Chapter 4: The Sleeping Arrangements

Jason looked around the cave. Off to one side was a large circle of dried grass, compacted down to about three inches thick. Next to it were several folded animal skins. That was probably where Anna slept; where was he going to sleep? Maybe in another cave he thought. Anna was outside talking to two women, when she was done, one of the women left, the other took up a guard post about ten feet from the cave.

When Anna returned she went about the task of setting up her bed. She covered the dried grass with one of the animal skins, fur side up. It was larger than Jason had first thought because it covered the grass completely. She then placed the other skin, fur side down at one side of the bed.

“There, all set. I suggest you strip down completely, since you’ve been in that pair of underwear all day. Let’s give them a chance to air out. You’ll have to wear them again tomorrow; unless you feel you can control yourself long enough to wash them,” she said with just a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“But where am I going to sleep?” he asked.

“With me, of course. I’ll go outside and talk to the guard while you get into bed.”

Anna stayed outside for about ten minutes and then returned.

“All comfy”? She said as she removed her loincloth, folded it and placed it on a rock near the bed. Jason couldn’t help himself, he watched her silhouetted by the ambient light coming from outside the cave. Her lean, athletic form was sexually intoxicating, and his body reacted to the sight.

“Okay, Jason, turn and face the wall, and point that thing elsewhere. I’ll turn my back to you.”

She slipped into the bed and pulled the skin over their bodies.

“Jason, you be good tonight, I promise that everything will change in a couple of days; the moon is almost full. Now try to get some sleep. Good night; sweet dreams.”

For Jason, it was a very restless night. During the times that he did sleep, he dreamt of Anna. Much later, he finally fell into a sound sleep, in his dream he was making love with Anna.

Jason didn’t know what brought him out of his dream, but he suddenly became aware that he wasn’t alone in his bed, that he now had his arm draped over the body of a woman and that his erection was trapped between her thighs. Embarrassed, he tried to turn over. Anna quickly grabbed his wrist keeping him where he was.

“Please don’t, this feels wonderful. I’ve never slept with a man before. When I finally figured out what was sticking me in the butt and adjusted myself accordingly, I slept like a baby.”

Jason was in heaven. The warmth of her body, the smoothness of her skin, and the firmness of her arms and shoulders, was almost too much for him to stand. Almost without thinking, his hand sought out her petite breasts. Her nipples were erect as he gently rubbed his hands over first one and then the other, etching imaginary circles into his palms. Anna moaned softly and arched her back as the heat of desire engulfed her body. Almost involuntarily, Jason began to gyrate his hips, causing his still entrapped erection to slide between her thighs.

“Jason, stop; please stop, we can’t do this. You have to save yourself for the ceremony.”

Before he could mouth a rebuttal, Anna got to her feet, grabbed her loincloth and moccasins and ran from the cave. A short while later, she returned. “Jason, get dressed and come with me.”

In silence they crossed the valley under the canopy of the mesquite trees, along rows of cultivate soil, until they reached the other side of the valley.

“This is the fertility cave that I told you about yesterday. Come, let’s go inside.”

Pausing just inside the entrance, Anna retrieved a torch and with her lighter, ignited it. The light from the flickering flame danced across the walls and the interior took on an eerie glow. In the center of the floor was an elongated sand pit about eight feet across and twenty feet wide. Around the edge of the pit and against the walls of the cave, the floor was smooth stone. As she held the torch high, Anna pointed to the art that adorned the upper walls of the cave.

The mural, which started on one sidewall, depicted scenes of animals, goats, sheep and coyote, all in the act of procreation. In each, the female was subservient, head down towards the ground, the dominant male mounting her from behind. This series of hieroglyphic art ran across both sidewalls; in each scene, the participants were facing towards the back of the cave. Along the back wall of the cave, the scenes changed. Reading from left to right, Jason observed a row of four men, each sporting an impressive erection, walking towards a group of kneeling women. The women were all facing away from the men, their heads on the ground, and their asses in the air awaiting the men. In the center of the back wall, was the final scene, one man and one woman, his hands holding her hips, obviously in the act of procreation, each participant’s head raised towards the full moon above them. The same set of scenes started on the right side of the wall, again facing towards the center.

“Now do you understand why I had to stop you before? I wanted you with all my being but I could not. This is the ceremony will take place tomorrow. It is how we have survived over the millenniums.”

Deep in thought, Jason asked a simple question, “How many?”

“All of us, of course.”

“That’s impossible. I am one man, even though I’m only twenty-four, I can’t cum that many times in one night. I have never done it more than twice in one night and that was with my last girlfriend while I was still in school. We have to think of something. Does it have to be at the full moon or can it be spread out over a few days before and after the full moon?”

“I will consult with the elders. Their decision will be the last word on the subject.”

“Assuming they will see the wisdom in your presentation. I could probably do four each night, the first couple will get the most from me, the last may get almost nothing, but the act will last longer.”

“Then I suggest that we do three of the young women each night and end with one of the older women.”

“Why include the older women at all? Do they still get their periods? Can they still get pregnant?”

Anna looked confused. “What does one have to do with the other?”

Jason suddenly realized that her sexual education had been minimal at best. He was uncomfortable doing this but she had to be taught, so he became her teacher.

“A woman’s reproductive cycle starts with the time when she bleeds, that is your body cleaning out your unfertilized egg and the preparations that were done for your pregnancy. That’s usually three to five days, and then your body releases more eggs that have to mature before they can be fertilized. When your body senses that an egg has matured, it will release the egg, which travels towards your uterus. That happens about fourteen days into your cycle. In the meanwhile, your body is also preparing your uterus to accept the fertilized egg; it gets thicker and more blood gets absorbed into it. Finally, if the egg doesn’t get fertilized your hormones drop and your body sheds the preparations it made and you start to bleed and the cycle begins again.”

“But that doesn’t answer the question, at what age does a woman stop being able to get pregnant?”

“That’s the problem, I really don’t know. With each woman it’s different. A woman is born with a limited supply of immature eggs and releases them during her reproductive years. I’ve read that they normally run out of eggs by the time they reach the age of fifty; but it can be sooner. The chances of getting pregnant after the age of forty begin to decrease.”