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24. Kissing with Confidence
There is a reason escorts generally don't let their clients kiss them, even though they will let them do all sorts of excitingly depraved other deeds. Kissing is one of the most intimate things two people can do. A great kiss can be your way into a guy's heart - or at least a guy's pants.
Be prepared
It is interesting how people in romantic movies just wake up and start kissing like crazy. Morning breath and bad breath in general are rarely a problem in the fictional world. You see people who have been slogging through a jungle, stuck on an island or have otherwise been devoid of toothpaste for many days French-kiss each other senseless, without any indication that this might in fact be a smelly affair. To check your breath at any point, cup your hand, covering your mouth and nose, exhale through the mouth and inhale through the nose. If you're in bed, you can also exhale and then inhale under a pillow. If the result makes you gag, if will likely make him gag twice as much. How to avoid gagging?
Bad breath comes partly from the mouth, but mostly from the stomach. To start with the mouth: brushing two to three times a day and using a toothpick daily is a good idea. Your dentist will be very happy. Don't forget to also scrub your tongue a bit, as far back as you can get. As a bonus, this will allow you to practice controlling your gag reflex, which might come in handy during the sex that will hopefully follow sometime after the kiss. To make friends with your stomach, make sure that you drink enough water spread out over the day and add a bit of fuel now and then to keep it happy. An empty stomach is more likely to give off fumes. Be careful when eating food that has a lot of fat or sugar: when this gets broken down, the results can be noxious. There are also certain foods that are generally healthy but should be avoided on a kissing occasion, like onions and garlic. If both people eat it, neither will probably notice it during a kiss, but better safe than going home rejected.
Other foods have a messiness factor, the most infamous one being spinach. If you flash your Romeo-to-be your sexiest smile with a big piece of green stuck to your front teeth, it might not be as erotic as intended. So avoid any food that might linger between your teeth and have a piece of menthol chewing gum after you eat, something to chew loose any residuals and cover minor smells. A word to smokers: have pity on the non-smokers. If you can, hold back on the smoking a little while in advance and brush your teeth. A non-smoker will probably still taste the nicotine, but appreciate the effort. If you are headed toward a potential kiss and it caught you by surprise, you might find yourself having eaten something like onions and devoid of toothpaste and chewing gum. Then, if at all possible, have a beer. This will cover up most subtle offences by making your breath smell like - well - beer, which is more socially acceptable.
With smelliness out of the way, a warning about lips: these should be moist. Especially during winter, make sure you lick your lips regularly or use a chap stick for support. And if you are planning to drink red wine, check your lips first. If they are dry, you will end up looking like a vampire after a messy meal and the colour will take a while to come off - not very sexy. Finally: if you are both wearing glasses and it is going to get passionate, at least one of you should take them off to avoid annoying 'clicking'.
Technique
Kissing is about connecting and trying to get on the same wavelength, mentally and physically. Though it needs to be instinctive, it does pay to have your brain working just a little during a kiss. You should keep focusing on what the other person is doing and respond with a countermove. There tend to be mini-battles going on, a subtle powerplay: he pushes against your tongue and you push back or can choose to give in for a moment. He invades your mouth with a deeper kiss once in a while, you invade his. How you let the dominance play out, could foreshadow the dynamic when you end up in bed. But as anyone who ever got hit by a power-bottom can tell you, dominant doesn't necessarily mean Top.
Variation is the key to keeping things interesting. You don't just pick one move and stick with it as this will get boring. As mentioned, varying the depth of the kisses is one way to do it. You can go from sucking and nibbling on his lips to a deep, full-mouth kiss and back. You can even break lip contact and just have your tongues battle it out for a moment - though this might feel silly if it goes on too long. You can lick along his teeth, being careful if he has braces. You can catch his tongue in your mouth for a moment and gently suck on it, which has an obvious erotic charge as it suggest skills in other areas. Don't try to actually rip out the tongue though and once again, don't do it for too long or the effect is lost and he might start checking his watch. For the duration of the kiss, keep your lips relaxed but ready to match whatever move the other person throws at you, while also taking the lead now and then. Go with what 'feels right' but keep paying attention to his response. Does he seem to like what you're doing or not? If not, move on to something else.
Well-timed breaks in the kiss are important for setting the mood. Pulling back for a moment now and then to look each other in the eyes, be it in a horny or romantic way, will intensify the kiss. Don't stare too much during the actual kiss, as you will likely look cross-eyed and creepy. You can tease by moving your lips close to his and pulling away a bit when he moves forward to touch them together. Combined with playful eye contact, this can be a nice game as long as you don't draw it out for too long and reward it with a passionate kiss. Assuming you still have clothes on, any exposed skin is fair game for lip contact, a gentle nibble or even a - not too soggy - lick. Some people have sensitive earlobes, so see if you get a response when you touch them. Tongue-in-ear works for some, but disturbs others. You can 'graze' your way along his jaw. Stimulation around or on the neck can have a big effect: as your animal instincts will tell you, exposing your throat to someone's mouth is an act of surrender and trust. Be warned: do not give someone a hickey without asking if it is okay first. The mark might cause embarrassment if a colleague sees it, or his wife. And if you have stubble and he has fair skin, try to not leave it looking bright red.
The circumstances around a kiss will also influence how it is experienced. The same kiss will feel different depending on if you are being pushed roughly up against a wall or are standing next to a moonlit lake with a swan or two for good measure. The amount of body contact, where the hands are placed and who is leaning over whom, all have a big effect as well. A firm hand at the back of the neck - squeezing or massaging perhaps - or a hand holding the chin can give a nice feeling of intensity. Getting more goal-oriented, a deep kiss while leaning over your lover and giving his butt a squeeze is just one way of signalling your intent and where you want the kiss to lead. Whether you get slapped or laid, might well depend on the quality of your 'work' so far.