Author's note: Sarah, the college student and reluctant model, begins her affair with Paul the erotic photographer. Paul has spent several weeks convincing her to become his tantric student and tonight they begin their studies together. This is the first of two tantric sessions and the story is more sensuous in nature rather than being about wild sex. As always, I love hearing your comments.
*****
She stared at the strange chair, not knowing what to make of it. It was at least six feet long, made of red leather and with exaggerated curves that didn't look necessarily comfortable for sitting. Stranger yet, the chair was narrowāridiculously narrow at barely a foot and a half across. She had never seen anything quite like it and wondered if in fact it was some strange type of conceptual art. She ran her hand along the leather upholstery; it felt nice to the touch. As she looked it over, she noticed how pristine the leather looked.
Sarah shook her head at the contraption when Paul came into the sitting room.
"What the heck is this, a recliner for very flexible anorexics?" she asked.
Paul laughed. "No, that's a tantra chair; it makes it a little easier to practice certain sexual positions that would otherwise require a gymnast."
Sarah quickly removed her hand from the chair's leather and just stood there staring at the chair.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure what is scarier: that they have a chair designed solely for tantra sex or that you own one?" Sarah asked.
"It's more of a conversational piece, to be honest with you."
"Just how does that conversation go?" Sarah asked.
"They shipped it here for a shoot I did, and it cost so much to ship back they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Want to try it?"
"Has somebody else christened this bad boy already?"
"Not naked; I've been saving the tantra for someone special," he said.
Instead of feeling flattered by Paul's comment Sarah felt the chair's very existence bore mute testimony to Paul's perverse appetites.
"Maybe I need to get one of these for the dorm," she said.
She studied his eyes for a moment and then his handsome face. Paul had a rugged male face with a nose that was a perhaps little too large, and thick, dark brown hair with just a trace of grey speckles. He had grey eyes and a large muscular chest and was fairly tall compared to the diminutive Sarah.
In the other corner of the room was a device that looked like a saddle with a phallus sticking straight up from the middle of it. She recognized it as a Sybian and walked over to it.
"That's a Sybian," he said.
Sarah smiled and said, "I know what it is."
"That's just for show, actually an early prototype I bought as a collectible," Paul said.
"Really? Did you get the original packagingāyou know, being a collectible and all that?"
Sarah hesitated to touch it, not knowing
what
had ridden it previously.
Paul walked over to Sarah and kissed her. She fell into his arms and opened her mouth to receive his kiss. With her heels on, it was a little easier to kiss standing up.
"Before we make love, we're going to begin our practice."
"Where's class?"
"Over here on this rug. Trust me."
Sarah looked down at the beautifully ornate Persian rug.
"Here's another gift for you," Paul said, handing Sarah a box. She opened it; inside was a beautiful Chinese-style silk robe. Sarah picked the robe up and examined the colorful gold floral embroidery on the back.
"Thank you, Paul," Sarah said. It was a little garish for her taste, and it screamed "fallen woman." Still, the silk felt very sexy against her skin.
"Go ahead, get changed in the bathroom. And please use the fragrance on the counter."
Sarah went into the bathroom and undressed, almost hating to take off the Jimmy Choos. She stood before the mirror and looked at her naked body.
Not bad
, she thought, though she was still underweight from not eating regularly. She looked at her breasts; they were a bit smaller from her forced diet, but they were real and probably her best attributeāat least, based on the reaction of her previous boyfriends. She was an honest and shapely 34C with large areolas and long nipples that looked dark compared to her pale skin. She liked her light green eyes, and they had an exotic Asian flare because of her eyelids being a little less pronounced. With her straight dark hair, pale skin and green eyes she could make quite an impression with the boys. But her face was a little too long to be considered very prettyāmaybe attractive and even sexy, but by no means a beauty.
She saw a lone blue container on the counter and opened it. She took a small whiff and noted a light jasmine smell, but there was more. She read the label and it contained jasmine, patchouli, amber, and musk. She applied it to her neck, earlobes, and wrists before applying a small touch to her breasts and between her legs. She put the robe on; it was a little short, but the red silk accentuated her black hair and green eyes.
Oh well, let the tantra begin.
She noted a tightening in her lower hips. She wanted this.
When she returned to the room, the lights were turned down and she couldn't see Paul. "Paul?"
"Over here, Sarah," Paul said. He was already seated on the Persian rug surrounded by a number of brightly colored pillows and an intricately carved Indian table loaded with flickering candles. Paul waited for her attired in his own black robe; he stood up to greet her. In the background, some new age music played, and Sarah had to stifle a small grin at the setup. She examined the candles and noticed they were all new.
Paul was all about elaborate production values. Back in the dorms, a girl was lucky to get some takeout food and a trip back to campus for a quickie on a squeaky bed while the roommate slept in the same room. No, Paul was definitely going all out in his effort to impress her.
She went up to him and said, "Thank you for the robe." Without her heels, she had to stand on her toes to kiss him lightly. He smelled like sandalwood.
"This is Indian Buddhist tantra, not the tantra of the ascetic Tibetan Buddhists; this is the true expression of the Middle Way, the way the Buddha told the laypeople of his day. Sexuality can lead to a higher level of spirituality. It's about pranaāenergyāflowing through the universe and through the body. Here, sit down, face to face."
Sarah sat down in a lotus position while trying to avoid exposing herself in the short robe. That was kind of comical, considering that Paul had been regularly photographing parts of her body even
she
wasn't intimate with, but for some reason she felt this sense of false modesty was somehow necessary.
"Old religion is about holding back and being controlled by old menāold men, by the way, who couldn't get a paid date. Tantra is about young men and women in search of their spiritual nature and not just blindly obeying a church. It's about connecting to the energy of the universe. Like I said, I actually went to India and studied with a guru. Ah, tantra, so fulfilling, so tiring. I went to India to study with the maharishi."
"How Beatlesque of you!" Sarah said.
"You do know the Beatles were before my time?" Paul said. "Ladali, the beloved, was a shudra, and she functioned as a guru with me. During our encounters, she was my yoginÄ« or karmamudrÄ, that is, my sexual consort. She had an enormous clit, by the way."
"Is that even relevant to our practices?" Sarah asked.
"Just drawing some mental images for you, that's all. Let's start with a small prayer or chant. We do with hands together in the AƱjali MudrÄ positon and repeat the phrase 'om mani padme hum.' Remember, desire is pure; it tastes of reality."
They chanted for a while until Paul stopped and said, "Next we go to breathing exercises with the pranayama. You know, some practitioners can get an orgasm from breathing alone. You're familiar with this with your yoga practices, right? So this should be easy."
Dear God! Oh no, not breathing exercises! He's serious about being my teacher, my yogi, my guru!