Beauty is an aphrodisiac. A warm, humid breath whispered from lungs pumped with hot blood. To feel it against the skin, is to know a wisdom in passion. What is there to know beyond knowing passion? In a whisper of breath, know the nature of beauty: it is the joy of pleasure, of souls feeling a heat to the skin. In such a way, Alexis understood passion: that it is a physical energy for spiritual consumption. “I’ve felt my body sing while making love,” she was saying, “but too often that song drowns that of the soul.” “It ’s easy to bring bodies to orgasm,” said Ilene. “Perhaps the song you want to hear is in the lingering notes of a body seeking release, in its yearning. What if the body craved release so badly that it looked to the soul as a lover?” There was no answer to Ilene’s question: the experience was the answer. “I would die to feel like that,” Alexis said. The thought was abstract, but it stroked her body’s length like a silken dress falling from her shoulders. “You’ve already begun,” Ilene replied in a smooth voice. (more…)