Irena was trembling as she walked down the red-carpeted hall between two palace guards. Dienon had ordered them to escort her to the pleasure teacher's room for training. She had no clue what pleasure training entailed, but she figured it would be better than spending the day with Dienon. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves as they stopped in front of a large oak door. It was carved to look like a garden trellis covered in flowering vines. She smiled at the beautiful carving before she reached up and knocked on the door.
"Please come in," called a pleasant male voice from within.
Irena pushed the door open and quickly stepped inside, leaving her escorts to wait in the hall. The large room was decorated like a Leeriod harem. Sun was spilling in through opened patio doors. A massive burgundy colored rug covered most of the floor. A heavy oak tea table sat at the rug's center among luxurious velvet cushions with gold embroidery. A round bed sat just inside the patio doors. It looked like a stage the way the pink and white see-through drapes were hung around it.
There was a very attractive man lying on the bed reading a book. He had shiny caramel-colored hair and honey-colored skin. His body was toned, beautiful, and very visible since his only article of clothing was a loincloth. He looked up and smiled at Irena's blushing face.
"By the gods... you are beautiful!" he announced as he tossed his book aside and hopped up off the bed. He walked over to Irena with his hand out.
She reached out her hand, and he quickly grabbed it. He pulled it to his lips and kissed it. She blushed even more as she stared into his ethereal green eyes. They were rather spellbinding. The color of his irises seemed to dance in the light.
"Welcome to my pleasure studio, Irena Floramare. My name is Cypress. I'm going to make you writhe in ecstasy and teach you how to make others writhe in ecstasy. Does that sound like fun?" he asked.
"Cypress... like the god of love and fertility?" she asked with a smirk.
"Exactly like the god of love and fertility," he said with a breathtaking smile.
"I see. That's an excellent name for a teacher of pleasure. It's lovely to meet you, Cypress," she said as a strange sense of calming peace came over her.
"You are very sweet, Irena. I have wonders in store for you," he whispered as he reached up and gently stroked her blushing cheek with the back of his fingers. He was admiring her enchanting gray eyes. "Please, come sit with me and have tea so we can discuss your lessons," he said as he led her over to the oak tea table.
Hot tea and sweet snacks were already waiting at the table as they sat down together on a large purple cushion. Irena didn't think much of it at first, but everything about Cypress and his room was extremely accommodating. The tea stayed perfectly hot at all times, and the cookies and pies were some of the most delicious desserts she had ever eaten. Everything about her pleasure lesson was extremely pleasurable so far.
"Now," Cypress began with a clap of his hands, "we've enjoyed a snack and general conversation long enough. It's time to turn our focus to the real purpose of our interlude. Please, Irena, tell me everything about your sexual history. We must examine the past so we can build on that knowledge," he said as he ran his fingers through her long blond hair, admiring its shimmer in the morning light.
"Oh, well... there's not much to tell. My first sexual experience was yesterday when Dienon coerced me into fucking him. Then later that day, I ended up having sex with my childhood sweetheart. It was the strangest turn of events. I still can't believe it happened," she said, shaking her head. Her heart was pounding from the memory of what she felt the previous day.
"Goodness gracious, that's a short and slightly traumatic sounding history. I assume you mostly enjoyed making love to your childhood sweetheart, but I suspect sex with Dienon was less enjoyable," he said as he searched her eyes.
"I did enjoy Alex in spite of the circumstances. I wish I could have made love to him in a safe place of our choosing after we were married, but normal life has gone out the window for both of us. Dienon hurt me a lot, but he also made me feel overwhelmed with physical pleasure. He made me feel quite dirty, to be honest. All he wanted was carnal-pleasure from me, and he made me feel it too. I'm ashamed that I enjoyed what he did," she whispered.
"Don't be ashamed, Irena. You're completely unfair to yourself. There is nothing dirty about what happened to you. Your body simply responded to being physically pleasured. Dienon, on the other hand, should be ashamed that he took advantage of you and hurt you, but he's an arrogant prince that can get away with almost anything. He's not a complete lost soul, but it will take a lot of work to win his heart."
Irena looked at Cypress with an eyebrow raised after that remark.
"Win his heart? Why would I want to do that?"
"To change the world, of course," he said with a smirk before he stood and offered Irena his hand.
She took his hand and allowed him to help her up. Then he led her through the elegant glass doors that allowed access to his private balcony. Irena caught her breath as the magnificent landscape of the Daylith Kingdom spread out before them like a grand oil painting. The gorge below the palace's five hundred foot slopes seemed to rush down into the small river valley that led to the Leeriod Gulf. The different colored stones of the mountains and cliffs were like a rain-spattered palette, dripping down into the city's vast farmlands. Almost directly below their balcony roared a massive waterfall that fed the deep lake at the bottom of the gorge.
"There are few words to describe this view," Cypress whispered as he gazed into the gorge and beyond its boundaries.
"Simply breathtaking," Irena whispered.
Irena thought her homeland was magnificent, but it couldn't be compared to Daylith. The landscapes were completely different in every way. The Swaying Valley was a vast expanse of low, rolling hills covered in tall wildflowers and cut in half by a slow, winding river. Daylith was an eyeful of brightly colored mountains, rocks, and a giant gorge speckled with green.
"This all could be yours one day, Irena," Cypress said softly as he turned his gaze on her.
She looked at him in surprise and confusion again.
"Good sir, you speak openly of treasonous things. What kind of pleasure teacher are you?" she whispered nervously.
"I'm the best, of course," he said with a mischievous grin. "Come, relax with me on the bed so we can talk more," he said as he led her back into the room and over to the bed.
Irena sat down on the large bed and was immediately relaxed by the incredibly soft feather down mattress.
"By the gods, this bed is heavenly," she sighed as she lay down on it and stretched out so she could feel it all over her body.
"That's the idea," Cypress sighed as he bounced onto the bed and lay down next to her.
They relaxed there for a while, staring at the ceiling, simply enjoying the comfortable bed.
