Chapter 1

"Miriam!" shouted Rebekah, the girl's mother.

"Yes, Mother?"

"Miriam, get dressed. Your 2nd cousin Joseph is coming over today. He is your betrothed, remember?"

"Yes, Mother! I've barely even met Joseph! I have not seen him since my last birthday, and both you and Father want me to marry him. He's an older man, anyway. So, what is the rush about?"

"He is coming over to meet you again, and get to know you better, as well as renew his family connection to us. He is a successful carpenter, so you should pay him some respect, not to mention the fact that he is your betrothed."

Miriam hurried with her changing, and then went out to feed the kids. Her family's she-goat was quite fertile, with a proper number of kids to become either milk or meat for their subsistence. Miriam's side of the family was definitely not the wealthy part of it.

Her father was a herdsman, with several cattle, but not as much as the neighboring Bar-Levi family. They were the wealthy herdsmen of the hamlet of Nazareth, a de fact suburb of the Greek city-state of Sepphoris. Sepphoris was a Greek colony, virtually independent of all outside rule, and it pretty much eclipsed neighboring Nazareth. People from Sepphoris sometimes came through Nazareth, barely concealing their scorn for the locals.

Miriam's family basically hoped that her marriage to Joseph Bar-Jacob would enhance their prosperity and status. She was the only child left, since her brother Zadok had been executed as a supporter of Parthia by Herod, the country's ruler. Her burden to preserve the family line and assets was very much increased by that tragic event.

Joseph was related to her, which was considered a good thing, not a bad one, unless one was too closely related to one's betrothed, such as a brother or uncle. The Torah made it clear that such people should be stoned to death for close incest. Joseph was exactly as distant a relative as he had to be for their purpose. He was still of the same extended family.

When they all sat down to eat, Joseph could not help but notice that Miriam, now 18, was quite lovely, albeit in a rustic way. She had an earthy, olive complexion, smooth skin, very cute lips and plenty of dark, almost black hair. Part of him wished that they were already wed.

Joseph was not sure of how Miriam felt about the marriage, but he knew that he was rather pleased at the choice. Did she prefer to find some way of her betrothal, was she resigned to it, or did she get thrilled by it? He was not in love with her, but he liked the idea of Miriam being his wife. She seemed a very pleasant girl.

As for Miriam, she was starting to see that Joseph was rather smart, sensible, and not exactly ugly. She knew that he was somewhat well-off, and that certainly impressed her, but she did not know him as a person that well, until this dinner. His face was not beautiful, but he was strong, tall, and sturdy. He had a nice beard, not too bushy, and rather wavy hair, which was quite appealing as well.

What's more, he smiled at her frequently, was kind to her, and even seemed to have a sense of humor. Not such a terrible arrangement that her parents had made for her, after all. In fact, for some strange reason, her body was beginning to squirm with the thought of losing her virginity to this masculine fellow.

Something about this cousin of hers, this manly carpenter, was making her feel excited.

She would have some serious dreams about him tonight! Strange, that morning, he seemed like a future burden, and now, she felt rather thrilled at the idea of marrying him. She might not be in love with the man, but she at least liked and admired him. In fact, she found her hands doing something that she was embarrassed to have known- she was touching herself.

Miriam was fondling her womanhood, when suddenly, Rebekah entered.

"Miriam! Don't do that to yourself! It's wicked!" Rebekah yelled at her.

"But Mother, I'm a virgin, and I feel so excited when I see certain men."

"That doesn't excuse self-abuse, Miriam. You're my daughter, and we don't allow that kind of behavior yet. No touching that part of you until you marry Joseph."

"But, I was thinking of Joseph!"

"Were you? Well, you won't have to think of him in a month, when you marry him. Can't you wait that long?"

"In the meantime, how do I handle this desire for him? I need some release!"

"No, you just think that you do. Time will make you a satisfied wife. Until then, however, you are not to defile your body that way. It's like violating yourself."

With that, Rebekah left a much frustrated Miriam, who didn't understand her mother at all. What was wrong with taking care of her need to climax? Tonight she was getting so wet at the thought of her betrothed, and that should have made her mother happy, but apparently her pleasure didn't matter. Her mother just didn't want her "defiled" or "cheapened".

Miriam for once ignored her mother. This time, she was just being unreasonable. Her body cried out for satisfaction, and she was going to have it! Her hand returned to her pussy, and she began to gasp a little, as her breath became a little heavier by the second. A watery fluid was soaking her cunt again, and Miriam knew that she had climaxed. What else was she to do? She was a virgin, and this was her only pleasure.

Joseph, however, was not counting on catching his betrothed pleasuring herself. He was innocently walking up to her house the next morning, when he saw her squat behind some bushes. He naturally assumed that it was to relieve her bladder, but then he noticed the moans that had to be from the orgasm of a woman. He had heard them in Sepphoris, the time that he and his friends all visited it, but they had not experienced one there themselves, because it was just too expensive. Instead, they had relied on boys for their pleasure, which were alot cheaper, and did not carry the risk of impregnating a woman.

He had come back several times, for different boys, but that youth seemed to actually enjoy what he did, which definitely made the difference. He had swallowed his seed, bent over for him, and offered to let him use him anally. Of course, he never told people in his town about those taboo acts, even if some would wink at them.

He had to see his betrothed in her moment of delicious ecstasy. He was certainly not going to interrupt it or inform her parents. This would be their secret, which he would keep for his own pleasure.

Joseph watched for quite a while, as Miriam's fingers brought her to the point of release repeatedly, and he soon found his own fingers wandering. They went under his robe, stroking his penis for several minutes, and making him rather hard indeed.

This continued for nearly half an hour, and then Joseph found himself ejaculating. He then realized that he had to urinate, and he started to do so, when he heard Miriam gasp.

"Joseph?"

"Miriam?"

"Joseph, you didn't see anything, did you, my dear cousin?"

"Perhaps."

"Oh, well, please do not tell my mother."

"Why would I tell her? I want you to do that. I want you to have pleasure."

"You don't think that it's wrong?"

"Where in the Torah is masturbation condemned, Miriam? Cite a passage, if you can."

"I can't."

"Exactly. Moses was no fool. He knew better than to condemn that."

"So, I can trust you not to reveal my actions?"

"If you won't reveal mine."

"I swear it, dear Joseph. I will keep it as a secret, which we will carry into our marriage."

"We will not interfere with our sons and daughters doing that to themselves when they're old enough either, will we?"

"No, dear cousin, we will understand it."

"Then, you will not mind if I touch you that way, in the future, will you?"

"Of course not, Joseph. Can I touch you like that?"

"Certainly. I would love that, my dear Miriam."

"Joseph, I think that I am starting to fall in love with you."

"I am falling for you, as well, my dear."

"This will be a great marriage, then."

"Even better than our parents wish."

They both laughed at that, as they resume masturbating, now with each other's full knowledge.

It was another week before Joseph's carpentry business allowed him enough time to visit his sweet betrothed again. However, he was still thinking of his dear Miriam as he worked, and he hoped that he would see her as soon as he arrived at her house. Instead, he ran into Rebekah, Miriam's prudish mother.

"Joseph, it is so surprising to see you here again! It has only been a week since the last visit. Are you getting impatient to see Miriam, my dear cousin?"

"You caught me, cousin. I am very fond of her these days, so I did hope to meet her."

"Good for you, but remember that there should not be any physical contact with her until the wedding. It spoils the wedding night."

Yeah right, Joseph thought. Nothing could "spoil" the wedding night more than a sad surprise, and "physical contact" might just prevent that. Joseph was not sure of how much initimacy he had in mind before his nuptials, but he felt that as the bridegroom, that was his perogative. After all, he was only touching what was rightfully his, in the first place.

Of course, it would come down to how well he could persuade his sweet Miriam, but he believed that he would succeed in getting what he wanted, since he was not about to harm her, and she seemed to be open to touching in some ways. Perhaps others would be next.

As he entered the house, and found Miriam finishing her lunch, he simply sat down at the table next to her, and winked, to see how she would react. If her skin had not been an olive complexion, she would have blushed for sure, as she shyly giggled in response to his flirting.

Clearly, Miriam was very pleased with the attention, but she was also new to this kind of thing, unlike the boys he had met in Sepphoris. He would not want to embarrass her too much- she needed to be gradually enlightened. She was still bashful with praise and compliments on her beauty and charm.

He decided upon something that would be another secret between them, since it was the technique that worked so far with her. Mischief seemed to be the way to seduce her, and he had to admit to himself that he was trying to do that. Seducing one's own betrothed, he thought, how simple and yet how incredibly difficult it was to attempt.

Joseph slowly extended his left hand and ran it briefly along the palm of Miriam's right one. She grinned in impish pleasure, and returned the favor. Emboldened, Joseph then lowered his hand to her thigh, which was covered by her dress, but still sensitive to being touched. She snickered again, and, since her father was still away in the stables, she suddenly brushed her right foot against her betrothed's left.

This was rapidly becoming a game of upping the proverbial anti- raising the stakes. Joseph took it another step forward, lightly caressing Miriam's neck and right shoulder with his fingers. She shivered, then made a clear move to indicate her growing enjoyment of this frolic. She gently fondled the head of his penis from the outside of his tunic.

Some of Joseph's relatives and neighbors would have been stunned by this sort of blatant foreplay, but this was another indicator to him that his strategy of releasing her from the constraints that inhibited them from fully expressing their passion was close to success. Who knew what might follow this major breakthrough?

Miriam then broke his train of thought by getting up, and heading toward her bedchamber.

"Miriam, what are you doing, dear?"

"Going to my room, where, if you decide to join me, we can act on that plan of fondling each other's genitals."

He was not about to refuse that invitation, and so he joined her eagerly, letting her lift his tunic, to view his private parts and touch them for a second. Somehow, Miriam found herself becoming soaked by the sensation of his smooth penis, especially the way that the circumcised head felt in her hand, so sleek against her fingers.

Her manual attentions were also affecting Joseph, as he became stiffer by the moment. He even started to groan, which was a new sound to Miriam, but oddly, a pleasant one. Her fingers then worked themselves up toward the base of his phallus, making him even harder, and when she reached his testicles, he was fully erect. She had successfully masturbated her betrothed for the first time- she had given him a hand job.

Joseph found himself determined to reward her for this effort, so, as he could take care of himself from there, he pointed to the bed, indicating to her that she should lie down on it, and then he hiked up her dress, finding her bare underneath it, and quite smooth.

"Where is your hair?" Joseph asked in shock. Only the whores of Sepphoris had ever shaved their cunts, as far as he knew. Miriam giggled.

"I took a razor yesterday and removed it, so as to impress you. I thought that this was something that would feel good to you, as it has felt good to me whenever I have tried it. It just feels very smooth, doesn't it?"

Joseph knew that it did, and suddenly, he was entertaining a few thoughts of entering her right then, but some part of his mind warned him that she was still in the process of breaking free, and not fully delivered from her inhibitions, so that would have to wait for a month or so, as he had suspected.

His hands would have to do for now, and he used them to his greatest effect, lovingly massagining her labia with his fingertips, and then his full fingers, even to the point of inserting his thumb between her lips, as an initial probe of her sex. He kept casually stroking and tickling her womanhood, including her clitoris, as she began to moan with delight.

Her moans were soon joined by sighs, as she continued to respond to his "work", feeling her vagina release its lubricating juices. He noted the slippery pussy that she now had, and used it to stick yet another finger, his pinky, into her genitalia. She gasped for a minute, and then suddenly joined him in fondling his manhood, as he pleased her sex.

The pair began to cooperate completely in feeling each other's genitals, focusing one minute on hers, the next on his, in rotation, for several more minutes, until they both grunted, and came at close to the same time. Their simultaneous orgasm having exhausted them, they lay back and relaxed for a moment.

When she was rested enough, Miriam then made her boldest move. She rolled on top on Joseph, planted her lips on his, and began kissing him hungrily on the mouth. He passionately reciprocated, even adding his tongue, which she found delectable, and they lip-locked, twisting their tongues together.

Joseph knew it now: this was not just about seduction. The girl loved him, and he now understood to his surprise that he loved her. He had to seduce her now, because he had to enjoy his lover at least once in his life, in case of a tragedy. There was no more time to waste.

"Miriam, I want to make love to you- to deflower you. Are you prepared to lose your virginity?"

Miriam did not even hesitate.

"Yes, Joseph, my dear cousin, I want to have you before it's too late."

They had to wait a few more hours, until that night, but, when their father and mother were both elsewhere, Miriam decided to sneak into the special guest bedchamber they had given Joseph for the night.

"Joseph, it's Miriam! Let's go ahead, and consummate our marriage early, like you wanted."

Joseph looked up to see his lovely betrothed, with her beautiful dark skin looking so soft and feminine. She seemed such a contrast to the pale boys of Sepphoris- sensual in a different, more sentimental, more Hebrew way than those Greek youths.

"Oh, my lovely bride, this is the right time! There is no reason to deprive ourselves of the act of love and pleasure, and be miserable until our wedding night! Let's not take the chance that we might never get to enjoy each other."

Joseph lifted her dress, yet again, and began to sample her womanly place- that beautiful, but as yet untouched, part of her. His lips planted a sweet, loving kiss on her labia, and then his tongue inserted itself into her sex. He began to lick the insides of her vagina, and then move outside, to taste that as well. He even nibbled a bit on her pussy.

The next step, however, was the real trick. His tongue lifted and commence a sucking of her clitoris, which began to cause her juices to soak her cunt. He noticed that she was squirming, and her body seemed feverish, as if she were shaken or ill. Instead, of course, as he knew, she was wet- she was stimulated, aroused.

Joseph's mouth kept sucking on her clitoris for a while longer, until she simply could not tolerate this tantalizing anymore. She wanted him to deflower her, now!

"Joseph, take my virginity! Make love to me, dear betrothed, please!"

He eased his dick into her sex, and started steadily pumping in and out of her, in a number of strokes. His growing hard-on, and her increasing wetness, made both of them wonder how long each of them could last without a release. It would have to come soon for both of them, especially for her, as she was already quite excited.