The Woman With the Bouquet by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt Read Free Book Online Page B

onto him to perform the subtle movements that will bring us to a shared orgasm.
    Variant: I shall be the dreamer and my lord the visitor.
     
    4—The flute player
    My lord will be the flute, and I shall be a musician. I shall play his instrument as a virtuoso. I am a good performer, and I hasten to point out that I play both the recorder and the flute. The first is taken into the mouth, the second caressed on the side.
    5—The bear and the beehive
    My lord will be a bear, running after the nectar of the flowers, while I shall be the beehive, unapproachable, as difficult to find as to reach. When the bear has found a position that makes contact feasible, I shall allow him to devour my honey with his inexhaustible tongue.
     
    6—The original ball
    Aristophanes has told us that in the beginning, man and woman formed a single body, a sphere that was then split in two, the male to one side, the female to the other. We will venture to re-create the original ball, holding each other close, fitting into each other in whatever way we can. The joints beneath the belly will require particular care. This will occur with a minimum of movement in order to refine the sensation and make it last. Nevertheless, the ball, like any sphere, has the right to roll on the bed or the carpets.
     
    7—The disorientated ball
    In this case, the ball must be put together by mistake, because not everyone has a talent for geometry. Thus, my lord’s head might explore between my thighs while I shall have a look around between his. And while this is sure to fail, we shall try all the same to join together, using our lips to catch whatever we can find on the other’s body.
     
    8—The lighthouse keepers
    There was a poet who claimed that love meant looking together in the same direction. That is what we shall try to do, like those who watch over dangerous reefs, with me in front, my lord behind.
     
    9—The voyage of Tiresias
    Some may recall this eminent Greek as a seer, others as the only individual to belong to both sexes, for the legend tells us that he was male and female in succession. My lord and I shall undertake to relive the experience of Tiresias: my lord will adopt the attitude of a woman, and I shall adopt the attributes of a man.
     
    10—Zucchini with melons
    This is an old recipe from the Aegean Sea, which consists in placing a zucchini between two melons to squeeze out the juice.
     
    11—Waiting in the labyrinth
    What is a labyrinth? A place where you get lost, one wall hiding another, a deceptive way out, a mysterious neuralgic center that is never reached. The game consists in multiplying the preliminary approaches, like a prisoner in a labyrinth, going through the wrong door, rubbing up against the wrong wall, tickling just next door—in short, slowly reaching the point of extreme delight. It is not forbidden to find it, but it should be delayed as much as possible.
     
    12—The Olympic Games
    Like the athletes of antiquity, my lord and I shall be naked, and covered in oil. We have two possibilities: struggle, or care. In struggle, each of us shall try to place the other at his, or her, mercy. In care, one will massage the other. The two activities are not incompatible and may be practiced in succession. No hold is ruled out, nor is any caress.
     
    13—The snows of Parnassus
    When Mount Parnassus is sprinkled with snow, the cold leaves a burning memory upon the skin; and yet, the gods gathered there. My lord and I, therefore, shall make love like gods, with our flesh smarting not from snow, but blows.
     
    I closed the volume, impressed. It would have been awkward to look at Emma Van A. right away, because I could not imagine her writing such prose.
    “What do you think?” she asked.
    Just the question I did not want to hear! Luckily, I had no time to reply, because she took the text from my hands and said, “I won’t tell you what he chose from the menu. In any event, right from the start, our embraces were astonishing.