O Yes! Cosmo's Guide to Having an Orgasm.

Each month, we receive hundreds of letters from women aching to know the secret to achieving heaven-on-earth ecstasy with a man. Behold the tips, tactics, and bedroom tricks that are guaranteed to catapult you to kingdom come.

* If you want to have an orgasm with your man but haven't figured out how to make it happen, you're not alone. Countless letters and E-mails flood our mailbox from readers who are begging to know how they can get off when they get it on. Many women say they can't climax at all when things turn coital, while others sometimes can but want to more frequently, and legions more are hell-bent on pushing their passion peaks to Mount Everest-equivalent heights. Wherever you fall on this pleasure-seeking spectrum, Cosmos found all the answers you need to bring bliss to your bedroom. Read on to discover an array of cutting-edge foreplay techniques and in-the-sack strategies--your satisfaction guaranteed.

STEP 1

Master Your Own Domain

Before you can hit a high note with your guy, you need to know how to make your body sing solo. "Until you have a handle on your own response patterns, you can't fully communicate to your partner what you want," says Betty Dodson, Ph.D., a New York City sex coach. So let your fingers stroll down to your clitoris, that lusty locale situated about two inches in front of your vaginal opening. Place one or two fingers on your clitoris and stroke in a circular motion. If that's too intense, stimulate it indirectly by using your whole hand to massage your mons, the mound where your pubic hair grows.

You'll know that your manual maneuvers are working when your genitals feel fuller or hotter as blood circulation increases in that area. Once your clitoris starts tingling, you're mere seconds away from the grand fianle: a series of muscular contractions in your vagina that sends waves of pleasure through your body. And once you've had one orgasm, you'll definitely want more. "I had always enjoyed sex but was never sure if I actually orgasmed," says Lisa [*], 23. "My girl friend told me, 'If you're not sure, you haven't had one.' She gave me a vibrator as a gift. I placed it near my clitoris, and within minutes, I felt this incredible explosion inside my body. That's when I realized what I had been missing out on, and I started working on having orgasms during sex."

Another local attraction not to be missed is your G-spot--a spongy, dimesize area on the front wall of your vagina about two inches in. To set off this spine tingler, insert your index finger into your vagina and crook your finger toward your stomach in a "come here" gesture. It may feel slightly odd at first, hut this will soon give way to heavenly sensations that are deliciously different from your usual orgasm. "While a clitoral orgasm causes contractions in the first third of the vagina, a G-spot orgasm triggers spasms throughout the pelvic region," says Felice Dunas, Ph.D., author of Passion Play: Ancient Secrets for a Lifetime of Health and Happiness Through Sensational Sex (Riverhead Books, 1998).