I let go of her hand and it disappeared back over my shoulder and to my surprise her hands once again began to knead rhythmically.
"You don't have to do that, but it feels good and I thank you," I spoke out huskily.
Her hands stopped briefly, but then started up again, only this time she started running the tips of her fingers through my hair in a massage of my head that felt overwhelmingly good.
"Your name is Susori?"
"Yes," she said, and even on that one word her voice echoed with all the rich sensuality that there was to her as a whole.
Trying to find the words I asked, "Do you want to be here Susori? I need to know, so please answer me honestly."
There was a telling pause before she spoke, "I think my master has given me to a good man. You are a good man, are you not?"
I'd never really had the question posed to me in this way before and it caused me to go into an honest self-analysis. To do so could be to reach a flawed outcome however. What would my friends say of me?
Armed with the confidence of what I knew they would say and what I thought of myself, I said, "I always try to be, but I've known only one truly good man in my life and I'm not him."
"I am glad to be yours," came her words in reply and I could only marvel as to how one could surrender one's entire life to a stranger with so little to go on, but her words echoed of honesty.
I needed to confirm something but found myself not wanting to ask for fear of the truth, "Were you one of Artaxis's wives?"
"No," came her soft response as her fingers massaged my scalp.
She was making it very hard to think. The feel of her hands was amazing and I almost came out of my skin at the feel of her lips lightly grazing against my ear as she spoke softly, "I have never known a man."
Firmly gripping the sides of the chair, I nodded. She'd certainly cleared that question up and with it she'd made my torment all the greater.
Strangely, in the darkened room I could sense that she was smiling. I hadn't seen her smile yet, but I wanted to.
"Your hands must be getting tired."
"They are. Do you wish me to stop?"
To say yes was to lie. Her hands didn't stop and feeling compelled to be noble I rose to my feet and her hands slid off me.