Hypnotic Adventures of Beauty Ch. 04

She cast a suspicious look in my direction, but I kept my head down and pretended not to hear. Betty even called my name softly, checking. I felt a little like a spy collecting information. Content in the false knowledge that I couldn't hear them, Belinda said: "You know ..."

"He had you hypnotized again?" Betty asked.

"Oh, yes. Deep."

"I don't like this idea of Tony 'conditioning' you Belinda! You shouldn't put up with it!"

Betty's friend smiled. "You don't get it, girlfriend. This is what I want. It's what I need. Before, when I was ... sleeping around with people from the offices here; I'd find I guy I liked, and then I'd tease him. I'd tease him mercilessly. I'd push him to the breaking point ... and then I'd push a little further. I wanted him to take me; take me hard! The harder, the better! I wanted to be forced ... to be dominated. That's who I really am." She paused for a moment. "You didn't know that, did you?"

Betty shook her head, her curls swinging all around. "And ... and what happened to you after that night? What happened in your new office?"

Belinda smiled. "Within an hour on the first day I went to work for the Cellinis, one of them had me bent over a desk, taking me from behind. By lunchtime, another had demanded a blowjob." She paused for effect. "I was in heaven, girl!"

"Belinda! My gosh!"

"Oh, it only gets better," she confided. "One of them loved to tie me up. Another one liked to take pictures. I think it started out as just games ... role playing, you know? You see, I can't afford to lose this job. I mean, I really, really want to keep this job! I'd do anything to keep it. Anything! They knew that fact ... and they used it. They humiliated me, and I LOVED it! At first, it was just blackmail ... you know? ... pictures; and threatening to expose my 'slutty ways.' But the deeper I got into the habit of following, the more THEY became my masters. By the third week, I was a slave ... a real, no shit sex slave! I had to ask permission for everything! Even going to the bathroom! I was turned on constantly! I had to start bringing two extra pairs of undies every day because I soaked them through so often! I know it was wrong, but I couldn't have BEEN any happier!"

"So ... you just have sex all day?"

Belinda laughed. "Oh no. They worked me like a slave, too! Their filing system was a train wreck before I got there! And because of the ... other demands they put on me, I often had to stay late to do all the typing that needed to get done. But then last week ... things changed."

"How?"

The dark-haired girl actually blushed. Mark me: she HADN'T blushed up until this point. "Well ..." she continued more softly, "... two of them stopped ... um ... making demands on me. For sex, I mean. I even asked one of them if something was wrong ... asked him if I could give him a blowjob or something. But Terry and Tom simply refused to demand anything from me at all ... except office work, I mean. And Tim ... well, Tim not only took me twice in his office that day ... once bent over the arm of his couch and once with me straddling him in his chair ... but then he ordered me to go home with him that night! It was really strange. And really nice! It's the first time I'd slept with a man ... I mean, all the way through the night until morning ... in years."

"Was that the only time?"

"Oh no. It's been that way every day since. He makes me make him breakfast every morning. And I have to wash his back in the shower ... using my breasts. And sometimes, he makes me read to him in bed at night. And last Saturday, he did it to me four times! But on Sunday, I burnt his toast and he spanked me. But then he licked me until I passed out! And in the mornings, I always wake up in his arms. I can't BEGIN to describe what living with him is like!"

Betty cleared her throat. "And what, exactly, did Tony call you in to talk about just now?" she asked.

"He didn't. I asked to talk to HIM," Belinda replied. "I wanted ... I wanted to ask him if he could call Tim and give him my trigger phrase. Tony never allowed me to remember it. I mean ... Tim has taken me sexually just about every way a man can take a woman. But, if he wants me ... wants me completely ... then he should know how to control my mind, too. That's the one thing he hasn't done to me yet."

Betty held her by the shoulders. "You're in love."

"Yes! Can you believe it? I want to tell the whole world: I belong to him! He owns me!"

They stood like that, close, smiling. But slowly the smiles faded, and they were just looking into each other's eyes. "Betty ... do you ever think about that night? Do you ever think about ... the kiss?"

And the door opened. Quickly, Belinda backed away from her friend, as if she was guilty of something. "Belinda! Are you still here?" the man said gruffly.

I stumbled to my feet. Somehow, I had acquired an erection, and I tried to shift things in front of me unobtrusively. I don't know if I entirely succeeded, but at least I could walk alright. I strode forward and shook his hand, introducing myself.

"Please, call me Tony," he said, before turning again to the women.

Before he could say anything else, though, Betty interrupted rather forcefully. I found myself only being more and more impressed with little Betty. "My friend, Belinda, and I are catching up on old times, Tony. I'll walk her out to her car. Okay?"

She said the last word in such a way that argument was absolutely impossible. "Certainly," Tony responded. "Oh, and Belinda ... I just called Tim, and he has the information you requested. I'm sure you will both find it ... adequately satisfying." Belinda blushed again. The two girls left as Tony ushered me into the inner room. I never did learn about "the kiss." It's one of the small regrets in my life.

He waved me into an overstuffed chair, and pulled his office chair around the desk to be closer to me. I allowed him to spout company history to me for about thirty seconds before I politely cut him off, informing him that I had learned just about all there was to know about it. He studied me openly for a few moments. "Billy tells me we need you on our team, David," he said. "I always believe Billy." He stared at me some more. "And so now, it's time for me to ask you: What will it take to bring you onboard?"

"Just a few honest answers ... Tony," I said slowly. I was nervous ... not about who he appeared to be, but who I thought he was. He made a gesture, urging me to go on, and I took a shaky breath. "Just now ... in the outer office, Belinda said she worked for some men named Cellini."

He nodded. "They do our accounting."

"Cellini is your mother's maiden name," I said solemnly. "Are they your cousins?"

His eyes narrowed. "Man, when you study up for an interview, you do a good job of it."

My hand was shaking a little, and I grasped the arm of the chair to try to control it. "Thirty years ago, your father joined two of the most influential crime families in the country ... from New Jersey and Chicago," I continued. I paused, and we both scrutinized each other. "Mr. Bion ... Tony ... If Wanda and I 'join you team,' will we be working for the Mafia?"

He frowned, leaned back, and started idly drumming his fingers on the desk beside him. He sat that way for the better part of a minute. Finally, he nodded ... more or less to himself, as if he'd just made an important decision. "Okay ... here's the deal," he said earnestly. "Hollywood has it wrong." I didn't know how to respond to that, and he went on. "Have you ever seen a movie about a crime family; and the youngster ... the son who wants to take over ... accuses the 'oldsters' of pussyfooting around? Tries to convince them use more violence? Tries to 'ramp up' the types of crime? Tries to 'expand the operation?' ALL the movies do that! Whether it's about the Italian Mafia, Russians, Japanese Yakuza ... it's all the same! The younger generation wants to 'modernize' crime. Well ... that's bullshit!"

He'd gotten himself worked up, and he tried to corral his feelings. "Last year, I asked my old man for a loan to get us started here. He made it a gift ... two hundred grand. As an experiment, he gave my older brother the same amount. Vince took over some of the prostitution and drug operations. Do you want to know what he earned on that investment? Five million. Two and a half percent. Want to know what THIS company is going to post for first annum? HALF A BILLION!" He paused and frowned. "Well ... half of the raw profits will be going to Billy. But ... don't you see? The 'new generation' knows what I know. Crime doesn't pay. Oh, I guess it pays ... but not nearly ENOUGH! And you want to know why? The overhead is astronomical! A quarter of Vince's workforce is in jail! Legal costs are huge! Graft payments have gone through the roof! I could go on and on! Hell, even Vince is under indictment in Chicago!"

I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry ... so the answer to my question is ...?"

"I am legal. WE are legal. One hundred percent. If I see a crime ... I report it! And ... one of the reasons that I'm doing all of ... THIS," he made a gesture to indicate his world around him, "is to make a point to my 'family.' The old ways are crazy! If they REALLY want to make money, they should get OUT of the old business. And legislation over the past twenty years has only made it easier to make money WITH money! The failed 'War on Drugs' is almost over! States are going into that business themselves! And lawmakers are doing things ... not so that they can shut down illegal dealers ... but so that other people can make that money legally! Capitalism is the new organized crime! I can't promise you that everything I do will always be ethical. But I CAN promise you that it will always be legal."

"So," I summarized, "clean business built on dirty money."

He smiled. "As opposed to the money that you'd be accepting from the military industrial complex by going to work for someone else? ALL money has dirty roots. The only thing we can change is where the money goes from here. I put OURS into R&D. I'll put some of it into buying a pollucite mine ... if you tell me where it is."

I nodded. "And so, what, exactly, are you offering me to bring my work here?"

"We can talk about money later," he said confidently. "Money is not going to be a problem. Your own lab ... your own staff ... whatever. But ... as a token of my trust and friendship, I am now going to give you the thing you want most in life." He rose. Startled, I got up, too, and I followed him to a side door. "Whether you join us or not, David, I hope that you'll accept my little ... gift."

He opened the door and paused, startled to see Riya standing very close to the other side. She had obviously been listening, but she showed no embarrassment at all ... she simply gave us both that strange little smile of hers. Her eyes danced with impish humor. And it didn't seem to fade as I pushed roughly past both of them and rushed to where I saw Wanda. She appeared to be unconscious, leaning limply at an odd angle against the back of a couch. I took her by the shoulders. "Wanda?" I asked softly, then repeated it more firmly with no result.

"So ..." Riya said slyly, looking up at her fiancée's face. "I'm destined to be the matriarch of the Bionicci Crime Family!"

"What have you done to her!?" I demanded from the couch.

"Count to three," Tony said to me before returning his attention to the exotic beauty he now took in his arms. "The word 'Crime' is not part of the name, my dear," he told her.

"WHAT?" I demanded.

"Count to three," Riya repeated, not looking at me. Then she smiled brightly up at him. "And you don't think that ... just perhaps ... I might not fit the part of a proper Italian Mama?"

"You are the new world order, my love," he said, and he kissed her. He kissed her rather passionately, in fact.

I turned back to Wanda. "Um ... one ... two ... three."

She opened her eyes, blinked them several times, focused on my face, and threw her arms around my neck. "Oh, David!" she gushed.

I staggered to my feet, but she clung to me and wound up standing, as well, her body pressed tightly to mine. I found that my hands were on her waist, but I raised them behind my neck and pried her arms apart, stepping back away from her. "They ... He ... hypnotized you or something!"

"Mmmm ... yes," she replied dreamily. She tried to move her arms back around me.

"What have you DONE to her?!" I repeated. "Is THIS the 'gift' you're giving me? A brainwashed girlfriend?!"

Wanda gasped at my comment, but then smiled shyly. "Is THAT what you think? You've got it all wrong, David!" Her comment surprised me, and she took advantage of my consternation to twist her wrists free from my grasp; then she threw her arms back around my neck, wriggling her body into mine.

I looked sternly back at the other couple, who remained plastered together in a fervid lip-lock. "Excuse me, you two! We need to talk about Wanda! Now!"

They broke the kiss, but didn't look away from each other's eyes. They were both breathing hard. Tony slid a hand down and began stroking Riya's ass. "If I told you, would you believe me?" he asked.

I blinked at them. For a moment, I hadn't realized that the question had been directed toward me. Riya took advantage of the lull to ask: "Are you through with that couch? I think Tony and I ... need it."

"Let's go back to the motel," Wanda whispered in my ear.

"What the hell?!" I half-yelled to no one in particular.

Riya's hand was on my back, and when I turned, she was looking at me with that strange, mischievous look of hers. "There's no one staying with us right now. Go upstairs. The wing between this one and Billy's. Ten bedrooms. Pick one. Have HER tell you what happened to her. She'll tell you the truth ... no shit." She gave me a shove in the direction of the door. "Now ... Tony and I need that couch. Get out of here, you two! We'll call you when it's time for dinner." And she squealed loudly and laughed as her boyfriend shoved her down on the couch and dove on top of her.

Wanda finally, finally pulled away from me, grasped my hand and tugged me through the door. "Why are all the women in this house so goddamn beautiful?" she groused. I didn't answer and I didn't resist; following along, down a hall, up some stairs, down another hall. She shoved open the first door she came to and pulled me inside. And then she kissed me. Hard.

I pushed against her a little, but she issued a disappointed little "Nmm-mmm" into my mouth, and so I surrendered to her lust ... and to mine. I crushed her in my arms and took command of the kiss, moving my hands from place to place on her back and up and down her sides. She gently pulled her lips from mine, panting, staring into my eyes without focus, before I pulled her in for some more. This was in retaliation for the kiss she had refused me on that date ... and for every date I had begged her for since. She seemed to melt into me. At long last, I moved her away a little and looked at her. Her eyes remained closed ... her lips still pursed ... and she swayed slightly from side to side. And then she opened her eyes and said "Oh, wow!" She took her arms from around my neck and began unbuttoning my shirt.

"Hey!" I groused. "I am NOT going any further until I find out what that son of a bitch did to you!"

She didn't stop with the buttons until she was forced to deal with the necktie. "He opened my eyes, David. He let me see what a fool I've been." She paused, thinking a moment, before pulling the tie from around my neck and returning to the buttons. "Well ... that's not quite true. Maybe I wasn't a fool a year ago, but I'm being a fool now."

"You're speaking gibberish," I told her. I put my hands over hers to stop her. "He's filled your head with garbage. You probably can't tell reality from 'implanted memories' anymore."

"Is THAT what you think?" she asked calmly. She reached up, took my left hand in both of hers, and led me to the bed, sitting down and pulling me beside her. "If you believe that to be true, then nothing I tell you will really give you the information you're seeking." I opened my mouth to argue before realizing that her logic was correct. She began stroking my hand. "I need you to do something for me, David. I'm going to tell you my trigger phrase. But ... when I do, I'm going to forget it myself. That's what he told me, and I know that it's true. I'll never be able to remember it again ... as long as I live. After you use it on me ... no matter how many times you use it on me ... it will disappear from my mind. It will always work. Every single time. But I'll never be able to retain it afterwards; so remember it. Okay?"

I gazed at her to try to determine if she was as crazy as she sounded, but she appeared clear-eyed and intelligent. She took a breath and said: "Sleep time, Wanda."

"What?" I asked, but she didn't respond. She only looked up at me with anticipation. "Sleep time, Wanda? What is that supposed to mean?"

Instead of answering, she rested her head on my shoulder and sort of snuggled into me. She stopped stroking my hand, and a few seconds later, her left hand fell away from mine and plopped into her lap. After a long pause, it became evident that she wasn't going to answer me. "Wanda?" I prodded.

"Mmmmm. Yes, David?"

"What does that mean?"

"What does WHAT mean, David?" She remained slumped against me.

"Sleep time, Wanda?"

"Ooooo. Mmmmm." She seemed to lean into me even more, though her whole body seemed limp. "I can't go any deeper, David. I'm as deep as I can be."

I tried to push her away from me so I could see her expression, but it was like pushing against a piece of string. "Sit up!" I said, exasperated. And immediately, she did so. Her back was straight, her hands in her lap, her eyes tightly shut. This confused me even more. "Open your eyes!" I commanded; and she did THAT immediately, too. I was startled to realize that she was looking at nothing at all. Her eyes were staring, unfocused, directly in front of her.

I took a deep breath. "You ... you're ... hypnotized."

"Mmmm. Yes. Oh, David, it's the best feeling in the whole world!"

I ran my fingers through my hair, forcing myself to calm down and think. "And what is the feeling, Wanda? Describe it to me."

"I feel open and honest and obedient and truthful. I will tell you anything you want. I can speak only the truth. And whatever you tell me, I know that it will be true, as well. True for now and for always. I'm relaxed and I'm in love, and I belong to you alone. I will do anything for you. Anything."

I felt helpless. "Oh, Wanda ... what has he done to you?"

"He gave me this gift," she said, smiling. "I thought ... when I first asked him to hypnotize me ... that he would just help me face Mr. Smythe without flinching. That's how Riya convinced me I should try it ... why I should let him put me under. But then, he asked me what I most wanted; and I told him THIS! THIS is what I want. More than anything else in the world!"

"I don't understand."

"I told him that I wanted to be yours, David. That's all I've ever wanted. I love you. I've loved you since the first day I met you."

"But that's not really true, is it, Wanda? You can barely tolerate me."

Her smile broadened. "Silly boy. That's just what I wanted you to believe. It was never true."

I shook my head. "That's ridiculous! Why would you ever want to do something like that?"

She turned her head and focused on my face, though she still seemed to speaking from a dream. Tears were in her eyes now. "Because I knew you were poised on the brink of greatness! You were destined for something ... wonderful! And it happened, David! You did it! You're barely out of school ... and you're already published! You've accomplished a mathematical breakthrough ... and you created something that's going to make a difference! If I had let you kiss me on that date ... if you had kissed me then like you just did here ... where would you be now? Holding down a second job to support a wife? Maybe a kid? At the very least, you would have spent lots of those nights that you put in at the laboratory with ME instead!"