Every Man's Fantasy Ch. 04

"On Earth, there are marriages, long-term relationships and casual relationships;" Ezra said, "and lots of heartbreak and jealousy because of them. Is the bedmate custom like that? Do lovers break up and reconcile? Is there jealousy?"

"There are all of those things, though we are such a small tribe, large fights would threaten the whole community, so we manage to contain our jealousy. Mirselene has a keen eye and manages to quell most squabbles before they develop into serious disagreements with a quiet word to one or both parties. Sometimes a nudge or a hint from Casti or Parvinder will do the trick as well. I don't believe anyone was ever jealous of Dipti and me. Also, Urulla and I were bedmates for a few weeks early this year. When we broke up, she and Dipti became bedmates and I was happy for them both."

Ezra remained silent, wondering if she planned telling him any more. It was clearly the right thing to do.

"I've had three bedmates in all," she continued: "In between Dipti and Urulla, I shared a hut with Erin. She was a great comfort to me after my mother died."

Ezra waited for her to continue but she looked down at her feet and said nothing.

"Don't answer if it's painful for you," he said, "but I noticed there is a gap in ages between Mirselene and Casti where I assumed your mother ought to have been. Won't you tell me what happened?"

She looked up at him, smiling sadly.

"My mother's name was Freya and she was the sweetest, gentlest woman I've ever known. Everyone loved her and she was devoted to the Woodlanders. When she was young, the Mariners tried to entice her away but she was loyal to our tribe and stayed. It troubled her when the Cloners became so distant and then the Herders became aggressive."

"She fell ill when I was twenty. She had pain in her stomach and none of our medicines helped her. When our treatments no longer even dulled the pain, she agreed to go to the Cloner City for help. Mirselene had to stay but Casti, Dipti, Dagma and I started on the journey. Mum had declined quickly and we couldn't go fast. Normally it's four days to the Cloner City but, at Mum's speed, it would be at least eight days; and when we had to carry her, it was even slower."

Annela's eyes filled with tears as she told the story.

"We weren't even half-way there when Mum asked to be let down. She didn't want to go any further. She just wanted to sleep."

"We set up a tent to shield her from the sun and made her comfortable. She died later that night, in my arms. I wept for days."

She was weeping now, the tears ran in streams down her cheeks and Ezra's heart broke for her. He laid his hand gently on her shoulder. She grasped it and looked up at him, seeing a face filled with concern and sympathy. She put her arms around him, laying her head against his chest. She had never held a man before but some ancient instinct told her there was real comfort here. He hugged her to him.

It was a completely non-sexual embrace that made her feel warm and protected. She had not felt as safe as this since her mother died. She held him tight as she wept in memory of her mother.

When her tears ran out she looked up at him and smiled. He let her go. There was more to say.

"I don't think the Cloners could have done anything," Annela admitted, "but Mirselene was very angry on my behalf. In the old days, the Herders might have taken Mum to the Cloner City by horse but since all this distrust between the tribes began, we haven't been able to contact them directly. Sometimes I think Mirselene is too insular and blames the other tribes too much; but then I remember how she felt about my Mum and I understand."

Annela wiped tears from her cheeks and smiled.

"As you can see, I'm not quite over Mum's death. But that's why I broke it off with Dipti. We had a wonderful year together. Dipti is very romantic and passionate but she could not comfort me. I felt guilty about leaving Mum and I didn't want to be reminded of it, so I moved back into Mum's hut. Dipti understood and waited for me but, really, I knew I was never going back to her."

"Erin was very sympathetic. She helped me and I loved her but she had Carlin to raise, so again I preferred to be on my own. Then last year, Urulla turned eighteen. She came to me and offered to be my bedmate. I was flattered, especially when everyone smiled and looked happy for us, but my heart really wasn't in it and I know Urulla could tell, though she never said anything. Anyway, she and Dipti found each other and I think they make the perfect couple."

There was nothing Ezra could say but she would remember the sympathy on his face and the warmth of the embrace.

They walked back to the camp in silence. Annela had failed to seduce Ezra this time, nor find out his opinion on mating with all the fertile Woodlanders; but she had learned something about how chivalrous men treat vulnerable women. She had also given him plenty to think about.

Ezra had fallen for his lovely nurse on his second day as her patient. He had wanted to kiss her all that morning and hoped for his chance on the walk; but Annela's sad tale prevented him. He wasn't a man to take advantage of a woman in distress.

Back at the camp, they met up with the girls. Tamar and Carlin were full of talk about Wildchild's feat of strength that morning; how she had lifted the bucket of ash on her own, though it usually took two people to carry it. Ezra shared in the praise but was not surprised. He remembered how he had been able to lean on Wildchild when the girls rescued him from the sea and he could barely stand, let alone walk.

Later that afternoon, Annela set up her loom under the awning and gave Ezra the ball of twine to hold. He helped her weave until it was time to prepare for the feast. She went to wash at the pool and brought a bucket of water back to the hut for him: Ezra was not quite ready to expose himself in his underwear to the entire tribe.

Annela waited outside the hut, drying off in the afternoon sun as Ezra washed. She wore her long shirt instead of her smock but left off the peasant skirt for now, letting the sun bathe her legs. When Ezra was done, she came in to take the bucket back and noticed him rubbing his bad arm.

"What's wrong?"

"I've got an itch."

"Where?"

"My elbow."

"All right. Let me see to it."

She sat him on the bed and undressed his bandage. The skin on his elbow had begun to dry out. Taking her mortar and pestle to the tall bamboo cabinet by the entrance, she crushed a handful of soft leaves with nut oil and eucalyptus. Ezra watched her work, admiring her perfectly-carved legs and her pert breasts outlined by the simple shirt. The setting sun glinted off her long hair. He was enchanted and felt the strongest stirrings yet of desire for her.

She brought over the lotion and applied it to his arm with a gentle caressing motion. It quickly soothed the itch in Ezra's arm, while inflaming another itch elsewhere. She stopped applying the lotion.

"That's so much better, thanks," he said to fill the silence.

She nodded and knelt down to replace the bandage. As she leant over to tie the sling around his neck, her small firm breasts pressed against his chest and he could feel her hot breath on his cheek. As she finished and pulled away, their eyes met, his hungry dark-blue eyes looking deeply into her calm light-blue eyes. She lowered her gaze, blushing pink on her face and neck. Ezra could stand no more tension: he pulled her back into him and kissed her.

Annela didn't know what to do. Her mind was filled with contrary thoughts. She had never kissed a man before. Was she doing it right? Would it put him off if she was not a good kisser? Was he kissing her from sympathy because of what she told him that morning? Was it the nurse-effect, as Mirselene described from her soppy novel, so he might reject her when he was healed and no longer needed her care? Or did he really care for her?

In her confused state, she neither pulled away nor kissed him back, keeping her arms at her sides. Ezra read her hesitation as a refusal.

"I'm sorry, Annela, but you're so beautiful," his words were gentle and sincere. "I couldn't help myself. Please forgive me?"

This confused Annela just as much. She blushed again and scolded herself for blushing. It was good that he had kissed her. It was what she was supposed to make happen. Even more, it was what she wanted! She liked the warmth of his lips on hers and the pressure of his arm around her waist. She wanted that feeling again.

"Of course I forgive you, Ezra. Please will you kiss me again? I wasn't ready."

Ezra took this explanation in the same philosophical spirit as he had taken her apparent rejection and kissed her again. Now she kissed him back, putting her arms around his neck.

She was a good kisser, eager and responsive, opening her mouth to brush the tip of her tongue against his. At first, she hadn't liked his beard, which was long enough to tickle her. Then she decided she did like it because it made his face so different from a woman's. She put a hand on his cheek to caress the stubble. That first kiss seemed to open a flood-gate. Now Annela wanted to kiss him all the time.

Trying out various positions, seeking ways to be comfortable on the bed or in the chair without putting weight on Ezra's damaged arm, they found the best way to kiss was if she sat sideways on his lap on the chair and he put his good arm around her waist. They kissed like that until it was time for the feast.

Annela left Ezra to eat with Erin and Casti. She thought it was important not to keep him to herself too much, and so he talked to many of the Woodlanders, especially Sharne, who brought Pepi to say goodnight, and Urulla, who was fascinated by the growth of his beard and wondered if it hurt him.

That night Annela climbed over Ezra to lie against his good side on the bed. They slept together innocently. As she cuddled him, Ezra hoped his erection would go down enough to allow him to sleep. At least he was on his back.

His sexual interest in Annela was prominent again next morning when she kissed him awake. It was already light and she had been up for half-an-hour. As she leaned over him, a shaft of sunlight made a halo of her strawberry blonde hair, dappling her pink cheek. He pulled her onto him for a long passionate kiss. After this, he was anxious to get her alone in real privacy but they were called to breakfast and he did not have her to himself again until they went for another walk that morning.

As they left the camp, passing through the meadow where Bessie the cow grazed opposite small allotments of growing turnips and potatoes, four of the curious eyes that watched them belonged to Casti and Parvinder, two of the matrons who had done the cooking, still sitting by the stove.

"Can I guess what you're thinking?" Casti asked her companion.

"I expect so," Parvinder replied.

"You're thinking that Mirselene ought to make an announcement soon about those two or there will be dreadful jealousy in the camp."

"It's obvious what Mirselene's plan is, so why not allay jealousy by telling us? But, actually, that wasn't what I was thinking."

"No? Then you're worried about Dipti?"

"I am. We both know that Mirselene wants at least a dozen naturally-born children; but I'm not sure she has considered everything. We don't have any experience of giving birth here: the Cloners have the medical text-book and lots more knowledge of childbirth. My Dipti is thirty-three now. Why take more risk than we need? I'd even be worried for your Urulla."

"Yes, though she is strong and younger than I was when I had her," Casti agreed, "yet I will worry about her. I can also predict Mirselene's answer. She will say that to contact the Cloners means to reveal the existence of Ezra and attract the interest, even the violence, of the other tribes. Or maybe the Cloners will help deliver our babies only if Ezra agrees to go to them. Perhaps she is right to distrust the other tribes and seek to remain hidden in our forest."

"So what can we say to her?"

"The only idea I have had is to remind Mirselene that, if we don't buy a clone this year or next from the Cloners, then they will surely enquire about our prosperity and maybe raise suspicions among the other tribes, who could pay us an unexpected visit. It's unlikely, but if she agrees, then Dipti is the obvious choice to go to the Cloner city."

"It's an idea, Casti, but I cannot see Mirselene agreeing. Do you think if we opposed Mirselene, we would get a majority?"

"No, I don't, and I have no intention of opposing her. We will have to solve the problem another way."

The discussion ended there and the women went about their chores, dissatisfied by the fact that, though Ezra's appearance was a wonderful boon to the tribe, he brought problems with him, including no doubt some they were yet to discover.

The question of sex had come up as soon as Ezra arrived in the Woodlander camp. It could hardly be avoided in such a small, isolated community. Any visitor was a welcome change from routine. A visitor from ancestral Earth was an object of fascination. When the visitor was also a man, in a society of mostly childless women whose dearest wish was a child, then it was a wonder he hadn't been pounced on and ravished by the whole tribe, young and old.

Annela pounced on Ezra late that morning but she didn't ravish him. Exactly the opposite.

They had often stopped on their walk to kiss, sometimes standing, sometimes sitting on a fallen tree and, finally, when the warmth of the day had dried out the undergrowth, lying on an impromptu mattress of ferns. As soon as he sat down o the ferns, she pounced on him, knocking him flat on his back. Then she took up her favourite position, lying on his chest, her legs astride his waist, her hands stroking his scruffy beard.

Occasionally she would kiss him and sometimes she put her hands under his shirt to feel the hairs on his chest, but mostly they just chatted. For a while, she lay with her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat, enjoying the rise and fall of his breathing. She also liked feeling his hard cock against her stomach and the groaning noise he made as she occasionally rubbed herself against it.

Kissing was all they did, however. Ezra urgently wanted to make love to Annela and although she seemed to return his feelings, for some reason she resisted anything more than kissing. She liked it when he held her by the waist or put his hand on her cheek or in her hair but if he touched her breast, thigh or bottom, she would pull back or move his hand away.

It was like making out with a shy virgin who insisted he 'behave himself'. It reminded him of his adolescence, of an endless summer when, aged sixteen, he and his first girlfriend would kiss for hours and he would relieve his frustration by marathon sessions of masturbation when he got home (if he hadn't already ejaculated in his pants).

It was similar now because it was hot, there was not much for him to do and there was a pretty girl to make out with; but he wasn't an adolescent any more and he saw no reason at all to endure sexual frustration. His sexual frustration had peaked at that moment because, as they kissed, she was grinding her pelvis into his cock. It was too much for Ezra to bear, whose balls were aching and no doubt turning blue. He pulled her head up and said:

"Annela, please will you take your weight off my cock?"

She laughed. "You call it your 'cock'? Like Adam?"

Adam was the Woodlander's rooster, a noisy disturbance in the camp, especially in the morning.

"Yes."

"All right." She moved down his body.

"I need to tell you something about male physiology."

"Go ahead," she said, putting her hands on his chest to rest her chin on them. She gazed into his eyes, happy expectation written on her face.

"It's to do with what you're doing to me."

"What's that?"

"Arousing me. Making me horny."

"Ooh! I like that word, 'horny'."

"Well, when a man gets horny, semen gets pumped into his balls."

"Semen!" she exclaimed, rolling off him to sit up and snap her fingers. "That's the word Parvinder couldn't remember."

"All right, then you know what it is."

"Yes, and I know what 'balls' are: they are testes." She had the enthusiasm of a star pupil.

"Well, semen builds up in the testes and, if a man keeps getting aroused for a day or more without a release, then they can become painful."

"I had no idea. Do they hurt now?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. What do you mean, 'a release'?"

"Sexual intercourse or masturbation."

"Masturbation?"

"Jerking off."

"Oh, wanking."

He smiled wryly at what old English slang had survived on Samothea.

"So I need to know, Darling, am I doomed to frustration or will you have sex with me?"

"You want to have sex just because your balls hurt?" She pretended to be outraged but the feline glint in her eyes betrayed her amusement.

"No; I want to have sex because, well, because I do - but it would also be a good thing for my aching balls."

"Well, hard luck! I'm not having sex with you until I get Mirselene's agreement."

Ezra was appalled and struggled to sit up himself.

"You won't sleep with me without Mirselene agreeing?"

"I don't need her permission!" she exclaimed. "I mean that Mirselene wants an agreement from you."

"What agreement?"

"About your role in the tribe."

"What role? Why do I need a role in the tribe?"

"I will explain but, first, I want to ask you something: ... Which of us would you take as bedmate?"

"You, of course."

"Besides me."

"Well, I don't know. I don't know any of them as well as you."

"What about Sharne? She's strong and kind. I know you like her."

"I like her very much. I even admit I fancy her; but she's not you."

For some reason, this did not seem to be the answer Annela wanted.

"How about Dipti?"

"She's sweet and pretty but didn't you tell me that she and Urulla are bedmates?"

"They are, but Urulla wouldn't object. Nor would Dipti mind if you and Urulla were bedmates."

Ezra's face showed his confusion.

"By the way, what about Urulla?" she asked.

"A lovely girl but neither Dipti nor Urulla are my choice."

"And Dagma? You may not think she's the prettiest of us, but she is very intelligent and unfailingly generous. She would make a lovely bedmate."

Ezra's first answer snagged in his mind as his mental gears changed.

"Dagma is kind? This is a woman who has neither spoken to me nor smiled. She only ever scowls!"

"She's shy, Ezra. You'll never know as gentle and submissive a woman as she."

"You're talking about Dagma? Mirselene's daughter? Your formidable chief's clone! Don't you have regular heredity here on Samothea?"

"Of course we do! Mirselene is gentle and kind as well. It's just her position in our tribe that makes her seem abrupt and controlling."

Ezra let that absurdity pass.

"Annela, you have left someone out. Erin is a very handsome woman. I think I prefer her to everyone, except you."

"Oh, Ezra!" She exclaimed with enthusiasm, holding his arm. "Erin is the best of us all. If anyone deserves the only man on Samothea as bedmate, it is she. ... But, unfortunately, it would mean you couldn't have Carlin when she comes of age."

This stumped Ezra.

"Darling, will you please tell me what this is all about? Why do you want me to choose another woman as a bedmate when I want only you?"

Annela paused for a few seconds.

"Unfortunately, it seems Mirselene was wrong about male nature."

"In what way?"

"She thought a man would take as many bedmates as he can, but you insist you don't want more than one."

"Is this what all this is about?" Light dawned on Ezra. "You weren't asking me if I preferred Sharne or Dipti instead of you but as well as you?"