point.”
Only adults ... I was barely an adult. “Is this a real thing or did you set it up to turn me on?” I asked, unsure if I wanted to go in.
“It’s a real thing,” he proclaimed, leading me through the gate. “Countless visitors enter here every year.”
I instantly saw why it was reserved for adults. It was a sex room, but not in a boudoir style orgy kind of way. The hardwood floors and whitewashed walls were actually quite plain. But the artifacts… There were clay figures with genitals that stretched out far past their bellies and paintings of men pinching the breasts of women. There was nowhere to look within the wing where there wasn’t some sort of copulation happening, and not always with humans.
“It’s…erotic,” I said, not wanting to hurt his feelings. He had clearly gone through a lot of trouble to show me the room, but enlarged penises just didn’t do it for me, not unless it was the soft flesh of the man beside me.
My face must have said it all. “Let me show you the back,” he said, adamant.
He took me to a wall of frescos that were much more seductive than phallic figurines, especially in the dimmer lighting. I studied the frescos, feeling my body respond. There was a romanticism to knowing they had been painted thousands of years ago. The romanticism was only fuelled by the acts depicted within, many of women riding men, or men taking a woman from behind.
“Do any catch your eye?” Rawn asked, standing very close to me, enough that I could feel the hard lines of his body pressed into mine.
“This one,” I said, indicating the fresco in front of me.
It was in bad need of repair, but through the cracks in the plaster, I could make out the image of a woman in bed with a man. He was propped up against pillows, his cock fully erect, waiting. With one knee on the bed and one knee raised, she had her legs spread out in front of him. Her crevasse was wide open, and she was about to slide herself over his cock. It looked like she was in control of their lovemaking, but the way she looked shyly to the side, a blush upon her cheeks, I got the feeling that though she was a willing participant, he was in command. “What is this place?”
“Some say the work of Cupid, the god of love and desire. The artifacts in this room were found in Pompeii and Herculaneum amidst the ruins.”
“Pompeii…that was the town destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius so long ago.”
“Yes. It’s not far from here. It would seem the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum embraced sexuality and were unashamed to revere it, knowing it represented the fertility necessary for life to exist. Since being found during more modest eras of human history, these artifacts have been locked away and banished into secrecy, seen by only a select view. But not anymore. Now anyone of age can visit the Gabinetto Segreto .”
“So it’s not really a secret. Not anymore.”
“Rightfully so. These frescos were never meant to be shunned or labeled obscene. The artifacts in this room should be celebrated, as they were in Pompeii and Herculaneum. It’s tragic that so many people perished under the fire of the mountain, but at least they lived without shame of who they were, or of what they desired.”
He kissed my bare shoulder, sending shockwaves down my body.
We’re not going to fuck in a museum, are we? I worried, certain there were security cameras around.
His lips continued to press against my skin, trailing away from my shoulder to my neck. “I trust you,” I moaned softly, my willpower fading.
“Then, I better get you back to the hotel,” he said, depriving me of his kisses. My skin felt unnatural without them.
The cool breeze of the night helped pull me from my trance. “Who’s driving?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“I am,” Rawn asserted. “I’m taking