Chapter 4

Three days had passed. Manahay had tried every device known to humankind to seduce Taima and the previous night he had succumbed. Already lazy with a full belly, she had plied him with a spiked tea. Whatever the drug was, it made his blood boil and all of his nerve endings tingle. As the effects grew stronger, she began to stroke his skin with her fingertips. The sensation was electrifying.

Unable to contain himself another moment, Taima took her by the forearm as he leaned against the back of the ledge and placed her hand upon his erection. He knew what she wanted even though she had no concept of the idea of bed rights. More than he wanted her, she wanted him. More to the point, she wanted him to lay claim to her.

His erection ached. Pulling down his breechclout, Manahay brought forth his cock and let its heat find temporary relief in the cooling breeze of the evening. Her hands gently stroking the shaft brought new sensations that overwhelmed the ache. She was gentle and the sensations made him start panting for release.

"You make this too easy, Taima," Manahay whispered in his ear.

"Please," he begged.

She sat next to him, hip to hip. Taking his left hand, she brought it inside her pants. "Play with me gently like I'm playing with you and we will both enjoy it, Taima. I want you to enjoy me."

Taima wanted to say that he was enjoying her but his lips were dry and cracked. Nothing would come out of his throat but small moans and grunts. Even as she stroked him, he focused on the wetness that coated his fingertips. She was gushing liquid from her lower lips and every time he touched the hard nub at the top, she moaned lewdly. He smiled when she moaned like that.

He rubbed faster and her hips began to move to his rhythm. She forgot to stroke his cock and just held on to the stalk. He made circles around that point she liked so much, which brought more sounds from her. Suddenly trembling, she raised her hips off of the ground. She cried out and fell back to the ground.

Changing hands, Manahay's left hand took command of his cock, while she brought her right hand behind his neck and turned his face to her own. She kissed him on the lips. His eyes went wide with surprise at the passion and the softness. Suddenly he was shuddering in climax. Four spurts of thick white rope shot from his cock with glorious relief. He kissed her back without thinking.

"You like kissing," she said.

"I like kissing," Taima said, refusing to take his hand from between her legs. He let his fingers explore more, dipping into the deep crevasse that he knew was there. Many times he had played stinky finger when he was younger but he had never felt hunger like this before. Despite his release, he wanted more from her.

Then her tongue brushed his lips. Dazed as if struck by lightening, Taima's worldview was shaken. Never had it occurred to him that tongues could bring such sensations that went from his lips to his toes and back to his groin. Tentatively he licked her lips in return. They touched tongues and the sensations doubled and trebled.

They dueled with their tongues until a squeeze on his erection brought him back to his original quest to mount her. Taima sat back and watched Manahay strip off her clothes. As she bent over him helping him out of his own clothes, he reached for her jiggling breasts, finding great merriment in rubbing her hard nipples with his thumbs.

"You're not going to move, are you?" she asked. Sighing as if a great burden had been placed upon her, Manahay straddled him and centered herself above his erection. Grasping Taima's cock, she placed it at her entrance and sank down. They moaned in unison.

Taima grabbed her hips lightly. Her hands clamped onto his shoulders and held him tightly. She pumped slowly up and down on his cock. Gradually she picked up the pace and Taima met her with his hips. He became more and more excited by their coupling.

Unable to contain his enthusiasm, Taima pushed Manahay backwards onto her back and mounted her from the top. He began thrusting like a man possessed with the animal spirits, howling at the rising moon as they mated. He felt power rising deep in his loins and the sensation brought great pride to him. With one last croon, he fired his seed deep within the womb of his chosen mate.

When he opened his eyes, he watched the moonlight play off the planes of her face. Her eyes were soft. He shuddered with the chill of the night air as the caresses of her hands traced the outlines of the muscles on his back.

She had tricked him but he couldn't find the anger to strike back at her. She had drawn him close and ensnared him. For the first time in months, he wasn't alone and the world was no longer so empty.

Taima stared at her from the back of the canoe as she loaded it with their provisions in the morning light. He had not wanted to give in. He hadn't wanted to lay with her and for three days he had resisted. Yet, underneath all of his pride and bluster, he had wanted her.

Since he had become an untouchable, Taima hadn't known himself. What he had been before he was winnowed was a thin sliver of what he was now. His eyes had been forced open on the sacred mountain, as he had come to call the place where he had met Manahay's great-grandfather. The world hadn't changed but he had.

Deer sprang from the underbrush on the other side of the river and bolted across the river just downriver from them. The bellow of an ursine predator shook the trees behind them. The bucks came first followed by the does. Last to make the shore were the fawns which had already shed their spring coats. The large-haunched bear with huge tufted ears jumped over the last bush and landed atop the slowest of the fawns. With a powerful grip of his jaws, the bear broke the neck of his prey with a snap that Taima heard across the river.