In Holland, comforting a master in recovery

Castro Confidential telexes its far-flung correspondents for Social Notes from All Over. Today, a friend writes:

AMSTERDAM -- Where else can you find such a glorious combination of high-quality pot, romantic canals, tulips and sleazy back rooms -- all with haunting Holocaust atmospherics, thanks to Anne Frank. In any event, I skipped the secret annex in favor of a date with a sexy stud from World Leathermen. Turns out my date was recovering from the strain of having been master to three slaves simultaneously -- he more or less had an emotional collapse after being "fired" by his subordinates -- and was struggling to reconcile hot sex with relations of a non-hierarchical nature.

Having just recovered from a kidney stone in Madrid two days before, I was up for a light-hearted romp rather than an intense scene of depravity. We smoked a joint, chatted, drank sparkling water, made out, fumbled around, and kept our clothes on, though much random touching went on beneath the fabric. It was light, sweet, and gentle -- the first step on my companion's road to re-connected versatile sex, as he told me. I was happy to oblige. Though neither of us experienced a final "release," the four-hour interlude of talk and touch was just right for both of us. After days of pain, my body once again proved itself capable of delivering much-needed pleasure, and I slept better that night than I had in days.