Five, Six, Seven, Eight...

Without warning she gently used a hand I had no idea was there to pull me forward by the back of my head and I slumped onto her shoulder. Her body was warm, her hair soft, and whilst part of me wanted to protest that she wasn't playing fair it was much more pleasant to just lie there, snuggle up to my Jess and listen to her voice.

It had been really something seeing that look on her face. This woman was becoming so important to me and there was nothing quite so enjoyable as learning something else about her. It felt like every time I thought I had her figured out I discovered that there was a whole extra level beneath. Her capacity to surprise me knew no bounds it seemed, and I had to admit to myself that that excited me enormously.

"...and wide awake."

I opened my eyes and sat up. I was pretty sure I had been paying attention to everything Jess had been saying to me but now that I thought about it I couldn't actually recall what any of it was. Jess was looking at me with a big warm smile.

"How are we feeling sleepy head?"

"Pretty good." I said, truthfully. Most heterosexual guys would be feeling pretty good if they'd just nodded off with their head on Jess's chest with her hair for a bedsheet. I frowned to myself "What was it you were just talking about again?"

At that Jess's smile morphed into something a lot more mischievous. "Oh interesting. Do you remember what happens if I say DROP!"

She snapped her fingers, but my eyes had already closed. They seemed to have closed themselves before my brain had even registered what she'd said. I didn't really have a say.

"That's right!" Jess said softly as I flopped back down onto her, "nice and deep..."

Was this hypnosis? The eye thing had been a surprise, but I didn't feel like I was a puppet or anything. My body was still under my control and I was definitely here in the room. I scratched an itch on my nose; I could definitely get up and walk off if I wanted to. It was just that cuddling up to Jess and listening to her voice was really nice.

It wasn't just comfort that I felt with Jess though, I realised. I wasn't some child in his mother's arms. No, there was also an edge to it, an excitement, and trust, the sort that you felt with a lover. I felt very naked, even though I was still wearing all of my clothes.

"Eyes open."

The change in the tone of Jess's voice seemed to be enough to bring my attention back to my surroundings. We were still sat on the sofa, and I was upright, facing her.

"I thought you might like a break." she said innocently. She reached over, picked up her wine glass and had a sip. "Are you enjoying the wine?"

"Yeah, it's great," I responded.

Jess leaned back into the sofa cushions and crossed her legs. She looked really relaxed and too pleased with herself. I felt like I was missing the punchline to a joke that she'd just told.

"Not going to have any?"

I looked across at my wine glass, which was still sat on the nearest corner of the coffee table. I wanted to pick it up, but for some reason I wasn't doing it.

"Your wine glass is right there Mark. Why don't you just pick it up and have a drink?"

I tried again. My arms refused to move.

"It's right there, just reach out and pick it up!" Jess drained the last drops from her own glass and returned it to the table with a flourish. "Oh that's good stuff!"

"Jess," I said carefully, "Why can't I move?"

"Oh you can't move?" Jess said. She had a wicked smile on her face now. She shifted forward so that her face was inches from mine. "Why can't you move Mark?"

It was really strange. My body didn't feel any different, and it didn't feel like I was being held in place by glue or a force field or something. I just sat there with my hands in my lap, and I knew that everything was fine and I could get up and walk off if I wanted. Yet there seemed to be no way that my brain could make my arms move.

"How did you..."

"Oh it's easy." Jess said. "It's just like when we dance Mark."

She brought her hand up level with her shoulders, ready to snap her fingers. She knew that I knew what she was about to do. I liked her hands, they were small and delicate. She was small, so small and delicate and yet I had a rising sense of just how much power she had over me in this moment.

"You know what's going to happen, and when. It always happens on the 'one'. Five, six, seven, eight..."

"Wait..."

"Drop." She snapped her fingers and down I went again. This time she leaned in, her hair was on my cheek and her lips brushed against my ear. One of her hands was in my hair and the fingertips of the other moved like electricity on the back of my neck. I felt a surge of arousal rush through me, one of the most erotic feelings I'd ever experienced, being enveloped by a blanket of raw femininity.

"You're really enjoying this aren't you."

My eyes were open again and I was looking straight ahead into Jess's smiling face. I wasn't sure when I'd opened them but the change in her voice tone from soft and absorbing to playful and teasing had definitely had a part in bringing my attention back to the present. My girlfriend was just so damn beautiful; I sat there and took in the sight of her. My eyes settled on her lips, fascinated by the shape of them. I knew I just had to kiss her, so I leant forward and was rewarded by her leaning forward to meet me.

Our lips touched and I felt the familiar warmth and friction as we moved against each other. In itself it felt a bit like going back into some kind of trance, just becoming absorbed by what was happening, being in the moment. At least, I thought as our tongues met in their customary dance, I could be sure that she wasn't whispering into my ear. I wondered what she was up to. Right now she just seemed to be enjoying the kiss, making all of the right noises, a hand resting gently on my chest.

The moment that the kiss reached its natural end something strange happened. I went to draw back but my lips never lost contact with Jess's. Without warning I was back in kissing her even deeper than before. My arms wrapped around her, holding her tight as my tongue explored her mouth. She reciprocated passionately, but the sudden intensity had definitely come from me.

What was going on? I tried to break the kiss again.

This time I felt the desire surge through me. Jess was in my arms and I needed her so desperately. I held her tightly, closely, I wrapped my arms around her, buried my hand deep into her hair so that I could hold the back of her head and pull her in. My mouth was wide open, pushed against hers, my tongue sliding against hers. I moaned in sheer desperation at how the limits of flesh and bone made it impossible to be close enough to the woman that I loved. My soul ached for more of her. Oh god I needed her so much!

Jess reciprocated passionately. She really loved kissing, maybe even more than sex. I'd never before been quite this rough with her during a kiss but she seemed to be really into it.

I couldn't stop. I literally couldn't stop.

"Ummm... Yethhhh..." I managed to say, despite being lip locked to my girlfriend.

She was giggling. Still kissing me back, but definitely giggling; I could feel her shoulders bouncing.

Ever so gently she pushed me away with the hand on my chest. The instant my lips lost contact with hers it was like the spell was broken. I was sat facing my grinning girlfriend feeling completely dumbfounded.

"Wow, you are totally out of control." Jess remarked innocently, her eyes sparkling.

"What was that?!" I asked. My head was still spinning.

"What was what?" Jess laughed.

"Usually when I kiss you I can stop if I want to."

"Oh, that!" She still looked far too innocent for someone who must have installed some kind of kissy mind virus when I wasn't watching. "No that was all you."

"All me?"

"Yeah, totally." Her eyes were big and dared me to challenge her. "Well... the passion was all yours. I just made a few little suggestions... something about it doubling every time you tried to break the kiss."

I knew that look. It was the mischievous "yeah I just did that, and what are you going to do about it Mark?" look. I dived forward at her, hands outstretched. My target was her ribs on both sides under her arms: prime revenge tickling territory. She screamed and laughed uncontrollably as we rolled around on the sofa. It occurred to me that she could have saved herself at any time by telling me to "drop" but she never did. Maybe she believed that she'd earned her punishment.

A short while later we were sat snuggled together on the sofa. Jess's head rested against my chest and my hand was running idly through her hair. We hadn't said anything, but it seemed clear that the hypnotic game was over, at least for now.

"We appear to have a drinking problem." she said, pointing to our empty glasses. "Out of drink. Time for a refill I think."

As she stood up I caught a glimpse of the bare skin of her lower back between her pyjamas. In that moment I knew what I wanted. I stood up silently and moved to follow my girlfriend.

I took a firm hold of her arm and manoeuvred her so that I had her pinned between my body and the doorpost. It was a position chosen to remind her that I was bigger than she was and I had her where I wanted her. There wasn't much she could do about it, especially not with a wine glass in each hand. My lead.

I looked deep into her eyes and and pressed into her. I had one hand on her hip and the other arm around behind her shoulders, I slid the hand up the back of her neck and into her hair.

"If I kiss you" I said, "will I be able to stop?"

"You wanna risk it?" Her eyes challenged me again.

I closed my hand into a fist inside her hair and used it to pull her head back gently but very firmly. It was an old trick compared to post hypnotic suggestion, but the effect on Jess was just as profound. Her eyes closed, she inhaled sharply, and I could feel her melting in my arms. When she looked at me again it was with a deep, passive, trusting feminine anticipation. I knew she was exactly where she wanted to be.

"Jess, put down the wine glasses." I said softly, "we're going to the bedroom."

***

I lay on the bed and once again I was in danger of drifting off. That's how it always was in the time after sex.

Jess lay close in my arms, her head on my chest. The stillness with which we lay was in absolute contrast to our earlier exertions. I had got as far as pushing Jess onto the bed and getting her top off before I had made the mistake of kissing her. It had been a bit like lighting the blue touch paper and from there everything had escalated very quickly. After that things were a bit of a blur.

Now though I was struggling to stay awake. I turned my head slightly towards Jess and watched as she slept peacefully. How could such a tiny person produce such massive amounts of energy? She was like a hurricane without the rain and she was all mine. Lying here, spent, I felt a totally different kind of appreciation for her naked body. I could feel the warmth of her skin against mine and the softness of her curves. It was so incredibly satisfying.

I dropped my hand down to her thigh and caressed her leg, my fingertips tracing gentle patterns along her skin.

"Mmmm, that was good."

So she wasn't asleep after all.

"Well done us." She tipped her head up to look at me. Then she cast her eyes down my body to where my penis was also going to sleep. "I shall be looking forward to the encore."

"I'm afraid I'm all done." I said lazily. I inhabited the strange space where Jess's naked breasts pressed against my torso were merely warm and comfortable.

"Completely spent?" Jess asked hopefully. "Are you sure you couldn't be... persuaded to do round two."

"I'm sure." I said. "Why what are you going to do? Hypnotise me into forgetting what just happened so we could go again."

Shit! I saw her expression change as she thought about what I'd said. Why did I just give her stuff like that?!

Jess gave me a wicked smile. "Hey Mark?"

"Yes Jess."

"Five, six, seven, eight..."

I jumped, "Wait, does that still..."

"...drop!"