Work was hell, but at the very least I knew I was going to have a good time tonight. Sinne was in town, and with a couple of fibs about going out with the guys I'd be out the door without my wife any the wiser. Preparing my excuse-it was going to be a "co-worker's last day" this time-I opened the front door and saw any adulterer's nightmare: my wife was sitting there in the front room. With Sinne. Talking very intensely about something. All thought of what I was going to do that night-the lies I'd tell, the hot, exhilarating sex Sinne and I would have once again. hell, even my own name-all vanished in the single thought of how I'd afford a decent lawyer on my salary while my wife bled the accounts dry and got her rich family to spring for hers. Damndamndamn! And then Sinne turned to me, and that bitch actually *smiled* at me. Like the cat that just ate the canary. Or something. I was even more speechless. I yet didn't know how I was going to kill her, but I was certain then that it was going to happen. I groped for words, but I needn't have bothered. Sinne had the floor. "Ah, you must be Mr. Baal. I'm Gloria Sinne, and I've just been having the most pleasant conversation with your wife." She extended her hand to me as if we'd never met before. I stared at her a moment. The moment drew on. I didn't take her hand, I just looked at it as if it would bite me. Sinne's smile froze on the verge of cracking. I glanced at my wife, who was looking at me quizzically, but not angrily, and realized this was one of Sinne's little games. Not funny, this time, dammit. Not fucking funny. I took a deep breath, mumbled a greeting, and then excused myself rudely. I heard my wife apologizing to Sinne, telling her that I'd been very stressed at work lately and that she shouldn't be insulted or anything. But that it was certainly nice talking to her, after all, and they'd have to do it again sometime. I sat in my easy chair in the living room fuming but trying to maintain a semblance of peace. My knuckles whitened on the arm of the chair. The last thing Sinne said as she walked out the door was: "I hope to see you soon." Some of the upholstery tore. I knew one person who would be seeing her soon. Very soon. * * * The instant we entered her hotel I slapped her as hard as I could, leaving an ugly red mark on her face. Unrepentant, she grinned through the tears; I'd hit her hard. "Mmmm. starting early tonight, are we?" she hummed, and tick-tocked her hips. I slammed her up against the bathroom door with my forearm against her chest and hissed into her face, "Just what the fuck was that, huh?!?" "What do you think it was?" She wasn't as defiant now. Sometimes she liked it rough, but I knew she didn't really like it *this* rough. And perhaps she saw something in my eyes which told her that this wasn't foreplay of any kind. "I think it was you trying to fuck with my mind." Something about this struck her as funny. "That's pretty close," she gasped between the beginnings of laughter. I almost hit her again, I swear to god, and I don't know if I would have stopped. But I don't enjoy hitting women, really-it's not my thing, and I' ve known my share of girlfriends who had been battered by other guys. It's traumatic to even hear about, and I always hated the psychos who did that crap. So my fury was becoming less violent, if not dimming in any other way. I lowered her from the wall, and deliberately unclenched my fists. I turned away. And breathed. "What you did today was not funny. Not. You know that." "Yes." "Yes? So you almost kill me with a heart-attack, and then finally agree with me that it wasn't an amusing trick? Well, I suppose I feel much better now." "It's now becoming funny, though, because you're behaving like a bratty little schoolboy." "Fuck you. You had no right. I'm going to buy a plane ticket in the morning and go hang out with Clive. Maybe we'll play racquetball together, and then I'll tell him about the hot little piece of ass I'm screwing. And then give him explicit details about her. Scars, moles." "Enough." ". the little noises she makes." "I said, 'enough'!" She was getting angry, now. She knew damn well she had as much to lose in this as I had. "Oh, now it's not funny, huh? Now you're mad? Serves you right, you bitch." She glared at me. I glared back. Finally she dropped her eyes. "You're right. I should have warned you. I should-" "Warned me? Like that would have made it better?" "Stop. Just stop and let me talk, will you? There is a method to my madness, okay? I should have let you in on it, but I wanted to surprise you." "It worked." "Not what I had in mind, actually. I was planning on being out of there by the time you came home, but things took a little longer than I'd expected." I sat down on the bed, and pulled out a bottle of crummy vodka from the mini-bar. Popov, I think. "What are you getting at?" I said between swallows. "I wasn't fucking with your mind. I was fucking with hers." "Excuse me?" "You're excused. Remember some of the games we played last year? With the whole Master/Slave worship thing?" "Yeah, of course." It has been incredibly hot, but where was this going? "Remember that you hypnotized me, and made me do whatever you wanted?" "Yes. That was fun." Damn right it was fun. Watching her strip outside on the hotel balcony where passers-by could see, then taking her on the bed. "Well, I couldn't forget it." She licked her lips, and I could tell she was locked in the same memory as me. She broke her reverie. "So. Anyways. I was looking into things, and reading some stuff, and. well." She turned suddenly and grinned at me, looking very much the same as when I saw her in my front room earlier that night. "I hypnotized your wife." "You what?" "Hypnotized her. You know, entranced, sleepy, eyes closed but mind open." "Yeah, blah blah blah. Those are my words, and they were a game. You weren 't under hypnosis that night any more than I was The God of Orgasms." "You're right. I wasn't." She moved closer to the bed. "But she was." I looked at her blankly, waiting for the punchline. Her face was straight, though a mild smile curled her lips. It made me want to nibble them, but I was still highly pissed. Instead I waited for her to continue. She shrugged, and then grabbed the vodka and dropped a swig herself before scowling at it and throwing it on the floor to leak out where it probably belonged. "She dropped into trance fairly easily. She is a good subject. Very suggestible, according to the tests. Very." She let out a breath. "How. what.?" She turned toward me now, the hint of lust in her eyes. "I came in claiming to sell insurance." "You do sell insurance." "Which made it a better lie, don't you think?" Now she giggled a bit. I generally loved it when she did that. "What next?" "Well, she invited me in to sit down. It seems that she is worried about your life insurance being too little." "If anything ever happened to me she'd be fine. My policies are sizable, and her parents are loaded. Stick to the topic at hand." I was closer to her on the bed now. "I'm sure. Well, apparently she was concerned enough to give me a listen. A long, drawn-out listen." Sinne's voice changed in some indefinable way. "Insurance can be complicated to explain, you know, and it gets a bit boring and somewhat monotonous, and it's easier to just sit back and listen, no need to talk about it; save your questions for later. just sit back and relax and listen to my voice, and you'll understand it all." She was stroking my shoulders, now, through my shirt. I could smell her perfume. "Just sit back," she crooned, "and relax." I don't think so. "Nice try, Sinne. That could never work." I don't think I saw a trace of disappointment in the depths of her eyes. But it was dark. "No, not on you, maybe, but it sure worked on her. She stared into space while I was droning on, and eventually I stopped droning and she kept staring." A spark lit her eyes. "Just kept on staring. Not even at me, just off at the wall somewhere. "So I kept talking, asked her questions I didn't think she'd answer. Plausible insurance questions, just to be safe, but gradually not so safe." Now her breath was definitely quickening. "She was under, Arch. She answered everything I asked, she did." She glanced at me. ". not refuse to answer a single one." "Impossible." Ridiculous. (Then why was I as hard as a rock from this conversation?) "Entirely possible. I know, because it happened." At this point, I could hear the arousal in her voice. My anger now entirely replaced by intrigue and interest, I accepted her legs straddling my lap, and she unbuttoned her blouse. "You weren't there. You didn't see. But it worked, and she was entirely open to suggestion." "Such as?" I worked the cups of her bra down beneath her breasts and applied my tongue to one nipple. "You'll have to see for yourself." She ooohed as I took the entire nipple into my mouth and started sucking. "Ummm. just ask her about insurance premiums." Sinne yanked her skirt up, revealing her customary lack of panties, as well as her glossy black stockings. I didn't have to finger her to know she was already wet, I could smell her fragrance from here. She unzipped my fly and started to lower herself onto me. "Wait," I stopped her. "I want to eat you out, first." "I know you do, but there'll be time for that later. All of this talk has made me crazy. I need you inside me, now!" Who was I to argue with that?