The Voyage Begins

She had a wide eyed look of surprise on her face when she greeted me at the door, I was there unannounced and holding a box that was beautifully wrapped in silver foil and a large gold metallic ribbon and bow.

Her name was Kathleen and we had been on our second "date" a few days earlier.

The first date had been a blind date arranged by a mutual female friend at the office. I really liked her from the moment we met that first evening. She wasn't the "Barbie" bimbo type which made her "OK" in my book long before we had even started our "dinner and a movie" date.

She'd met me at her door that first evening and never invited me in; we just went straight from her front porch to my car. As we walked to my car I could tell she was more than a little nervous and very tense. When I instinctively touched her arm to guide her to a place clear of the car door she had flinched as if she'd been stabbed with a sharp tack. Once we were in the car and underway, she apologized for her reaction and assured me it was nothing I had done. The rest of the evening I did my best to be the perfect gentleman, just to help put her at ease but as the evening progressed it didn't seem like I was having much success.

After a great dinner of mesquite grilled seafood I suggested we walk over to the nearby pier where we could enjoy the spectacle of the surf breaking on the beach. It was a short walk and surprisingly light crowds for a Friday evening. We'd walked in silence for a few minute before we found a bench where we sat in silence and enjoyed a stunning view of the setting sun as it disappeared beyond the end of the pier.

As the sun sank below the horizon the boardwalk lights came on and she finally started to talk.

Like me she was divorced. I'd been "free" for 3 years by then, she had finalized hers about 6 month earlier. Our conversation, once started, went on for hours before she finally began to visibly relax. At some point I looked at my watch and realized we'd been talking so long that we'd missed the start time for the last showing of the movie we had planned to see. When I told her, she wasn't disappointed. When I asked her if she wanted to talk some more or wanted me to take her home. She said she was enjoying the company as well as the sound of the ocean and wanted to stay a little longer. By the time the conversation had ended that night I knew very few details about Kathleen or her life. At one point she had let slip that she'd "suffered" through what she described as four "failed" marriages.

I didn't ask for details. If her four had been anything like the one marriage I'd been in neither one of us needed to re-live that "crap" and spoil the evening. This was supposed to be a quiet and relaxing time.

That first evening ended at her door much as it had started. She didn't invite me in, but she did tell that she had really enjoyed our time. I asked her if she would like to try it again sometime in the next week or two and she told me that she'd let me know in a couple of days. I wasn't sure what that meant so I didn't try to kiss her goodnight but took her hand in mine and brought it to my lips for a gentle, friendly kiss. That was just my way of remaining the gentleman and letting her know I enjoyed our time too.

The next day our mutual friend at the office "captured" me in the hallway and asked me how my evening with Kathleen had gone. I told her I had thoroughly enjoyed myself but wasn't sure about Kathleen. She told me to meet her for lunch around 11:30 so we could "talk" some more.

Over lunch she proceeded to fill me in on a few of the missing details about her very close friend Kathleen. They had known each other since high school and college. Kathleen had been raised in a very strict religious family and after college had married into a family that was close friends of her parents. Her first husband wasn't really all that bad; he just held some "different" views about marriage. His "religious" belief was that he was the "head" of the household and that his wife was there to do his bidding. There was very little show of affection in private and absolutely none in public. Sex was strictly for the enjoyment of the man of the house. Evidently he had no idea that a woman could even experience pleasure from the "dirty" act of sex.

The second husband was a drunk and would slap Kathleen into submission when he wanted sex. I guess that was his idea of "foreplay".

The third husband was a cold bastard that insisted sex was done only with all the lights off. He didn't have a clue that a woman could enjoy sex, either. So every six months or so he would crawl on top with little fanfare and pump for 4 or 5 minute before he'd climax and roll over and fall asleep.

The fourth was a worthless asshole that married Kathleen so he wouldn't have to work. He didn't really initiate sex with Kathleen the entire time they had been married. In fact he never even touched her intimately during the time that they'd been together. It ended when Kathleen discovered he'd had an "old girlfriend" on the side that was satisfying all of his needs.

She concluded her tale with; "So Kathleen, at age 46, has never experienced intimate caresses or loving kisses. And if you ever tell her that I told you all of this and what I'm about to tell you, your ass will be dead meat." She paused for seconds to take a deep breath and concluded with "And at 46 she has never even come close to having an orgasm."

With that she was done and sat staring into my eyes without uttering another word.

I sensed she was waiting for a reply (duh) and the next move was mine. My response was a simple; "Why me?"

Her answer really shocked me.

"I overhear a lot of 'male' conversations around the office. Those guys brag about their latest and greatest conquests and how they had 'pounded' their poor partner for a good 10 or 15 minutes before 'rewarding' the poor girl with copious amount of their potent semen." She paused for a moment before continuing. Her next words brought a brief blush to my cheeks. "You, on the other hand, I've only heard one or two times and you only spoke about how incredible it had been to watch your partner as she climaxed for the third or fourth time in the fifty or sixty minutes you had been 'making love'."

Later at my desk I received a call from Kathleen. She invited me to her place for a home cooked meal Friday after work. I told her I was looking forward to our second "date" she closed by telling me she was too and I should be there around 6:00.

The dinner was great and as we sat on the sofa afterwards with a glass of wine we talked. It was a delightful conversation and it was obvious that Kathleen was relaxed as we chatted. I really liked this lady but as we talked the lunch with our mutual friend was replaying in the back of my mind. The conversation was very light but eventually came around to the subject of intimacy. Kathleen grew tense with the change of topics. I wanted her to know without being too graphic that intimacy was a BIG part of my life and VERY important to me.

Her words didn't surprise me; "I know it is important for men, but I don't really have much need for that sort of thing."

My question, although I knew the answer, was; "Don't you enjoy intimacy? Don't you enjoy the touching, caressing, feeling your partner's warm body pressed against yours and the sharing of pleasure?"

"Like I said its all for the man, women don't feel those things!" was her reply.

I took a deep breath before starting. "I like you a lot Kathleen. I have enjoyed our time together and you are smart, witty and intelligent. You are VERY attractive too." Then I put on my scientific face and proceeded; "Did you know that the intimate touch between a mother and her newborn baby produces hormones in both the mother and child that are more addictive than the most addictive drugs?" I paused a second before I continued; "Those same hormones are produced with real intimacy between a man and a woman."

I let that sink in for a moment before I started again.

"Unfortunately a large portion of our adult population has no idea that that is the case. I'm ashamed to admit that many of my 'fellow males' don't know anything about any of this. I'm even more ashamed that many of those same men have no idea what it is like to experience their partner actually having pleasure from their joined act of intimacy. Most have never even seen their partners have a REAL orgasm."

"So if they don't know any better, how are we supposed to expect them to even know what they need to do to make it pleasurable for the woman?"

"And a woman, how is she supposed to know unless she has been told such things? They don't tell you about that in High School do they?"

"No." was her short reply. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn't sure if she could believe me.

I looked her straight in the eyes and asked; "Will you let me do a brief demonstration to prove my point? I promise I'm not going to rape you and I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not even going to touch you below your shoulders. But you will need to relax and trust me. And I want a promise from you that if I convince that what I've just told you is true, with this simple act, that the next time I see you I can prove my point by taking you to the next step. That next step will be a little one but it will be more intimate. I know I can convince you that there is a lot more to intimacy than you have been led to believe and I would very much like to be the person who shows you that."

"OK." was all she said.

I scooted towards her end of the sofa until I was sitting on the edge of the same cushion she was sitting on. By now she was sitting back in the corner where the arm joined the back of the sofa and turned in my direction so we were almost face to face.

I whispered "Relax." Then reached out and placed the side of my index finger under her chin to lift it slightly. As I leaned forward I could feel her tense and her body almost went rigid.

"Relax" I whispered again and this time I was close enough that I was sure she could feel the breath of my words on her face.

She closed her eyes and made every effort to make the tension leave her body. My eyes were wide open, I wanted to take in every moment of what was about to happen. I wanted to watch her every reaction, good or bad I wanted to commit these next few moments to memory.

The exact moment my lips brushed gently across hers she tensed again. "Relax" I breathed more than whispered the word this time as my lips brushed hers once more. Her breath caressed my lips as she sighed.

This next time I let my lips pass lightly against hers, more slowly this time. That was probably our first real "kiss".

I switched to brief pecks on her lips, chin, nose, eye lids, cheeks and ears. Then I gently bit her lips with my teeth and lips and was rewarded with another deep sigh. I continued to "nip" at her lips, her nose, her ears and now her neck just below her jaw line. I could sense her body actually beginning to relax as her breathing slowed and deepened.

My next step was to actually kiss her lips with a little more force behind the kiss. So I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. She was relaxed but her lips were puckered like an aunt would kiss her nephew. I went back to lightly brushing my lips across hers until the pucker disappeared.

My next pass over her lips I let the tip of my tongue brush lightly against her upper lip then the lower one, then down along her jaw line and her neck just below her ear. I sensed a slight shiver pass through her body.

I returned to her lips with more force this time and brushed my tongue along the line between them.

Another shiver ran through her. I knew she had no idea what to do at this point so I whispered; "Open your lips a little so I can run my tongue across your teeth."

Her lips parted just enough to let my tongue caress the smooth surface of her teeth.

She was starting to squirm a little by now. So I lightly placed a hand on each of her cheeks and held her face to mine,

We had been at this now for several minute so I sat back a little and asked; "Are you ready to stop or do you mind if I keep going? You taste incredible and I would love to do this for as long as you want to."

I detected an almost imperceptible nod so I leaned back in for the finally.

This time I used my tongue more forcefully and encouraged her with my actions to open her mouth enough to let my tongue enter. I then toyed with the tip of her tongue. The first brief contact elicited another deep sigh and a very faint moan from deep in her chest. So I lifted her tongue with mine and gently sucked it in past my lips. Kathleen paused a moment then her tongue began to wrestle with mine. First they wrested in my mouth and then in hers. As we continued her head moved for the first time under her on control as she tilled it to the side. I followed in the opposite direction. Now she could reach much deeper into my mouth. She was "on the attack" from this point on and aggressively sought out my tongue where ever it happened to be. Her breathing was very rapid now and very deep as she breathed heavily through her nose. By this time her entire body was into her actions and moved very actively as her lust continued to build.

I moved my hands to her shoulders and pressed her back breaking the kiss very abruptly. I pushed her back as I leaned back far enough to look at her face as I looked deeply into her eyes.

With the look of pure lust in her eyes she attempted to lean forward and kiss me again, but I held her at arms length. There was another sound from deep in her chest, but this time it was genuine frustration.

"I think I have proven my point for this evening"; I whispered as I struggled to regain my composure. I knew if we continued I would not be able to keep my promise to not touch her below her shoulders.

I glanced at the clock on the mantle and realized that we had been at this for close to two hours.

When my eyes went wide with surprise she wanted to know what was "wrong". I simply pointed at the clock.

"No way!" she said, but she knew it was true. As she turned back to face me she caught me staring at the very erect nipples that pressed firmly against her blouse.

Her loud gasped broke my spell and her hands moved to cover both of her breasts before my gaze returned to her now blushing face.

"Did I prove my point?" I asked rather cheekily.

Kathleen breathed a deep, deep sigh and begrudgingly admitted that I had.

"Well then, I'm going to call it an evening, a very delightful evening at that." I said with a soft chuckle in my voice.

As I stood I let the question that was inevitable hang in the air for a moment.

"So," I asked; "the next time I see you we take this to the next step?,,, Right?"

She couldn't say it so she just nodded her head.

"Good!" I said as I looked deep into her eyes trying to detect her true feelings. "I'm looking forward to that!"

So there I was, unannounced, standing on her front porch as she greeted me at the door. That foil wrapped box with the large gold metallic ribbon and bow on it was in my hand. She looked at me with surprise, "I didn't expect to see you today!"

"I know" I said, "I should have called but I needed to give this to you today." I held out the box to her without actually giving it to her. "You will need to bring this with you when you come to my place Saturday afternoon."

"Saturday afternoon? YOUR place?" I detected a note of apprehension in her questions.

"Yes," I answered quickly, "Saturday afternoon, my place and dress casual. I promise I won't do anything to harm you in any way. My only intention is to bring you pleasure, as much pleasure as I can in one evening without actually making love to you."

"Can I come in for a few minutes? I promise I won't take long, I just want to take a few minutes to let you open this." I held the box out again without actually letting her take it. I could see her trying to figure out what was in the box that we would need for her visit and what insights it would give her about what she could expect on Saturday.

She stepped back and invited me into the living room where we had been the other night. There was a book sitting opened face down on the arm of the sofa so I guess she had been reading before I had knocked on her door. It was too far away and the print on the cover was to vague for me to tell what it was that she was reading but she blushed prettily and quickly picked it and returned it to and empty spot of the shelf. I was already sitting on the sofa when she finally sat down.

I held out the box and started; "Think of these gifts as, farewell gifts!! Farewell gifts to the feelings of shame and guilt that have been heaped upon you by others throughout your life. Put those feelings and thoughts in your past and step forward into the wonderful world of sensuality"

"I am giving them to you to start you on your voyage. I hope that this is just the beginning of many delightful experiences!"

"I will show you each gift and describe each as I see them. I will leave it to your imagination as to how each will fit into your 'voyage' as it begins on Saturday."

By now she was squirming restlessly where she sat but I definitely had her attention.

I handed her the box and told her she should open it now.

"It's beautiful" she whispered as she removed the ribbon and bow almost reverently and sat it on the arm of the sofa. With the ribbon off she lifted the foil wrapped lid from the box and sat it aside before she peeked inside.

When she did her face confirmed her confusion.

"Remember!!" I said softly, "This will be a voyage of the senses, all of them!! I hope with all of my heart that you enjoy these gifts!!"

"The first of my gifts to you is, 'my feelings' for you". Think of this Saturday as a map that will lead you on your new adventure!!"

I took the box from her and placed it on my lap.

"My second gift to you is imprisoned within the three small velvet pouches. Release them at your own risk. Once their power is released, there is no turning back; your life will change forever."

With that I reached inside the box and removed the three pouches and held them up for her to see. "These three crystal orbs hold mystical powers that will help you release the sensuality that hides within your soul and screams to be released!! Throughout the centuries, people have known the healing power of crystal!! They have been used by mystics, magicians and sorceresses to heal pains, torments and distress. Use their mystical powers to carry you to the sensual side of life, they will, IF you believe!!"

I removed one orb and held it between my thumb and forefinger so we could both look at it while I continued.

"The first is a sphere of clear crystal; this is how your mind and heart should be as you take your first steps on this journey."

I sat the velvet pouch and orb on her lap and removed the second from its pouch.

"The second and third spheres are cut from 'smoky' crystal. They are symbolic of the passions that burn within. They are smoldering, waiting for a breath of fresh air, waiting to burst into full flame."

"My third gift to you is a bit of delicate femininity!! It is white, lacy and very sexy!!!"

I reached into the box again a pulled out a very small white satin G-string.

"It is meant to cover but not conceal. When you wear it, enjoy the free feeling it will create; you should feel 'Covered without feeling confined!!' Wear it when you use the spheres!! Let it caress you softly, while you wear it. Imagine in your mind, that it's my open hand gently pressing against your entrance to help hold the spheres within. Let this small sensual piece of cloth enhance the pressure of the pleasure that builds within you. Let this soft cloth enjoy the way it makes you feel so feminine!"