How to Give a Mind-Blowing Massage.

Treat your stud to an at-home head-to-toe rubdown that will put a salon version to shame. Just follow our step-by-step manual of simple man-melting moves and, in seconds, your guy will be groveling for your touch.

* Forget fancy dinners and tickets to the football game. Everything you need to win over your lover is right at your fingertips. "Massage can create intimacy between couples that they never had before," explains Larry Costa, massage therapist and owner of the Life Is Beautiful Day Spa in New York City. "You're exercising your nurturing side, and he's letting his guard down by surrendering his body to you." Guys aren't used to being stroked and pampered

the way women are, but they need it just as much, says Susan Lembo, certified massage therapist and creator of the CD Guided Massage for Couples (Spiritkeeper Productions, 2001). Not only is a rubdown a great stress reliever, but it can also be an incredibly potent prelude to a randy romp. Here's a step-by-step guide to giving your guy a full-body massage just like he'd get in the salon--but even better, because it's coming from you.

STEP 1 Warm Him Up

"The best way to get a good energy flow in your massage is to be relaxed yourself," Lembo says, so slip into something comfy (or out of it entirely), and stretch before you begin. Then ask your man to lie facedown on a bed or on a few couch cushions arranged on the floor and covered with a sheet. Straddle his back using his butt as a seat, or kneel beside him. Squeeze a dime-size drop of massage oil (see next page for our picks) into your palms, rub them together to warm up the oil, and place them on his shoulders as you ask him to take deep breaths. Don't rush through this--it's a key step in calming him down. "When women are touched by their partner, they become more relaxed, but when men are touched, it's stimulating, so they tend to get excited. Moving slowly from the start will prevent his muscles from tensing up," says Costa.

STEP 2 Soften His Shoulders

Fan your hands out on his upper back and align your thumbs about an inch away from each other on either side of his spinal cord. Using the pads (not nails!) of your fingers and thumbs, gently grip his shoulders, taking as much skin as you can in each hand (the more skin you grab, the less likely you are to pinch him; see picture, left). With your thumbs leading the way, push his skin inward, upward, and outward in fluid arc motions. Your hands should start close together, then move up and apart as you reach the edges of his shoulders, and then return together again. "Remember, harder isn't always better," says Costa. "If you don't relax his muscle with gentle pressure, he'll tense up waiting for your next squeeze, and you could wind up bruising him deep within his muscle." If you feel a knot--a ball of lactic acid that feels like a wad of gum or a marble--in the fleshy area between his neck and his shoulders, hold your thumbs on the spot for 10 seconds and apply more pressure to dissolve it--just make sure no t to push too firmly, says Costa. "Guys rarely admit when you're massaging too hard, so instead ask him if it's too deep or if you're applying too much pressure." Also pay attention to physical cues that you're doing it too roughly--such as open eyes or a clenched jaw--and if you spot them, lighten up a little.