He bent over and lifted her in his powerful arms. She felt like a feather being blown in the storm enveloping her. Fear at the edge of excitement, apprehension at the brink of anticipation. With certain steps he walked deeper into the cave and she saw a faint light in the distance. The gradually increasing light filtered over them as the carried her. She turned her head, looked up and studied his face. He was young and beautiful, long black hair and an earring glistening in the dim light. He had not spoken a word, she was afraid to. As they neared the light she noticed a door carved into the cave wall. He turned the handle and they ascended the dimly lit stairs upward toward a more brilliantly lit space above them. He carried her as if she were a down pillow, with no evidence of burden.
When they reached the landing he lowered her to the ground and steadied her.
"Here, you must put this on," he spoke with faltering English, as he handed her a scarf. "Over your eyes, you are not to see," he continued. She obediently folded the scarf and placed it over her eyes. Darkness again engulfed her and the fears returned.
"What is happening to me," she thought, "what is going to happen to me." He led her by the hand into a room. She could tell by the reduced light filtering through the blindfold that the room was dark. She caught the scent of burning candles and the air felt warm to her chilled body. She was led across the lushly carpeted floor until she felt tile, cool to her bare feet.
"Here," the strangers voice whispered to her, "stand here, they will be here soon." She stood in the darkness for a few moments holding his hand, which was grasping hers firmly. He opened his hand as she sensed him moving away. She immediately felt the small, gentle, hands of a woman grasp hers and pull them behind her back where she tied them tightly with a large soft cord. Almost immediately she felt another pair of hands unbuttoning her blouse. Gently and deftly her blouse was cut from her with scissors and her bra was unfastened. The air was warm, but she could feel her nipples rise and harden immediately. The woman behind her unzipped her skirt and it fell to the tile at her feet. The woman in front of her tugged at the band of her panties and pulled them downward until they lay atop her skirt at her feet. Instinctively she raised one foot at a time and kicked the garments aside.
She heard the sound of metal scraping against the tile. Then she heard the splashing of water followed by the warm rush of soapy water over her shoulders and back as the large sponge moved over her. The hot water felt wonderful, as did the massaging action of the bath she was receiving. Then she felt another water-laden sponge move over her breasts. As the woman behind bathed her back, moving to her buttocks and down the back of her legs, the woman in front bathed her face and neck, moving downward over her breasts, under her arms and down her sides. Her servants were not attempting to be outwardly erotic, but the sensation of being bathed with such care and tenderness erased the fears of being in this unexpected bizarre situation. As the two women moved their hands over her, moving into every crevice and curve, covering every inch of her body she felt like a goddess.
She braced herself as the first pitcher of warm water was poured over her head and splashed downward over her body. They washed her hair and face and rinsed her again and then warm towels enveloped her as they dried her briskly. They placed new large warm towels around her and she stepped from the tile area on to the lush carpet once again.
"Come with us" a soft woman's voice commanded. They led her across the carpet and stopped after a dozen or so steps. She felt his familiar hands again as he lifted her and placed her on a soft bed like surface, placing a soft pillow under her head. One of the women untied her hands and pulled them over her head where each wrist was tied securely. As he removed the towels covering her body the women moved to her feet and spread them apart, tying each ankle securely with soft cord. Her mind was reeling with sensations and fears as she surprised herself at her own surrender, obedience. She realized that she was caught up in this mysterious adventure and rather than concern for her safety, was unfolding to it, accepting the inevitable, joining in the reach to new boundaries.
Silence enveloped her. As her body and mind began to adjust to this strange, new, somewhat frightening environment she became aware of how the senses that were not restrained in some way responded and began to compensate. Her senses of smell and hearing were magnified as if some wild animal, perhaps a wolf, had somehow emerged in her consciousness. Likewise, her body began to feel the slightest change in temperature. She could feel the faint heat of the candles burning around her. She could smell the scent of the burning wax. And she heard the sounds of movement in the room.
"What is it," she questioned herself, straining to pin point and identify the source. Then she heard a slight cough, filtered by a hand. Once that awareness came to her she began to hear movement all around her. The slight shuffling of feet on the carpet, perhaps legs being crossed and uncrossed.
"My God," she suddenly realized, "there are people all around me. I am at the center of some performance, some ritual."
As this thought worked its way past discovery, to fear, to a growing sense of excitement she was startled by the simultaneous touching if three pairs of hands on her body. At the same instant she smelled the scent of warm oil, gardenias and cinnamon, and the six hands began to massage her skin gently. One set of small hands massaged her face, another her breasts and another, much larger and stronger, began massaging her feet. She intuitively knew that the small hands on her face and chest were the hands of the women who had bathed her. The muscular hands gently spreading oil on her feet and legs were of the dark haired Adonis who had brought her to this place above the crashing sea.
