Eroticism is always intriguing, but faraway places give it a special allure. During the Victorian Era, a young man finds himself enchanted by a beautiful woman who possesses something he is asked to investigate. Neither of them could have known his pursuit would lead to trysts that stretched from mysterious Bombay to the bowels of the Roman Coliseum. Such liaisons form dreams of far away places and promote the possibilities of travel.

Excerpt:

As she clasped the necklace around her long neck, a rich color rose in her face. Her nostrils flared and she breathed deeply, an effect as dramatic as the use of an opiate might have been. Her strong emotions appeared to be loosed when there was a purpose to be served.

“You mustn’t do that,” I protested.

“And why not? Have you come to examine my necklace or is it another

matter?”

I was at a loss on how to proceed. The necklace was now in place on her swan-like neck. She removed the towel from her chest and stood in the tub full of bubbles. An airy froth covered sections of her hips and legs. Her pubis hid behind a sudsy beard.

The effect was one that almost denied total nudity. Rather, she seemed wrapped in a diaphanous scattering of snowflakes.

Taken aback at her boldness, I stood and admired her form in all its frothy wonder. “Pardon me, Miss Babcock, but it doesn’t seem proper for me to be in your privy and it is the necklace I’m here to discuss.”

A pleasing smile curved the corners of her lips. “Yes, the necklace. Of course. It is a wondrous thing. It has revealed my true mission here in India.” She stepped from the tub, one slender leg at a time, as wispy foam deserted her like dead skin.

I looked for a towel I might offer her, but that was apparently the domain of the servant who was nowhere in sight. “Really, Miss Babcock, we must talk about what the necklace does to you when you wear it.”

She studied me intensely and seemed to make up her mind. “Daddy obviously sent you. This was a wonderful thing for him to do.” Her voice was self-assured and flavored with seduction.

One willowy hand rubbed the necklace’s surface as she slowly walked toward me, soap flakes of bubble-bath shimmering as they fell from her legs and hips like pieces of gossamer to accentuate her steps.

I stood like a cigar store West Indian statue as she came close enough for us to feel each other’s breaths. I blanched at the wickedness of my thoughts which had glided so smoothly into my mind. A blameless life is difficult to navigate through tides of temptation.

“You are a learned man I greatly admire. The treasure I wear has taught me how to provide pleasure. Did it ever occur to you how easily India’s predicament of malnutrition could be curbed greatly by one certain action, while curtailing births and providing protein and nutrients to the women? It’s such a simple thing. I will show you.”

Listening to her hypnotic voice and admiring the vision before me had its unsought effect. The sight of her naked thighs was a gate to long-held fantasies. Within my trousers, my penis began to stiffen and rise toward the dark puff between those thighs.