Among The Gods 03: Lessons In Love

It was a beautiful morning in the sprawling nation of Irnu. This was not a surprise: every day of every season was a beautiful one. Spring days were bright and bracing, the sun rising into a cloudless sky over dew-bedecked fields. Summer days dawned bright and hot, the heat of the day warming and tanning bare skin, warm breezes wending their way even into the cool shade. Autumn days were cool and damp, the trees gilded in all the colours of a sunset. Even the winter days were delightfully chill, snow and ice sparkling in the sunlight, the icy wind driving people inside to curl up together by an open fire.

It was no surprise because this was Irnu, the nation of the Old Gods. Other countries followed philosophies and idols, distant stars and veiled deities. In Irnu, however, the old gods still ruled - ancient gods of earth and wood, of storm and river, of pain, pleasure, sex, and blood.

By the time Mia and Eli came downstairs into the Cardinal's spacious taproom, breakfast had been cleared away, and the days' work had already begun. Roth collared Eli almost as soon as he walked into the room, saying he needed help with a collection from the market, and after a long, warm hug, Mia watched him walk out of the door. She joined Dina in the kitchen, where the woman was humming cheerfully as she chopped vegetables for the day's meals. After a long moment of silence, Mia spoke.

"So, we - me and Eli, we -" Say the word, dammit, she thought. "Had... had sex last night." Despite everything, she still blushed at the word.

"Oh honey," Dina said with an impish smile, "we know." Remembering how loud she had been, Mia buried her face in her hands, mortified. But a moment later, Dina was laughing, wrapping her arms around the girl for a warm, tight hug. "It sounded like it was wonderful, and we're so happy for you."

Mia hugged her back, unable to keep her face from breaking into a wide grin. "It was wonderful," she gushed. "I just wanted to, so we did it. He touched me, and then he put it inside me, and it was bliss," she finished, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Oh!" Dina suddenly said. She bustled out of the room, returning a moment later with one of the rainbow-edged flowers from the vase in the taproom. "You might want one of these, dear."

Mia watched curiously as Dina carefully stripped the flower of its petals, throwing the stem out into the yard. She carefully divided the petals into two piles, offering one to Mia while she folded the rest into her mouth. She took the petals. "What are these?"

Dina finished chewing and swallowed. "A gift from the deities," she explained. "Prevents pregnancy. Unless you two are trying to -?" Dina didn't get to finish the sentence before Mia, face bright pink, shoved the petals into her mouth. She had been so caught up in the... physicality of her time with Eli, that babies hadn't even occurred to her as an outcome. Stupid, that little voice in the back of her mind said. Sluttish. Shut up, she told it as she chewed. The petals were delicate and cool, seeming to melt on her tongue, leaving a delicate but sweet aftertaste.

"Do all the women eat the flowers?" Mia wondered allowed.

"Unless they're trying for children, yes," Dina answered, returning to her chopping. "The men too."

"How often do I need to...?"

"Hmm," Dina pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Well we were always taught to eat a flower every two or three days, so I guess it wears off after that. Most everyone I know who isn't aiming for parenthood eats one a day, though. Roth and I always share one immediately after." She flushed slightly, not out of embarrassment, but out of the pleasure of remembered trysts. "Or I have one before I go to bed, if I've lain with anyone else in the day."

Mia had quietly poured herself a mug of water while Dina talked, and took a sip just in time to choke at the woman's words. Through her coughing, she said "You lay with other people?"

"Of course, dear," Dina said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Everyone does. Well, most everyone does."

Mia remembered something about that - about the Irnian version of marriage not including vows of fidelity. Somehow, she hadn't connected the thought to Dina and Roth, though. "Doesn't Roth get jealous?"

"Not really," the woman shrugged, as she swept a board of chopped vegetables into a stewing pot. "Sometimes, I suppose. Everyone does - it's not always easy to see the one you love more than anyone in someone else's arms."

"How does he do it, then?" Mia instinctively recoiled from the thought of any other woman putting their hands on Eli the way she did.

"Because it's not about me, it's about him," the oldest woman responded. Mia frowned at her, and she sighed, leaning back against the wooden countertop. "That kind of feeling - jealousy, possessiveness - is all very natural, but it's not about the other person. It's about you and your fear - fear of losing out, of someone else taking the one you love away. But the thing is, they aren't yours, so they can't be stolen. I'm not Roth's, and he isn't mine - we belong to ourselves and the gods, and we share ourselves with each other. And we also share ourselves with other people, as they do with us. Jealousy and possession aren't really our way, here."

Mia's mind boggled, expanding for the tenth time in as many days. She was suddenly struck by an odd memory - a market trader, giving Dina a playful swat on the rump as she had turned away. Her lack of embarrassment or shame, how they had both laughed and smiled at each other. Had he been one of Dina's... other people? Her lover? Mia thrilled at the word, perhaps the most beautiful taboo she had ever heard. "So everyone just kind of..." she waved her hands vaguely.

"I mean, not everyone with everyone," Dina said, pulling the next lot of vegetables onto the cutting board. "Not everyone wants to share themselves with everyone. Some people only like certain kinds of people. My brother prefers men, for example, and only occasionally has sex with women, although he shares other pleasure with them quite often. No one is ever forced to do anything. But, in general, everyone shares themselves with each other. Pleasure is divine, after all - a gift from the deities."

Mia slumped against the counter, thinking. "I don't know if I could... share Eli, like that," she said.

"That's really between you and him, dear," Dina said.

Mia looked at her carefully. "Are you happy?" she asked seriously. "Having - having sex with anyone you want, sharing Roth, living here?"

Dina laughed, then - a deep belly laugh that filled the entire lower room of the inn, cutting through Mia's pensiveness and making her smile. "Oh, honey," the older woman purred. "What do you think?"

Mia grinned. "I think you and Roth are the happiest people I've ever met."

Dina nodded. "My life is good, Mia - full of joy, and love, and pleasure. I wouldn't exchange it for any other life in the world."

There was a long period of silence in the kitchen, and then Mia took a deep breath. "Dina, can I ask you something?"

Eli looked down at the delicate multihued flower he had been handed. He was waiting outside a shed with Roth, a bulky handcart nearby, ready for the delivery of firewood they had come to collect. It had been Roth who had broached the topic of Mia and Eli's lovemaking, congratulating him with a hug and a lopsided grin. While the hearty well-wishes had made Eli blush, he couldn't help but be grateful to the older man, as his easy cheer and affirmation helped to further quash the ingrained sense of wrongdoing and sin that still played at the back of his mind. It also gave him an opportunity to pose some questions to someone with a lot more... experience.

"You eat the petals," Roth explained, plucking one off the bloom and popping it into his mouth.

"And it stops... babies?" Eli asked awkwardly.

"Mhm," Roth assured him. "A gift from the deities - that's why you'll find them everywhere. As long as you eat one every couple of days or so, you won't father any unwanted children. To be safe, Mia should probably eat them, too. You ever decide you want a bigger family, just stop, and things will go back to their natural course, so to speak."

Eli tentatively plucked a petal off, placing it on his tongue; it seemed to dissolve, leaving a sugary flavour that made his mouth water. He quickly finished off the rest of them. He would need to broach this subject with Mia carefully; he certainly didn't feel ready to be a father, but while she seemed very happy to abandon their old beliefs about sex and intimacy, he didn't know if she had assume that children would just... happen, soon enough. That was how it would have worked if (when, he liked to think) they had married. Had her new outlook changed that?

Questions for later. Right now, he had another set of questions he wanted to ask. "Roth," he said carefully.

"Mhm?"

"Can I ask you about... some things?"

"Sure, Eli. What's on your mind?"

Eli took a deep breath, trying to muddle his words into order. "I want to make sure that Mia is... happy," he said carefully. "I don't want to hurt her, or do anything... wrong. I was just... wondering... if you could maybe teach me some things? I know you've been with Dina for a long time."

Roth chuckled, a deep sound that turned Eli's face even redder. "Sure - what did you have in mind? What do you want to know?"

"Just... how to," Eli said lamely.

"Well only she can tell you that," Roth admitted. "Every lover's a new land to explore, my boy. What pleases Dina might not please Mia, although I admit there are a few generalities. Communication, that's the key - ask her what she wants. Mind you, she might not know yet," Roth said, frowning. "You both live very sheltered lives before, didn't you?"

Eli nodded. "Her more than me," he added.

"Did she peak? It sure sounded like it."

Eli was so embarrassed he wanted to crawl under the cart and hide. "I... think so?" he hazarded. He realised he wasn't actually sure. He had assumed that she had, the noises she made reminding him of the grunts he himself made when that release happened, and of the ecstatic calls of the woman in the garden. She had made the same noises when they woke that morning, each pleasuring themselves while the other watched. "I'm pretty sure," he settled on.

Roth chuckled again. "Well you're going to have to work on that! Ask her next time." Eli nodded earnestly. "Other than that," Roth continued, "learn the areas of her body she likes to be touched. Most every woman loves attention given to her sex, as long as you're gentle. Focus on the clitoris. Don't forget to enjoy the rest of her body, though - kiss her neck, rub her breasts, rub her stomach and shower her back in kisses. Explore every inch of her, and you'll find every place she likes to be touched, I promise."

Eli felt like Roth's simple, earthy honesty should have made him feel even more embarrassed, but it didn't. Now that they were talking about it, Eli's curiosity and desire to make Mia happy overcame his reservations, and Roth's easy, confident openness made him feel calm. Before he could ask another question, though, the shed opened, and they set to work.

As they walked home, the wood-filled cart rumbling behind them, Roth spoke up. "Here's an idea," he panted: "What about Dina?"

"What about her?" Eli frowned. He was stronger than Roth, so the exertion of helping to pull the cart was winding him less; still, it was a heavy load.

"Well," Roth continued, "I've had sex with a lot of women, sure, and I've learned a lot. But any woman can tell you more about a woman's body than I can. Dina would be the best one to teach you, not me." Eli tried to picture himself asking Dina for advice on how to pleasure Mia; somehow, the image didn't quite fit in his brain. "Plus," Roth added, "you can get more practical experience. Dina can judge your sex skills first hand."

Eli's earlier calm confidence crumbled as he suddenly understood what Roth was suggesting. "I - what!" Eli choked. The handle of the cart slipped from his grasp, and he leapt to catch it again before it could trundle off. "I can't have sex with Dina!"

Roth frowned. "Why not?"

"I - she - you -" Eli took a deep breath. "She's your... wife?" No, that wasn't right - Mia had said that they didn't have marriage here.

Roth wheezed, laughing through the exertion of dragging the cart. "Not a thing here, Eli. Dina's had plenty of men while we've been together. A few women too, come to that." Eli balked. "It was just an idea, is all. Think about it. If you're really not comfortable with it, I'll give you all the advice I can."

After unloading the cart into the inn's dusty woodshed, Eli rushed upstairs to find Mia changing her clothes. He reflexively stopped, almost apologising and backing out the room, but instead closed the door behind him. She gave him a small, shy smile as she turned to face him, showing off her bare breasts for a long moment before pulling the loose chemise on. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, placing a long, deep kiss on her mouth.

"I missed you," she sighed, resting her head against his chest.

He laughed, tension draining from his body. "I was barely gone a quarter of the morning."

She giggled. "And yet! Listen," she continued. "I've got something I wanted to talk to you about."

As they sat on the bed, Eli's arm resting easily across her shoulders, she told him about her conversation with Dina. "And then..." she trailed off, her facing going red. "I... may have asked her for some... advice."

"Advice?" Eli had a suspicion about where this was going.

She took a deep breath and ploughed on. "I want to make you happy, so I asked Dina for some advice about... what to do," she explained awkwardly. "She gave me some tips, but... well, she had a... a suggestion."

"Mhm," Eli said carefully. He had a very strong suspicion about where this was going.

"Well, she said... she said I might learn more if I got some... practice. With Roth." She looked over him, trying to gauge his expression.

"Roth and I had a... very similar conversation," he conceded. Mia suddenly relaxed, as if she had been afraid he would be angry with her.

"Well... what do you think?"

Eli raised his eyebrows. "You... want to?"

"I don't know," Mia admitted. "It's hard to... think of you, with someone else." Eli nodded in silent agreement. It was difficult enough to think of her with him, and they'd woken up in each other's arms this morning. "But maybe this could be good," she continued. "I really want to make you happy."

"I really want to make you happy, too," Eli said. "But wouldn't you be, you know, jealous?"

"Jealousy is about me, not you," she responded. Eli frowned. "It's about fear," she rushed on. "That's what Dina said. That me being jealous would be about me being afraid of losing you."

"You'll never lose me," he promised her.

She smiled, nuzzling her face into the crook where his neck joined his shoulder. "I know," she murmured. "And you'll never lose me."

They both sat in silence for some time, as a growing realisation crept over them: they were really thinking about this.

"If you want to, I want to," Eli said.

"Well, if you want to, I want to," Mia shot back. They both looked at each other.

Eli took a deep breath. "So... what do we do?"

There was no awkward conversation about it. Mia went to Dina and Eli went to Roth, both tense and embarrassed, saying that maybe, if the offer was serious, perhaps they'd like to consider maybe taking them up on it. Dina and Roth had, separately, both laughed the exact same easy laugh at their adorably awkward faces, and that was that.

The next night, rooms were swapped round. Mia preferred to stay in her room, where she was more comfortable, so Roth joined her; Eli, meanwhile, was to spend the night in Dina's room. They all ate early, and then kissed: Dina and Roth, easily and quickly, wishing each other a good night and a good time; and Mia and Eli, a short intense kiss, coupled with a lingering, possessive hug that both seemed nervous to break. Then they parted.

Mia had never really looked at Roth as a potential sexual prospect - she had never really looked at anyone like that, until very recently. That changed, however, when he suggested that they both just strip off, reasoning that if they didn't do it right at the beginning, they might be too nervous to do it for a while. The unspoken understanding, of course, was that Mia would be too nervous, but she gratefully accepted his sharing of the responsibility.

She flushed as Roth openly admired her naked body, eyes tracing up and down her bare skin with undisguised desire. Far from being disgusted (as that small voice in the back of her head said she should be), his gaze actually excited her, making her skin tingle and her nipples harden. Roth was completely different to Eli. Eli was tall and strong, towering above her with his broad shoulders, muscular chest, and large, rough hands. Roth was only just above her height, and his body was less hardened and more relaxed: soft hands, smooth chest, and just a very slight bulge to his stomach, a result of the good food the Cardinal served. His chest and stomach were hairless, but a dense, dark bush of coarse brown surrounded his manhood. Speaking of... Mia flushed as she saw his member, slightly shorter and thinner than Eli's, standing unabashedly out from his body.

Once they were naked, Roth lay down on the bed with a sigh, stretching out his arms and back.

"So..." Mia said nervously. "What do we... do?"

"Well how about you come lay on the bed, for a start," he said with a wink. Pink faced, she went and sat down next to him. She could feel the heat from his body, though they weren't touching yet. "Mia," he said, and she looked into his face. He wore a serious expression - more serious than she had ever seen him. "We go as far as you want, and no further, okay?" She nodded mutely. Satisfied, he relaxed back onto his bed, his easy, cheeky smile returning.

"So, what do you want to know?"

In Roth and Dina's bedroom, Eli stared. The door had barely been closed before Dina had shed her clothes, pulling her loose top off and sliding the skirt over her hips. Naked, she had flopped down onto the bed and stretched, as if glad to be rid of the garments, unrestrictive though they were.

Dina was beautiful. She was like most of the women Eli had seen here - curvacious and full-figured, with wide hips, well padded thighs, and a generous bust. Her nipples, he was shocked to see, were huge, like dark saucers on her heavy breasts, with bulbous nipples. The patch of dark hair surrounding her labia was short and cropped, a neat strip of fuzz above her already glistening lips. Eli wondered if it grew like that, or if she cut it somehow.

"Are you joining me?" Dina's voice was deep and purring, filled with obvious lasciviousness. Blushing, he pulled off his clothes, walking towards the bed, her eyes devouring every inch of him. "Well!" she said breathily, eyeing his throbbing erection. "Aren't we excitable!" She giggled.

"Sorry," Eli said without thinking.

"Don't apologise," she said. "It's very flattering, and very nice to look at." As he sat down on the bed beside her, she put her warm hand on his chest, tracing her fingers through the fuzz of hair there; his breath caught. "I'm going to teach you anything you want to learn," she told him. "But we don't need to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Okay?" He nodded. "Okay!" she said, smiling brightly. "First things first then - let's get you calmed down so you can think straight!"