The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Title: Master PC: User Error

Author: User Error

Categories: fd, md, mf, nc

Part 5: System Restore

David and Stephanie cuddled in the back seat of Mary’s car as she drove them all back across town, to the place they would soon accept as their new home. From time to time one of them would sniffle, and the other would turn to meet their eyes; both feared the future that awaited them, but curiosity and lust overruled their instincts. Even if they weren’t captivated by their lower emotions, neither could have turned against their new master—the woman who guided the car smoothly along, who so kindly had let them share in her pleasure and who had mercifully refused to exact a harsher revenge upon either of them.

The car stopped in front of a moderately fancy home in the suburbs, and the passengers removed themselves from the vehicle at the command of the driver and marched to the front door. Entering the abode both David and Stephanie were confronted immediately by the overpowering odor of sex. As Mary shut the door behind them she spoke quickly and firmly, “David and Stephanie: this is now your home. You both live here, and neither of you may stray beyond its borders for any reason without explicit instructions from any occupant of this land besides yourselves.” David gulped and Stephanie whimpered in acknowledgment, and Mary continued, “Follow me, I think I hear them in the entertainment room.”

Striding forward, Mary made her way through the home, tramping through innumerable piles of muck until she reached the open door of the entertainment room. At the entrance she turned and issued a new order, “Stay here until you are called. Remain silent.” Passing through the door she found her son Tim lying on the long sofa, holding the woman who until yesterday had been a man—Hank, her husband. The two stroked each other gently, apparently worn out from fucking, though her presence made them both perk up.

“Don’t get up on my account,” she said, looking her son right in the eye as she spoke. Sitting on the adjacent sofa she faced them with her legs crossed and her arms across her chest.

“I see you’re staying pretty consistent with your body honey,” Hank said. It was apparent that Tim had been toying with her physique since the day before, tweaking her to his liking. Mary admitted to herself that Hank was one heck of a fine specimen at this point, and her pussy oozed a few drops of lubricant as she stared at her former partners sultry body.

Tim smiled and looked his mother up and down, “Have you come to play, mom?”

She smiled back and replied “No, I’ve come to barter. I think I’ve got something you might like having even more than Hank.”

“I doubt that very much,” as he spoke he gave one of Hank’s nipples a sharp twist and his toy squeaked in pleasure, “but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat interested.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t keep you in suspense. Come on in Stephanie.” She paused and looked to the door, watching as David’s wife stepped furtively into the room. “This is, as you just heard, Stephanie. I know from experience that she can suck cock with the best of them.”

Tim eyed the woman furtively, but seemed nonplussed. “She’s alright, I guess, but nothing special really. What did you want in return for her?” The look in his eye revealed that he already knew what was coming, but he wanted to hear his mother ask for it.

“I want Hank back. In return you get Stephanie here,” Mary said. She tried to hide the desperation in her voice, but her tone quavered as she spoke. Winning back her ex had only made her longing for the one who had genuinely loved her for so many years grow stronger.

Tim paused before responding, enjoying his mother’s discomfort. “I like what I’ve got, there’s no need to downgrade.”

Stephanie huffed softly, annoyed that this teenager could dismiss her so easily. Still she remained silent though, with Mary’s former orders still keeping her from speaking her mind at will. At her reaction Tim raised an eyebrow, an act perceived by his mother. Mary realized she was going to have to make her son want this woman somehow, and ideas began to form in her mind.

“Show Tim what you’ve got Stephanie. Strip for him.”

The woman rose from the sofa mechanically and began to remove articles of clothing. It seemed in all her years she’d never undressed seductively, and with a groan Mary amended her order, “not like that dear, you have all the combined knowledge of every stripper in the industry at your behest, now use it!”

The effect was astonishing; Stephanie’s body seemed to liquify as she bent and writhed about the room, working against the furniture and the bodies of her viewers equally. Garments dropped to the floor one by one, and after about ten minutes she stood in front of Tim fully nude, facing Mary across the room. Spreading her legs apart she bent down, her torso dropping a hundred and eighty degrees until the top of her head skimmed the carpet and she peered at Tim and Hank through her legs and licked her lips.

“Hold it there Stephanie,” Mary ordered, “spread your pussy for him so he can get a good look.”

Tim did indeed take a good look, his cock growing firm in between his legs. Glancing downwards he fought his burgeoning erection back, determined not to give in to his mother’s wishes. “I see you figured out how to issue verbal commands too. Saves a lot of time, doesn’t it?”

Mary smiled as she realized her plan was working. Tim could try and hide his desire from her but she’d known him too long to be fooled. “It makes it easier to make changes on the fly, I suppose, but then if I’d figured it out sooner we might have missed out, don’t you agree, son?”

Tim shivered slightly but didn’t respond; his eyes were locked on the curvy body bent over in front of him.

“Stephanie, your pussy is just like mine, only younger and tighter. You’ve never been with a man, never had your maidenhead broken, never even been fingered, though you have within you the complete sexual knowledge and experience of all the women of the world.”

Stephanie shuddered and winced as an unfathomable rush of information flooded her brain, then regained her composure and held herself steady. Without provocation her tight cunt began to drip juices, which ran up to her clit and dripped down onto her face suspended below.

“Can you smell her now Tim? Stephanie gives off pheromones which stimulate members of the male gender with only a single whiff. At close range a single inhalation of her smell can drive lesser men into a reproductive frenzy.”

His cock was as rigid as a flagpole as he breathed her scent in, panting slightly with his arousal. His mother offered no objection as he stood up and grasped Stephanie by the hips and began to rub his cock against her pussy lips which she still held open for him.

“Don’t waste all that experience darling, make with the sex!”

Neither Tim nor Stephanie could be sure Mary was referring to them, but both responded to her command. The head of Tim’s cock breached Stephanie’s hole, but he found her tightness barring him from getting more than a few inches into her. Rubbing her clit with her hand while her other arm grabbed the coffee table in front of her Stephanie pushed back against him enthusiastically, grunting with effort as she tried to meet his desire to get his full length inside of her.

After a few moments Tim had a solid six inches pushed into his new lover, but that seemed to be all she could take. Inhaling her scent only made him want her more, however, and with his superhuman strength he flipped her over and spun her around to sit on the sofa. Hank moved over to accommodate them and watched as Tim positioned her on top of him as he lay prone on the cushions.

As they fucked Stephanie raked her fingernails over Tim’s chest, leaving long red streaks in his skin as he bucked his hips up and down, maneuvering another three inches into her slick slit.

“Oh my, it looks like you two are having fun.” Mary’s soft voice made Tim’s cock surge and another inch plunged into Stephanie. “I can see you like women with a little more in front, judging by how you’ve got Hank stacked over there. Stephanie, you’re growing bigger breasts, let’s say 36DD. You’ll be all done in just a moment, and you’re going to love them as they’ll respond to anyone’s touch with instant pleasure going straight to your loins, and when you cum it’ll be just as productive as when we do, if you catch my meaning.”

Stephanie moaned in pleasure as her tits began to swell. Tim grinned and grabbed them, rolling her nipples in his fingers as her pussy clenched around his cock and another inch pushed in.

“You know I used to have big boobs like that Tim,” Mary said, “it was right after you were born and I was breastfeeding you for the first year or so. You cried so much when I weened you and I almost went back, but your father insisted it was time I stopped. Afterward my breasts grew even bigger as they swelled with unused milk, but they later went back to normal. If I’m honest I think we both miss those times, but did you notice that Stephanie is producing milk right now, and lots of it?”

Droplets formed on Stephanie’s nipples as Tim continued to pump away at her cunt. His hands became slippery as the milk coated his fingers and palms, running down his arms as he gently squeezed the white liquid from her chest. Reaching down to him she gathered him in her arms and brought his face to her boobs, and with one arm around his back she guided a nipple into his mouth with her free hand. Tim latched on immediately, muscle memory kicking in as his tongue played over her areola and he sucked in the warm and sweet milk. His eyes rolled back in his head as ecstasy washed over his body and another inch plunged into Stephanie’s virginal pussy.

“But you’d never guess the most interesting thing about Stephanie, Tim,” said his mother as she watched her son struggle to get the last inch of his prick into David’s wife. “You see, she didn’t always belong to me; I took her from someone else. I took her from David. Come on in here David.”

Tim’s eyes rolled back down and he focused on the door. Had he heard her right? She took this woman from David? Did she mean his father? As he watched his suspicions were confirmed when none other but his father stepped through the door.

Both men froze. David stood gawking at his son; many of his own features were mirrored on the boy, but he never dreamed he would grow up to become the stunning figure before him. Well-toned muscles rippled under Tim’s perfect skin, and from the looks of it he was well-hung, though he couldn’t tell for sure as all but an inch of his cock was buried in his wife’s pussy. His jaw dropped as he watched the woman he was married to grinding on his son’s prick, squeezing thin streams of milk from her huge tits, and moaning in delight with each thrust.

Tim stared back at his father, taking in the sight of the man he hadn’t seen for more than half of his life. Not much about him seemed to have changed, save for the toll that time had taken on him. Stephanie’s nipple had popped out of his mouth when he turned to the door, and squirts of her milk now sprayed his cheek as her body bounced up and down on his member. A grin crossed his face and he turned his whole body to face the doorway where his father stood. Gently he spun Stephanie around on his cock so she faced David as well, and once more he began to pump his cock in and out of her while his adversary watched.

Standing up, Mary crossed over and sat next to her son. Reaching down she fondled his balls and softly whispered in his ear, “Do you like Stephanie?”

Tim could only nod as he looked his father intently in the eyes. He reached around Stephanie’s chest and pinched her nipples, sending squirts of milk arcing through the air as she squeaked in delight.

“Maybe you’d like to rethink my offer then?” Mary rubbed his balls sensually, but gripped them both in her hands as she finished her question.

His head reared back as he fought back the urge to blow his load in Stephanie’s cunt right then and there, but it was too late. His mother reached up and put all of her weight on Stephanie’s shoulders and shoved her down. She screamed in pleasure as the final inch of Tim’s cock disappeared into her hole and Tim’s balls began to clench as seed pumped through the length of his member and shot into her. His spine curved backwards as yet again the force of his orgasm overtook him and he shouted to anyone listening “Yes, Hank is yours, just let me have Stephanie!”

Mary smirked and continued to hold his balls as his semen coursed through them and into Stephanie, the juices pouring out of her pussy from all sides as she too shivered and shook from the force of an uncontrollable orgasm. Still David’s wife heard every word she said as Mary issued her a final command, “You are now my son Tim’s slave. You and your body will heed his every command. You have no allegiance to your husband David. I no longer possess any power over you. Do you understand?”

Amid her quaking and shuddering David perceived an undeniable nod of Stephanie’s head, and knew in that instant that Mary had won completely. His mind reeled at the events of the day. Every instinct told him to run away, to get out of there; yet try as he might he was rooted to the spot where he stood. For the past three hours he’d done nothing but what his ex-wife had ordered, his own body refusing to react to his own will. Despite his horror at the situation he was drooling at the scent of pussy in the room. His cock was hard in his pants, and as he watched his son cum and his wife follow suit, he almost joined them. He watched as Mary stood up once more and crossed to him. She brought her mouth close to his ear and spoke so only he could hear, “I could make you anything I want. You could be a woman, a child, an old man. If I wanted you to I’d be able to turn you into a dog and get you knocked up by the neighbor’s great dane, and I could make you like every second of it. How do you feel about that?”

David’s only response was a petrified whimper.

Mary chuckled, “I’m not ruling anything out, but just remember that I hold all the cards. For now, you are going to be our happy slave. Your first duty is to clean the house; we’ve been a little messy lately. You know where everything is, now hop to it.”

David smiled and perked up a little. For reasons beyond his understanding he was looking forward to his new job, and he hurried off to the cabinet where the cleaning supplies were kept.

At last Mary turned to Hank, who sat awkwardly next to Tim and Stephanie on the sofa. Over the course of their lovemaking she too had cum, and now was idly drawing spirals in the fluid pooled near her crotch as she looked to Mary for instructions. She pointed to Hank and summoned her with her index finger. As Hank drew close Mary wrapped her arms around the woman who she still loved as her husband and embraced her lovingly, drawing her in for a long kiss, savoring the myriad of tastes on Hank’s lips. Breaking away after a long moment, she pulled her to the door. As they exited the room Mary took one look back and, seeing her son reclining on the sofa with Stephanie’s nipple in his mouth said “have fun you two, and play nice.”

* * *

Hank sat on the bed as Mary paced their room while she searched for words. Hank smiled uneasily as she waited, unsure if she should be worried or not for what was coming. After a few moments Mary sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at Hank, still trying to determine how much of the new woman before her was her husband and how much had been replaced by her son’s transformations. Hank scooted over and placed his hand softly on her thigh; Mary looked down at the slender hand, the thin fingers tipped by manicured nails. Hank could still recall even the tiniest details of their marriage, and could still kiss her like a champion. But for all of this Mary couldn’t look at Hank and see her husband.

And yet she had to admit that Tim was quite an artist. From the start Hank had been quite a specimen, but since yesterday afternoon her son had turned Hank into a figure worthy of any supermodel. Her sultry hips swayed with every movement of her frame, while her bountiful and perky breasts heaved as she breathed on Mary’s neck.

Mary looked down at the floor and let out a deep sigh. “Are you happy like this Hank?” she asked.

Hank touched her chin and lifted her head up to meet her eyes. A subtle smile creased her face and she responded with just a nod as she squeezed Mary’s thigh firmly.

“But don’t you miss what you’ve lost, don’t you miss being a man?” Mary’s tone was pleading, and she drew away slightly from Hank’s grasp.

Hank considered her question before answering. “I guess you can’t understand, honey. Tim brought out a part of me that was always there, even if you couldn’t see it.”

“We were a couple though, I was yours and you were mine. I don’t know what we are now that you seem so content with being a woman.” Her voice cracked and she looked away from Hank again and focused on a spot on the wall beside her.

“Content? You think this made me content? I’m not saying that having a pussy and tits doesn’t make me happy, but at the same time don’t assume that having a cock and balls made me sad,” Hank reassured her. “Throughout all of this one thing has remained true for me, I still love you, and I want to be your...your whatever no matter what happens around us.”

Hank’s words brought tears to Mary’s eyes, and she turned back to her and peered at her husband through blurred vision. She put her hand over Hank’s on her thigh and drew it close to her crotch. “So you don’t mind if I make some of my own changes again?”

“I can’t wait, honey,” Hank replied.

“Then lie back and let’s play.”

Hank complied and stretched back on the bed. Mary straddled her and leaned in for a kiss before pulling back and bringing her left hand to Hank’s wet slit. “I guess we should make sure you respond to my spoken commands like the others did, or else I’m going to have to go get my computer and I just don’t feel like doing that right now.” Hank smiled and bucked lightly against her hand. “So long as you swing both ways, let’s get you set up with the tools to handle it all. You are regaining your cock and balls while this lovely cunt is going to remain a part of your body just below your regrown bits.”

Mary’s fingers plunged into Hank’s pussy as it shifted down and a set of man parts sprouted from above. As they both watched the cock swelled out fully hard until it was leaned against Mary’s stomach several inches above her bellybutton. Hank trembled slightly as Mary rubbed his clit relentlessly, his newly regrown prick expanding to a glorious erection with the tip bobbing back and forth just under his wife’s breasts. While her left hand continued to work Hank’s tight slit she rubbed her hands over his stomach, cooing “feel those muscles ripple under there.”

Looking down beyond his copious tits Hank watched in awe as the muscles in his abdomen grew taught and toned, the sensation spreading over the rest of his body as his frame took on a form that would make any bodybuilder jealous. He remained curved in the hips and chest; anyone seeing him for the first time would be utterly confused by the combination of masculine muscular structure with the lithe and slim body of a model, but Hank wore the look perfectly.

Mary withdrew her hand from Hank’s pussy and cupped his balls, rubbing his own juices into his sack. Feel these huge testicles, Hank. He complied immediately, rubbing them as they expanded in his hands. If you thought you came a lot before, just wait till you see what happens now that you sport a couple of grapefruits in your pants.”

Hank grinned giddily as she reached up now and tweaked his nipples one after the other. “Your nipples, cock, and balls are now connected directly to the pleasure center of your brain.” Her husband couldn’t help himself as his back arched upwards and a spurt of precum shot upwards and landed on the underside of Mary’s breasts, where it dripped back down and landed on his stomach.

“Oh my god Mary I can’t believe what you’re doing to me.”

“You like it?” she asked coyly.

Another bolt of precum hit her square in the jaw in response to her question. As she wiped it away with her hand and sucked the juice from her fingers she smiled down at him and scooted up towards his crotch. “Do you have any ideas for me honey?”

Hank surveyed his wife; already she was as near to perfect as any woman he could imagine. Still he found his eyes focusing on her breasts, specifically her nipples. She saw his eyes glaze over as he licked his lips, and Mary knew instantly what he wanted.

“Don’t worry sweetie, you look hungry and I’ve got just what you need.” Slowly she brought her hands to her breasts and with an almost imperceptible moan circled her areolas with her fingertips.

Hank watched in fascination as her nipples tightened into compact points as Mary played about them. His tongue ached for hydration as white dots, almost invisible at first, grew on the surface and swelled into droplets. Suddenly Mary pinched her nipples and the droplets grew into thin streams of milk that showered down onto Hank. Reaching up he wrapped his arms around Mary and drew her forth to him. In one motion he brought her face to his and she felt the rough skin of his parched mouth against her lush lips. She broke the kiss and lifted herself past him so that her chest was level with his head.

Hank didn’t wait for an invitation, and just as Tim had done earlier with Stephanie he eagerly puckered his lips and latched onto one of Mary’s tits. Hank suckled gently at his wife’s breast, savoring the sweet flavor of the milk as it flowed into his mouth. He could feel Mary’s heart beating through her chest as he drank of her offering. He could feel her breasts swell before him as they filled again with milk even as his stomach filled up. By the time he had switched back and forth between her boobs several times he no longer hungered for more.

Below his cock still throbbed with a powerful erection, made all the greater by his joy at Mary feeding him. Confidently he lifted her up from her position above him and lowered her again to the bed, now on her back. He maneuvered himself on top of her and positioned his dick at the entrance to her pussy. Smiling, he rubbed the head of his penis over her slit, teasing her as she gyrated against him. Precum oozed from the tip of his member and mixed with the juices flowing from her cunt. As he continued to run his prick along the opening of her pussy she opened her legs wider for him, arching her back and grabbing one of his hands and bringing it to her breast where he squeezed it hard, sending a thick stream of milk into the air.

“Fuck me Hank, oh please I’ve never needed it like I need it now,” Mary said forcefully.

In a display of willpower that Mary could hardly comprehend Hank held steady at his task, rubbing the head of his cock over the opening to her womb. Even as jets of milk hit him in the chest and face he held strong to his work.

“Hank, I order you to fuck me, drive your cock in, make me your whore!” Mary cried.

Hank only smiled and looked her in the eyes and whispered back “I love you Mary.”

This was too much, Mary was about to cum as he titillated her with his prick. She needed him inside of her, had to have his length thrust into her immediately. “Please Hank, I’ll do anything, you have control over yourself again, you guide your own fate!”

“Don’t worry Mary, we’ll always be together,” Hank replied softly.

Mary’s legs wrapped around behind him, and she clamped them around his buttocks. With a mighty pull she pulled him to her and at last his cock plunged into her pussy, the head and shaft disappearing until he bottomed out in her cunt. Mary screamed in pleasure as an orgasm rocked her body. Only Hank’s superhuman strength allowed him to keep pumping his cock in and out of her as her vaginal walls clamped down on his cock. As before fluids poured from her body as she shook with the orgasm, this time joined by streams of milk issuing from her breasts. Hank too came with her, and as she had predicted the level of liquid expelled from his body put his earlier orgasms to shame. The champion of his own body, he too poured milk forth from his breasts, and Mary sucked happily on his nipples as the creamy milk sprayed her all over.

His cock stayed hard as he came, and after his orgasm subsided he continued to thrust away at his wife’s cunt. Between his own legs, below his bulging balls, his own pussy ached for attention. He rolled onto his back and Mary straddled him once more. Lifting herself up over his huge cock she positioned her anus over his member, and as precum once more slid down it and lubricated its length she dropped herself down and impaled her asshole on Hank’s prick. Her hole was tight and Hank winced at first as the inches of his cock disappeared into his wife’s seldom-used hole. She bobbed up and down slowly at first, and with each bounce the motion became easier. As he watched she leaned backwards and brought supported herself with her right hand, while her left found its way to the lips of Hank’s dripping pussy. Without wasting any time he felt her finger plunge into him, drawing back and forth while she worked the hidden clit with her thumb. He returned the favor as he mirrored her actions with his own fingers on her pussy as she rode his cock up and down. Once a minute had gone by he felt another finger slip into him, then another, and then all four of her fingers were dipping in and out of his pussy as she pounded away on his cock. Then the thumb was gone from his clit, and in an instant her entire hand was inside of him. With delight he watched as his own hand disappeared into Mary’s cunt, seeming to be swallowed by her pussy as it drew it up within her while her hole clenched about his wrist.

Inside of him he felt her fingering the walls of his vagina until she found his g-spot and began to rub it rhythmically. With his own fingers he felt the shaft of his cock through the thin barrier of flesh between Mary’s pussy and her colon, and through this he massaged his member as she pumped his prick in and out of her ass. In just a few moments they came together again; more fluids now streaming in unison from their bodies and saturating the bed until it dripped the sex liquid into ever-growing puddles on the floor.

Still Hank’s cock stayed hard. Mary looked at him in awe as he withdrew his member from her ass and rubbed his length idly. Cum spurted from the hole at the tip every few seconds or so and landed on her belly. “Having fun Mary?”

She nodded in ascension, but he could tell she was tired. “Well let’s finish up then dear,” he said.

Hank crawled around on the bed, sending small waves of their sex juices running over the sheets as he did, until his face was even with Mary’s crotch. He flipped her onto him and began to lick away happily at her pussy, which was still gaping wide open from his earlier efforts. Love juices ran down over his face and into his mouth where he happily slurped them up, loving the taste of his own seed mixed with the salty sweat and thick juices that still flowed from Mary’s cunt and ass.

For her part Mary drew as much of Hank’s cock into her mouth as possible and lavished it with affection. Licking along it’s length she would have sworn it wasn’t possible for any human appendage to be this warm and this delicious, yet as Hank’s prick throbbed with every beat of his heart she knew they had both left the realm of what was conventionally possible long ago. With both hands now she played at his cunt, pausing every few moments as he brought her to the edge of orgasm with his tongue at her own slit and she had to hold on to keep from releasing too early.

As she cradled and caressed his balls with one hand and pushed the other into Hank’s pussy she felt the first rumblings of his orgasm as the muscles in his testicles tensed and loosened again and again. Soon his shaft quivered in her mouth, and before she could react his head swelled up at the back of her throat. She should have gagged, but instead her eyes rolled back in her head and she clamped her thighs around Hank’s head below. From his cock semen flowed like water from a firehose into her throat, the flared head of his penis locked into place in her mouth.

For Hank’s part, he held his mouth against Mary’s cunt and drank every drop that flowed from her pussy. Even if she hadn’t held his head in a death grip between her thighs he wouldn’t have let a single drop be wasted of this orgasm.

For what seemed an eternity the two lovers were locked to the others orgasm until at last it ended. Mary released Hank from between her thighs and Hank’s erection finally subsided, allowing his cock to slip from her mouth and hang down between his legs.

Mary spun herself about and faced Hank, her arm caressing his side lovingly as they gazed adoringly at one another. The light of the day had long since subsided and now sleep crept softly over them. They slipped into unconsciousness together, embracing each other warmly, lovingly.

* * *

The dawn broke as David entered the room with a bucket of cleaning supplies. Despite his programming he couldn’t help but stop and stare at the mess before him. Though his body was weary he couldn’t stop cleaning, but this room had far more mess than any other area he had yet witnessed. As he watched Mary stretched and yawned before turning to face him bleary eyed.

For a second she almost seemed to take pity on him, for when she spoke she issued a new command, “You feel strength flowing through your body. You will never tire, never be worn down by the tasks assigned to you. You have the complete knowledge of all cleaning techniques and home maintenance and repairs to assist you in your work.”

David perked up immediately as the command took effect. He smiled and started to set out his cleaning materials. In spite of the weird things going on around here he really did enjoy cleaning up the various messes. He never liked cleaning before, but now he worked with purpose and satisfaction.

Mary smiled to herself, and wondered what she had done right in life to make everything work out so nicely. After a moment the thought passed, and she turned back to Hank as David began to work the bodily fluids out of the carpet. She lowered her mouth to one of his breasts and gave a light lick to the nipple. The wonderful taste of his milk flowed over her tongue and without further consideration she began to suck, enjoying her breakfast as she slowly stroked his cock to attention while he slept softly beside her.