TRANCE, Inc. 17

The view was beautiful -- the City by night. Orange and blue and red, the colors of a metropolis that didn't sleep but simply changed colors when the sun went to bed.

The balcony was wide, running along the whole length of Seth's multi-level apartment. Behind me, the party danced on. Green and red and purple lights flashed as dance music reverberated through the sliding glass doors. Seth's parents owned the building, apparently, which meant that their son got the best view. And no curfew.

It was the night before the twins' birthday, and I stood on that balcony and wondered how things could have gone so wrong, so quickly.

* * *

Maybe it had started in the morning, before anything had even hinted at the events to come...

Victoria took the cup of coffee I offered, a sleepy smile on her lovely face. Her hair was back in a simple ponytail, but several strands had fallen free in the night. They framed her face and her smile, and when she tucked one back behind her ear I swallowed hard. Sometimes, at odd moments, it really hit me how gorgeous these women were that I lived with.

"Morning," she said, taking a sip. Her sigh of satisfaction and the flutter of her lashes made me think of a very different activity.

I nodded, taking a gulp of my own to distract me. Carmen was in the shower right now, washing off the sweat of our run, Amber hadn't yet arisen and Daisy had taken her coffee into the living room to scroll through social media before work. It was just me and this beautiful, dark-haired woman in the kitchen. All alone, and both of us aware of the fact.

"You know," Vi commented, leaning back against the counter and lifting the mug to her lips. "I'm really liking the new 'early to rise' Chance. I don't think I'll have to make my own coffee ever again." Her eyes twinkled. "It's like having a sexy slave boy, taking care of my every need..."

I snorted, then smiled. "Sexy slave boy?" I asked softly, raising my eyebrows. I took a step forward, my hands landing on her hips. They slid up, underneath the hooded sweatshirt she'd thrown on to fight the morning chill.

Victoria sucked in a hiss of air, my fingers cold on her warm, recently-awakened skin. Her eyes were dark and hot, staring into mine. Her tits were large, more than a handful apiece, and I massaged them while my gaze bored into hers and silently overwhelmed her playful resistance.

"Your every need?" I asked, and I ground my hardening cock against her, feeling her circle her hips back in response.

"Oh fuck..." Victoria murmured, and I heard the clink of the mug being placed on the countertop behind her. A second later, her fingertips raked down my back, across my tee shirt and the muscles that were sore from weeks of hard training.

I kissed the woman's throat, then her jaw and then met her eyes once again. My fingers tightened on her nipples and tugged gently, making her moan. "Do you have any other needs this morning?" I murmured, my voice low and enticing.

"Yesss..." The brunette's olive skin was flushed, her lips parted in soft, panting breaths. Her gaze drifted down to the bulge in my workout shorts, and I saw her throat move as she swallowed.

I released one of her breasts, let my hand brush down her smooth stomach to wander across the front of her sweatpants. "Anything I can help with?" I pressed gently against the fabric, circling lower to the place where—

"Goddammit Chance I'm so turned on..." Her voice was tight and needy, right in my ear as her legs twitched around my hand. "Please..."

I grinned at the woman, extricating my other hand from her sweatshirt and biting my lip. I rested my palms on her hips once again, neutral territory, and cocked my head. "If only I didn't have to say no."

Victoria struggled to control herself, breathing short, fast breaths and staring into my face with wide eyes. "No?" Her tone was disbelieving. "No, you don't want to fuck the hot, absolutely desperate woman who is begging for you to take her right here, right now?"

I couldn't believe it either, was amazed that I'd pulled away, that I had the restraint to tease such a stunning babe, to wind her up so tight, and then just casually let go and watch her squirm. I settled back against the kitchen table, a several feet now between us. How things change, I thought.

"If you want this cock," I told the woman, letting my hands glide up my thighs to frame the tent in my crotch, "Then you're going to have to earn it."

My smile was innocent, but Victoria's legs practically dropped out beneath her as she fell to the floor on her knees. Her eyes were locked on my cock, and by the time she reached my feet and rubbed her hands up my thighs I knew that only the taste of my manhood would satisfy her.

But I wasn't so easily swayed. "No no no," I said, holding up a hand as she knelt at my feet. "I need something far more difficult than that from you." My cock twitched, desperate for the soft, hot sensation of those full lips around my girth. But I held firm.

Victoria's eyes were wide and confused as she stared up at me, glazed arousal battling with her attempts to understand what strange game I was playing. "What is it?" she asked. Unbidden, her hand brushed up across the bulge, caressing my thick length through the shorts. "What do you need, baby?"

I blew out a breath, slowly, trying to regain control. The idea had only just dropped into my mind, and I needed a second to focus and crystalize it. Despite my apparent self-control, it was hard to focus with an ex-pornstar's skilled hand slipping under my waistband and stroking my throbbing manhood with obvious, wanton arousal.

"I need you to stand up for yourself in that meeting today."

The hand stopped moving. "What...?" The brunette's tone was confused, now. "At work?"

I looked down into her face, trying to look earnest instead of desperately horny. My pulse beat in my temples. "Vi, last week you told me what I needed to hear in order to come back. Even though it was hard. Even though I didn't really want to hear it. Well... Today, I'm doing the same." I swallowed, and felt my cock twitch against her palm. "The past few weeks, I've heard you mention over and over that you want more of a voice, that you deserve to be heard in meetings but that you've practically given up on it. You are a smart, business-oriented executive with good ideas. You need to stop letting the men on the board talk over or bulldoze you, because otherwise you'll never get out from under their thumbs."

Victoria narrowed her eyes.

I continued, trying to ignore the worry that I shouldn't be getting involved in her business life. "I wish I could storm in there and tell them how perfect you are and how they should be following all of your ideas and that you should be running the company. But I can't do that. You are going to have to be the one to take the first step. So... Will you do that for me? Will you make sure not to give up so easily, today?"

Vi stared up into my face. There was something in her gaze... resistance to the idea, a glimmer of pride, I couldn't tell. Then, a smile curled across her full lips.

"Fuck it's so sexy when you tell me what to do."

My shorts were around my knees and my head fell back as the woman's lips wrapped around my prick. I groaned, and thought that there was nothing better than helping others to express their best self.

* * *

Maybe things started to go south in the afternoon, when I faced my first sign of trouble...

I'd finished up a workout with Terra and returned to my stakeout at the Brighton Barnsworth Academy.

It wasn't that I had nothing better to do. Sure, there was Seth's party to prepare for in the evening -- and I expected Daisy and Carmen to gather us for a family talk beforehand. I needed a shower, too, and a nap, and a good meal. But no matter how many other concerns fought for my attention, I struggled to resist the magnetic urge to know what Amber was doing.

At this precise moment, all I knew was that her car was still where she'd parked it -- just down the street from the crisp, modern building that housed the Academy.

Bzz. Bzz.

Distracted, I clattered my phone from the cupholder. "Mike," I said, swiping and raising the device to my ear. "I saw that you called earlier. Sorry I missed it. What's up?"

Mike's lack of useful information was another reason I needed to figure out what Amber was doing here. Soon. My corporate contact hadn't been able to find any more leads since he'd gotten me to the school, and so we had barely spoken since the disastrous Thanksgiving fiasco. I had wondered if my fledgling attempts at forming a bond with this man had died before they could do more than half form. When I left Terra's dojo and saw that I had a 'Missed Call' from Mike Lassiter, I had felt a bit of hope that he'd finally be reaching out with something helpful.

When Lassiter responded, his voice was tense. "Sir, there's something you need to know."

No preamble, no introduction. His tone sent a cold prickle down my back. "What is it? A new lead on Amber?"

"No..." The man seemed hesitant, all of a sudden. "In fact, not at all. It has to do with Victoria..."

* * *

My fingers fumbled as I tried to send the message, my racing mind making me clumsy.

How was the meeting?

Victoria responded almost immediately, and I could practically hear her pleased, upbeat tone. Fantastic, babe! I'm so glad you encouraged me to stand up for myself. The guys were actually supportive today. They must have sensed the confidence you gave me.

My fingers moved without conscious effort. Cool. Just wanted to check in. The screen blurred while my mind twisted with what Lassiter had described, his words echoing through my brain.

"It was during today's board meeting," Lassiter had explained. "The one where we start discussing the first quarter of the new year and throwing around ideas and areas for improvement or growth."

I slumped in my seat, now, wrists resting limply on the wheel. My phone dangled in my fingers.

"When Victoria offered her opinion and it was ignored, as usual, she actually stood up from her chair. She told us exactly why her proposed plan was a good one. She said that we had railroaded and walked all over her for too long. She said that her opinions had merit and they deserved to be heard."

I had felt a glow of pride for my lover, a glow that had frozen into a clenched icicle of shock at Lassiter's following words.

"And that was when Landon Shrike used her trigger phrase."

My only response had been dull, dumb silence. Then, quietly, "Her TRANCE trigger phrase?"

"Yes."

"The one that turns her into...?"

The other man's voice had been uncomfortable in the extreme. "The other board members laughed. They watched as Shrike ordered her across the table on her hands and knees. They cheered him on while he had her blow him, and then once she'd swallowed and sat back down they continued as if nothing had happened."

I'd felt a rage, hopeless and helpless. Futile. "And you did nothing?" I'd demanded, knowing as I did that the man had been in no position to do anything.

"It was all I could do not to obey as well."

Oh... Right. The dull thud of the fact sinking into my chest. As soon as he said it I realized that, because I'd programmed Lassiter with the same video that was used on TRANCE actresses, he had the same subconscious triggers. Resisting must have taken all the willpower the man possessed. In fact, I hadn't even known it was possible to resist them.

Another text came through, pulling me from the memory.

I actually have something really exciting to tell you! It could help get to the bottom of the Amber situation...

I frowned at the phone. I could guess what Victoria's news was.

"After the meeting," Lassiter had said, "Shrike took Victoria aside. I managed to walk past them on my way out, and I heard him inviting her to a business lunch. To discuss her ideas, he was saying."

Landon Shrike, the head of Platinum Services, invited me to lunch! So we could talk about the ideas I proposed. The tone of Victoria's text was as pleased as ever. I figured it would be the perfect chance to get into his head, maybe learn more about what he does in that secret department of his.

My heart sank. She had forgotten to be careful. We had both forgotten. And now Landon Shrike was going to have his way with her. I checked my phone. It was almost two o'clock. When is the lunch? I asked, a knot in my stomach.

Silly, we just got back!

I blew out a breath. "Yeah," I muttered. "Of course..." My head hung, bumping into the steering wheel, and I stared at the floor between my feet.

How could you be so stupid? I asked myself silently.

I had known that it was possible for these women to be triggered, knew that some of them were filmed for hours a day while entranced. But I hadn't accounted for it. I hadn't even guessed that they would be exploited, their minds and wills taken from them as casually as Mike Lassiter had described. And that thoughtlessness on my part had put Victoria in a dangerous situation.

Because Victoria knew about my plans with Lassiter. She knew we were investigating the Platinum Services department. She knew that Landon Shrike was our prime target, and that we were slowly unraveling the mystery of what he wanted with Amber. I had to hope, with a churning pit of guilt in my stomach, that Shrike had only invited Victoria to lunch so he could fuck her again. Because otherwise, if he entranced her and asked a few lucky questions, Landon Shrike might accidentally learn everything that Victoria knew.

Failed again... I thought, and I squeezed the wheel until my knuckles were white. Because that's what it was. Just another example of how I kept failing to protect my companions, my lovers. You need to focus on what's important, I ordered. Stop getting distracted, and get yourself and your women away from TRANCE as fast as possible.

Bzz. My phone vibrated in my hands.

Hey... Is everything alright? I could almost picture Victoria's concerned face, frowning down at the screen of her device.

Everything wasn't alright. Two of my companions had just made up, but the third was being courted by a sinister executive and the other was lying to me about where she went and what she did on a daily basis. And, at that precise moment, I was staring out the front windshield of my car, watching as a blonde, busty figure hastened down the front steps of the Academy. Purse flung over one shoulder, Amber rushed to her car in her high heels and quickly slid inside. There was a moment of quiet as she stabbed her key into the ignition. Then, her tires squealed as she pulled away from the curb and sped down the street.

I cursed and only just managed to stop myself from revving the engine, wrenching the wheel and chasing her. Be smart, I ordered. You can't reveal yourself. Not if you want to get to the bottom of this mess.

Instead I counted ten long, slow breaths. Only then did I follow my girlfriend.

She wouldn't give me the slip. I could already guess where she was going.

* * *

Amber's destination was predictable, and predictably disheartening.

When she pulled into the TRANCE parking structure and headed for her usual space, I drove slowly past and watched her curvy figure bounce toward the big corporate building. My mind raced, wondering what could have changed her usual schedule.

In all the days I'd watched her, Amber had never departed the Academy before I did. Could it be a coincidence? Or, as I feared, had Landon Shrike summoned my girlfriend back to TRANCE in order to question her about anything that Victoria may have revealed over a hypnotized lunch date? In the back of my mind, questions started to twist and come alive. But they were still unformed, and they gave me nothing but a sense of disquiet.

My cell rang as I drove away, startling me and almost making me swerve into another lane. My response was a harried, "Hey! What? What do you need?"

"Are you alright, Chance?" Victoria's voice was concerned.

"Yeah, totally, sorry." The words tumbled out of my mouth. "Just driving. Why? What's wrong?"

"Oh. Nothing..." Now the woman seemed confused. "I just, well, I expected you to be more pleased about my meeting. But when I texted you about it your responses seemed off, and then you read my message and didn't reply. That's all..." I could hear the disappointment in her voice, like I'd taken some of the wind out of her sails.

Part of my mind wrestled with the question of whether or not I needed to tell Victoria what Lassiter had told me — that the meeting had been much less successful than she remembered, and that her place in my inner circle had been compromised. But another part of me knew that, until I fixed the situation, I couldn't tell her anything. Shrike needed to think that there was nothing going on, so that Lassiter and I would be able to dig undisturbed into whatever shady business he was doing.

"No, babe!" I tried to make my voice enthusiastic. "Of course I'm pleased. I knew you would knock it out of the park. You're so eloquent and persuasive when you believe in yourself. Have I mentioned how sexy it is that my lover is a confident, successful woman of business?"

As I drove home, I led Victoria away from questions of my response and into a teasing back and forth that promised to bear fruit when the woman returned from work later in the evening. At the same time, my brain raced to figure out my next move.

By the time I pulled into the garage under the building, I knew what needed to be done. I needed to prevent my girls from being hypnotically triggered. And I needed to learn how to protect them quickly, before everything came apart in my hands.

* * *

Maybe I should have anticipated the way the day would end, given the nature of our plans for the evening...

The issue of Victoria's lunch with Landon Shrike was, unfortunately, not today's only item of concern. I remembered that fact as soon as I walked inside and found Carmen and Daisy in the living room, waiting to talk to me. Tonight, the evening before the twins' birthday, the five of us would be attending a party thrown by Daisy's ex. Finally, Daisy would be able to stand face to face with the guy and tell him she wanted him out of her life for good.

I glanced from one girl to the other. "What is it?" I asked, still jarred.

The teenagers exchanged a glance, probably recognizing how distracted I was.

Carmen gave her sister a sly grin. "It's your party, if we're being honest. He's your ex. You should explain."

Daisy pouted, but before I could wonder what Carmen was talking about the girls each took a hand and guided me down onto the couch between them. Then, while Daisy kissed my cheek and stroked my shoulder, her sister slid down to the floor between my feet.

"You're obviously stressed about something," Carmen said matter-of-factly, pulling my pants quickly down my legs. Her hand wrapped around my stiffening manhood with practiced ease. "I'll take your mind off of it, while Day talks to you about Seth's party. Then, you can get whatever is bothering you off your chest. Deal?"

I gave a low moan in response as, without waiting for answer, Carmen lowered her head and gently kissed the tip of my cock, slipping her red lips over the head. "Fuck..." I groaned. I felt the tension in my shoulders and back slowly begin to ease. I turned to look at Daisy, who was watching her sister blow me with a look of smoldering, half-glazed longing.

I felt a trickle of heat in my core. Had it gotten to the point where just seeing my cock was enough to send these girls into some sort of trance? "Day," I said, swallowing the arousal down in my throat and tipping back the girl's chin with my hand. "What did you want to tell me about tonight? What do you need to explain?"