Venus' Touch

[Claire]

Teaser: His hands… were beautiful. For a man, his hands were outright lovely. They were clearly bigger than mine and could in no way be mistaken for a woman’s hands, but his palm was soft to the touch and his fingers long and slender. These weren’t hands meant to carry bricks or heavy furniture. They were meant for more sensual tasks. I’d imagine them gently playing a piano, leading a brush over a canvas or caressing a baby’s head. For a moment, I wondered what places these fingers might be able to reach.
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The author of this story has read and accepted the rules for posting stories. They guarantee that the following story depicts none of the themes listed in the Forbidden Content section of the rules.

The following story is a work of fiction meant for entertainment purposes only. It depicts nonconsensual sexual acts between adults. It is in no way meant to be understood as an endorsement of nonconsensual sex in real life. Any similarities of the characters in the story to real people are purely coincidental.
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Index:

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4

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Title: Venus' Touch
Author: @Claire
My stories: Claire's Cesspool of Sin
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This story was an experiment when I first published it. I guess it still is. But this time, I will only reveal after the last chapter what the intent behind the story is.
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Venus' Touch

Chapter 1 – Living Life


Before the breakup 6 months ago, I regularly visited this cute massage studio that goes by the name Venus’ Touch. Once a month, sometimes twice I liked to get a full body massage. I can’t say that I needed it for any medical purpose, I just liked how it helped me relax. I was a regular at the place and I enjoyed talking to Serena, my massage therapist. We didn’t know each other outside of our meetings on the massage table, but catching up with her was always fun. Despite not being friends technically, I felt a bit guilty for not having talked to her for so long. When a regular client just disappears without saying anything,... that always sucks. You wonder whether you’ve done something wrong or whether something happened to them. I just didn’t want to do much after the breakup, but still, I could have called and told them that I wouldn’t come for a while. Anyway, I had recently decided that I wanted to start living again and that included treating myself to these relaxing massages that I had abandoned while wallowing in self pity.

As I entered the place, I saw a familiar face. Just as it had been 6 months ago, Julie was manning the counter. I was the only client there. I had decided to come here on a whim. Venus’ Touch would close in about an hour and normally there would be no chance to get a massage without making an appointment. I just wanted to make an appointment for next week and since I hadn’t been there for so long, stopping by on my way home from work felt more appropriate than to call. When Julie saw me, her face lit up like she saw her favorite person.

“Amelia?! No way, how are you? Do you have an appointment?”

I gave off a little sigh, then I smiled back at her.

“Hey Julie, I’m fine, thanks. And no, I was actually coming by to make an appointment for next week?”

Julie always seemed so easy to please. Every little thing excited her. It could be quite charming. But I find that people with her level of energy quickly tire me out.

“I am sorry, I just got to ask. Just tell me if it’s none of my business, okay? I was worried about you when you suddenly just stopped coming. I thought about calling you, just to check in… But Katherine said that using your number for something that’s not work related is not professional…”

Her worry seemed genuine. I didn’t want to share much about what happened, but seeing the relief on her face, I felt like I owed her an explanation.

“It's not a big deal. I went through somewhat of a bad breakup and I… just didn’t feel like doing much of anything. It had nothing to do with you guys here, I promise.”

I thought that I could hear Julie’s heart break as I looked into her face. She walked around the counter.

“Oh, come here, girl.”

She just hugged me. That was a little much for me, it’s not like the breakup happened yesterday, and Julie and I weren’t close by any stretch of the imagination. But I knew that she meant well.

“The bastard never deserved you anyway!”

She didn’t know him at all or what happened for that matter. But I guess girls got to stick together, right? I put my hands on her shoulders and applied some gentle pressure, urging her to take a step back.

“I’m really okay, or I wouldn’t be here today. Uhm, so about making an appointment for next week. As long as it’s after work, I’m actually fine with any day of the week.”

Julie hurried back behind the counter.

“Hmm, let me see, booking an appointment next week in the evening might actually be difficult…”

Julie was quickly clicking through the user interface of whatever software they were using to manage their schedule. I could hear the clicking of the mouse.

“So, business has been well then?”

I let my eyes wander around the room.

“Oh yeah, about 4 months ago, Katherine made some changes and they’ve been paying off.”

Katherine is the owner of Venus’ Touch. As I looked around the room, I saw a flier near the entrance that explained at least one of the changes they made. Originally, Venus’ Touch was a massage studio that only hired female massage therapists. Apparently, that has changed. Given the name of the establishment, hiring men might be in conflict with the branding. But I thought, it was a good move nevertheless. I mean, why shouldn’t Mars help out Venus once in a while, right?

I had once recommended this place to my ex, knowing that he enjoyed a good massage as well. I was a little offended when he didn’t even want to give it a try. Ultimately, he confessed to me that he was worried that he’d find a woman’s massage more exciting than relaxing and that he wasn’t comfortable with getting an erection under these circumstances. I had thought that most men would jump at the opportunity to feel a woman’s hands all over their body. But there seemed to be a market for men to get their massages from male massage therapists because they felt less awkward about it. Katherine must have come to the same conclusion and started hiring men.

“So, just as I thought, next week will likely not work. I could give you a call if somebody cancels, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

I was a little annoyed that just as I had decided to reclaim some parts of my life from before the breakup, life decided to throw a wrench into my plans. But no matter, let’s make it two weeks then.

“That’s fine, I know I’m here on short notice. What about the week after?”

Julie took a quick glance at the screen.

“Yeah, that would work. Or, you could go for a massage right now, actually. Just before you walked in, I’ve got a call with a last minute cancellation. So if you’re not in a hurry and in the mood, you could take that free spot.”

For some reason, my first instinct was to refuse the offer. Some part of me still just wanted to go home and follow what I had planned for the evening. But what good reason did I actually have to decline her offer? I was forcing myself a bit here, but I thought that it was time to leave that cocoon I had spun around myself.

“You know what? Why not? I just took a shower after working out in the gym, so it should be fine, right?”

I gave her a shy smile. She beamed back at me without a care in the world. Then she clapped her hands together.

“Perfect! Then just go down the floor, around the corner and go into room 104 on the left. You know the drill, right? Have fun!”

I gave her a slight wave goodbye and then followed her instructions. I grabbed my earphones from my purse, started my favorite playlist from my smartphone and walked towards the room. There was still enough time to listen to a song or two while I undressed and until Serena showed up. In this moment I decided that today would be a great day.

I had this Friday evening planned out: After this spontaneous massage, I would go home, put on some comfortable pajamas, start watching Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy for the millionth time and shove an unreasonable amount of spicy Indian takeout into my mouth while doing so. These movies always helped me restore my faith in the idea of romantic love. And as far as the Indian curry is concerned, I am usually not the kind of girl that cares much for spicy food, but the Indian cuisine somehow makes it work for me.

As I got closer to the room, the faint smell of massage oil entered my nose. I had never been in room 104 before, but I expected it to look just like the others. As I opened the door, it turned out I was right. The massage table was placed in the center of the room, the place was dimly lit, there was a small screened off area for changing, some scented candles here and there, everything like I knew it from the other rooms. As fate would have it, the playlist jumped to Kathy McCarty’s song Living Life that would play during the credits of Before Sunrise. This was just what I was in the mood for.

As I started to undress, I was humming to the music, quietly singing along.

“Hold me like a mother would
Like I′ve always known somebody should, yeah
Although tomorrow, it don't look that good”

The rhythm of Kathy McCarty’s guitar compelled me to move. It would have been a discourtesy to the word to call this dancing. It was more like a gentle swaying to the music while I took off my clothes. The first thing gone was my jacket that had kept me warm on this late autumn day.

“Well, it just goes to show
Though people say we′re an unlikely couple
I'm seeing double
Of you”

The next piece to go was my top. While I pushed it over my head, I could feel the tension in my shoulders. An involuntary painful moan escaped my mouth. I really needed that massage.

“This is life
And everything's all right”

Trying to keep moving to the music while taking my shoes and pants off was not a great idea. I tripped but caught myself before falling over. Amused by myself, I giggled a little between the words of the song, while forcing myself to stand still to remove my pants. I was in a really good mood.

“Oh, hope for the hopeless
I′m learning to cope
With the emotionless mediocrity
Oh, of
Day-to-day living”

Next, I unclasped my bra and removed the hair tie, freeing my hair from the pony tail I had forced it into. I could feel my blond hair reach my back below my shoulders. One defiant strand of hair fell over my right shoulder to the front, causing the hair tips to come to rest between my small breasts. Being a little ticklish, I brushed them back behind my shoulder where they belonged.

“How can I help, but be restless, when
Everything seems so tasteless and
All of the colors seem to have faded away”

I took one big step towards the sheet intended to cover my body on the massage table, but that step turned into a little jump as the music propelled me forward. I threw the sheet around myself almost like it was a cape but then wrapped myself in it pretending to be a normal person.

“Hold me like a mother would
Like I've always known somebody should, yeah
Although tomorrow, it don′t look that good”

I wriggled my panties from underneath the sheet down my legs. But instead of stepping out of them, I kept them around my right ankle. I looked at the chair where I had dumped all my other clothes already, took aim and…

“This is life
And everything′s all right
Living, living, living, living, living, living, living, living LIFE!”

… I kicked them off the ground, watching their trajectory with bated breath, my right leg frozen in mid air for a second. I was filled with an unreasonable amount of joy when they landed on the chair exactly as intended.

“Woo! Yes!”

I snapped my fingers in celebration of myself. Then, my victory celebration was interrupted.

“Ugh, hmm!”

As the music faded out towards the end of the song, I could hear a man from the doorway demonstratively clearing his throat. Before even turning around to look at him, I had tightly grabbed the sheet that covered my body with my left hand, while the right tried to hide my reddening face. I just wanted to sink into the ground and never return to the face of the earth.
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Since the forum is closing soon, I'm migrating my stories to Archive Of Our Own (AO3) and Literotica. Read the rest of Venus' Touch here:

• Venus' Touch (Literotica)

Please support the story by leaving a 5-Star rating on Literotica, thanks!

[Claire]

Chapter 2 – Meeting

Since the forum is closing soon, I'm migrating my stories to Archive Of Our Own (AO3) and Literotica. Read the rest of Venus' Touch here:

• Venus' Touch (Literotica)

Please support the story by leaving a 5-Star rating on Literotica, thanks!

[Claire]

Chapter 3 – Flirting


Since the forum is closing soon, I'm migrating my stories to Archive Of Our Own (AO3) and Literotica. Read the rest of Venus' Touch here:

• Venus' Touch (Literotica)

Please support the story by leaving a 5-Star rating on Literotica, thanks!

[Claire]

Chapter 4 – Ambiguity


Since the forum is closing soon, I'm migrating my stories to Archive Of Our Own (AO3) and Literotica. Read the rest of Venus' Touch here:

• Venus' Touch (Literotica)

Please support the story by leaving a 5-Star rating on Literotica, thanks!

[Blue]

Given the level of detail you described the scene, especially what she felt and wanted, it was by no means rape, but clearly consensual sex.
I found the description of her feelings very well done, even though, as a man, I can only partially understand what a woman feels in such a situation.

[Lucius]

'Consensual with problematic aspects' has my vote, Amelia's body just wanted it a bit more than her brain did. Perhaps Amelia enjoying the sex less -- and we're clearly not in the orgasm-during-rape territory here -- could have made the story more ambiguous.

I could see his point about getting an immediate feedback from your client. As someone who works on academic research most of the time, the effect you have on the world can be difficult to see if there is any at all.

Getting feedback from your readers is crucial too!

[Claire]

'Consensual with problematic aspects' has my vote, Amelia's body just wanted it a bit more than her brain did. Perhaps Amelia enjoying the sex less -- and we're clearly not in the orgasm-during-rape territory here -- could have made the story more ambiguous.

I think you underestimate how ambiguous that story already is. You can see it in the votes here already, but I also posted this on Literotica recently. I put in the Romance category there, tagged it as reluctant and made the story description say "A romantic encounter that blurs the line of consent". First thing that happened after it was published: It got 2 or 3 1 star hate votes, I presume because I didn't put itiin noncon. Then some user commented there:

Very unique story. As a man, I appreciated this female perspective. Regarding your consensual survey.....I would say between A and B. Please keep writing and posting.

And then I created a thread on the Literotica forum asking whether I should have chosen a different category and got one response that said:

"Ryan, I don't wa..."

That puts it over the edge for me. The character got the words "I don't" out.

Ryan didn't hold up and ask anything to follow up. I think in a legal sense it's rape. In the justice system, it depends on what the character wants to do about it - but now we're into the practicalities, and not the definition.

I'm not as hard-line as some about obtaining explicit prior consent in some situations. This could have been one. But "I don't" seems clear-cut.

Bad Ryan. Bad.

Yeah, Reluctance/Non-Consent would be my vote if you wanted a do-over.

And when I published this on RavishU, the responses were similarly mixed.

[Lucius]

I think you underestimate how ambiguous that story already is. You can see it in the votes here already, but I also posted this on Literotica recently. I put in the Romance category there, tagged it as reluctant and made the story description say "A romantic encounter that blurs the line of consent". First thing that happened after it was published: It got 2 or 3 1 star hate votes, I presume because I didn't put itiin noncon. ...
And when I published this on RavishU, the responses were similarly mixed.

Perhaps I do underestimate it, otherwise such divergence of views wouldn't exist. Vox populi says it's ambiguous, and that means you've succeeded.

[Vela Nanashi]

Comment I put on RU, that I was meaning to repost here, but forgot for way too long, sorry for how mangled it is:

Will be commenting as I read here. Intro post I enjoy the cuteness and silliness, and the surprise at the end. Also makes me wonder about that thing she thought about men must like the touch of women, sort of dismissing the fear of going erect during the massage, and being called a pervert perhaps, or maybe even causing fear in the woman giving the massage. Also potentially if not the kind of man who would want a happy ending it could also be a bit embarrassing, or worse if the woman were to touch him, also if he was in a relationship some women and men may consider a massage potentially slightly on the cheating side.

Time to read chapter 1

You are good at dialogue, and I find them both cute and interesting, and yeah that is some epic failures at communication getting her into that situation
Also yeah commenting while reading is hard when you get swept into the story, I just imagine how good the massage is and not only is he good with his hands, but also with words, so that does not make the situation one iota easier

Starting on chapter 2, oh and yeah both for men and women, just because your body goes "oh I want sex now" does not mean you really want to, and that can be quite a mind fuck if your body gets very into what is going on and you have an orgasm, and you did not want to (though I have not reached any such situation in the story).

Ok so now I can start answering the question at the top of the topic, I think there is some body language implicit consent here, they both did the dance, she was getting aroused, he noticed, she knew he noticed, she did not stop, and she got more and more clearly into it, he is at fault for letting a customer get that far, he should probably have asked at the point he noticed her arousal get out of hand that she refrain from making things sexual. Though I don't know if Venus' Touch is a massage parlor that provide happy endings for men and women, those are at least in fiction rather common features, also further in the past doctors treated female 'hysteria' via fingering and later with invented tools for the job. Again though they both participated in this dance, so I don't really feel like the question "with what?" truly can be said to be genuine, though also the question was not clear either, I suppose, but he probably deduced from their conversation that she is a smart person and perhaps expected her to be able to deduce what he was asking about.

Either way hot situation so far, rape not so far, unprofessional depends, what local laws and customs are, now he is taking a huge risk in most countries, touching a woman without asking for clear permission first can get someone into deep trouble. Some even want any kind of touching to first have a bible sized contract signed in triplicate first before anything happens, and it would still not be sufficient protection against allegations of rape.

Ok I love how exactly you engineered the situation you wanted to write in this story, very good work, finding that blurry edge between consent and non consent. Her hand grabbing his shorts, not forcing him naked but indicating the desire for him to be, not saying a clear no, but a yes, both with body language and actual words. It is possible also that his heart is beating so loud in his head that he did not hear her words right before that kiss, but that would be a flimsy excuse at best. If she really wanted to stop him in that moment she would I believe only have to gently push him with her entirely free hands, he would take the hint I think, but then these are not my characters and I am not in his head or yours, so I don't know his side of things but the words describing her feelings and thoughts make me strongly feel that if she communicated those, she would be consenting, with the possible desire to first put a condom on (not shared by her body though that would not really want that).

Then hands interlacing above her head, again any other kind of protest is possible for her, the non verbal communication says yes more please. Her intellect does not even want to try to force her body to give other signals. Though I do think that it is not just men who can have their intellect overwhelmed by arousal and pleasure. Though I think it has been measured in men to drop several tens of IQ points around hot women (even before initiation of sex). Clearly he has not gotten all the consent forms signed in triplicate, so he is being an idiot

Very hot sex scene, and to me at least it feels like the intellect and what our bodies want are not all that aligned, we have so many worries, shoulds and all kinds of silly stuff that our bodies and nature do not care about at all, we were built to make more of ourselves, and our brains get a nice reward from doing that "do more of it silly".
I hear that post nut clarity restores those lost IQ points and give a temporary buff to wisdom and intelligence, so maybe that is what he is experiencing there. Realizing that he did not really talk this through with her while they were both not under the control of primal urges/needs/desires, following what nature wants us to do.

So what don't I like, where the story stopped. Honestly he really should after this ask her if they can go to have dinner and talk this out, I think he should be that kind of person, and I think his cock overwhelmed his brain there, especially given he is youngish. It did that to her too. Also she could definitely have stopped things at the hand on vulva stage, and that is I think where she should have stopped it. Or as soon as she noticed that he wanted to start to penetrate her, hands on chest, and clear "no" or "stop", sure she has a reason why she did not want to say those things, not wanting to risk him ignoring her wishes at that point. Though I think that only very damaged or evil men would fail to heed that, then again that might be my point of view not shared by men, hard to know...

Amazing story. Hmmm not sure if I can truly slip into Ryan and write from his point of view, I would very likely shake free from some of the structure of the story if I did, not sure if you would want that. I would not make him a stalker raper dude though, that is not the feeling I get from him. I think he genuinely wants to make people happy, especially those who are his clients, and just got swept up in the mating dance that started happening, and then lost his ability to think clearly and wisely.

Anyway enough babbling from me. I guess I need to figure out how to vote.

Yes but problematic is how I will vote.

[chloevee]

Your depiction of a realistic ambiguous nonconsent story was masterfully done. The line at the end was particularly good: "I didn’t know. I felt weird."

And it was hot too.

Below are some of my (probably too-lengthy) thoughts on the real-life consent issues you raised.

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The intercourse was clearly nonconsensual. Here is my reasoning:

1.) (To me, this part goes without saying, but I don't think that is the case for everyone.) Pleasure does not equal consent. And consent is not an all-access pass.

2.) He asked and waited for consent before he crossed the line of pleasuring her sex with his fingers. So he knew how consent is supposed to work, and he chose not to disregard it.

3.) The most damning evidence--she said "Ryan, I don’t wa…". Did he kiss her to smother any protests, or did he just want to kiss her? Did he pin her hands over her head, or was it an affectionate gesture? It's impossible to know for sure, but given how perceptive he showed himself to be up until that point, I have a hard time imagining that he didn't know that she wanted him to stop.

4.) Afterwards, he couldn't look her in the eyes. Perhaps he was also raised in a religious setting that made him feel guilty about sex. Perhaps he just felt guilty about his lack of professionalism. But the way I read it, he knew she was at least reluctant, and he went for it anyway, then felt guilty about it after the fact.

5.) Even if Ryan was entirely unaware of her reluctance and had no idea he was acting against her will, she did not want to have sex with him. It is not required for him to be a rapist, for it to be a nonconsensual experience for her.

In real life, if it's not a yell yes, then it's a fuck no. A rule that applies to many things in life, but especially sex.

---

In real life, when rapists claim that they thought their victim wanted it too, it is in probably 99% of cases an excuse they made up for themselves.

I'm pretty sure that is not true. Not to say that doesn't happen--it certainly does. But today's consent landscape is complicated and murky.

There was a really interesting podcast episode I listened to that did a deep dive on consent issues. One of the people that was interviewed was a woman who was called in on college campuses when there was an accusation of rape. (I don't remember her role exactly--mediator or counselor or something.)

The kind of thing that comes to mind when people say the word "rape" is not what she encounters most of the time. For example, she said that often it starts off as consensual sex, and both parties agree that at some point the woman said "no". The disagreement comes in how long it took for the man to stop.

One of the things you depicted in your story--Amelia not saying "no" or "stop" when she had the chance because she was afraid to find out if he would listen--came up in one of the cases she described. And in fact she said that this is common, especially for women raised in the 80s IIRC.