Into the Lion's Den

"I have you in my power now," he said, so close to my ear that I could feel his breath on me,

"The more I tighter I grip your hair, the deeper into trance you will go. And because you enjoy going into trance so much, my grip on your hair will feel so good."

"So good, so good," I murmured mindlessly as he gripped my hair.

"I'm going to place raise your skirt now," said James, "As your skirt moves higher, you'll find yourself becoming more and more deeply hypnotized. As you move deeper into a hypnotic state, you will find yourself becoming more and more excited by the thought of me inside you, until finally, when I enter you, you will fall deeply into trance, your mind blank and your body riding waves and waves of pleasure"

"Yes," I moaned. I felt the familiar touch on my ankles, moving up to my knees, not stopping there...I needed that touch between my legs...higher, and higher, and higher still the touch moved and deeper and deeper, sleepier and sleepier became my mind. My mind was opening, blossoming like a flower, ready to receive whatever suggestion he offered as easily as a rose receives a bee.

"My hands are on your breasts now."

No sooner had I opened my mouth to groan my consent than I felt the firm hands, kneading my breasts. Those hands...so strong...able to break me but instead touching me gently. I melted at his touch on my breasts and, I now realized, on my skirt at the same time, both pairs of hands so equally firm and deliberate that I was unable to tell which was a figment of my imagination and which real. Then, suddenly, I felt one pair of hands again, and they were at my sex.

"I'm going to place something inside you now. When I place it inside you, you're going to feel as if you've been given a powerful aphrodisiac."

I felt the hands, surgically precise, prodding inside, placing something inside me. Then it was as if my need was increased a hundredfold. I spread my legs and bucked my hips forward to show my readiness.

As James entered me, I felt as if I was in free fall, falling through waves and waves of intense pleasure. It didn't subside...James would not let it.

"Ten times stronger...twenty times stronger..." he growled as he thrust into me.

"Yes, yes!" I shrieked as the ecstasy grew more and more intense...so intense that it would have been difficult to bear had I been awake. Finally, he allowed my free fall to end, and I settled comfortably into a deep hypnotic state, the rhythm of his thrusts gently rocking my body. I felt a bone-deep contentment as he climaxed inside me, the same contentment, I surmised, that he must feel as well. As James withdrew from me, I could feel his hands on my hair again, this time gently stroking.

"Now, it is time for me to release my hold on you," said James, and again I felt his breath in my hair "When you awake, you'll be aroused thinking of what has happened here today. Thinking and remembering my voice, my body, even my name will arouse you. And you want to be aroused, so if you find yourself alone today or tomorrow, you'll begin thinking of what happened today, and the very thought of it will pull your hand between your legs to the place where I touched. You will find the result of touching yourself to be even stronger than the pleasure you felt here today."

I nodded.

"Now, it is time to wake. On the count of ten, I want you awake and alert, seeing me fully dressed."

"One...still deeply hypnotized."

"Two."

"Three...starting to come out of the hypnotic state"

"Four"

"Five...halfway there."

"Six."

"Seven."

"Eight,"

"Nine...ready to be wake up, alert and refreshed."

"Ten...thoroughly de-hypnotized."

I stretched and looked up at James.

"Are a few more questions okay?" I asked.

"Ask away, lass" he said.

"Where did you put your shirts, when you had them off?"

He smiled as if hoping I would ask that, "I never did."

"Never did what," I asked.

"Never took off a stitch of clothing"

I looked at him disbelievingly.

"And your hands? I felt them on my breasts and on my thighs at the same time...where were they really?"

"On your thighs," he said, "The hands on your breasts were a figment of your own mind."

"And the aphrodisiac you gave me? What was it?'

"I never gave you an aphrodisiac. I placed a sponge inside you, as a contraceptive measure. And be sure you take it out tonight."

"Okay" I nodded.

We said our goodbyes and I took the carriage home. When I returned home that evening, it was hard to get a moment alone. Hugh pressed me with questions. I reassured him that Dr. Braid was a man of both science and faith, and that hypnotism was a natural process rather than one caused by unseen forces. I even told him that I had been hypnotized myself, though I left out the graphic description which I've included in this private diary. But of course you know, as I'm writing here, that I've found a moment to myself. I've learned much from James Braid. I learned that my shame, my joy and all the rest of my emotions are in my mind, changeable by my own mind. And I know that while my cousin was wrong about Braid, I still wish to remain a member of the church, not out of love for him nor out of shame for my rebellion against a mere man, but for my own soul and my need to understand the world...another need that James Braid and I have in common. And maybe, just maybe, I will learn auto-hypnotism as James did, so that I can keep myself as calm as him when my cousin next gets red in the face.