Page 125 of Ivory Ashes

Two massage tables are set up in the center of the room. The lights are dimmed and a few candles flicker in the corners. There’s a diffuser pumping some kind of essential oil into the air, but all I can smell is Mikhail. Mint and cedar.

Maybe it has something to do with how much of him is exposed. He’s face-down on the table and naked except for a small towel laying over his ass. He doesn’t move a muscle as I close the door.

My heart is thundering in my chest. I’ve been with Mikhail enough times that this shouldn’t be nerve-wracking, but it absolutely is.

Every time we’ve had sex before, it’s been almost by accident. One thing leads to another and suddenly, we’re fucking.

It’s a no harm, no foul situation. Completely out of my hands, more often than not.

But this is a choice I’m making. A risk I’m taking.

I try not to think too much about the deeper meaning as I drop my robe on the floor and stand next to the massage table. I pour oil into the deep ridges along his spine and spread it over his skin with trembling fingers.

Mikhail readjusts slightly, taking a deep breath. His ribs expand, his shoulders flexing. Then he settles… and I get to work.

I knead the tension out of his shoulders and his lower back with smooth circles, digging my fingers into his golden skin and bands of muscle. I have no idea if this is good for him, but it’s beyond great for me.

Eventually, I shift down to his legs and work the heel of my hand up the backs of his thighs and over his calves. I’ve never found a man’s calves attractive before, but I think I’ve discovered a new fetish.

Once I’ve finished with all the exposed parts of him, I shift to the final frontier.

Slowly, I slip the towel off of his ass.

Mikhail tenses. I know because I can see it. The muscles of his lower back pull taut and a single dimple forms in each cheek. I can’t resist pressing my thumb there.

“Where is my wife?” he asks, still lying face-down.

Some possessive part of my brain lights up at that. He thinks another woman is touching his ass and he asks about me. One gold star for Mikhail.

I don’t answer. My throat is closed tight with nerves.

So I slip my hand over his hip and curl it around to the front of him.

Before I even have a chance of touching anything, Mikhail snatches my hand away by the wrist and sits up. He’s been receiving a relaxing massage for the last fifteen minutes, but there’s nothing relaxed about his face now. His jaw is clenched and his eyes are narrowed. He looks like a bull ready to charge.

Then he sees me and it clears.

“Viviana.” He sits up and pulls me between his legs. His eyes slip over my naked body. “You’re not Paulina.”

“I hope that’s okay.”

My breasts are heavy and aching. I can feel my heartbeat between my legs.

He pinches my pointed nipple between two fingers and presses a kiss to my jawbone. “It’s more than okay.”

“Good.”

My hands are slick with oil and I wrap one around his quickly-hardening cock. I stroke him as I drop to my knees and then take him in my mouth. The oil tastes like mint, which makes me wonder what all Paulina uses it for. How often is this kind of thing happening for her?

“Fuck.” Mikhail leans back on his hands, his legs spread to make room for me. “This is the best massage I’ve ever had.”

I run my tongue along the underside of him, licking and stroking until his hips are bucking for more.

So I give it to him.

I slide down his shaft until my nose is pressed to his stomach. Until I can feel him twitch in my throat. Mikhail curls his fingers in the back of my hair, holding me there. “Goddamn, this mouth. Viv… this mouth.”

I come up for air and take him again, soaking up every moan and muscle twitch and curse word.

---