Chapter 13

It was a long day for Leon and after midnight by the time he walked out of the men's bath hut from his shower. It was only thirty days since full Mahina, and the bright blue orb still provided him with ample light to see his way home. He was delighted to find Ura and Nalani waiting for him outside the bath hut door.

"Hi!" said Nalani. "We saw you enter as we were coming for our own showers, and we decided to wait for you. Will you walk us home?"

"Sure!" It was a pleasant walk in the cool spring evening, and they were soon chatting while sitting on pillows and blankets in the women's hut.

"Leon, will you turn around for a minute, or close your eyes, to give us some privacy?" asked Ura.

"Sure, okay" said Leon, and he closed his eyes. After a moment of rustling Nalani kissed him and told him to open his eyes, and he saw the women had changed into the new linen nightgowns the tribe was now making. "Wow! You two look gorgeous!"

"Ha! Thank you, Leon," said Nalani, as she kissed him and sat down opposite him. "Ura told me all about the Paleo boys. It must have been very scary. When we were changing for our showers tonight, Ura found a small nick in her clothing, just at the top of her shoulder. The edge of the spear blade must have just touched the fabric."

"Yeow!" said Leon, and he shuddered. "That is scary..." For what seemed the tenth time, he began to replay the scene in his mind. "At first, I was too stupid to be scared. Going into the tunnel, I was only worrying about Earth discovering the Path. That seemed the big issue. I was thinking of the Paleo boys as just a bunch of young kids, nothing really that dangerous... But then I started watching Mayoni with the AK-47. She was intensely concentrating on what she was doing... all business... I started to realize how dangerous the situation was..."

"Mayoni had nothing but praises for you at the dining hall tonight," Nalani replied. "You should have seen the crowd she had around her, listening to her as she sang the story! It's too bad you weren't there..."

"Oh, I was still at the transfer station, unpacking all the presents from my parents."

"Mayoni sang you insisted that your brother let you take the most dangerous part of the mission, going down the ladder by yourself, armed only with a throwing knife."

"Mayoni sang that? Ah, she's so sweet. She was really the bravest one there, not me..."

Nalani scooted across the floor and sat close by his side. After a few seconds she lightly leaned her body into his and sighed. "Leon, I'm so incredibly proud of you..."

Leon leaned over and kissed the top of her head, smelling the fresh clean scent of the soap in her hair. He put his arm around her lower back and hip, pulling her to him, and Nalani responded by sighing again and cuddling with him.

Leon kissed her and looked up to see Ura smiling. Ura shifted her eyes to the spot on Leon's other side, and Leon nodded happily. Ura got up and joined Nalani in cuddling with him.

"So," asked Ura, "what presents did your parents buy us?"

"Oh, a ton of neat stuff! There's a short-wave telecomm package that provides a portable digital voice link over hundreds of miles by bouncing radio waves off the ionosphere. Lots of spare fluorescent bulbs, it was foolish of us not to stock up on them during Jumpstart. We probably won't be able to make our own for another twenty years. Let's see, what else?"

Leon paused for a moment. "Oh yeah, my dad really changed his mind about the AK- 47s. Mayoni told me he was very upset when Mark first brought them here. Tom and Ellen gave us ten 50-caliber cans of ammo. They write that's the best way to store it, the cans are completely waterproof. I think there are over a thousand of the 7.62 x 39 mm cartridges in each can. There was also a note to Mayoni, telling her to keep practicing."

"They also bought us two Weatherby Magnums, long range rifles with 30-inch barrels, plus several thousand rounds of 300-grain Sierra Match King ammo. Mayoni was looking at the specs and said the exit velocity would be 3000 fps. The tribe's sharpshooters can't wait to try it. Uh, let's see... Lots of spare parts for the wind turbines... There were also sixty new laptops, plus two additional Hydras. The council wants to open five new study rooms, all across the village. Mark says we're starting to use up most of our power supply. Running the extra sixty laptops is going to cut down on how much hydrogen we can make for the fuel cells, but everybody is thrilled about increasing the study time for the tribe. Ha! Kalea and Hiapo were ecstatic about the extra Hydras. Kalea's quote was that six heads are better than four!"

Ura smiled and kissed Leon, got up to stand behind him, and started massaging the muscles in his neck and shoulders. Nalani started massaging his lower back. Leon sighed and relaxed. "This feels delightful!"

"Why don't you lie down on your stomach?" said Nalani. "It'll be easier for us to pet you..."

"Okay!" He was soon lying down with his eyes closed, feeling two sets of competent hands work and kneed the muscles in his back. He sighed in contentment. After a while, he felt the two women taking off his shoes and socks. Leon opened his eyes and sighed. Nalani's bare feet were a foot away from his head, her linen nightgown riding up the calves of her bare legs. It struck Leon how incredibly fortunate he was, to have these two beautiful and precious women so interested in him. "Leon," he thought to himself, "What the hell are you waiting for? For them to find some other guy? For Sally to walk in here and say she wants you back? You love Ura and Nalani, don't you? What the hell are you waiting for? What more could you ever want?" Leon sat up, reached over and gently pulled Nalani's foot into his lap. He started to caress it.

Nalani was very still for a long moment, watching Leon intently with a puzzled look on her face. But Leon could also sense her excitement and that her smile that was about to burst open.

Ura was watching quietly as Leon slowly and lovingly massaged the ball, arch, and heel of Nalani's left foot. Nalani and Leon were gazing into each other's eyes, words didn't seem necessary. Then Nalani gave a soft gasp and lay down, lifting her other leg and offering Leon her right foot. Soon Leon was caressing both her feet in his lap.

Leon looked up and noticed Ura watching him. He raised his hand and made an offering gesture to Ura's feet. Ura gave him a bright smile and he was soon caressing four feet in his lap.

It was a long while before Leon felt like stopping. When he did, Ura and Nalani got up and both placed a hand on his shoulders, pushing him to the ground. Then they sat by his feet and started to return the caress. "Leon, you understand the custom, don't you?" Ura said softly. "You don't have to accept our commitment, and you are definitely not pledging your own commitment. The tradition is you must wait at least four months before you do."

"Oh, I know. Still... I know my own character, and my desires. I won't be trying to date other women... I'll be your husband if you want me... Husband to you both, I mean..."

Nalani was silent for a long while, and then she sobbed once as she continued to caress him. "We know... Sweet Leon, we know..."

It was far into the night before the women gave him a man's nightgown and they turned to give him some privacy to change. They soon retired for the night, Leon having the two women at his front and back in the dark room, curling around Ura in front of him and feeling Nalani press into his back. There was a single blanket covering them all. Leon had the palm of his hand pressing lightly against Ura's flat stomach, and he had a very stiff erection, which was pressing into the crack in Ura's rump. Ura had nestled her rump into his groin to hold his erection between her buttocks, but she was otherwise ignoring his arousal.

Leon gently stoked her stomach and softly kissed the back of her neck. He felt all tension leave her body, and after listening to her even breathing for a while, he realized that Ura had fallen asleep in his arms.

"Leon?" whispered Nalani.

"Yeah?"

"Are you disappointed, that we're still not offering you sex?"

Leon considered how to reply. "No... I'm feeling a whole bunch of emotions right now... Happiness, excitement, peace... Disappointment isn't one of them. Ura's rump is so soft and warm. A part of me wants to just lift up our nightgowns, and push up inside of her..."

"She's still a virgin, like me. You'll break her hymen if you do. You might want to let her be awake for that..."

"Oh, I know. It's a hot desire, but..."

"Yeah?"

"I feel so peaceful too, like I've finally found my way home after a long search. Just to hold Ura, and have you hold me... It quiets the desire, makes the waiting okay..."

"Leon?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm having a hard time waiting. Ura and I talked a lot about this, when the three of us starting dating. Ura said she would forgive me if I had sex with you without commitment, and I think she was right. I would have welcomed you to mount me, even before tonight. Sometimes my desire for sex with you, it's overwhelming..."

"Wow... I didn't know... I know you liked me a lot... loved me..."

"I'm not a flirt. Some girls got very playful with the boys, growing up. I didn't. I didn't understand them. They made me nervous. And then I met you at the mines. You were so sweet, so gentle and thoughtful... All my shyness melted away and exposed... a lot of hot desire... It was underneath my shyness. I didn't even know it was there..." Nalani paused as she kissed the back of Leon's neck and stroked the side of his hip. "For a long time at the mines, I didn't know how to handle my desires. I thought of you throughout the day, didn't pay attention to my work. Ura called it infatuation. She told me of your sweet promise, not to take advantage of me. I'm sorry if I... well..."