Consensual Consequences
Penny – At Wit’s End
by Clare de Luna
When Penny’s alarm woke her up on Thursday it took all of her will to pull herself out of bed. She had thought that escaping the erotic dreams of Mistress Catherine would allow her to finally get a decent night’s rest, but she had been wrong. Since her encounter with Mistress on Monday the dreams had stopped, but in their place was a strange sort of half-insomnia that, instead of leaving her feeling refreshed and ready for the day, left her groggy and sluggish.
That her sleep had been so fitful on Monday was not completely surprising. On the one hand, Penny had been hoping that after spending the weekend so erotically charged, the release that she had experienced at the hands of Mistress Catherine would allow her to go to bed early and finally recover from the events of Friday night. However, the whole experience with Mistress Catherine had been so distressing, so jarring, that Penny found herself too shaken to sleep very deeply.
It didn’t help that, despite the massive orgasms that she had experienced, she still felt a bit aroused when she went to bed. She couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened to her and, as much it all filled her with worry, it also turned her on. She was determined, though, not to let this arousal control her. For Sandy’s sake, if nothing else, Penny needed to overcome Mistress Catherine’s control, and she couldn’t do that if she was spending her nights masturbating while remembering her submission in Mistress Catherine’s office.
By Tuesday, though, this arousal had started to become a distraction. During lunch, she had slipped off to the bathroom to give herself a bit of relief. Wedged into a stall, she started to masturbate while steadfastly refusing to think about Mistress Catherine. Instead, she did her best to picture previous sexual encounters and, more than anything, to just let the physical sensations of her own fingers bring her to climax.
Eventually this strategy worked, but the orgasm that she had was unsatisfying. She came, but that was about it and, when it was all over she almost felt more frustrated than she had before.
Not only that, but what happened in Mistress Catherine’s office the day before was still on her mind. Penny continued to feel a sense of danger and of failure – it was bad enough that she had lost the contest of wills with Mistress Catherine, but Penny was terrified that this could mean that Sandy would fall further under the hypnotist’s spell. Sandy was so young and impressionable, Penny shuddered to think what might happen if Mistress Catherine were able to get her claws any further into Sandy.
All of these worries made Tuesday night another evening of sleeplessness and frustration. Penny was free of Mistress Catherine’s influence, but for some reason just couldn’t rest. When the alarm went off on Wednesday morning, it startled Penny, but didn’t wake her up – she had already been lying awake in bed, frustrated, exhausted, and distressed.
What made it worse was that Sandy had been particularly happy all week. This was a good thing, certainly, and Penny took it to mean that Mistress Catherine hadn’t done anything too bad to her yet, but it also reminded Penny of just what was at stake – just what she was jeopardizing by her failure to protect Sandy from Mistress Catherine. Sandy had been bright and bubbly, seemingly on top of the world – so full of life and joy. Penny wanted to protect that. She wanted to make sure that Mistress Catherine wouldn’t crush Sandy’s lively spirit.
Unfortunately for Penny, she didn’t share Sandy’s peppiness. She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in almost a week and, on top of it all, she and Sandy had both been spending long hours at the office working on the presentation that Penny had to give the next week. Penny was doing her best to stay focused on work, but it was getting harder and harder as her concern for Sandy, and for herself, combined with her lack of sleep and the seemingly constant arousal that was lurking somewhere within her to constantly pull her thoughts away from the task at hand.
By Wednesday night, Penny was determined to pull herself together. As soon as she got home she opened a bottle of wine, figuring that a few glasses would calm her nerves and help her sleep. After she had a nice buzz, she put herself to bed early, making sure that she would have plenty of time to rest before another long day of work.
When she got into bed, she decided to masturbate. She had a vibrator that she used from time to time, and she made use of it that night. Unlike the quick, desperate masturbation that she had done in the bathroom stall the day before, this time she took her time. She played with herself, caressed herself, let herself enjoy the sensations. She knew that she could take her time and still have plenty of time to sleep.
Eventually, she brought the vibrator into play, thinking the sexiest thoughts that she could conjure (that didn’t involve Mistress Catherine), Penny did everything she could to slowly, sensuously build herself towards a climax.
Finally, that climax came. But even with all of the buildup and anticipation that she had tried to create, the orgasm wasn’t satisfying. She came, but other than a slight shudder, it didn’t fill her body with sensation. Her sex quivered a few times, and there was a bit of tingling there and in her nipples, but that was it.
Rather than let this get her down, though, she reminded herself that she was exhausted, so maybe masturbation just wasn’t going to feel good. An orgasm, even a disappointing one, combined with the glasses of wine and her fatigue ought to allow her to get a good night’s rest at last.
But that couldn’t have been further from the truth. She had tossed and turned all night before finally, fitfully dozing off hours after she had gone to bed. When her alarm had woken her up she almost felt more tired than she had before she went to bed. She had a long day ahead of her, and lacked the energy that she really needed to get through it.
Nevertheless, she had work to do. She got up, showered, and got ready to go to the office. Her mind was on edge, her body and spirit were exhausted, and she still lived under the constant cloud of knowing that Mistress Catherine might prey upon Sandy at any time. But her coworkers were counting on her to put together a strong presentation next week, and so she had to block out her own troubles and get to work.
By the time she arrived at work, she was determined to push through. Maybe a really hard day of work would be the thing that would finally allow her to sleep. And, she reminded herself, her insomnia might not be entirely a result of her fears about Mistress Catherine. Maybe she was stressed about work. The best way to get over that anxiety, she decided, was to get her work done so that she could relax.
With this mindset in place, she got busy.
The more she worked, though, the more distraught she became. There was still so much to do, and Penny realized that she just hadn’t gotten enough done this week. She had been so preoccupied with what had happened with Mistress Catherine that she hadn’t been her usual productive self. She had to be ready by next week, and she wasn’t sure she was going to make it.
And the presentation wasn’t even the only thing she had to do. She had taken this on at the request of her co-workers, but her usual duties were starting to pile up as well.
To make matters worse, Sandy seemed to be especially happy today. She had walked into the office absolutely beaming. How could Penny allow such an energetic, lively young woman with so much going for her come under the spell of a hypnotist? Penny was convinced that if she didn’t protect Sandy, the bright young woman would be subdued; robbed of her life.
All of this was weighing on Penny. Still, she reminded herself, sitting around thinking about how much she had on her plate wouldn’t get it done – she needed to keep focused.
This remained a struggle throughout the day, though, as her mind kept wandering. She was relieved when, shortly after what should have been her lunch break (she didn’t have time to stop, so she had worked straight through it), the door opened. Penny looked up, expecting to see Sandy – perhaps her assistant was bringing her something to eat, or had finished her tasks and was ready to offer more help. Even just seeing Sandy and her infectious energy sounded good to Penny at this point.
But it wasn’t Sandy that suddenly stepped into Penny’s office.
It was Mistress Catherine!
Penny’s eyes grew wide and she stood up out of her chair in surprise and fear. Mistress Catherine calmly stepped into Penny’s office and closed the door before simply saying, “Hello, Penny. It’s good to see you again.”
“What are you doing here?” Penny was momentarily stunned, but was trying to collect herself.
“Well, I’m here to talk to…” Penny cut her off, not wanting to give her a chance to cast her spell.
“Get out. I don’t want you here and I don’t want you to start your games.”
“I’ll leave if you want me to, but I don’t know what games you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about – putting me in trance. I won’t let you do it this time.”
“Dear Penny,” Mistress remained completely calm; totally at ease. “I promise that I will only hypnotize you if you ask me to.”
“Am I expected to believe that? I’ve never asked you to before. Or is that it? You’ll hypnotize me and then say that I subconsciously asked for it? Not this time – I want you to leave right now.”
“Very well, but I promise you, I have no intentions of hypnotizing you unless you consciously, explicitly ask me to hypnotize you.”
“And you expect me to trust you?”
“Penny, my dear, if I really am the all-powerful enchantress that you think me to be, do you really think I need to resort to lying?”
Penny paused for a moment. That actually made a kind of sense. Penny certainly didn’t feel under any kind of trance at the moment even though Mistress Catherine had caught her so completely off guard.
Then, Penny’s blood suddenly ran cold.
“How did you get in here?” She asked, but the answer was already clear. “Sandy! You’ve hypnotized her again!” As she said this, Penny reached for the phone on her desk. This had gone far enough – she was going to call security – or perhaps she should call the police!
Her fingers were on the buttons when she stopped because she was so taken aback. Mistress Catherine was laughing!
With the phone still in her hand, Penny looked towards Mistress Catherine who had begun strolling comfortable around Penny’s office, looking at various objects, glancing at the shelves of books, looking down at the huge pile of work in Penny’s inbox, chuckling all the while.
Penny’s muscles were still tensed – she was just moments away from dialing for help – but she simply couldn’t understand what Mistress Catherine could possibly find so amusing.
“Why are you laughing? If you don’t think I’ll actually call the police you’re wrong. I can’t let you do what you’ve done to Sandy.”
“Ah, my dear, that’s what’s so funny. Do you not see it? Do you not hear yourself?”
“What do you mean?”
“Here, you’ve convinced yourself that you never wanted to be hypnotized; that the only reason you went under last Friday, and then again this Monday, was because I am some all powerful sorceress capable of subverting your will. And yet, when I entered, you didn’t reach for the phone. Only when you feared Sandy was in danger did you think to act.”
Penny stared at Mistress, still not clear what she was trying to say – and why she found all of this so humorous.
“But that’s what you do, isn’t it?” Mistress continued. “You worry about other people. You take on other people’s responsibilities. I mean, just look at this office,” Mistress Catherine waved her hand at their surroundings, “everything so perfect, so clean, so ordered. You have to make sure that clients, co-workers, your boss, even your assistant who admires you and hangs on your every word, think that you are in control; that your office is under your control, that your work is under control; that you are under control – the perfect professional.”
Penny was still holding the phone in her hand, but now she wasn’t thinking about dialing, she was listening to Mistress Catherine’s monologue.
“And you are in control, aren’t you, Penny? Everyone at your office must think that you are the ideal coworker – always meeting deadlines; always helping everyone else meet theirs. I’m sure that despite everything you have to do, you’d still be eager to help a colleague tonight if she were running behind on something, wouldn’t you.”
Penny didn’t answer – she just stared at Mistress Catherine with her tired eyes, feeling the weight of her workload bearing down on her.
“I’m sure your bosses think the world of you. You’re so quick to take on new responsibilities. Whenever an important project comes on, you must be the first person they think of – you can handle it. You will do the job. You will do it well. You’ll never appear frantic, or out of control. You’ll always be collected; in charge.”
“Your friends, too. Let me guess, when one of your girl friends needs advice, you’re the first person she calls. I imagine that when someone is having relationship problems, you are the perfect friend – so comforting, yet so wise in your suggestions. Your friends can count on you to be the voice of reason; the one to guide them through their difficult times. The one to help them regain control when life is too much for them.”
Penny continued to stare at Mistress, gripping the phone. Still, she didn’t reach down to dial.
“And Sandy – how she looks up to you. You have to be the paragon of professionalism, don’t you? You want Sandy to be as successful as she can be, and she looks up to. You are her role model. What kind of role model would you be if you ever became frazzled? How would she know what she can someday be if the woman that she patterns herself after doesn’t meet every goal – exceed every expectation?”
As she continued to talk, Mistress Catherine was still wandering around Penny’s office. Penny’s eyes never left her. Suddenly, Mistress Catherine’s expression changed. The aloof, casual air with which she’d entered disappeared. Suddenly, her face became soft, tender, sympathetic.
“It’s hard, isn’t it, Penny? It’s a lot to bear. You always have to worry about everyone else. You always have to make them happy. Your bosses are so happy to have hired you. They feel so good knowing that you can take control of things. Your colleagues are so happy to work with you. They feel good knowing that you can be there to help them when things get out of control. Your friends are so lucky to know you. They feel good knowing that you can help them keep their lives under control. And Sandy – Sandy is so thrilled to be your assistant; to work with you each and every day. She admires you as a boss, she admires you as a professional, she admires you as a woman – she admires how in control you always seem to be.”
Mistress Catherine had moved around to Penny’s side of the desk as she said these things. Penny was still staring at her. As she listened to Mistress Catherine, the weight of her responsibilities seemed to be pressing around her from all sides. She had so much work to do. There was so much that she was responsible for. She was so overwhelmed. She could feel tears starting to form in her groggy eyes, but furiously tried to blink them away.
“Let me ask you, Penny,” Mistress Catherine continued, “where do you turn when you need help maintaining control? You make everyone else happy – you are always in such control. When do you get to lose control? When do you get to let someone else be responsible for you? When do you get to feel good?”
Mistress Catherine gently took the phone out of Penny’s hand and placed it back in the receiver on the desk. Penny was still fighting back the tears, but try as she might, a single tear escaped and trickled slowly down her cheek.
“Why are you fighting back the tears, Penny? Why must you always be in such control? Everyone has to let go some time. There is so much pressure. You’re stretched so thin. You have to be so many things to so many people. Wouldn’t it be nice to let go? Wouldn’t it be nice for someone else to be in control? Wouldn’t it be nice if someone worried about your pleasure?”
At these words, Penny found that the tears welling up inside of her were more than she could bear. She felt herself beginning to sob and, as she did so, Mistress Catherine pulled her towards her shoulder. Mistress Catherine took Penny in a warm embrace, stroking her hair and whispering to her, “Shhh, it’s going to be okay. Everything will be fine. Shhhh. Just let it out. It’s okay. Just let it all go.”
Penny sobbed for quite some time – the pressure of all of her responsibilities just pouring out of her in a torrent of tears. Mistress Catherine made no move to pull away, she continued to comfort the young woman, continued to stroke her hair, continued support her fatigued body.
Penny’s tears kept falling – the overwhelming feelings that had been pressing on her for several, sleepless days and nights were finally open, exposed; she was finally aware of the depths of her stresses, her responsibilities, her pressures, her fears. But as her fears began to enter her mind – of failure, of letting someone down, of not being the ideal friend, or employee, or coworker, or role model – one fear was mysteriously absent. She was no longer afraid of Mistress Catherine.
As Penny continued to cry into Mistress Catherine’s shoulder, the tall, strong woman spoke once again.
“You can let go, Penny. You can know what it feels like to lose control. You can know what it means to simply feel good… to feel… pleasure. To give in to that pleasure – to let it control you for once. To let go. To be free. If you want that, you know what you must do.”
Penny’s tears were beginning to subside. She felt as though they had rinsed away something in her mind. Gone were her anxieties. Gone were her worries. She would handle her responsibilities. She would meet her obligations. But first, there was something that she needed to do – something that she wanted to do. No, she realized, it wasn’t that there was something that she wanted to do. There was something that she wanted done to her.
Pulling slightly away from Mistress, she looked up at the taller woman and said, in a voice that sounded simultaneously meek and confident: “Please hypnotize me, Mistress.”
Mistress’s response was simple: “As you wish.”