Chapter 7: The Confusion

Cupid had swiftly departed before dawn broke. After she made Psyche her wife on their marriage bed, the goddess knew she must not remain with the princess any longer, or her mother would grow suspicious.

When Psyche awoke the next morning, she was alone. Her lips still tingled with kisses and below her belly, she could feel all sorts of pleasure lingering there. The princess remembered the sweet ecstasy that seized her whole being and a swoon of happiness darkened her mind. A blush crept onto her cheeks. Was she now a woman and no more a virgin?

Indeed her wedding night was truly magical, but she wondered who had come and made love to her. Her eyes had sought in vain for her betrothed, but during those hours of passion and heat, all her senses scattered like leaves in the wind.

The princess sat on her bed and reminisced about her first joy.

She remembered lacing her fingers through the flowing silky lock of her bed companion. What kind of monster has skin and hair like that? That was no beast at all for beasts would not bestow such bliss upon her heart.

Now she was alone, and a part of her still mourned with the sadness of leaving home. She felt as if she was a small goldfish that got thrown into an ocean. Although many strange things fascinated her, she was also terrified of the unknown.

Yet she was now a wife to someone, someone so powerful and so mysterious.

As Psyche sat lost in her haunting thoughts, the voices awoke her from her reveries. The invisible maids entered her bed-chamber. She saw a golden basin and a pitcher of water floating into the room with them. A three-legged table scooted over to her bedside. The maids had come to tend the new bride's lost maidenhead. They helped the princess wash herself and then changed the bedding, covering it afresh with soft silk.

"Where is my hus..." Psyche began but stopped herself. What should she call her wedded partner? After their first encounter, she had felt a spark of longing ignite in her heart, but she still did not know who had claimed her innocence. "Where is my beloved?"

"Away to perform a duty and will be back when daylight wanes, my lady," said the familiar voice.

Hearing that consoled her, and Psyche nodded.

For the whole day, she went from room to room, exploring the dreamy palace. Her eyes lit upon store-rooms built high on the other side of the courtyard, they were crammed with an abundance of treasures. There was a room of pearls and jewelry and a room of gold and silver. Everything amazed her mind that she forgot about her sadness. The treasure-house had no protection by way of chain or bar or guards.

"Is this real or a dream?" Psyche asked herself. "Who this vast fortune belongs to?"

"It belongs to you," the wind seemed to whisper to her.

The princess stopped and thought of this as hers. She wondered how it was that of all the girls in the world she had been chosen for this terrible joy. Psyche would rather have a simple companion to play with.

At last, the night had fallen again, and Psyche began to anticipate the mysterious visit. She had bathed and perfumed herself, waiting in her beautiful bed.

Cupid had done her daily routines and hurried back to see her beautiful wife. It was pitch black in the room. Psyche saw nothing but felt the same shape of a body, a body no different than her own. The narrow waist and toned slender arms. She felt the gentle arms envelop her trembling body as her legs were splayed apart. The princess's heart thumped in her chest. She had never felt this frightened yet also eager. Aroused even.

The princess gasped when her maidenhood was being fondled with deft fingers.

Then a pair of tender lips wet with sweetness and desire found hers, and in that heated moment, Psyche lost every thought in her head. A wonderful feeling encompassed her mind and body. She writhed and wanted nothing than to be kissed and fondled by the Unseen One.

"Husband..." she moaned from the crescendo of pleasures.

"I told you that I am no husband," the beautiful voice whispered in her ear.

"Then what should I call you?"

"Call me love, Psyche, because that is what I am."

And love was all she knew. She felt it deep inside her pumping heart. Her craving soared like a wild bird breaking out of the cage for the first time. She enfolded her bed companion with the same yearning. And a slithering sensation took place between her wetness. A wave of bliss rushed through her core. She trembled and moaned uncontrollably.

The warm and delicate region between her thighs was so sensitive and heavy with arousal that she felt the rising tide in her belly. Within a few heartbeats, her posture strangely stiffened and convulsed, reaching the climax. She cried out in joy and searched for the comfort of love.

But when she tried to pull Cupid close, the goddess already retreated and left the maiden panting in the afterglow. Cupid admired every inch of her and wished she could stay with her forever, but she knew the hours of happiness was short and she must leave before dawn.

After kissing her wife once last time, Cupid spread her golden wings and flew back to Olympus, already awaiting the moment she could return.

Psyche remained in her bed alone again and a swift sadness enveloped her. She didn't understand why there was a new kind of sadness in her heart. It crawled at her chest with its yearning claws. She was confused by this strange arrangement, but she knew not how to seek the truth.

The princess rolled onto her side and a drop of tear fell onto the pillow. The torches went out, one by one.