Ariella yawned as the morning light peeked through the window. She stretched out her arms, closing her eyes as she sat up, shaking off her covers. A groan came from a figure beside her. Lex’s beautiful face glared at her from next to her on top of the covers, as always. It was such a delight to wake up with one’s obedient sex slave in bed beside you, and so she always ensured she got to wake up in style.

Lex, a light sleeper, didn’t consider it ‘stylish’ at all. Whenever she woke up first, she would struggle fruitlessly against the rules in her mind which didn’t let her leave the bed until ordered to. Ariella didn’t mind the anger. Lex was fiery, but there was a certain joy in taming that fire. It was cute to watch her squirm, and it served as a useful reminder that her slave’s freedoms were purely granted out of the benevolence and kindness of her Mistress. She had once considered making sure Lex could never leave the bed at all. Her purpose was to pleasure her Mistress, so why not make it full-time?

An appealing idea, but not a practical one. It wasn’t wise to attract attention to herself, and if Lex suddenly stopped showing up for her job people might start asking questions.

“Good morning, my dear slave. I trust you slept well?” Ariella said with a cruel smile.

“Yes, Mistress. And you know I didn’t have a choice. Can I go now?” Lex hissed through gritted teeth. She always did like to make sure her Mistress knew that their arrangement was anything but consensual.

“Uh-uh-uh, I don’t like your attitude, little one. What’s your mantra, slave?”

Lex’s eyes glazed over, and she began to recite the familiar lines in a dull monotone.

“I must always obey my Mistress. I am nothing but an obedient toy for her. Obedience is pleasure - agh, fuck!” Lex shook her head as she snapped out of the light trance the words brought.

“Good slave. You may get out of bed now, and go to your job once you’ve eaten. Remember to edge yourself at least twice today. I want you nice and needy for me by tonight,” Ariella said, running her fingers through Lex’s hair.

“…Yes, Mistress,” Lex said, resigned, as she stood up and got dressed.

Ariella admired her slave’s pert ass as they both pulled on their clothes for the day. Wandering out into the living room, she saw her other slave, Cindy, already hard at work on preparing breakfast.

“Good morning, Mistress! I hope you slept well,” Cindy said cheerily.

“I did, thank you, slave. What’s on the menu this morning?” Ariella replied, preparing herself a coffee.

“Well, I thought you must be sick of bacon and eggs by now, Mistress, so I thought I’d try something different and make us some blueberry pancakes.”

“I like bacon and eggs…” Lex grumbled, sitting down at the table.

“Quiet, slave. You ought to thank Cindy for this lovely breakfast she’s made for us,” Ariella scolded, pushing a hint of power to accompany her words as she caught Lex’s eyes. Wholly unnecessary, but the occasional reminder of Lex’s helplessness did wonders for the slave’s state of mind.

Lex’s eyes lost focus for a moment, mumbling a ‘Thank you, Cindy’ under her breath. Ariella chuckled at her slave’s reluctant obedience. She could force the issue, but she’d probably degraded Lex enough for one morning.

“What’s on my agenda for today, Cindy? Anyone new?” Ariella turned to the upbeat slave, who had finished her preparations and was serving them the pancakes.

“You have two sessions scheduled for this morning, Mistress. Jason’s scheduled, and you have a new one. I’ve already loaded his address into your phone.”

Ariella smiled, enjoying her meal. “How considerate of you, little slave. Maybe I should come up with a little reward for going the extra mile for me. Speaking of which, these pancakes are delicious.”

Cindy giggled. “Why, thank you, Mistress! I live to serve. And it can’t hurt to finally get some variety in this household. Bacon and eggs are getting old…”

“Watch it, slave. Bacon and eggs are my favorite,” Ariella playfully snapped. “In any case, Lex and I should probably be off. Isn’t that right, slave?”

“Yes, Mistress,” Lex grumbled. She shot a look at her Mistress, before dropping her voice just low enough to where Ariella could still hear it. “Of course, I would’ve been ready an hour ago if you hadn’t forced me to stay in bed.”

Ariella chuckled as she and Lex gathered their things, leaving Cindy alone to take care of the household chores, as usual. They set out walking in their respective directions, Ariella giving Lex a quick slap on her butt as a sendoff, which earned her an angry - but ineffectual - glare. Both of Ariella’s slaves had been former clients of hers, until she had decided to grant them the full experience of submission.

As she got on the bus, she looked around at the other people taking transit. Most of Ariella’s clients lived normal lives, much like them, only coming to her to experience the hypnotic submission they secretly craved. They blended in. Lex and Cindy, though… they were different.

Cindy had always been so eager to serve, and so preoccupied with her Mistress’s comfort, that it felt as though Ariella had taken far too long before she had the idea to have her move in as a full-time housekeeper. She had taken to her new role with such enthusiasm, which was only enhanced by the conditioning, that Ariella knew she could never let her go.

Lex, too, served a special role in her life, though the girl was still having trouble accepting that role even after a year and a half of servitude. Lex always had believed herself to be a natural leader, headstrong and decisive. She had come to Ariella out of mere curiosity, to see if Ariella’s reputation for being irresistible was truly deserved.

It was.

She had savored Lex’s futile resistance to her hypnotic power, and the arousal that had broken through the girl’s shame, rendering her helpless before her Mistress. The sight was so delicious that she simply couldn’t bear to let such an opportunity go to waste. Lex was kept around so that Ariella could enjoy watching the light drain out of the willful girl’s eyes over, and over, and over again. Lex wasn’t a fan of the arrangement, to say the least, but it wasn’t as though she had any choice in the matter.

As Ariella walked up to her first client’s apartment, she shook her head, focusing back on the present. She walked up to the entrance and knocked on the door with a practiced cadence. The door quickly opened, and she saw her loyal victim bowing his head in complete reverence.

“There’s a good boy,” Ariella cooed. “You missed your Mistress, didn’t you, Jacob?”

“Yes, Mistress. Very much, Mistress,” Jacob replied, eyes not leaving the floor.

Ariella walked into his living room, closing the door behind her. Then she turned, placing her finger gently under his chin.

“Look at me, my good slave,” she commanded.

Jacob’s head turned up to meet her eyes, and with a satisfying push she watched as her power took hold. Ever since she’d been a teenager, nobody had ever been able to resist her gaze. The boy was completely fixated on her eyes, frozen in place, unable to look away even if he wanted to. Ariella’s power was like the pressure of the entire ocean, inevitably seeping into his mind and washing all his defenses away before her divine will.

She could see the need in his eyes, the total and complete surrender. She could command him to say, do, or think anything, and he would do so without hesitation. There was nothing Ariella loved more than seeing this beautiful transformation into subservience. It was so right, so natural for others to kneel before her, after all.

“You’re completely obedient now, aren’t you, my good boy?” Ariella said, her words echoing over and over in Jason’s mind.

“Yyeesss, misstreessss,” Jason slurred, his voice growing breathier as he fell deeper and deeper into Ariella’s thrall.

“Good boy. Now, let’s have some fun…”

Ariella stepped out of Jason’s shower, cleaning herself off with a towel. She was very particular about hygiene, and she was not fond of letting the scent of her playthings linger on her body after the end of a session. Jason was still sprawled out on his couch, naked, and moaning with indescribable pleasure as her words continued to echo over and over in his empty mind.

She whispered a quick instruction to her slave so he would wake up on his own after about an hour, then donned her clothes, and set out to her next appointment. While she did love watching slaves surrender to her, she had no real desire to watch them leave that state. No, better to just leave him be, and not to keep her next client waiting.

Cindy’s notes indicated this next client was the new one, which she always enjoyed. There was nothing quite like watching someone experience total submission for the first time in their lives. Sure, there were others who offered hypnotic domination, but none of them possessed her particular… gifts.

Ariella arrived at her destination, and read over the notes to prepare herself. She had the process down to a science, but it still helped to get herself in the right mindset before entering unfamiliar territory. The client’s name was Magnus, a man 37 years old, no prior history in the arena of hypnotic submission. A newbie, just the way she liked it.

As before, she knocked on the door. What awaited her was an unremarkable man, one you’d imagine as a typical office drone without any real sense of ambition or drive. It was a shame. Ariella had hoped the new client would be a challenge.

For a few moments, neither of them said anything. She simply observed him, looking for some sign of what inner desire brought him to her.

“Hello there, my good boy. My name is Mistress Ariella. You’re here to serve me, aren’t you?”

Magnus didn’t reply, looking over her with a critical eye. As unremarkable as his outward appearance was, she couldn’t get a read on him. Perhaps he was simply too average? No matter. Once he was under her thrall, there would be no more secrets.

Ariella met the man’s gaze, and pushed her power towards his mind. She waited expectantly, watching his eyes for some reaction, but he hadn’t even seemed to notice. What? This had never happened to her, not once since she’d learned of her gift to dominate others. She cocked her head to one side, examining Magnus a second time, trying to see if she had missed a sign of something unusual. Nothing.

She pushed into his mind again, harder this time. Again, his eyes didn’t so much as flicker, although he was starting to look concerned. She tried again, pushing as much power as she had into him, and still, nothing happened. The effort left her feeling like she was trying to topple a stone wall with her bare hands. How was that even possible?

No more fooling around, Ariella thought, mustering her will into a final push.

Something broke.

Ariella’s mind reeled. Something was wrong. Completely, utterly. She couldn’t put her finger on it… what had she just been doing? Something strong? She was supposed to be focusing… but focus was fleeting, running away from her like a rope coming apart. That’s… an odd metaphor, she thought, a lone moment of clarity in the chaos of her mind.

Her vision blurred, her ears rang, and she fell to the ground as the world spun around her. What had happened? For the first time since discovering her power, Ariella felt weak. Her usual sense of confidence was draining out of her like water through a strainer.

As she struggled to ground herself against the storm in her mind, she heard a voice.

“Are you okay, ma’am?”

The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. Could she? Come on, think! The voice belonged to… to…

She felt a pair of hands grab her and lift her to a seated position.

She looked up, and saw a familiar face. It was… the man… the client… What was his name? She was supposed to do something with him. What was it?

“I think you might be feeling under the weather, ma’am. Do you want me to call you a cab? Or an ambulance?”

She must be feeling under the weather. Yes, that was it. She was having an off day. She should let him call her a cab.

“Yes… yes. A cab would be fine…”

“We don’t have to do the session now, we can reschedule, right?”

They could reschedule, yes. But she was feeling so under the weather…

“I won’t charge you for this session, I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright. Just stay there, okay? I’ll call you a cab right now.”

It was alright. She should stay there. He would call her a cab.

“Thank you…”

“Think nothing of it.”

She thought nothing of it.