch Michelle on calls, and to play with her remotely.

It had, with the benefit of both hindsight and her new clarity, probably contributed to their breakup. Michelle had not taken well to what she saw as the suggestion that Ines control her pleasure.

Which thought, of course, underlined for Ines just how completely her own pleasure was controlled by her Cox.

She shivered, biting her lip. The tempo and intensity of the vibrator between her legs increased abruptly, and she squeezed her thighs together around it as if that could make it behave.

She wondered how long it would continue for. Was she supposed to hold out until the team returned? It might take quite a while, depending on how chatty Mel decided to be.

Or was holding out the wrong thing to do? Was she supposed to give in to it as quickly as possible, to surrender herself to it, and be a wet, drippy mess by the time her teammates returned to the car?

Experimentally, she tucked a hand between her thighs and drove the vibrator more firmly against herself. Whether by the pleasure itself or by obedience, it felt better, so she did it again, grinding against the toy.

That felt even better. She reached her other hand up and braced against the ceiling, pushing herself off the seat slightly so that she could hump against her own hand as well as the toy.

Suddenly her whole body was active, moving eagerly and urgently. After another minute the intensity of the vibrator ramped up again.

If she was supposed to be holding out against orgasm, she thought fleetingly, she was failing Leo significantly here. But she didn’t think so.

The harder she was pushing herself, the better she felt. It wasn’t just the arousal, or the sensation deep inside her pussy. She was sure of that. It was what she was doing, too. And considering that she was in public, however well hidden by the car, that wasn’t her - which must mean it was Leo.

And if this was her Cox’s plan for her, if it was why she’d remained while the others went to do elsewise, then it was natural and right. She would follow and serve as a good teammate did.

With that realisation, the orgasm hit her. She cried out, delighted and overwhelmed, and sagged back into her chair.

Breathing shallowly afterwards she felt completely limp. Even so, one arm crept out and delved into her bag, where it found her phone. She lifted it up and sent a message. She got to read along with her typing, but she discovered what she was sending at the same time as her fingers completed and sent it.

I cum like a good girl when I’m completely fucking oblivious.

A few moments later the ticks by the message turned blue, and immediately after that the vibrator in her pussy shut off.

Ines had already returned her phone to the back and simply sat there, enjoying being a completely controlled wet mess.

*

Miranda opened the side passenger door and climbed back into the car, sitting down beside her friend. She glanced to one side, taking in Ines’ state, and giggled. “Do I want to know what happened to you?”

“Probably,” Ines said. “I’m trying to work out - no, if he wants to do it to one of you and for it to surprise you, I know he can make us forget.” Ines giggled in her turn, something Miranda hadn’t heard from her since the breakup. She smiled fondly at her friend; to think, all that had been needed to mend a broken heart was for someone to start an intensive brainwashing project.

“So spill,” Rekha put in.

“I’ve been wearing a remote control vibrator all day, and I didn’t know until he switched it on once you guys left.” Ines’ eyes were sparkling and her cheek was flushed. “The only thing I could do was fuck myself harder until I came.”

“Right here?” Lucy asked. “What if someone saw?”

Miranda could see the answer in Ines’ eyes before she put it into words. It was an answer, she knew, on dodgy ground. Probably not something Leo should do.

Of course, brainwashing them and making them into a fucksquad wasn’t something Leo should have done either, and that was fucking hot too.

“I would have kept going,” Ines said simply. “I would have followed and obeyed.”

A silent moment of needy satisfaction settled on the team.

“So,” Ines said, once it felt like the moment had passed. “All done?”

Miranda noticed that Ines’ hand was plucking her phone out from her bag without Ines even looking. Instead, their former captain was half-turned in her seat, looking around the other three. She had the feeling Ines didn’t know she was doing it.

That was going to be all of their future, she realised, and immediately found herself flushing crimson. It was embarrassing how erotic she found that idea.

“Yeah,” she said. “When you put me in charge, I get the job done.” She grinned. She was making a joke out of it, sort of, but it was also her pledge of how seriously she took her service to the Cox.

All of these admissions and insights were embarrassing, but they were also arousing. Miranda was honestly already having difficulty keeping her thoughts in order when Ines said “Team, ready for inspection.”

She took hold of the hem of her top and pulled it up automatically, holding it so that her freshly-pierced nipples were on show, and she was reminded of what Ines had said about her own in-car exhibitionism. I would have kept going. I would have followed and obeyed.

In the seats behind her, Lucy and Rekha were doing the same thing. Ines lifted her phone, turned on its side, obviously in camera mode, and all three of the women on display for inspection smiled for the picture.

As Ines busied herself sending the picture on, Lucy giggled. “So some part of all of us knew this was coming,” she said. “But we were still surprised.”

“Leo gets off on keeping things from us,” Miranda said. “And fuck, it’s hot.”

“He gets off on being able to predetermine our reactions,” Rekha added. “And that might be hotter.”

“He gets off on how inevitable it is that we follow and serve,” Ines said firmly. “And that’s the hottest thing we can do.”

They were all nodding when Lucy put in “He gets off on being able to use us all to brainwash each other more, so that we can see it happening. And I’m sorry, but that’s the hottest part of it all.”

Miranda wondered whether any of those insights, even her own, really belonged to them, or whether the whole conversation had been scripted for them to help them understand the situation.

Then she realised that it didn’t matter.

Their lives stretched out in front of them, endlessly obedient, endlessly more conditioned, being used for his pleasure throughout.

She couldn’t ask for anything better.