Chapter 16

As soon as Grace left, I gave a heavy sigh, washed my face thoroughly, and redid my make-up. Luckily, the room had a sink and mirror for that purpose. It hadn’t been as bad as it might have been, I supposed. I had a feeling of accomplishment at having avoided all but very minor nips from the whip, but I would just as soon file the whole experience under “Done, no need to repeat.” The worst part had been at the end, when Grace had ordered me to lie on my back on the bed, keep my hands at my sides until further notice, and had then knelt over me and sat on my face. Grace had used my nose to stimulate her clit. With my mouth covered and nostrils pinched shut, I had been unable to breathe at all. This was probably one reason Grace liked Academy students, none of whom would panic over a minute or two of asphyxia. I fervently hoped Grace had gotten her frustrations over dealing with Father out of her system, and would choose someone else in the future.

I finished clean-up and dressed once more. I remembered Grant’s warning and checked the straps on the leather top.

I left the room and headed back for the main hall, to see whether ... oh no, what was his name?? Benjamin, that was it! Benjamin. To see if Benjamin knew I was available now.

He was so unobtrusive I nearly missed seeing him, sitting on the sofa in the waiting area. Most guests continued circulating until their boy was ready, but Benjamin was simply sitting, alone, waiting. I didn’t really notice until he leaned forward, his face alight with a charming smile.

I stopped and smiled. “Oh, hi! I’m ready now, if you want to come back to the room with me.”

He stood up and returned my smile, presenting his ticket to me. Basic session, I saw with some relief, no toys this time, no whips.

Normally I would have simply turned and let him follow, but I instinctively took his hand and led him to the room.

Once there, he dropped into a comfortable straight-backed chair facing the side of the bed, saying nothing but continuing to smile at me. I was expecting a little more in the way of direction. “Do you want to lie on the bed? Should I take my clothes off?”

He beamed at me. “I’m happy to talk, if that’s all right.”

I blinked in surprise, not at the suggestion of talking, but at the idea he would solicit my approval. I smiled and sat on the edge of the bed facing him, crossing my legs at the ankles, resting my hands on the bed on either side of me, pressing them downwards slightly as if to hint: It’s really soft. “What would you like to talk about, sir?”

He shook his head slightly. “Oh, don’t call me that. Just Benjamin.”

It all struck me as very odd. It seemed clear from the way his eyes roamed over my body and lingered at my cleavage that he found me attractive. But just as often he looked me in the eye. I grinned. “Okay, then what would you like to talk about ... Benjamin?” That felt still more strange, calling him by his first name — Partly because, at least for the moment, I was his slave, and partly because he was near my father’s age.

He sighed, maintaining his smile. “Oh, just about yourself. How long have you wanted to be a Noosemeister?”

I smiled as I thought back over the last few months. “Not very long, really. Just since last Spring, in fact. I guess that’s a little unusual. It’s been my goal since we hanged an Academy graduate at my house. My dad’s house. Miranda.”

Benjamin’s eyes lit up. “Miranda? You saw her hang?”

I gasped. “You knew her?”

Benjamin shrugged. “Well, that’s putting it too strongly. I’ve met a lot of the students over the years, and I did spend time with Miranda at a party several years ago, just like I’m spending time with you now. She was very sweet.”

I laughed. “I’m not surprised she made an impression on you. She did that to everybody.”

“Oh, that she did.”

I wished there were some way I could satisfy my curiosity about him: especially about the source of his wealth—if Benjamin regularly paid as much as he was paying tonight to do nothing but talk, he couldn’t be hard-pressed for funds. I hesitated to steer the conversation in that direction, and not merely because it might not be my place to do so, as his temporary property. Even if we had been social equals, it was obviously impolite simply to ask, “So, Benjamin, where’s your money come from?”

Before I could frame a question that might start things in that direction, Benjamin spoke again. “Why did you decide to be a NooseGirl? I’m always curious about that.”

I paused to think. It seemed simple enough to attribute it to Miranda’s inspiration, but I knew there was a much deeper reason. “I guess it’s not exactly right to say I decided to be one. I’ve always been one, from the moment I was born. Miranda was like ... sunlight making the seed germinate, and grow, and blossom. The seed doesn’t decide to do that, you know. It was made for doing that.”

Benjamin grinned, delighted. “I’ve never heard it put quite that way before.”

I laughed. “You would if you talked to Grant, my roommate. Anytime I start to wonder if it’s really possible to be born to be a Noosemeister, I just look at him.”

Benjamin cocked his head. “There it is again. There was a light in your eyes when you talked about hanging, and now the same thing when you talk about your roommate.”

I looked at him appreciatively. “You really pay attention, don’t you?”

He smiled and shrugged, and again avoided talking about himself. “I assume you spend a lot of time picturing your own hanging.”

I laughed again. “Only when my heart’s beating.”

“Can you picture it for me now? What do you see and feel?”

I sighed and looked into the distance. “Mostly I see the people. The audience. I’m...” I began losing myself in the daydream, my voice growing softer. “I’m inside my body, so I can’t ... see myself, watch myself visibly, if you see what I mean. But I can see the people, all staring at me. Their mouths are open. They can hardly breathe. A lot of them are using their hands, rubbing themselves, without even noticing. And somehow it’s through their faces that I’m able to watch myself, so I know what I look like, wriggling as I hang by the neck. I can feel their arousal, it washes over me and takes me higher, much higher than I ever thought I could get...”

My lungs suddenly emptied in a rush, as a tremor shook my body. I looked down and saw that my hand was between my legs—I couldn’t remember putting it there—and two of my fingers were inside me, getting soaked.