Seduction is not about candlelight and violins. Seduction is not about winning. And seduction has nothing at all to do with deception. Hell, when you get down to it, seduction really isn’t even about sex. It’s about creating the right mood, the right music, the right words, the right feelings, allowing the two (or three or four) of you to enjoy each other to the fullest, to be carried away, to feel truly, blazingly alive. It can involve Mozart, or it can involve the Ramones. It can take place on a Venetian gondola or in those awfully uncomfortable seats at a Timberwolves game. It can wear a cummerbund and bow tie, or it can show up in running shoes with paper cups of coffee. It is in how you reveal yourself and how you seek her out. Above all else, true seduction is mutual — a shared experience of physical and mental pleasure. Here you’ll find some time-tested, field-proven ways to create unforgettably romantic evenings, days or decades. We aim less to help you conquer in bars than we do to help you and the object of your affection heighten your finest moments. It starts with a cocktail to break the ice. Then you’ll sweep her off her feet — to one of the most romantic places in the world. Let us know how it goes; you know where to find us.

What’s the trick to giving a mind-blowing, erotically charged massage? We asked some professionals to share their secrets so that you can rub your partner the right way.

The Benefits of Erotic Massage
When sex is not on the agenda an erotic massage can be the next best thing. Not only does it create a heightened sexual response through what is essentially an extended period of foreplay, but it provides lovers with a relatively safe, skin-to-skin alternative to intercourse. And, of course, the experience can be taken to a higher level of arousal by incorporating fantasy or role-playing scenarios.

How to Set the Scene
Switch off your mobile phone; light some candles; put on some sexy, soothing music; and gather massage oils, lubricant, sex toys and tissues. Cover your massage surface — bed or massage table — with a clean sheet and have clean towels handy (though not your best linen, as massage oil can stain).

Let’s Begin
“It’s nice if we start off with a shower,” says Krystal, an erotic masseuse, adding that the heat and steam help loosen up any overworked muscles. “Once you’ve both toweled off, ask them to lay face down on the bed or massage table. You should both be naked for the massage,” she adds.

Begin by lightly stroking her body with your fingertips. Start with the back, moving to the shoulders, upper arms and all the way down to her wrists. Then move to the buttocks, following the line of the leg down the thighs and to the calves.

A Deeper Rub
Pour a liberal amount of massage oil onto your hands and rub them together to warm the oil. Then begin massaging her back with long, deep strokes, using your body weight to lean into each stroke. “Ask your partner how they’re enjoying the massage. Get them to tell you what they like, or if it’s too light or too hard,” says Krystal.

Keeping your hands in constant contact with her, you should then work your way across her shoulders and down her arms, before moving to the lower body. “The buttocks is a place where many people hold a lot of tension, so give this area some firm attention before moving down the length of the legs, using long, deep strokes,” says Vicki, a remedial and sports masseuse.

Front On
After you’ve worked the whole back of the body in this way, ask her to roll onto her back. Begin working on the chest area — this means lightly caressing nipples and breasts. “The breasts and genitals aren’t touched during a therapeutic massage, but may be during a sensual massage,” says Vicki, adding that “massaging the abdomen can be uncomfortable and is not recommended.”

Skim your fingertips lightly over her belly and head down toward the thighs, brushing your fingers over her genitals on the way. Glide up and down the length of the leg and then linger ever so slightly at the pubic region.

Genital Massage
Rubbing your lover the right way requires constant communication. When giving a sensual massage, you should ask her how she is feeling; you can also tell her how her body feels to you.

Apply a small amount of massage oil to your palms and rub together. Massage the entire visible area of the genitals with deep, wide strokes. Then apply some water-based lubricant to your fingers and begin to gently explore and massage the clitoris — a soft, rhythmic circling motion works well for most women. You may use your free hand to keep in touch with the rest of her body, stroking her stomach, breasts and face as appropriate.

Once you’ve established a pleasing rhythm, she may find vaginal penetration particularly satisfying, and this combined with the clitoral massage usually results in orgasm. Ask her before proceeding with vaginal stimulation; once you have the go ahead, this may be achieved through the use of well-lubricated fingers or a suitably sized — and lubed — sex toy.

All techniques require the use of liberal amounts of massage oil or lube and, of course, check with her that the pressure and type of motion is satisfying. Then repeat until climax.

Finishing Touches
It is considered good erotic massage etiquette to wrap her in a warm, clean sheet or towel at the end of the massage. You might like to keep some water or even champagne handy — giving and receiving a sensual massage is intense business and you and your lover will certainly work up a thirst. Then take a few moments to bask in the afterglow.

1. About as much as blindness causes masturbation.
2. What’s the question? I can’t see it.
3. Everyone knows it causes hairy palms, not blindness.

Plot: Decorated war veteran, suffering flashbacks, kills wife, fucks maid, takes up with lounge singer, etc.

Why it’s on the list: First published as serial fiction in a national magazine, Mailer’s classic has the tension of a cliffhanger. His sexual language is robust, the lust literary and effusive. There’s no room for foreplay (unless you count homicide). The kinds of sex the narrator has seem entirely in keeping with his character: Pure male or malice? Kate Millett read the three-page sex scene (hero having just killed wife, fucks maid) and was inspired to write her 1970 feminist manifesto Sexual Politics, finding it a microcosm of oppression.

Excerpt: I lay back like a king lion and let her romp. She had a gift. I was off on the nicest dream of Berlin nightclubs with their telephones and queer shows, of bal musettes and twisterias, she was giving a short lecture with her tongue on the habits of the Germans, the French, the English (one sorry bite indeed), the Italians, the Spanish, she must have had an Arab or two. All the tars and scents were blending into the one full smell which always makes you begin. I was ready to take the roller coaster, but I didn’t want it to end, not this one, not yet, her greed was riding through me, I wanted more and more, and so I slipped free of her mouth and put her on her back.

The Carpetbaggers
by Harold Robbins (1961)

Plot: A novel based loosely on the life of a Howard Hughes type.

Why it’s on the list: Almost quaint today (since medicine sticks have been replaced by Hitachi Magic Wands), but this is one of the bestsellers that lit the fuse on the ’60s.

Excerpt: The medicine man began to dance around her, springing high into the air and mumbling incantations over her. He pressed the stick to her breasts, to her stomach, to her back and buttocks, to her cheeks and to her eyes, until now it was covered with the bear grease from her body. Finally, he leaped into the air with a horrible shriek and when his feet touched the earth again, everything was silent, even the drums.

As in a trance, she took the marriage stick from the medicine man. Silently she held it to her face, then her breasts, then her stomach.

The drums began again, beating slowly. In time with their rhythm, she lowered the stick between her legs. Her feet began to move in time to the drums, slowly at first, then faster as the drums picked up tempo….

The circle completed, once more she stood alone in its center, her feet moving in time with the drums. Holding the marriage stick between her legs, she began to crouch slightly, lowering herself onto it.

“Ai-ee,” the women sighed as they swayed to the tempo of the drums….

She closed her eyes and made a sudden convulsive movement. The hymen ruptured and she staggered as a wave of pain washed over her. The drums were wilder now. Slowly she straightened and removed the marriage stick. She held it out proudly toward the medicine man.