Take My Breath Away 4

Tara knocked on the door to the apartment with three quick raps, then stood there waiting for the door to open with her heart practically in her mouth. She never imagined anything like this would happen when she started at Primacy Insurance, six months ago. Maybe it wasn't happening now-maybe she was reading a lot into Ruth's comments Wednesday afternoon.

From the day she'd first met Ruth, she hadn't been quite sure what to make of her. Oh, she'd know right from the start that she was going to get along well with Ruth. Nobody could know Ruth and not get along with her. She was a cute, short, plump young woman with long blonde hair and tiny dimples when she smiled, and she wasn't embarrassed by anything, ever. The two of them worked together in the fraud department, going over endless piles of claims in mind-numbing details searching for errors, and within two weeks, Tara felt like she'd known Ruth her whole life. The job was so boring that they had to talk to each other just to keep from falling asleep, and Ruth had quickly learned about Tara's plans to get a novel published someday and visit London, while Ruth had talked about her dance lessons and her certification in hypnotherapy and...

And that was why Tara hadn't been quite sure what to make of her. Because Tara hadn't asked, wasn't sure, wasn't sure if she could be sure or even if it was a good idea to ask, but she thought Ruth was flirting with her. Tara knew she was bi, but she wasn't sure if Ruth was. She certainly knew better than to ask about that whole "hypnotherapy" thing; the first time it had come up, she'd managed not to blush (with an immense effort of will), had acted studiedly nonchalant, and had changed the subject as soon as possible.

Then, two weeks ago, Ruth had dropped a bombshell. She was quitting. "I'm finally making enough from my hypnotherapy practice to do it full-time," she'd said. "Finally, I'm doing something with my degree!"

Tara had given her a big celebratory hug, and the two of them had spent the last several days at work talking big about plans they might have once they struck it rich. But on Wednesday, just two days before the end of her notice, Ruth had given her a business card.

"Here," she'd said. "If you ever need anything, you just let me know. It's free-I don't charge friends. If you ever want me to hypnotize you..."

Tara had blushed hard, and stammered out, "Um...n, no, I don't...I mean, it probably wouldn't, um..."

Ruth had just given her a little look, but Tara knew exactly what it meant. It meant Ruth knew. She knew about everything. She knew about watching 'Doctor Who' as a teenager, and getting a funny itch every time she saw Sarah Jane get hypnotized. She knew about the day Tara read 'Hypnotized Roommates' for the first time, and that she'd come something like five times that day. She knew about hours scouring YouTube for stage hypnosis clips, and about all the bookmarks at the EMCSA, and Tara had felt just as transparent as glass as Ruth looked at her. Hypnosis got her hot, and it was written all over her face.

But she hadn't said anything. She'd just invited Tara to dinner on Friday to celebrate the end of her wage-slavery. But that look haunted Tara the next two days, and now, as she stood outside Ruth's door, she wondered if this was just going to be dinner, or...it was definitely just going to be dinner. Plain old dinner, and she was imagining everything else. Probably maybe possibly.

The door opened, and Ruth smiled at her. "Come into my parlor," she said. "Actually, come into my dining room. Dinner's just about ready."

*****

Dinner, as it turned out, was for three; Ruth's boyfriend, Jon, joined the two of them for the miniature celebration. At first, Tara was a little put out by that. She knew that Ruth had a boyfriend, but somehow it had never occurred to her that he'd be in the same room with them tonight. But as it turned out, Jon was a fun conversationalist, and the two of them shared a lot of favorite writers, so the meal passed in agreeable talk about Harlan Ellison and Terry Pratchett. Finally, the three of them retreated to the living room, where Ruth and Jon took a seat on the couch, and Tara sat across from them.

"So," said Ruth, with a wicked grin on her face, "you were wondering about hypnosis?"

Tara's eyes widened. "Um...I mean, maybe a little, I mean, who hasn't wondered about...I mean, um..." The initial rush of babble finally subsided. "what's it like?"

Jon smiled. "Relax, Tara. I felt the same way, the first time I talked to Ruth about hypnosis." He wiggled his eyebrows just a little. "The exact same way."

Ruth patted his hand. "Hypnosis is a wonderful therapeutic tool, Tara. The mind is capable of doing so much, and social interaction is a more powerful force than we ever imagine on a daily basis. Hypnosis is just a very precise, very specific way of harnessing that force. It can do anything you can put your mind to. Unleash creativity, stifle bad habits, enforce good ones..."

She gave Tara her own little eyebrow waggle, leaned forward, and said, "But I'm guessing you're more interested in what's called 'recreational hypnosis.' That's going into hypnosis just because it feels good to go into hypnosis, it feels good to relax...down, Jon."

Behind her, Jon's eyes slammed shut and he slumped backwards into the couch cushions. A slow, dreamy smile spread across his face, and his breathing became deep and regular. "Good boy," Ruth said. "This is what you're interested in, isn't it, Tara?"

Tara could barely breathe. She just stared at Jon. One second, he'd been awake, and the next... "That was a trance trigger," she said. "You just said 'down', and he..."

Quietly, breathily, Jon muttered, "...down..."

Tara looked over at Ruth. "Can he hear us?"

"Yes. He's just in a deeply relaxed, deeply focused state. He's listening, but right now he's very comfortable and feeling very pleasant, just lying there. He responds better to triggers, deepeners, instructions and the like than he does to normal conversation, though." She stroked his hand gently. "And wake."

After a second, Jon's eyes opened, but the smile didn't leave his face. "Mmmm..." he said. "Feels nice, coming up like that."

Tara had so many questions she felt like they were bumping into each other in her mouth. "Does it feel, um...does it feel good to be under?"

Jon's smile deepened. "Better than good. It's like...it's like all your thoughts are weights, and when you go into trance, you just set those weights down and float."

"That's right, Jon," Ruth said. "You float."

Jon's eyelids fluttered slightly. "Float..." he breathed out.

"You drift."

"...drift..."

"You relax."

"...relax..."

Ruth snapped her fingers, and Jon slumped back onto the couch again. "Was that another trigger?" Tara asked.

"Not exactly, no," Ruth said. "But Jon has gone into trance for me so many times that he's conditioned to expect hypnosis as part of our everyday interactions. So anything I say that might be taken as an instruction to go into trance, he takes as one. Here, I'll demonstrate." She leaned over towards him. "And wake."

This time, it took noticeably longer for Jon's eyes to open. "Hi," he said, his voice still a little dazed. "I, um..."

"Green, Jon." His eyes closed again. "The word 'green' doesn't mean anything to him, really. I could have said any word. But I said 'green', and I said it while looking into his eyes, and he really wanted to go into a trance, so...down he went."

Tara felt like her skin was on fire, she was blushing so hard. She'd never expected to see anything like this her whole life. It almost felt like it was too much. The hypnofetishist in her was practically drowning in stimulation.

Ruth smiled. It was like she was drinking in Tara's discomfort. "And wake."

This time, it took Jon several seconds before his eyes even fluttered. Finally, he managed to get one eye open. "I think my right eye is stuck," he said in a mock-plaintive tone.

"This, Tara, is what's known as fractionation. It's very fun. See, I've been dropping him very quickly, and waking him very quickly, and I haven't given him much time to wake up between each trance. So every time he goes under, he goes under deeper, and every time he wakes up, he wakes up less. Pretty soon, he's like he is now-halfway in trance even when he's awake. Down, Jon."

The one eyelid slipped shut again. "...down..." he breathed.

"Good boy. Pleasure."

Jon's body shook, just a little. "That's another thing you can do to someone who's hypnotized. The brain controls all our sensations, so if I'm in charge of the brain, I can make him feel things. Pleasure." He shivered again. "Pleasure." He shivered again, panting now. "Good boy. Cum." Jon gasped openly, his body convulsed, and he slumped back onto the couch. "He didn't ejaculate-I have a trigger for that as well, but I think it's a little early in the evening for that, so it was just a mental orgasm. It happened in his mind. I can make him orgasm as many times as I feel like it, all with just a word." She grinned. "I tend to feel like it a lot. Cum." Jon convulsed in pleasure again, and Tara actually felt a tiny echo of it in her own body.

Ruth fixed Tara with a stare, and said, "So. I can tell you're interested. I can tell you're excited. I can tell that this is something you want."

All Tara could do was nod. Speaking felt like too much work.

"You want to go into trance, Tara. You want to feel pleasure, want to hear my voice and feel so wonderful. It's so obvious to me, so obvious to you."

Tara nodded again. She was leaning forward in her chair now, absolutely intent on Ruth's words.

"You want me to bring you so deep, bring you so much pleasure that it will take your breath away, don't you, Tara?"

Her tongue felt thick in her mouth. "...take my...breath...away..."

"Yes, Tara. I'm looking into your eyes now. You want to go into trance, just like Jon." Ruth paused a long moment. Finally, she said, "Green."

For a moment, Tara didn't understand what that meant. Then her eyes closed, and she felt the world drift away from her.

And the pleasure began...

THE END