The Lavender Parlor

72 Days

1728 Hours

103680 Minutes

6220800 seconds.

That's how long it has been since the day you closed the door to my condo and walked out of my life for good. I had buried myself in work to try to drown out the pain but the saturation of my calendar did nothing to fill the void in my life that was created the moment you left for good. My world had gone colorless and I forgot what it was like to use the totality of my senses. I saw my surroundings visually but slowly lost the ability to truly take them in with the rest of my consciousness. It was as if my body functioned but the mind was paralyzed of emotion and feeling.

Megan was my last true friend in the world. We'd known each other for most of our lives and had shared secrets deeper than those held by married couples. So I wasn't really surprised when she was blunt with me as we sat on my front porch.

"I know you loved her and still miss her. But she's gone and we both know she's never coming back. You've been so caught up in feeling sorry for yourself that you've forgotten how to enjoy life at all.

"So I got you a present. It's already paid for and is not refundable. I will check to make sure you use it, so don't make me have to hunt you down."

She handed me a small envelope embossed with gold filagree and my name written in beautiful script. She kissed me on the cheek and said "

Happy Birthday!"

before getting in her car to drive away.

I opened the envelope and was immediately struck by the floral scent that poured out from within. It was if I hadn't smelled anything in months and I breathed it deep into my lungs.

Inside was a thick beautiful card with a handwritten note.

You are cordially invited for an evening of relaxation and rejuvenation.

Please arrive at the spa at 7pm on Friday evening.

We are anticipating your arrival and look forward to restoring your sense of balance.

Sincerely,

The staff of Le Salon de la Lavande

And that is where our story begins.

I arrive at the spa and am shown immediately to the back since all the arrangements have been made in advance. The hostess leads me to a small changing room where a locker is there for my belongings and a hook on the wall holds the only two things I will need for the remainder of my stay: A plush bathrobe and a silk ribbon that is about six inches wide and at least eight feet long. I hear the door close behind me as the hostess leaves me to change and only then do I see the small card on the top shelf of the locker.

**Please remove all of your clothes and jewelry and place them in the locker.

**Put on the robe and lay the ribbon over your shoulders like a scarf.

**When you are ready, please ring the small bell by the door, turn off the light and face the back wall.

I am overwhelmed with anticipation and excitement as I get changed. I slide on the robe, tie the sash around my waist and place the silk ribbon over my shoulders. The bell is very tiny and soft and I wonder if anyone will even hear it ring, but I extinguish the lights and turn to face the back wall.

I stand there for what seems like an eternity, but the solitude and darkness allow me to focus in the things I cannot see. The gentle sounds of the music piping quietly through the speakers and the scents of lavender and honey is just strong enough to recognize without being overpowering.

After a few moments, I hear a different door to the room open. It must have been disguised by the wall and only accessible from the other side. My ears tell me it is straight in front of me but I resist the urge to open my eyes to see if my suspicion is correct. I hear the soft footsteps approaching me, and the lavender scent becomes stronger as I realize that it is a women's perfume that permeates the air.

A gentle touch of a finger starts at the top of my right hand and travels up my arm, across my shoulders and down the other arm before gliding across my stomach to grasp the ribbon. I feel it being tied across my eyes as a blindfold and then each end is wrapped around a wrist twice before being brought together with the other to form a gentle set of handcuffs. I am not truly restrained, but it formed the illusion perfectly so I know that she was in control of everything good that was about to happen.

She leans in towards my chest and I drink in her smell. Her command is simple.

"Follow Me"

. She grasps the ribbon where my wrists are tied and pulls gently to lead me out of the room. We turn down a hallway and I hear another door open and feel the change in humidity as I assume we are in some sort of shower room. I am lead into the room and I can feel the change of tile under my feet. She backs me up until my heels are just against a wall and then pulls me one step forward before raising my hands above my head. For the briefest of moments, I feel the coolness of something metal against the top of my hand and then I realize that she has connected the sash to a hook so my arms cannot come back down to my side. I feel her open the robe to expose the front of my body and her hands do something with the sleeves. Suddenly the chill of the air washes over me as the robe is completely removed. There must have been a small zipper in the sleeves to allow her to remove them without pulling my arms back through.

The sound of water running through a shower head starts a moment later and the steam drifts over my body to remove the chill. I can hear her moving in the corner before returning a moment later with the shower head in her hand. The warm water is run over my chest and then down my back until I am no longer dry anywhere. Then the lavender scent returns in the form of a luxurious shower gel that is being rubbed all over my body with two gentle hands. One hand is eventually replaced with a soft mitt that she uses to wash me from the neck down. It feels so good that I almost don't realize it when she used her bare hand on my swollen cock for just a few extra strokes. A small moan escapes my lips and then she stops. I think she just wanted me to know what was eventually in store. When I am thoroughly clean she stands behind me and wraps her arm around my chest with the shower head in her hand. I can feel the softness of her breast and the firmness of her nipples as they press into my back as she rinses me off. I want desperately to touch her, but my hands are restrained. All I can do is just accept the attention and revel in it.

The warm water is immediately replaced by a warm towel being rubbed over my body--and then another. It takes a moment for me to even realize that there are two sets of hands drying me off. Had this other person been here all along. I am no longer sure who led me from the room and who bathed me. I only know that I was feeling a sensation that I never had before.

The robe is draped back over my arms, secured with the zipper and tied around my waist. The hook is released and my arms come back down to my side. I hear her walk away but I do not follow. A moment later, the footsteps return and the command of

"Follow Me"

is heard again--but the voice is different this time. A hand grasps the sash and pulls me out of the shower room and back into the cool hall. A few more turns and we enter another room where the music is just a touch more audible and the scents of mahogany and oil dominate the air.

"Close your eyes"

.

I feel the sash being removed from my wrists and the blindfold partially loosened. She backs away and says "Wait for me to leave the room and then open your eyes.". The door opens and closes a moment later and I remove the sash. I am surrounded by candlelight and am standing in front of a small bed instead of a traditional massage table. Again, there is a card with instructions.

**Remove your robe and hang it on the hook behind you.

**Lay face down on the bed with your feet closer to the door.

**Ring the bell three times and place this blindfold over your eyes.

Under the card is a simple black eye mask like one might use to sleep on an airplane. I place the card on the table, lay on the bed, ring the bell and place the mask over my eyes.

A few moments later, the door opens and closes and my body tingles with the rush of air that passes over my skin. I'm not sure if it is possible for my senses to be any more heightened than they are at this moment, so I notice immediately that there are two sets of footsteps approaching me. One goes to my right and one to the left toward the head of the bed. My arms are brought toward the headboard simultaneously and my wrists are connected to a set of cuffs that I didn't even notice were there. Four hands travel slowly down the length of my body and gently pull my legs a little further apart to secure my ankles in the same manner.

I am completely immobilized due to the restraints and am beginning to wonder if this may turn out to have been a bad idea. I feel the two attendants tug on the bands to ensure they were secure and then walk toward the door without a word. I hear the single "ting" of a metal object striking a piece of crystal followed by the closing of the door. The sound has a unique quality that reverberates through the room and lasts longer than a single note should. I can feel the vibration in the core of my chest as I become in tune with the frequency.

As the sound fades away, I am brought back to the moment by the lingering scent of lavender again. It seems as if it is a scent that is leftover from a previous time but again rooted deeply in the present. Foreign, yet familiar. Strong, yet subtle. I breathe in deeply and only when my chest is fully expanded do I feel the feather light touch of a leather strap being slowly dragged along my spine.

Fear grips me in a way that no emotion ever has before. I never wanted anything like this and there must be a mistake. The strap is working across the outside of my ass and down my left leg and every muscle in my body tenses and each nerve is on high alert. As the leather trails off of the end of one foot, my body relaxes for just a moment before I realize that it was just a brief reprieve in order for her to move to the other side. Now my right foot feels the leather's kiss and the journey begins back up that side of my body. As it reaches my shoulder, I feel the caress of her hair has she leans in close to my ear and says.

"Follow Me."

Obviously, I wasn't going anywhere, so I am confused by her words. But, thoughts soon go out the window as I feel the sting of the leather across the top of my back. It isn't unbearable, but certainly enough to bring me very much into the moment and I become acutely aware of my surroundings even without the ability to see. Another blow rains down across my back just a fraction of an inch below the one before. I inhale deeply-not from the sharpness of the pain, but from the warmth that follows soon after. Now that I have experienced two strikes, my ears can pick up on the faint whistle of the leather speeding through the air as it comes down again and again, each time slightly lower than the one before. Even though the physical sensation does not change, I stop associating it with pain and come to recognize it for what it is--a gift. The strap continues its journey down my back and over the curve of my buttocks. When the last inch is covered before she gets to the top of my thighs, she reverses course and makes her way back up towards my shoulders to repeat the process again and again. I lose track of which way the whip is traveling and my reality is reduced down to a single point in time. I am existing only in the "now" and I am purged of all of the demons that were deadening my soul.

I don't even recognize that she has stopped until she leans back over me and whispers the words again.

"Follow Me."

My ears pick up on the sound of a cap opening on a bottle and something being squeezed out. Then I feel her hands gently tending to my reddened skin with a cooling lotion. The pressure of her fingers on my skin reminds me of what had just happened as the nerves send both signals of pain and warmth to my brain at the same time. After a few minutes, the sting subsides and I can simply enjoy the motion of her hands as they travel up and down my body, eventually wandering beyond the area that was flogged. She squeezes more lotion into her hands and gently rubs the inside of my thighs one at a time and causes a whole new set of sensations to course through me. My hips start to rotate in rhythm with the motion of her hands and my state of arousal follows soon thereafter.

But just as soon as I begin to lose myself in the moment, she stops and walks for the door. The sound of the crystal being struck pierces the silence and fills the room on its own until it is broken by the opening of the door. Two sets of footsteps make their way toward me and release my ankles and wrists. I am guided by the hands to roll over onto my back and the pressure of my body weight is an instant reminder of what had happened just a few moments before. Just as quickly, my arms and legs are bound again and the two women leave the room. The door reopens and the crystal is sounded once more. The scent of lavender fills the air again as she leans in close again. Now, I want her to say the words.

And she does.

"Follow Me."

Her hands rub the muscles of my chest and I lose myself in the sensation. Across my stomach and hips. Down one leg and back up the other. No words are spoken but there is a communication that I somehow understand. For the first time in many weeks I feel a connection with someone and am living in the moment. I care more about what will happen next than I do about what happened before and it frees my soul from a prison that had kept it hidden from the sun for far too long. Each stroke of her hands and touch on my skin is amplified by the purity of knowing nothing else but the simplicity of the now.

Her hands find my cock and it is as hard as I can ever remember it being. She strokes the length of the shaft and I know that release is just moments away. The tip of her tongue dances around the tiny hole at the top and she uses her nails to lightly tease the outside from the base to the crown. I deep moan builds up from the depth of my lungs and she whispers one last time.

"Follow Me"

I explode with a ferocity and a vulnerability that I have not felt in a very long time. She stops all motion and the only sensations I feel are those created by my own body. Each convuslion, every muscle spasms, the in and out of my breathing are all amplified by the singularity of the moment. My orgasm lasts for a long time and it takes several minutes to slowly come back to reality.

I never heard the other women come in but I soon recognize the four hands as they release me from my bonds and slowly wipe me down. When they are finished, they exit the room and the crystal chimes one last time. One of them gently says

"You may remove your blindfold now."

and the door closes behind her.

I pull off the mask and it take a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the light even though it is very dim. Another card sits on the table.

**We hope you have enjoyed your Journey. You will find your belongings have been brought to the room for you already. Please take your time and enjoy the moment until you are ready to re-enter the world.**

I get dressed and try to take everything in. That task seems impossible because I am too overwhelmed with peace and tranquility to allow myself to analyze the details. Finally, I stand and see the second door with an Exit sign. Before I open it, I take one final look around to absorb the sensations and then make my way home.

A week passes and I revel in my newly found confidence. I know that I am allowed to be happy again and the little things in life have whole new meaning. Sounds, tastes, smells and feelings are more intense than they've ever been and it's like I'm seeing things completley differently now. Time has flown by so fast that I don't even realize that I'd forgotten to thank Megan for this wonderful gift. I send her a text to ask if I could see her and she says that I could come over for dinner at 7 o'clock.

I hop out of the shower, and decide to dress up for the first time in months. A crisp shirt with slacks and blazer, the good cologne and, most importantly, my rediscovered smile. I make a quick detour for a good bottle of wine and arrive right at the stroke of 7pm. The pathway from the street to her porch is beautifully decorated with flowers and I am overcome with the scent of lavender as I reach for the doorbell. Instead, I find a card that says.

"The Door is open. Follow Me."