Robert watched as the woman slowly returned to consciousness. She had been bound, and for good measure also gagged. The drugs she had been given made such precautions redundant, but one could never be too careful. As her eyes opened Robert leaned forward to catch her emerging attention.

“Can you hear me, Krystal or Goddess or whatever you call yourself?”

The woman looked at him through heavy-lidded eyes and nodded, her expression dour but not frightened.

“You’ve been very clever. Very devious. But you underestimated me. I didn’t rise to be the head of a major news network by being anyone’s sap. Of all the bimbos that resisted my advances over the years, you came closest to doing me real damage. But that’s over now.”

Robert straightened and went over to the sideboard of his well-appointed study to pour himself a drink. Holding up a low-ball glass he gestured at the man standing in the corner, watching the proceedings. “I’m going to have a scotch,” Robert declared, “would you like one?”

“No,” the man answered with a slight shake of his head, sending his long locks swaying. Despite showing five-o’clock shadow he wore a blue print house dress, high heels, and had his hair up in a bright pink bow.

Robert nodded and fixed his own glass with ice and Glenfiddich. Savoring the first sip of the tawny fluid, he turned to face the bound woman again.

“When you first came to work at the network I didn’t sniff you out as a mole. The name ‘Krystal Mesmer’ was strange, yeah, but I figured it was just another stage moniker you broads assume when you dream of stardom. To me you just seemed like another sexy blond who would look good on camera, like Maggie or Greta. When, like them, you turned down my invitations to dinner or late-night conferences, I figured you were just playing the same game of cat-and-mouse they all do.”

Here Robert paused to take a long pull of his drink, savoring the dramatic cadence of his own soliloquy. Turning, he addressed the male onlooker.

“But she had some tricks up her sleeve. Right, Wainright?”

The man smiled tightly and nodded.

“Those videos were something. As soon as I watched the first one you sent me I admit, I was turned on. Even though it was just of you caressing your own leg with that amber wand, it was sexy like no pornography I had ever seen. I couldn’t help stroking myself off. But just because your face couldn’t be seen in the frame, did you think I wouldn’t know who had sent it? Those legs, those breasts- I never forget a hard on, and your body gave me wood the first time I saw you. And that voice. Mmmm….I’m tempted to take your gag off so I can hear that sexy voice right now. I knew instantly who had sent me an email from ‘goddessmarquesa.com,’ though I confess I didn’t see through your plan right away.”

Robert paused again. The woman was looking fully alert now, her eyes cleared from the drug-induced fog. He scanned her expression for signs of surprise or fear, but saw only what looked like calm irritation.

“At first I thought you were flirting with me,” Robert continued, warming to his theme. “Playing coy in the office but being a dirty girl on the internet. But I’m not one of your suckers or chumps. I know what suggestion and persuasion are. I run a fucking giant media propaganda machine, did you think I wouldn’t detect such a transparent attempt to influence my own mind? I could feel your conditioning working on me. The first video made me want you more, making me eager to watch the second video, and so on. I could feel my hunger for you growing, the desperation to touch you, to taste you. I knew where that was leading. I also knew that I couldn’t have been the first man that you played this game on.”

Here he turned again to the other man again, gesturing with his hand. “I’m a very wealthy man, ‘Goddess.’ I can hire armies of investigators. It didn’t take more than a couple of days to find Wainright, here. He has been living in some fleabag Vegas motel since you sold his mansion in Nevada and kicked him to the curb. You really did a number on him, didn’t you? Look at the poor shmuck.”

Robert took another pull of his drink, inviting the woman to scan the other man as he did so. “He used to be a millionaire. Now he scrapes through by performing in a drag act at a seedy bar off the strip. The poor asshole can’t feel comfortable in men’s clothes since you worked him over. I knew right away that he would know how to get close to you, and that he could be bought. I offered him money, therapy, a chance to have his old life back. He shot you up with a syringe of sodium pentothal that I provided him with and brought you here, tied and gagged for good measure.”

Robert set his empty glass down on an end table and turned to face the woman, his full attention focused on her.

“Here is how this is going to go. You are going to disappear and never be heard from again. If you had just filed sexual harassment charges against me like Maggie and Greta it might be risky to dispose of you, since that would give me a motive. Your little plan to brainwash me was too clever by half. You’ve lost, and now…Aaargh!!”

Robert gasped, a sharp pain stabbing into his side. He felt suddenly woozy, and dropped to his knees. Looking up, he saw Wainright standing over him with the same syringe of sodium pentothal Robert had given him hours before. Now it was empty.

Robert wobbled on his knees, trying to keep his balance. He heard a shuffling to his right, and saw the woman rise from the chair. She brought her hands apart and from behind her back, tearing free the straps that had been velcroed together to appear binding. Reaching up with one free hand, she removed the gag from her mouth.

“Good evening Robert,” she said, her voice steady and as enticing as ever. “I’m glad I could finally take you up on your offer of hospitality.”

Robert fell over onto his side, the drugs sapping him of balance. From his prone position he saw Wainright kneel and kiss the woman’s feet.
“Wainright….you bastard…” Robert croaked out, “I offered you help. I treated you as a friend.”

Wainright, still on his knees, turned toward Robert. “Don’t be afraid, Robert. The Goddess won’t hurt you. Don’t resist. Slavery to Her is the greatest joy imaginable. I was like you once. I chased woman after woman, searching for the next carnal high. But I never knew real ecstasy until I became the Goddess’s slave. You haven’t really lived until you have lived for Her. Soon you’ll be so grateful to me…you’ll see…”

Goddess Marquesa laughed, reaching down to stroke Wainright’s hair. Addressing Robert, she explained, “I planted the subliminal suggestion that you seek out one of my slaves in the last video I sent you. I had no idea I would be so lucky that you would pick Johnnie here. He is among my most loyal pets. I will have to reward him with a good beating later…”

At this Wainright squeaked excitedly and fell to his face, raining more kisses on Goddess Marquesa’s feet.

“It is a fascinating mystery,” the Goddess continued, glancing down at Wainright affectionately, “that the men I bring lowest are the ones whose love and adoration for me is most intense. I will have to explore that enigma someday. In the meantime,” she said,  turning her attention back to her host, “I think it is fair to predict that you will become one of my most devoted slaves, Robert. Let’s begin. Listen to my voice and look at my legs. Breathe deeply…that’s it. You can feel yourself relaxing….”

The End*

This story is a sequel to an earlier story, “The Wager”