Plain Gold Ring

Rosita really didn't see how Mateo was going to be able to hypnotize her. Not in an 'I have such a strong will, my mind is like a fortress and you can't possibly bend my iron self-control' sort of way or anything-honestly, Rosita had been secretly hoping to find someone who could hypnotize her ever since she saw Leonardo Sbaraglia on HBO and felt a hot, squirmy tingle between her legs that she couldn't quite explain at the time. She was craving this so bad that she could barely sit still... which was ninety percent of the problem as far as she was concerned. How was she supposed to relax and sleep when she was practically bouncing up and down on the couch?

Mateo didn't seem concerned, though. He sat cross-legged across from her, a tiny smirk on his face suggesting that he knew precisely what the thought of going into trance was doing to her. Rosita suspected that she hadn't exactly done a great job of keeping it cool and casual when Mateo mentioned last month at the bar that he picked up a little knowledge of hypnosis-"just as a hobby," he'd said modestly, while Rosita's eyes went wide and she struggled to avoid licking her lips in anticipation.

It had taken her the better part of that month to find a way to casually bring up that yes, she'd be interested in giving him the chance to hypnotize her someday when he had a little bit of free time, just to see what it was like, no big deal, don't worry about it if it's not convenient, no, not at the student union, maybe somewhere more private? All without letting her voice crack, all without anyone else hearing about it so that they didn't wonder why Rosita wanted to spend a little time with Mateo off-campus at his apartment watching a pocket watch or a pendant or his pretty brown eyes or ohhhhh fuck she was so turned on right now.

It didn't help that Mateo was cute as hell on top of everything. He had the most amazing eyes-of course Rosita was going to notice that first-but he also had the most gorgeous long, raven-dark hair, kept pulled back into a ponytail that looked so soft and lustrous that Rosita couldn't stop wanting to tangle her light brown fingers through it. And he had a cute, round face with adorably chubby russet colored cheeks that dimpled every time he smiled. Including right now. God, he looked so confident. Rosita felt like she was going to melt into a puddle of goo right there on his couch.

"So do you think you're ready to get started?" Rosita asked, trying to keep her voice light and nonchalant. "If you're not, that's cool, we can just, y'know... hang out and stuff, but I thought maybe we could. Um. Get started," she finished sheepishly. She felt like she had the words 'HYPNOSIS MAKES ME CREAM MY PANTIES' tattooed on her forehead or something, and she couldn't imagine that Mateo didn't notice her excitement.

Oh shit. What if he did? What if that was the whole reason he agreed to this? The thought suddenly smacked Rosita right between the eyes, leaving her feeling just a little stunned. She knew that there were people out there who did hypnosis as a kink; she'd done more than a few incognito web searches in her time, mostly to look at websites that her Papa would have killed her if he found out she even knew they existed. And Mateo did say he did hypnosis as a hobby... what kind of hobby was that, if it wasn't the freaky kind? What if he thought that she thought that he knew that she wanted to-shit. Did she?

All of a sudden, Rosita didn't really know what she wanted. She knew what she fantasized about-god, she'd been squishy all week daydreaming about going over to Mateo's place after classes ended on Thursday and staring into a glittering gemstone until her brain melted into soft silence and she droned out, 'Yes, Master,' in a blank and empty monotone. And she knew... or at least she thought she knew... that she was going to try to remember the experience for later, whatever happened, so that she could relive it in the privacy of her own bed.

(Unless he made her forget. Oh god, what if he made her forget everything that happened? The thought simultaneously thrilled and terrified her.)

But no, she didn't know that she was... ready. For anything else that might happen. Or might not, because maybe she was just reading too much into it because she'd spent almost half a decade masturbating to fantasies of sinking into the mesmerizing gaze of a powerful, charismatic hypnotist and helplessly stripping naked, unable to prevent herself from following his commands and sinking onto his cock in fascinated ecstasy...

Rosita pulled her train of thought back into line. Her daydreams might be sexy AF, but she didn't know if she wanted to make the jump to reality right here, right now. She almost wanted to put a pause on everything to talk to Mateo about it, but that would mean admitting to him what hypnosis did to her, and on the off chance that it wasn't blatantly obvious, she didn't want to do that without some kind of indication that he wouldn't think it was... weird. She tried to glance surreptitiously at his crotch, just to see if maybe something was going on down there that would give her a hint, but he had on a pair of loose-fitting sweatpants and she couldn't tell what his cock was doing. At least, not without the kind of careful examination that would defeat the purpose and give him entirely the wrong idea.

Mateo coughed a little, and Rosita jerked her eyes back up to his face with a tiny startled yelp. "I said 'yes, I'm ready'," he enunciated carefully, his amused smirk widening into a grin. "Are you sure you haven't done this before? You looked like you were already starting to go away a little." Rosita blushed furiously, her tawny skin darkening as her cheeks prickled with embarrassment.

"Um, no, yeah, I'm cool," Rosita mumbled, fanning herself a little. "I mean, not literally, I... is it hot in here? It feels hot in here." She realized she was babbling, and consciously forced herself to stop. "Never mind," she said, leaning back against the arm of the couch. "Let's just get started. Should I look at your eyes, or do you have a watch, or...?" Shit. Babbling again. At this rate, it'd probably take her a week just to get her heart rate out of the triple digits, let alone relax into trance.

Mateo held up his hands, palm against palm, with the back of his left hand facing her. "To be honest," he said, his voice deepening and becoming more breathy, "I've always thought that kind of thing was a little... show-offy. You really don't need a pendulum, or eye contact. Those things mainly work because you expect them to work, because they're the sort of thing you see in the movies and on television." Rosita squirmed a little, thinking of Arenas and his swinging pocket watch.

"But trance is simply a state of intense focus, and you can focus on anything." Mateo's voice sounded completely different now, smooth and soft like melted butter as he began to slowly rotate the ring on his finger. "Take this ring, for instance. It's a very simple, unadorned piece of jewelry, just a plain band of gold on my finger. But as you begin to watch it more intently, you can start to notice tiny little details that draw your attention deeper and deeper. That's all it takes to begin your journey into relaxation, Rosita. Concentrate your mind on the ring and listen to my words."

Rosita didn't know how she would be able to concentrate on anything except for the hot, tingling pulse between her legs-she felt like her pussy was practically steaming from the excitement of living out her fantasies, like Mateo would be able to smell the waves of arousal wafting up from her slick, messy cunt. Pushing all that aside seemed like an impossibility... but then Mateo said, "It's okay if other thoughts come to mind at first. That's normal. Just let them wander through your mind, passing on their way, and keep your eyes focused on the ring. Look at the gleam where it reflects the light, keep watching it and pay close attention to the way it changes as the ring turns, and soon you'll find that those other thoughts come less and less often."

It couldn't be that easy, could it? Mateo certainly seemed to think so. "The more you watch, the more you'll notice those little differences, the tiny shifts in the reflection's color and form that tell you the ring is going around... and around... on my finger in an endless, lazy circle. You might find it easier to see if you relax those tiny little muscles around your eyes, just let them go loose and unfocused so that the spark of light becomes a little bit hazy, a little bit fuzzy in front of you. Just keep staring, keep relaxing, and it'll happen all on its own."

Rosita took a deep breath and consciously allowed her eyes to unfocus, the way she sometimes did during a boring lecture when she decided it would be nicer to daydream. She stopped trying to look at the ring and simply allowed it to rest in her field of vision, the narrow point of light spreading into a broad, hazy twinkle in front of her gaze. "And once you let those muscles relax," Mateo continued, clearly seeing something he liked in her glassy stare, "you'll notice how much work it was to keep them tensed in the first place. It's like setting down a heavy, heavy weight, Rosita. You don't realize how tired it made you until you let it go."

Rosita released her breath in a heavy sigh, feeling as if for the first time how wonderful it was to let her facial muscles go slack and loose and lazy at Mateo's instruction. "That's it," he purred, his smooth tones caressing her brain like a swatch of soft silk against her skin. "Just keep watching the gleam of light, keep relaxing your muscles, keep listening to the sound of my voice and let any thoughts you might have pass through your mind and float away. It's too much like work to chase them down right now. Too much like effort. All you need to do is watch and listen and relax."

There was a moment where Rosita almost lost the trance even as she sank into it, when she experienced a swell of excitement and arousal and anticipation so powerful that it threatened to burst the bubble of calm she could feel forming around her. But Mateo's voice was right there, guiding her deeper and deeper, helping her let go and relax further into peace and pleasure. "Every time you start to think about something else, Rosita, you can always let your mind return to the ring. It's like an anchor, keeping you from drifting away into other thoughts, other sensations. Everything else drifts away instead, leaving only the ring and my voice. The pretty gold ring... and my soft, soothing voice."

Rosita found herself nodding without really meaning to, her head bobbing up and down in vacant, thoughtless agreement as her jaw began to slacken and her eyelids began to droop. "It's easier and easier now to relax more and more for me, Rosita. All the tension melting out of those loose, lazy muscles, all the thoughts drifting out of that empty, peaceful mind. The deeper you sink into the sound of my voice, the smoother that descent into trance becomes. It's automatic and effortless now, just letting go of everything else and letting my voice guide you. You don't even need the ring anymore, Rosita. You can close those heavy, sleepy eyes and let it go too."

Rosita's eyelids fluttered once, then slammed shut. A tiny part of her marveled at how simply and swiftly it all happened... but then Mateo's voice drew her along deeper into trance, and she let the thought go just like all the others. "And now that those heavy eyes are closed, you can feel how much work it was to keep them open. Every time you relax your body deeper for me, you can notice how much better it feels and how much easier it is to sink further and further into trance. You'll find that you automatically shift position to become more and more relaxed, and that doing so sends your mind deeper and deeper into hypnosis for me."

Rosita's head nodded again as if it belonged to someone else, and she slowly sagged back into the soft cushions of the couch until she was nearly supine. Her limbs felt impossibly heavy, like the idea of moving them was an absurdity, and a sleepy smile spread across her face as she listened intently to Mateo's smooth, honeyed voice and sank deeper. "That's it. That's right. Relaxing more, thinking less, opening yourself up to peace and pleasure as you listen to my words and follow along. How are you feeling right now, Rosita?"

Rosita barely recognized the soft, sleepy voice coming from her lips as her own. "...happy," she murmured, words drifting away from her faster than she could chase them and leaving only the smallest, simplest terms to describe her mental state. "...horny..." she added, the pulse in her clit momentarily taking over for her still and silent mind and slipping the word out before her drowsy consciousness could even realize she said it.

Once she did, it was almost enough to snap her out of trance. Her brain, so calm just moments ago, suddenly began to buzz and boil with worries and fantasies that clashed and mingled in strange and confusing ways. She imagined Mateo tugging her mind deeper into trance like a dog on a leash, stripping away all the parts of her that could form objections and drugging her thoughts into obedience with nothing but his voice and his hypnotic skills until all she wanted was to be his slave. Rosita couldn't tell whether the idea delighted or terrified her...

But then Mateo's voice was there, soothing away all of her worries. "Thank you so much for telling me," he said, his tones calm and comfortable in Rosita's ears. "I know that must have been very important to your deep self, and I'm honored that you trust me enough to let me know what you're feeling. It's okay to let that go for a little while, though, and relax yourself deeper for me. You've been a very good subject, Rosita, and you're doing wonderfully. Just let your mind become still and peaceful, and enjoy the sensation of easy tranquility for a few moments."

Rosita sank gratefully back down, eager to forget the last few moments and let her mind go completely silent again. She barely even noticed Mateo saying, "And now that you know what trance feels like, you know that you don't need a pocket watch or my eyes or even a plain gold ring to help you find it again. The trance comes from you, Rosita. It's inside your mind, and you can go there whenever you feel safe and comfortable. And even when you're very deep in trance, it's still your thoughts that guide it. You can always choose which suggestions to accept, and you can always decide to wake whenever you're ready."

Rosita sighed, feeling a weight she hadn't even realized was there lift from her thoughts. "And knowing that, and knowing that everything that's happened is okay with me, you can begin to come back up now. Coming back up on the count of five, thoughts slowly returning, awareness slowly coming back to you with one... two... three... four... and five. Wake."

Rosita's eyes fluttered open. She blinked once, twice. Then, as she refocused her gaze on Mateo, the memory of her trance suddenly hit her all at once and she sat up with a yelp. "Um, I, I was, I should-" she stammered, her still-disoriented mind racing so fast that she couldn't even finish one thought before the next one intruded. "I should go, I, I didn't, I mean, not that you're, but I-" She staggered to her feet, her muscles still feeling a little wobbly. She was intensely grateful that the dorms were within walking distance. She didn't think she could drive like this.

Mateo held out a placating hand. "Hey, hey, it's okay," he said, his voice now merely the ordinary kind of soothing. "It's okay. It takes a lot of people like that, believe me. More than you'd imagine. It's a happy feeling, it's very relaxing, it's..." He blushed slightly, his russet cheeks darkening to a deep brown. "It's intimate, you know? It doesn't mean you have to... you know. Do anything."

Rosita could feel her own cheeks prickling with heat as well. "It's not that I don't... want to," she admitted softly, dropping her gaze to the floor as if she was hoping it would swallow her whole. "I just, I didn't want it to come out quite that sudden, you know? Like, I was hoping we'd have a chance to talk, and I could maybe mention Leonardo Sbaraglia, and you could tell me about, um..."

"Maya Stojan," Mateo admitted sheepishly. "From 'Agents of SHIELD'. That whole 'Compliance will be rewarded' scene, it was... kind of a revelation." She saw him smile out of the corner of her eye, and it was just enough to allow her to look at him again. "But look, we can still do that. I'm not going to do anything you're not ready for, okay? I promise. We'll talk about this before the next time... um. If you want a next time."

"I do," Rosita inserted rapidly, probably a little too rapidly if she was being honest. But she didn't care so much.

"Me too," Mateo replied, his smile broadening until his dimples showed. "And if you still feel the same way once you're not in trance, or just waking up from trance, then we can talk about what you feel ready to do. But right now, you're still a little suggestible, so we should probably have that conversation later. Is that... okay?"

A part of Rosita really wanted to say no. She was surprised to find out just how big it really was, too; she had a sudden, hungry urge to beg Mateo to hypnotize her again, to tease her thoughts out like fraying yarn leaving behind only the thundering pulse between her legs and let it control her completely. But reluctantly, she nodded her head and said, "Yeah. Sure. Maybe tomorrow?"

Mateo nodded eagerly. "Absolutely. We'll talk all about it tomorrow. Over coffee at the student union, maybe out on the quad where we can have a little privacy." He wriggled a little on the couch, as if unable to totally control his enthusiasm, and Rosita couldn't help but notice a little bit of an outline where those loose-fitting sweatpants rubbed up against a very obvious erection. From the look of it, he really wasn't kidding when he said he felt the same way.

"Until then, um... do you want to try again?" he asked, gesturing to the couch. "It usually goes a little bit better the second time, and I find that the more you get used to going under during the first session, the easier it is to find your way back into trance on subsequent, um. Occasions." His voice cracked just a little when he hesitated, his first sign of any nervousness since they'd started.

Rosita couldn't help finding it adorable. "Sure," she said, sitting back down and facing him with a smile. It seemed different this time, as though her worries had all drifted away with the slow descent into trance and they'd forgotten how to find their way back. Knowing that she could trust Mateo not to take advantage of her made Rosita feel so much more relaxed and comfortable, like she was just a tiny bit entranced already and just needed to be given permission to sink the rest of the way down. "How do we start?" she asked, eager to begin her journey. And not just into trance.

Mateo held up his hand. Automatically, Rosita's eyes fixated on the golden band around his finger. "Like this," he said. He snapped his fingers, and Rosita's eyelids sank closed once more.

THE END