You are sightless behind your black eye mask. You stand rigid like an alley-cat, ready to spring away. He slowly moves his hand up your bare arm. “Yes,” you breathe. Fingers brush across your lips like a thousand umbrellas of dandelion seed. A sharp intake of breath, then: “Yes,” you say. His hands run down your back, all the way to the smooth warmth of your buttocks through the thin fabric of your dress. You feel the waves of pleasure rippling through your body and exploding like starbursts inside your head. Too much, too fast.

“Three simple words to stay safe,” says Artemis, goddess of the Wilderness, the Moon and Chastity.

• Yes, meaning your partner may continue, or
  
• Maybe, they need to move their hand back to where it was, or
  
• No, meaning they need to withdraw and give you space.
  

“What do you say now?” asks Artemis.

“Maybe.”

His hands move obediently away. Then his fingers are drawing long lines of desire up your bare legs. “Yes.” Your voice shaky. The back of your thighs brushed with fire. “Yes.”

“Conscious Touch,” says Athena, goddess of Wisdom, “is when your lover is fully present. Their fingers are in receipt of the energy flowing from your skin. This increases their erotic charge, which you can feel through the fire of their touch. Your energy responds, leading to an ever-increasing cascade of eroticism between you and your lover.”

A touch as soft as a sable brush follows the curve of your buttocks. “Yeees…” Your goosebump-aroused flesh is treated to a Gauguin canvas of touch. “Yes.” A gentle smack on your naked round cheek. You laugh. “Yes. Yes.”

“Routine sex follows a standard timetable along a well-worn track past the same scenery each time,” says Demeter, goddess of Fertility and the Harvest, “Luminous sex is following our intuition each time and sipping from whichever delicious flower our fancy takes us, like a butterfly flitting about a beautiful garden, for hours on end.”

His lips explore the secret channels around your neck. “Yes.” Your voice dreamy. He kisses you below your neck, down to where the swelling of your breasts begins, your nipples pressing up through the gossamer. “Yes.” He encircles your nipples with kisses. “Yes.”

“Let go of expectations and allow each journey to have its own unique magic. Release all anticipation of end-games and orgasms, whether yours or theirs,” says Aphrodite, “Be in the now, like a kite held in the grip of the breeze. You need to trust in the strength and direction of the wind right now. Each moment of ecstasy will guide you to the next moment. Follow your intuition and each journey will be perfect.”

His kisses now landing on your nipple. “Maybe. Oh yes.” His mouth over your nipple.

“Remember the more you concern yourself about reaching climax, the less likely it is to happen. The pleasure is always in the journey, in the lifting, dropping, speeding up, slowing down, touching and being touched, inside and out, riding never-ending waves of erotic pleasure,” says Aphrodite.

His mouth dancing lightly over your belly. Your sex bathes in hot bliss. “Mmmmm, yes.” His hand pressing on where your mound pushes up against your underwear, your swelling lips parting with wet desire. “Maybe…”

“The four secrets of Luminous Sex are then:-“

• Using the three words to keep yourself safe, and
  
• With Conscious Touch creating multiplying cascades of eroticism, and
  
• Like a butterfly sipping in the garden, following your Lovemaking Intuition wherever it goes, and
  
• Letting go of all expectations, savouring each present moment of your Erotic Journey.
  

“You may remove your mask,” whispers Aphrodite.

You remove your mask. Nearby lamps have been turned down to a titian glow. You are cocooned in a midsummer night’s ballroom amongst the sultry riverbank forest. Hidden leaves are soft-dripping after the evening shower. A poled-and-pegged canvas roof seals off the swollen skies above. The four sides lie open, with the damp dark coils of nature’s tanglegrowth glistening across the periphery. The shrill stridulation of insects surges and breaks on the sweet-tasting night air. Before you stands your Adonis, naked except for his mask. You smile and move towards him.