As soon as Grace left, Amy gave a heavy sigh and re-did her makeup nearly from scratch, after washing her face thoroughly -- the room luckily had a sink and mirror for that purpose. It hadn't been as bad as it might have been, she supposed. She had a feeling of accomplishment at having avoided all but very minor nips from the whip, but felt she 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 her to lie on her back on the bed, keep her hands at her sides until further notice, and had then knelt over her and sat on her face. Grace had then proceeded to use Amy's nose to stimulate her clit. With her mouth covered and nostrils pinched shut, Amy had been unable to breathe at all. Amy reflected afterwards that this was probably one reason Grace liked Academy Girls, none of whom would panic over a minute or two of asphyxia. Amy fervently hoped Grace had gotten her frustrations over dealing with Amy's father out of her system, and would try another girl in the future.

Amy finished her makeup and dressed once more, checking the straps on her leather top, remembering Megan's warning on that.

She 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 she was available now.

He was so unobtrusive she nearly missed seeing him, sitting on the sofa in the waiting area. Most guests, Amy understood, continued attending the party until their girl was ready, but Benjamin was simply sitting, alone, as he waited. Amy didn't really notice until he leaned forward, his face alight with a charming smile.

She 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 her smile, presenting his ticket to her. Basic session, she saw with some relief, no toys this time, no whips.

She would have simply turned and let him follow, but instead 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 her. She 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 her. "I'm happy to talk, if that's all right."

She blinked in surprise, not at the suggestion of talking, but at the idea he would solicit her approval. She smiled and sat on the edge of the bed facing him, crossing her legs at the ankles, resting her hands on the bed on either side of her, 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 Amy as very odd. It seemed clear he found her attractive, based on the way his eyes roamed over her body, pausing often at her cleavage, but just as often he looked her in the eye. She 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, she was his slave, and partly because he was near her father's age.

He sighed, maintaining his smile. "Oh, just about yourself. How long have you wanted to be a Hanging Girl?"

She smiled as she 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?"

Amy gasped excitedly. "You knew her?"

Benjamin shrugged. "Well, that's putting it too strongly. I've met a lot of the girls 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."

Amy laughed. "I'm not surprised she made an impression on you. She did that to everybody."

"Oh, I'm sure."

Amy wished there were some way she could satisfy her curiosity about him. She wondered primarily 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. Her hesitation to steer the conversation in that direction owed not merely to the fact that it might not be her place to do so, as his temporary property. Even if they had been social equals, it was obviously impolite simply to ask, "So, Benjamin, where's your money come from?"

Before she could frame a question that might start things in that direction, Benjamin spoke again. "Why did you decide to be a Hanging Girl? I'm always curious about that."

Amy bit her lip in thought. It seemed simple enough to attribute it to Miranda's inspiration, but Amy 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."

Amy laughed. "You would if you talked to Megan, my roommate. Anytime I start to wonder if it's really possible to be born to be a Hanging Girl, I just look at her."

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."

Amy looked at him appreciatively. "You really pay attention, don't you?"

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

Amy laughed again. "Only when my heart's beating."

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

She sighed and looked into the distance. "Mostly I see the people. The audience. I'm..." She began losing herself in the daydream, her 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..."

Her lungs suddenly emptied in a rush, as a tremor shook her body. She looked down and saw, to her surprise, that her hand was between her legs -- she couldn't remember putting it there -- and two of her fingers were inside her, getting soaked.

She felt the blood rush to her face. She felt she had completely botched this session, giving herself an orgasm instead of taking care of her customer's needs. Her mind spun, looking for a way to salvage it. She smiled shakily. "I'm kind of having my own party over here. You're invited, you know."

Benjamin smiled again. "I'm already participating, to the extent that I can. I'm not really able to perform, but I'm glad I was able to provoke a reverie that gave you as much pleasure as it did."

Amy blinked in astonishment, her eyes helplessly drawn to the crotch of his pants. "You can't... at all?"

Benjamin looked down at himself in response to Amy's gaze. "Not have sexual intercourse as such, no."

"Oh, Benjamin, I'm..." She stopped. For someone whom Amy had, to this point, been unable to make talk about himself, he didn't seem at all uncomfortable with this subject, of all things. "I was about to say I'm sorry, but I'm not getting a feeling I need to."

He laughed. "And you said I pay attention to other people. You're very perceptive, Amy. You're the first Hanging Girl who has noticed on her own that I'm quite well accommodated to my disability." He shrugged. "Not that I don't occasionally regret what I'm missing. I'm quite human, and it's natural to miss things you can't have. On the other hand... well, I have quite a sweet tooth, and I don't know whether I'd survive without peanut brittle." He chuckled. "At least the quality of life would seem far less without it. But there are people who are allergic to peanuts, so they're denied that pleasure. We all have things we take pleasure in that are denied to others.

"So I focus on the things I can enjoy rather than worrying about what I can't. I find I do enjoy the company of young women such as yourself -- sex is just one small dimension of human interaction, and I think some people miss some of the other dimensions that can be just as rewarding."

Amy was fascinated. She felt happy with her own life, but understood that that was because she had everything that she could think of wanting. Benjamin was missing something that Amy couldn't imagine doing without, yet seemed quite happy in spite of that. But he must not be looking at it that way, she decided. The list of things he wanted must simply be different from hers. "And you do enjoy watching hangings, right?"

Benjamin nodded emphatically. "Very much so. I think it's partly that it's so impressive to watch a young woman give literally all she has, for the purpose of giving pleasure to others. As well as making herself quite happy, of course. And I hope you understand, I also take pleasure in seeing the feminine form. It has a beauty that goes well beyond sexual attraction."

That explains his roving eye, thought Amy, even though he can't take the next step. She smiled. "Well, I'm not going to be hanging tonight, but I do have a feminine form. I could at least show you more of it, if you want." It occurred to her that the Amy of six months ago would never have dreamed of saying anything like that to a stranger. But now, she did enjoy a chance to show off what she was becoming.

Benjamin looked her over, thoughtfully, and scratched his chin. "That's quite tempting, but I've realized I did quite enjoy your climax a few minutes ago."

Amy giggled and put her hand over her face, feeling herself blush again. "I'm glad you liked it. I didn't exactly mean to. So you want me to... do that again?"

Benjamin smiled. "I understand it's not so easy to do it on demand. It might be easier if I give you something to think about again, like before. I can tell that there are two things that get you very excited: hanging, and your roommate. You said her name is Megan?"

Amy looked at him puzzled, and nodded. "Megan, yes."

Benjamin nodded. "All right. Well, imagine you and Megan are being hanged together. Making love while you hang."

Amy took in her breath sharply as images raced through her mind. "Are we... so we're close together, right?"

"I imagine you'd have to be."

"And... our hands, what about them? Are they tied, or can we use them?"

Benjamin winked. "Up to you. This is your fantasy."

Amy closed her eyes and sought out some of the images that had flashed through her consciousness moments ago. Start with hanging, she told herself. The feeling of the rope, holding her, supporting her, caressing her neck. Taking her breath away...

Watching Megan hang. Megan's hips thrusting, her legs reaching out to enfold a lover...

Both of them hanging. Their mounds bumping together, swinging apart, swinging back to seek new contact. Amy's breasts compressed against Megan's, rubbing briefly, soft and smooth, nipples hard like fingers, probing...

Amy felt herself exploding from within, a sharp cry forced out of her, fiery tingles flooding through her in time with her pounding heart.

It confused her to find she was sitting on the same bed as before, in the room with Benjamin -- when did he come back? Where's Megan? Where's the noose? She was bent over, panting through her wide-open mouth, beads of sweat chilling her overheated skin. Her fingers were, once more, inside her. Again, she couldn't remember just when she had put them there.

She sat up and looked at Benjamin, wide-eyed. "That was..." She couldn't find words.

Benjamin grinned. "It was indeed." He sighed. "Sadly, I suspect our time is up."

Amy looked at the clock by the bed. "Ummm, yeah." She looked longingly at him. "Will you come back? Do you come to all of the parties?"

"Most of them, yes. And I do hope to see you again sometime -- this has been very rewarding. You do understand, though, I'd like to meet some of the other girls too. In fact, in just a few minutes I'm meeting..." He reached into his pocket to look at his ticket. "Jenny. Of course, since I find these sessions less physically exhausting than some of the other members (though no less stimulating and satisfying), I usually do two or three at each party. By the time you graduate, I suspect I'll have met most of your classmates, other than the ones who are hanged before I get a chance."

Impulsively she moved to his chair, bent and threw her arms around him, keeping her gooey fingers away from his suit, and kissed him on the cheek. "Well, at least remember me then. Like I'll always remember you."

He colored slightly, and looked very pleased. "Rest assured."