Part 11 (1/2)

”Yes, yes. Grant to us the rite of thee.”

My hands were trembling now. Here, Ursula's mid-section and more filled my entire field of view, and somewhere in the shadows, Lilith was watching, encouraging my partic.i.p.ation in this bizarre affair. It seemed surreal, if not ludicrous. But for the sake of the coven, or so I told myself, I continued.

After completing the circle on Ursula's belly, I pressed my index finger to the right edge of it and uttered, ”Mothers of the east hear our prayers.”

”Plea,” said Lilith, her outburst startling both Ursula and me. ”It's plea. Not prayers.”

”Yes, plea. Hear our plea. I know that.”

”Don't f.u.c.k this up, Tony.”

”I won't,” I said. ”I'm sorry.” Suddenly, Ursula's naked body was no longer my only preoccupation. I now had to contend with a feisty witch h.e.l.l bent on semantics. I considered stepping away, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the entire ceremony. But the look on Ursula's face changed my mind. I knew she thought nothing of standing naked before me for the sake of the coven. Her convictions ran that deep. But to have her efforts result in nothing more than an exhibition because I sabotaged the ceremony, well.... I could not have that.

Pressing on, I leaned in and kissed Ursula on the east point of the circle. Continuing south, west and north, I marked the points accordingly, asked the mothers to hear our plea and kissed each one as before. By the time I drew the eye, utilizing Ursula's belly b.u.t.ton as the centerpiece, I was getting used to the idea of kissing her body. What's more, the taste of olive oil on my lips only made me want to continue kissing her. I guess I was getting into it. A bit later, I am afraid I got into it a little too much.

I stood. Ursula responded by splaying her arms, presenting the cla.s.sic frisk stance Lilith a.s.sumed earlier. And just as she had done with Lilith, I began her whole-body splash by spreading my oiled thumbs along her forehead, across her cheeks, chin, and down her nose.

I do not remember dressing her neck and shoulders. But I remember she did not flinch when my hands cascaded down her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, my fingers rippling over her nipples. I feathered my touch along her sides and returned to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s for more thorough coverage. And there I lingered, perhaps too long. I pressed my hands against her and moved them in slow swirling motions counter to each other, lifting, squeezing in synch to the rhythm of her shallow breathing. She rocked her head back gently. I gathered her nipples between my oily index fingers and thumbs pinched them. She held her breath and gasped when they slipped from my grasp. I looked at her face, searched her ebony eyes in primal curiosity. They never blinked. Behind me, Lilith cleared her throat. I recoiled sharply and my hands fell away as if by some invisible force. Still, Ursula's gaze remained unchanged, fixed on a forward light as distant as a star.

I knelt before her and began on her legs. I slid my hands up the inside of her thighs, my thumbs brus.h.i.+ng her lightly on a place I did not mean to touch. She smiled faintly.

Embarra.s.sed? Maybe, but not as much as me.

”I'm sorry,” I told her. ”That was an accident.”

She replied, ”Aye, methinks you missed it.”

”What?”

Lilith said, ”You have to anoint her entire body, Tony. You cannot skip anything. It's the trust factor, remember?”

”And you're okay with that?”

”Of course.”

I looked up at Ursula. ”It's okay?”

She adjusted her stance wider. ”I know thee well and trust thee, Master Tony.”

I re-oiled my hands, palmed her gently and worked my fingers through her felted patch. It did not take long, and perhaps no one should have been surprised, but something natural began to stir both inside and outside me. I finished her legs, and when she turned to let me do her back, I stood.

That is when Lilith noticed it.

”What are you doing, Tony?”

I was not there yet, but my frightened turtle was definitely losing his shyness. ”Lilith,” I said. ”I'm sorry, but what do you expect?”

”I expect you to stop it.”

”You want him to stop?” said Ursula, looking back over her shoulder.

”No, honey, you just turn around and let him finish what he's doing.

By then, I had gotten a handle on my involuntary reflexes, mostly by thinking of the h.e.l.l Lilith might put me through if I did not.

Having dodged that bullet, I proceeded to apply the final touch (so to speak) to Ursula's anointment ritual. I tipped the bottle into my hand, allowing the overflow to spill out and roll down her back. The beads skittered down her spine in nervous procession, riding the swell below the small of her back and disappearing single file between her cheeks. I saw her b.u.t.t muscles tighten at that, and the thought of doing it again caused me to hesitate.

Lilith said, ”We're running out of candlelight, Tony.”

I knew we were not. ”Are we?”

”If you don't move it along.”

”Yes, of course.” I set the bottle down, rubbed my palms together and proceeded in brisk fas.h.i.+on to complete Ursula's session. A few broad sweeps down her back, over her b.u.t.tocks and across her shoulders, and I was done.

”There,” I said. ”Finished.”

Ursula turned around, picked up the oil, spilled it into her hand and said, ”'Tis your turn now, Master Tony.”

”My turn?”

I know I sounded surprised, but I was not. I think I was hoping Lilith would hear the panic in my voice and volunteer to do me. When it became apparent that would not happen, I simply shrugged, crossed my arms at my chest, spread my stance and said, ”All right then. Have at it.”

I do not know if I knew exactly what I was getting into. For that matter, I don't think Lilith knew either. Again, nature being what it is, no one should have been surprised at what happened next.

It turns out, Ursula's approach to oiling down a man's body is far less seductive than oiling down a woman's. Of course, maybe that is just my take on it. That and the fact that the cleansing ritual is not supposed to be seductive. Nevertheless, lack of seduction does not mean lack of arousal.

She started by drawing the circle on my stomach, as I expected she would. When she reached the kissing part, however, all bets were off. The first and second kiss, the ones on the east and south points of the circle, stirred an undeniable tingle inside of me. The third, fourth and fifth brought movement to places that Lilith did not approved.

It was the kiss in the center of the witch's eye that got Ursula's attention. When she leaned in, she brushed against me where before she had not, noticing my reach had gradually extended.

I saw her glance down at it with a puzzled look. Perhaps questioning her previous a.s.sessment and the comment she made when I first came out of the bathroom.

Having drawn the circle and called for the mothers of the coven to grant us the rite, she stood. When she did, I placed my arms out to my side, now feeling more vulnerable and exposed than ever.

She oiled her hands up generously, and when she stepped in close to reach my forehead, our bodied touched, or more specifically, a certain part of my body touched her somewhere around her mid-section. She leaned in to me anyway, pretending not to notice. My heart began racing again. My senses tingled everywhere her hot, oily skin touched mine. She ran her fingers over my face, her hands down my neck, across my chest and down my stomach.

I do not believe she knew what she was doing to me, the impulses I had, the nerves she struck. To her, it was all mechanical, all part of the coven ceremony.

She gathered more oil and reached between my legs with both hands. I pulled back in kneejerk reaction, even gasped as though I had been holding my breath a very long time.

Perhaps I was.

Ursula seemed equally startled. She let go and backed away a measured step. ”Forgive me, Master Tony. I hurt thee?”

”No, Ursula,” I said. ”You didn't hurt me. It was just a reflex.”

”Then I shall handle thee with more tender,” she said, cradling my package and ma.s.saging the oil in softly with her fingers.

”That won't be....” necessary, I started to say. But already I was filling her hands with more than she could handle.