Seeing the door ajar that led to the secret window, Eugenia decided to see once again what Denise could do to a man to make him pay so much gold dust. She entered the room and locked the door behind her. When she opened the curtain enough to see, she found Denise alone, lying on her mat crying. Wanting to see what was the matter, wanting to help her, Eugenia hurried to the door that led into the room of Japanese decor, and mirrors reflecting only the color red… and people in erotic embraces. She hurried into the room and bent down onto the pad.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Denise?" she asked softly, touching the stiffness of Denise's hair. Denise looked upward with large, soft eyes. Then Eugenia remembered that Denise hardly spoke any English at all. She was skilled with her fingers, but not in the ways of speaking.
"Denise, why don't you go on down in the parlor and have a glass of sherry?" Eugenia said, knowing that Denise could understand at least that much. Denise rose and bobbed her head up and down in agreement, then hurried out of the room, taking her small steps that had become so familiar to Eugenia.
Eugenia shut the door behind Denise and slowly began to walk around the room. Her reflection bounced back at her from the many mirrors, making her stand more erect, and straighten her hair. Then she began to pick up the bottles of oil, one at a time, to smell them and even thrust a finger inside one of them to feel the greasiness. When she pulled her finger from it, she inhaled the heady fragrance, remembering the one night Adam had come to her after being in this room with the twins. Tears came to Eugenia's eyes, also remembering how she had finished what the twins had started with him, and the heights of pleasure that he had taken her to. But now she was without a man, and didn't know if she could ever trust one's touch again.
Hearing a noise behind her, Eugenia turned with a start. To her surprise, it was the new girl, Theresa, standing alone, slowly shutting the door behind her.
"Yes?" Eugenia whispered. "What do you want, Theresa?"
"My man left early," Theresa drawled in a soft southern accent. "Is there anything I can help you with, Madam Eugenia?"
Eugenia sat a bottle of oils back down on the floor beside the mat of red satin. "What could you do for me, Theresa?" she asked, wondering why Theresa continued to watch her with her large, dark eyes.
"Alison said that you needed to be made to relax," Theresa continued. "She sent me to you. To give you a massage. I've been with Denise a couple of times, to help with her massages. I know how. Would you like for me to show you?"
Eugenia could feel the heartbeat quicken in the hollow of her throat. Her eyes traveled over this girl, her thin silk attire that revealed the sharpness of her nipples thrusting from beneath the chemise. Eugenia knew that she had always abhored the thought of another woman's fingers touching her body after her experience with Madam Valerie. But with this beautiful girl who appeared so innocent of what it could mean, it surely couldn't matter. And yes, she had always wondered what it would feel like to have the perfumed oils spread all over her body. It could surely have a soothing, cooling effect on this hot night in July.
"I think Alison is quite an intelligent lady, Theresa," she finally answered. She turned her back to the girl. "Please help me to undo my dress." It was strange, but when this girl's fingers touched the flesh of her back, it had the same effect that a man's touch had always had. She knew that it was probably because she had been so starved to be touched, to be loved, and was only having such reactions because of this.
"And now my petticoat," she said, turning to face Theresa. "Please remove it for me." She lifted her arms and let the young girl pull it over her head. Then she removed the rest of her underthings herself and stretched out on the coolness of the satin-covered pad. Her thoughts turned to Denise, wondering…
"Theresa, do you have any idea what's wrong with Denise?" she asked, watching Theresa pull her own chemise over her head, revealing skin of velvet similar to the petals of a freshly opened pink rose.
"Something about a man she's in love with," Theresa drawled, leaning down over Eugenia. "A man named Key, I believe."
Eugenia's eyes widened. "Dammit you say," she said, then turned to face Theresa. "Now, Theresa, show me what you can do with the oils."
Theresa reached over and poured some oil into one of her hands. When her fingers touched Eugenia's skin, Eugenia moaned softly, shut her eyes, and enjoyed, letting Theresa guide her to each position. At first the oil was only spread across her back, then Theresa's fingers moved around and touched the nipple of a breast, very lightly. Then she began to rub the oil in circles until each breast shone beneath the lights like a freshly frozen sheet of ice shines on a walk in winter. The fragrance was a mixture of lilacs, lilies of the valley, and gardenias all in one.
"God, it feels so good," Eugenia sighed. Then she felt the quiver of her stomach muscles when Theresa's fingers began the slow descent downward. Eugenia watched Theresa to see if she would touch her there, but she shut her eyes when Theresa's fingers most skillfully began to oil her love mound, making it swell. It felt as though it might burst into a million warm bubbles onto Theresa's hands.
"Slowly, slowly," Eugenia whispered, squirming, licking her lips hungrily. Then when she felt a body stretch out over hers, Eugenia automatically began to move against the large breasts crushing against her own, and push her pelvis upward to make contact with another pelvis. Lips suddenly pressed against her own, lips that were so soft and sweet, not hard and demanding like a man's. Her head began to spin of colors as a small tongue entered between the tightness of her lips at the same time as fingers entered where a man's hardness was used to probing. The waves of warmth in Eugenia's brain began to splash, crash, until she felt her body begin to quiver in million ripples along with the one above her. When she opened her eyes, Eugenia found Theresa's large eyes looking warmly into her own, and Theresa's fingers tracing the fullness of her lips.
"Did you really make this happen to me?" Eugenia gasped, not moving, still feeling slight vibrations between her thighs. It had even felt better to her than Drew and Adam.
"Before coming to this house, I only knew the love of another woman," Theresa said calmly. "My sister and I, we only had each other."
"What?" Eugenia gasped, sitting upright.
"Our parents were always in a drunken stupor," Theresa said, also sitting upright, clutching her arms around her legs. "Julie, that's my sister, and I clung to each other nights, afraid to let go, afraid our father might come in and beat us."
"Did your father actually do that?"
"While our mother watched, laughing."
"How sick," Eugenia said, turning on her side, leaning on an elbow. She had only just made her acquaintance with Theresa, but she felt so abnormally close to her.
"At first, Julie and I only exchanged back scratches," Theresa continued. "You know. Typical sister things. I'd count how many scratches I did on her back, then she'd scratch mine for the same number of times."
"I know what you mean," Eugenia said, not wanting to remember Elizabeth and Drew. "My sister and I back scratched a few times. But nothing more. Tell me, what led you and your sister further?"
Theresa stretched out on her back, staring upward into the mirror above her, seeing herself and her madam side by side.
"We began tickling each other's bellies. It felt so good. Then one day, Julie just went down where my hair was, and accidentally rubbed against my already aroused love spot. I told her how good it felt to have her touch it, so we both explored, together, and found out what that love spot could provide for us. Many nights of getting away from our life of hate and fear."
"And you never experimented with any young men your age?" Eugenia asked.