Wicked Ways to Warm Up
Anyone can be good in bed. Genital size doesn’t matter. Looks don’t matter. You don’t have to have legs up to your chin or arms like Arnie, drive a sports car, or be rolling in it to be the best lover your partner’s ever had. But you do need a good, working knowledge of your subject. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: sex skills can be learned, we can all improve on them, and I can’t think of a better place to start than with foreplay.
It takes the average man two to three minutes of direct sexual stimulation with a partner to orgasm. It takes the average woman twenty to thirty minutes. You don’t need to be Einstein to figure out that if you spend longer on foreplay and master it, you’ll need to swap your Little Black Book for a Big Black Briefcase to lug around all your phone numbers. And women aren’t the only ones who like foreplay. Even men who can get an erection by inserting a coin in a slot machine can’t deny that a good, slow, erotic “tease” dramatically heightens all sexual sensation. Convinced it’s imperative you get it right? Thought so! Now, here’s some suggestions to improve your foreplay finesse.
WHY YOU SHOULD masturbate IN FRONT OF EACH OTHER
Partners can’t read minds. So get rid of that “If he/she truly loved me, they’d know what turns me on” stuff right now. Body language can speak volumes and talking to each other is essential, but as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Watching each other masturbate, you see firsthand what technique you each use—the pressure and speed, how you speed it up or slow it down on approach to orgasm, how you stimulate yourself (or not) while you’re actually having an orgasm, and what you do with your spare hand. All you need to do then is copy each other.
Generally, men are more comfortable masturbating than women are. If your girlfriend’s the I’m-game-for-anything type, doing it in front of her may simply be a matter of taking a hold of yourself during foreplay. Chances are, she’ll sit back and watch—lots of women are fascinated. If she ignores what you’re doing, simply say, “I’ve had fantasies about masturbating in front of you. This feels great.” If she still doesn’t get the hint and watch add, “This is how I do it when you’re not around. Watch.” If you want her to imitate your technique, get her to put her hand over yours so she can feel the pressure and rhythm you’re using. Ask her to copy you and give lots of positive feedback—“Wow! You’re better at it than I am.” Uninhibited women can easily apply the same principles.
Your partner’s a little shy and so are you? Talk about it first. Say you watched a show; a friend told you; you read about how watching each other masturbate will improve your sex life immeasurably. Ask if your partner agrees and suggest that the next time you make love, you try it. Don’t be concerned if it all seems a bit serious and uncomfortable the first time round. Start by showing one technique you use: come on—that’s a mere second or two of embarrassment! And get them to do the same. Later, when you both feel more comfortable, you’ll be more confident and relaxed about bringing yourself to an actual orgasm. Masturbating in front of your partner or watching them masturbate has always been up there with the most popular male sex fantasies—and the new breed of sexually liberated females are adding it to their list.
DELICIOUS DETOURS
“Happiness isn’t a destination; it’s a means of traveling.” This old saying can be applied to foreplay. Rush through the “traveling” and you might find the destination isn’t quite as exciting as you’d expected. Lavish attention on the whole body and you can’t help but take your time.
Erogenous zones are areas on our bodies that create intense sexual arousal when stimulated. Apart from the obvious bits that we all share (like the penis and the clitoris), each of us has our own secret area that sends frantic yes! yes! messages to all the right places. For some, it’s being bitten in the small of their neck. Others go crazy when someone strokes their buttocks. But what works for one lover won’t necessarily work on the next, so consider each new lover unexplored territory. There are few places on our bodies that we don’t like being touched. Why restrict foreplay to the breasts and genitals when the entire body is itching for attention?
•Take a body tour. When you get to a new city, you often take an orientation tour to get your bearings, right? Then what’s stopping you from doing the same with your new lover’s body? You can go all out here and even use a few props. Make him lie down naked on his stomach and close his eyes—make sure the room you’re in is private and warm—then trail a scarf slowly and tantalizingly across his naked bottom and back. Then turn him over and stroke a feather around his penis and scrotum. You can then move on to using your hands, hair, breasts, and mouth on his nipples and genital area, creating different sensations as you search for his ultimate pleasure zones.
•Try stroking her face, the back of her neck, her back. Play with her hair, lift it up from her neck and stroke underneath, slide your palms up and down her arms—and this is just while you’re watching TV together. Don’t even make it to the bedroom.
•Massage his feet, kiss his toes, massage his hands, then take each finger into your mouth and suck it, pretending it’s his penis.
•Don’t dive straight for his penis during foreplay. Use long, sensual strokes up his inner thighs until he’s trembling with desire.
•Bottoms up! Both your bottoms are an arousable area. Try massaging them, stroking, even gentle slapping. Don’t neglect the perineum (the bit between your genitals and your anus). Press firmly and massage with two fingers, gently stroking along the entire length; use your tongue to do the same.
•Use your fingers to rub along the outline of his lips, then insert a finger into his mouth for him to suck. Do the same with your nipples. He can do the same with his penis.
•Get into neck nibbling. Do you know anyone who doesn’t enjoy having their neck kissed or gently nibbled? (If you do, they’re either incredibly ticklish or totally uptight.) It’s a sadly ignored area that can produce amazing results.
•Suck her toes, slide your tongue into her belly button (try diving on her after a shower if you’re paranoid about “fluff”). Have fun with foreplay! It really doesn’t matter if she laughs instead of sighs—she’s still complimented that you find all of her sexy, not just “the good bits.”
• Kiss all over his body, not just on his mouth and genitals.
• Use your whole body to massage his. Lie on top of him when he’s lying on his back or front, gyrate slowly, and revel in the simple sensation of skin against skin.
And for my next trick . . .
•Tie him up. We’ve all seen it done in the movies. You don’t need to pop down to a sex shop and buy one of those leather numbers to slip on (unless you want to, of course) or crack a whip (ditto) to play the dominatrix. But you do need a bedpost (or chair) to tie him to, a couple of long scarves (some old stockings or a few of his ties will do), and a nasty smile on your face. Once he’s comfortably trussed (don’t cut off the circulation, you need the blood flowing for him to get an erection, let alone keep his heart pumping), you can try out a number of erotic scenarios, like . . .
•Masturbate for him. Watching you give yourself pleasure will give him a big kick. The effect will be even more spectacular if you masturbate loudly and theatrically while he’s tied up and is utterly helpless. If you want to get him really worked up, simply leave him tied up and then . . .
•Blindfold him. Even a see-through chiffon scarf can increase the sexual tension tenfold. It also makes you less inhibited about what you do to him because he can’t see you. Tie the scarf across his eyes, then build the anticipation by withdrawing completely for a few seconds, then caressing him in his favorite places, and a few he’s not expecting. This also lets his imagination run wild—you could be a provocative French maid, slave girl . . . you get the picture.
•Undress each other. Don’t just fling your clothes in a corner and hop into bed naked; let him undress you and vice versa. Stop along the way to lick and caress the body part that’s just been exposed.
•Play the vamp. Thought the only time you’d use those long, black gloves was on black-tie occasions? Put them on now and start masturbating him. Yes, it does come out in the wash.
•Make it good enough to eat. Whipped cream, bananas, and berries aren’t just good for fruit salads. Take them out of the kitchen or, better still, stay there and satisfy two appetites at once. Having a feast off each other’s bodies is a laugh more than anything else, but even if it simply makes sex more fun, it’s worth the experiment. Unless you’re talking hot and spicy foods, it’s safe to smother or insert most foods in and around the genitals for both of you to devour. While you’re at it, grab some ice cubes from the freezer, put them into your mouth, then suck his penis.
•Drop it. Leave the sisterhood stuff outside the bedroom door. If he fantasizes about you dressing up as a waitress, serving him exactly what he hungers for, he is treating you like a sex object—but isn’t that the point?
•Go for the cliché—mo...
