A Sacred Embrace
"Alexander, it is impossible!"
Hephaistion sucked his breath as if he could take his words back by doing so, but it was too late. He knew exactly what he had done. He spoke the word he should never have done if he wanted Alexander not to do it. Alexander's eyes twinkled with excitement.
"Hephaistion, there is no such a thing as impossible. There is always a way to overcome the challenge and make the impossible possible."
Looking at the drawing in front of him, Hephaistion sighed deeply. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed impossible to accomplish. Yet, he understood that Alexander would never give it up until he had exhausted all the possibilities he could attempt.
"Do not worry Hephaistion, I would not ask you to just do it. We will seek for an advice. Bring that drawing with you. Let us go and visit a monk at the temple."
Hephaistion's eyes widened in panic, and he protested.
"Alexander! Are you serious? Are you going to ask the monk how to accomplish this between you and me? Don't you think that it is a little too personal a thing to discuss publically? Besides, none of us speak his language. You are not planning to bring an interpreter with us as well, are you?"
"Well, for the answer to the first part, I will not if you can figure it out by yourself. And for the second part, as to the interpreter, no, we are not bringing any of them. Trust me, the topic is universal and there is always a way where there's a will is." Alexander grinned mischievously.
"How about we simply not todon't try?" Hephaistion murmured weakly knowing that Alexander would never agree to it.
"You already know the answer, don't you? Come on! TakeBring that scroll with you. We are leaving right at this moment."
Alexander rushed Hephaistion just like a small child who could not wait for his parents to take him to the market to buy a new toy.
When they arrived at the temple, and entered through the first gate, Hephaistion swallowed. The whole temple's facades were covered with the reliefs similar to the drawings he carried. His eyes roamed from one relief to the another. There were so many of them.
"Isn't that amazing?" Alexander's excited voice rang in the silence. "There are precisely sixty four of them."
"Sixty four …" Hephaistion's voice trailed.
A monk appeared from the building in the back and he slightly bowed to them.
"It is a pleasure to have you here, king Alexander. Please come inside." He greeted to them in perfect Greek.
"Excellent! Now it makes it easier for us." Alexander looked at Hephaistion triumphantly and continued. "I did not know that an Indian monk spoke our language so fluently."
The monk replied smiling, "Yes, my king. My father was a merchant, and I spent seven years of my teenage life in Athens. I never dreamed of speaking it again after I came home. Life is with full of mystery and amazements in deed."
They followed the monk inside to the temple. The room they were welcomed into was airily, and cool, a faint aroma of incentse calmed the nerves. They sat down at the big table in the middle of the room; the monk sat on one side, and Alexander and Hephaistion sat on the other side facing to the monk. A young Indian boy brought teas and gracefully set them in front of the guests.
"What can I do for you on this beautiful afternoon?" The monk's soft and cheerful voice echoed in the room.
Alexander signaled Hephaistion to hand the monk athe scroll ofwith the drawings. Hephaistion blushed, and hesitated for a moment, but he knew that he had no choice but to comply. The monk respectfully received it with his both his hands. His lips slightly curled up when he opened it. Alexander stood up, and pointed out one drawing to the monk.
"We would like to accomplish this, but Hephaistion here thinks it is impossible."
Hephaistion's face became red all up to his ears.
"Ah, the Sacred Embrace. I see, but before you could reach there, you have to learn what this art is all about."
"Can you just teach us the techniques that we can practicse?" Alexander asked impatiently.
"No, it is not all about just techniques, but rather the profound understandings and caring of each other. It is the most profound way of communication. The important thing is that you both care for each other and put the other in front of youfirst. And I can see that you have already had mastered this part. So it would come easier for you."
The monk looked at them lovingly, and then continued.
"However, there are a few things you can do to help in bringing up the love to the surface to increase the intensity of coition. To fully appreciate it, you should freely unleash all your senses, such as sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. I will gift you with special tea and incense, and show you how to give a massage to your partner to enhance all the senses. Come with me."
The monk guided them to the other room in the back. There was a simple bed in the middle of the room. This room was smaller than the other, but it was also airy and the aroma of the incense was slightly stronger. The monk gestured Hephaistion to lie down on the bed. He chuckled softly when he saw Hephaistion tense.
"Do not worry, I will not touch you. Lie down on your back, close your eyes and try to relax."
Hephaistion let out a sigh, and climbed up on the bed. The monk started to explain to Alexander by pointing out the places on Hephaistion's body.
"Start with the face, and gradually work down to the feet. Stay at the feet for a while, and then work it up. Repeat the process until you both feel emotionally loving and trusting. Remember that the purpose of this massage is not to give the sexual stimulation to your partner, but the emotional communication to each other. After you mastered this, the next step would come naturally. "
"Is that it?" Alexander exclaimed with an implausible and disappointing expression on his face.
"That is it." The monk grinned widely.
Alexander left the temple in doubts with gifts from the monk; a small bag of tea, incense, and a wind chime made with seashells. Yet, he was determined, he would not give up until he tried his best.
"Why don't toyou take a bath and relax a little while I prepare."
Alexander urged Hephaistion as handing him a dark blue Persian silk robe, and he started to get busy preparing for the rite. He first handed a pouch of tealeaves to the page and ordered him to brew some tea. Then he lighted incense and hung the wind chime outside the window of his bedchamber. It was a beautiful piece of art; strands of white delicate shells cascaded from the base along with the same size of blue shells which spiraled down. And the sound from it was heavenly, just like you would imagine the music in Mount Olympiaus would be. Then he changed into an emerald green silk robe himself.
When Hephaistion finished his bath, and entered into Alexander's bedchamber, both of them gasped at the sight of each other's sight. Alexander looked so handsome in the green robe; it compliemented his golden mane flowing down to his shoulders like a halo. While the feather light fabric claung onto Hephaistion's slender frame as he walked into the room, hinting at his lithe body underneath. His slightly flushed cheeks from the warm water of the bath and moist lips made him look even more beautiful and desirable.
Alexander smiled at him, extended his hand to Hephaistion, and guided him to the small table set by the bed. Towwo cups of freshly brewed tea were waiting for them. They sat at the table and quietly sipped the tea; the pungent, warm and sweet aroma stimulated their nostrils.
"Come lie down on the bed. I will give you a massage."
"Alexander, let me…"
"No, Hephaistion let me try first. I will show you how good I am."
Hephaistion did not argue any further, and lay down on his back, putting his hands on his stomach with his fingers laced together.
"Close your eyes." Alexander whispered.
Alexander sat on the bed by Hephaistion, and started to massage Hephaistion's temples very gently. His callused fingers slowly taugged at the bridge of the nose with a slight pressure, then moved out under the eyes on the cheekbones, to the jaw line, side of the neck, and settled on the shoulders. His grip tightened, and the strong fingers dug into the tensed hard muscles through the thin smooth fabric, and then slowly moved out to the upper arms and down to the fingertips. Alexander smiled when a content sigh escaped from Hephaistion's lips.
The aroma of the incense added to the calmness and anticipation. It smelled vibrant with fresh ferns and water lilies, and exciting with the exotic aroma of sandalwood, but at the same time it brought nostalgia with the hint of sweet smells of rose petals and jasmine, which thrived freely in the garden of the palace back in Pella.
He continued to knead down the side of his bodiesy, outer thighs, legs, and the feet. He took one foot at a time, and gave it a thorough massage from the heel to the individual toes. Then he started the reverse process pressing the heel of his palms on the inner calf, and stopping at the root of the inner thighs. Hephaistion felt all the tension in his body melts away and the heat gradually build up in the middle of his body.
Alexander peeled off Hephaistion's robe, and repeated the whole process, this time adding caressing kisses after each touch, but still avoiding the center. Hephaistion could not help himself twitch. A slight scratching with nails took places instead of kisses for the third time making Hephaistion's hair stands up on all over his body. When Hephaistion felt that he was almost at the edge, Alexander's hands moved away from him mercilessly. Hephaistion's helpless whimper mingled with the sound of wind chimes.
Nibbling replaced for the fourth process, each time when Hephaistion felt the release built up to the limit, Alexander moved away making Hephaistion to moan uncontrollably. By the time when Alexander started his fifth process with mixing kisses, scratching, and nibbling, Hephaistion's body was over heated and moved as if thean inner wave carried him. When Alexander finished the process with a kiss and a nibble on his inner thigh, Hephaistion's whole body tensed, and the intense release shook his body violently.
The orgasm was so powerful that he would have slipped into the world of unconsciousness if Alexander didhad not pulled him back by caressing his cheek with histhe back of thehis hand lovingly.
"So?'
"It was… amazing…" Hephaistion murmured in between pants.
When Hephaistion's breathing came back to normal, Alexander slipped out from the robe, and moved onto the couch inviting Hephaistion to sit on his lap. Alexander adjusted him so that he was slant to lean against the back of the couch, and held Hephaistion by the waist. Hephaistion's legs were parted either side of Alexander's, and he draped his hands over Alexander's shoulders.
Alexander pulled him closer for a kiss. The friction of their bare skins created a new level of sensation, and Hephaistion was surprised that he was already hardening again. Their kiss deepened as they explored each other's moist caves. Alexander moaned deeply when Hephaistion's tongue caressed his upper palate while his hand brushed up the side of his body.
When the anticipation became too intense between them, Alexander gradually lowered Hephaistion back toward the floor, supporting his weight by his arms, which were wrapped firmly around Hephaistion's narrow hip. Then he slowly pushed and buried himself deep into Hephaistion, generating loud moans forrom both of their throats. Each time when Alexander rocked forward, his face became very close to fully elrected Hephaistion. He deeply inhaled Hephaistion's unique delicious aroma, which alone almost sent him over the edge.
As the rocking motion increased in speed, and the sound of moaning exceeded the sound of wind chimes, Hephaistion's hands fell on the floor, which once were gripping tightly around Alexander's arms. The sensation of pleasure was overwhelming. Hephaistion's body arched up and became rigid. Butterfly trembles ran through Hephaistion's whole body starting around Alexander's that had created more than enough stimulation for Alexander to lose himself.
When Hephaistion finally came back from the ecstatic world and opened his eyes, he was on the bed again, and Alexander was looking at him jubilantly with a big illuminating smile on his face.
"Do you still think that it was impossible?"
Hephaistion pulled Alexander down for a tender kiss.
"No, Alexander, it was far beyond of impossible…"
End