What's in a Name?

"So, you're easily mesmerized?" he asked teasingly.

She wasn't sure if it was a play on her username, or if he was asking if she was genuinely easily mesmerized. "Yes," she answered with a smile.

They were finally meeting in person after months of chatting online in a forum devoted to hypno-fetishists. After her divorce, she realized she was free to pursue her fetish more freely. Temptingandtempted had been one of the first people she had felt a connection with on the forum.

"And what about your username?" she pressed. "You're tempting and tempted?"

They had agreed that they would keep it simple. No hypnosis. No going back to the other's place after coffee, especially not if one person felt uncomfortable during the encounter. The meeting was going well, though. She was strongly considering breaking those rules, and wondered if he wanted to, too.

He smiled. It was a warm, genuine smile. She felt a welcome flutter in her stomach. "Well, I'd like to think I'm tempting," he answered. "But I can definitely be tempted pretty easily."

Her eyebrows rose as she sipped her overpriced drink. "Is that so?" she asked. "What does it take to easily tempt you?"

His fair skin flushed. He cleared his throat before answering. "A beautiful woman, who can either hypnotize me or is willing to be hypnotized."

Now it was her turn for her cheeks to warm. She wasn't sure if her cheeks turned red, though she could feel the blood flowing to them, making her skin tingle and prickle. "I see," was all she could say.

They both looked at their drinks for a moment. He looked up again at her, taking a moment to study her. Her dark hair had a few strands of gray in it. She had large, dark eyes that crinkled at the corners when she smiled. Wait, were they dark? They were brown, but not dark brown. She looked back up at him. On further inspection, her eyes were actually lighter brown. He could see some darker flecks of brown, even some flecks of gold. What would it be like to fall into those eyes, he wondered. How would it feel to be entranced by them, to sink deeper into their depths...

He jolted to awareness when she waved her hand in front of his face. "Were you going into trance there?" she whispered. "I thought we said we weren't doing hypnosis today." Her tone was light, and she smiled.

He returned a guilty grin. "Like I said, I'm easily tempted when the right temptation comes along."

She bit her lip, which was all it took for blood to flow south. He knew she wasn't consciously trying to be sexy. That's why it was a very sexy move.

"Alright, tell me more about the right temptation," she said, leaning forward. "I want details."

He had been getting hard before. Now, there was an iron rod in his jeans. He shifted uncomfortably. "Details?" he asked, gulping.

"Yeah," she said decisively. "Tell me about a time when someone tempted you. I want to hear what happened, how you felt, what you did..."

"Right, details," he said pensively. He looked away for a moment, thinking about the last time he was, as she put it, "tempted."

"Well," he began, "I was seeing this woman, and once we got comfortable, I mentioned to her I was into hypnosis. She was interested. Very interested." He shifted again at the memory.

"Watching her go under was..." he trailed off. He was lost in the memory of watching his former lover's eyes grow dull, hearing her voice slur, her hands trace patterns on her breasts...

"Hot?" she supplied. He snapped back to attention. He wasn't with his former lover. He was with a potentially new lover, one with whom he could play out new (and some old) fantasies.

"Yes, very hot," he smiled with the memory. "It was hot watching her go under, probably just as hot as going under myself."

"I can imagine," she murmured. It was her turn for her eyes to go glassy. She could very easily imagine his eyelids drooping, his muscles going slack, his hand stroking the bulge in his jeans...

The sound of his snort brought her back to the real world. "We're both falling into trance quite easily, it seems," he said.

She chuckled. "Yes, we are. However, I think we can both agree this coffee shop is not the right place to go into a trance."

He nodded, his smile fading. "You're right about that."

Tentatively, she reached out for his hand. "How about this?" she suggested. "Let's talk more about boundaries, consent, what we want out of..." she paused. She was almost going to say "relationship," but she had just met him. And her divorce was barely six months old. "This," she gestured lamely.

He nodded again. "I think that's a good idea. I don't want to rush...this." He imitated her gesture with his free hand.

The flutter in her stomach became more intense. The promise of future hypnosis with him was tempting, and left her tempted. She could quite easily imagine the two of them, alone, in front of the fireplace at her parents' cabin (she was sure she could convince them to lend it to her for the weekend). They were on the rug. He stared deeply into her eyes as she told him how sleepy he was getting, how good it would feel to close those heavy eyes and relax, relax and let go...

"Um," he said, breaking her reverie. She shook her head to clear the fantasy. It was tempting to think about what it would be like to hypnotize him, or be hypnotized by him. The fluttering in her stomach turned into heat between her thighs. It was an insistent heat, urging her to take action.

"I don't want to rush," she repeated. "But damned if I can't stop fantasizing about you, about us." She shook her head again. "Ugh, if I didn't have such strong principles..."

"I know," he grinned. He stroked her hand. The heat between her thighs threatened to engulf her. "We can take our time, get to know each other. No need to rush."

"Right." She sounded more breathless than she meant to. His touch muddled her thoughts. She very much wanted her thoughts in a muddle. In fact, she wanted not to think as she slipped into trance for him. However, as she reminded herself, now was not the time.

She cleared her throat, trying to dispel the fog of lust that was trying to overwhelm her senses. "Yes, right. So, let's talk about boundaries, consent, all of that stuff. And then, let's set another date."

His eyebrows rose. "For coffee?" he asked. He tried to keep his tone casual.

Her grin was wide. "Well, we could start off with coffee. And maybe we could end up somewhere else."

His eyes went wide. "Don't tempt me, woman," he mock-warned her. They laughed, then returned to the discussion that would allow a safe, happy, and mutually beneficial relationship.