Jon felt the hand on his shoulder and tried to wriggle deeper under the blankets for a moment, but it was too late. His brain had already started waking up, and he couldn't stop it now. Instead, he rolled over lazily and looked up at Ruth with a sleepy smile. "Morning," he said, with the tones of someone who didn't really know if it still was and didn't much care.
The glories of being on vacation,
he thought happily to himself.
"Morning, love," Ruth said, returning his smile with one of her own. "How did you sleep?"
"Like a rock," Jon replied, stretching out languorously on the bed. He wasn't exaggerating--Ruth was already dressed, which meant that he must have slept through her getting up, showering, and putting her bathing suit on. "I don't even remember falling asleep."
"Of course you don't," Ruth said matter-of-factly, reaching down to caress his cheek in that intimate, possessive way that Jon loved so much. "You're a good boy."
Just hearing her say the words as he looked up into her warm, loving eyes made Jon go just a little bit docile. "I'm a good boy," he whispered, hearing the tones of blank acceptance in his voice. He realized what was happening, and pulled himself back out of trance. Not that he wouldn't love spending big chunks of their vacation under hypnosis, but he also wanted to spend some waking time with Ruth, too. "So when did I finally fall asleep, then?" he asked, his smile turning mischievous.
For her part, Ruth's grin was already heading well into the 'devilish' range. "Oh, I kept you up for quite a while," she said. "I had a few things I wanted to program into your mind. But you don't remember them, do you, love?"
For a moment, Jon struggled to recall the events of the previous evening. Even as he tried to trace things back in his mind, Jon knew he was going to fail...and he knew that the only reason he tried at all was that it felt so good to fail. It felt so wonderful to forget to remember what Ruth told him to remember to forget, and the more Jon tried to piece together what happened after Ruth had whispered his trance trigger into his ear, the more the memories slipped away like sand through his fingers. Until in the end, all he could do was smile helplessly and whisper, "No, Goddess."
Ruth wiggled happily on the bed. "Good boy," she replied brightly. She leaned down and kissed him. "Mine."
"Yours," Jon agreed. "And I am so happy for it."
"Yay!" Ruth said with a giggle, sitting back up. "Now, are you ready to hit the beach? I packed us some snacks if you're hungry, but I want to get down there before the prime lounging spaces are already taken."
Jon nodded and sat up, ignoring the last remaining protests of a body that still enjoyed being supine. "Yeah," he said. "Just let me get my trunks on, and we can get going." He swung his legs off of the bed as Ruth got up.
"Oh, there are a couple of ground rules for this morning," Ruth said. Jon smiled. Some guys might get upset on hearing a sentence like that, but Jon had let Ruth take charge of his life years ago, and he'd never been happier. Besides, Ruth's 'ground rules' for a beach trip were probably a lot different than most women's.
Sure enough, she continued by holding up a finger and saying, "Rule Number One: You have to look at the people around us. No napping, no staring at your feet, no hiding your face in your hands."
"Okay," Jon said, pulling his swim trunks on. It was a little perplexing, but he was always willing to follow orders where Ruth was concerned. (Of course, it probably didn't hurt that she'd hypnotized him to enjoy doing exactly that...)
"Rule Number Two," Ruth said, holding up a second finger. "You're on restriction until we get back to the hotel room. No coming, no stroking, no touching." She grinned. "Naturally, that applies only to you. I can touch you anywhere I feel like."
Jon grinned back. "Okay," he agreed. He was beginning to suspect that Ruth had a surprise of some sort. Was she taking them to a nude beach? It wouldn't be the first time that she'd decided to do something a little risquΓ©; ever since she'd quit her insurance job to become a full-time hypnotist, Ruth had made full use of the extra free time and money that her new career offered. (And the opportunities for kinky sex.)
"And Rule Number Three," Ruth said, holding up a pair of cheap mirrored sunglasses, "you have to wear these at all times."
"...um?" Jon looked at the sunglasses in confusion. "I mean, okay, again, but...um?"
Ruth handed them over, while giving him her best innocent look. Her innocent looks always made Jon suspicious. "Just go ahead and put them on, love," she said.