By Fire and Ice

In the not too distant future...

It had all begun innocently enough. The world financial markets were still reeling from the economic instability caused by the over-extended real estate markets. Then there were a series of seismic events including earth quakes and volcano eruptions; mostly in the Pacific, what is called the ring of fire. No one thought that much of it. Only a few scientists and conspiracy buff types seemed to take any notice.

But then it began in earnest. First, Mount Vesuvius blew its top; destroying much of Naples and killing over a million people. Then, scientist noticed a marked increase in activity in the two hundred volcanoes scattered on tiny Iceland. It began with just two small eruptions, but soon spread to over a dozen others. The Hawaiian Island volcanoes soon followed suit; although in that case it was the underwater ones that seemed most active. Within the space of just a week two of them had managed to create another substantial island, although it was not likely to be inhabitable for some time.

By this time, governments, scientists and the media had begun to speculate on what global phenomenon might be causing this increased seismic activity. But before they could come up with an answer, it happened...the unthinkable; the eruption of not one, but three of the world's handful of supervolcanoes. Yellowstone had been the first to go; resulting in the death of more than two million people and forcing millions of others to flee the central United States. Before the global community could even respond to the six day eruption there, the Siberian Traps in Russia began to erupt as well. If that was not enough for a divided global community, the Taupo Volcano in New Zealand soon added its voice in the Southern Hemisphere.

The thing is that scientist always knew that the eruption of even one of that handful of supervolcanoes could result in a new ice age that would last for several years or even decades. No one had even dared to postulate what might happen if three were to simultaneously erupt. The result was too horrid to even contemplate. But soon enough mankind found itself facing just such a reality. This is the story of how we re-built our society.

Even before the disastrous volcanic winter began to descend upon civilization, over half of the world's population had been eliminated by the global eruptions. In the United States alone, the inhabitable land mass was reduced to a dozen southern states and parts of California. Florida held the most potential, but suffered from flooding resulting from rising sea levels. The President had ordered a mass relocation of those in the devastated central regions, but it had been slow going.

In the end, only about five million people had been successfully housed before the sub-zero temperatures began to plague even Miami. Anything much further north than the new capitol of Atlanta was virtually frozen that first winter. When summer finally came, it was not much better. It lasted only from late June to mid-August; too brief a time to grow enough food for even such a dwindling populace. The countries that faired the best were ones such as Central America and regions of Africa and Asia that had once been considered the Third World. But even there, it was virtually impossible to grow food without the use of greenhouse technology.

We survived those first few years only by overcoming the petty differences that had divided us for millennia. The developed countries shared technology with those other countries upon which fate had shown its mercy; allowing them to produce barely enough to sustain the world's shrinking population of less than twenty million people. Gone were the days of gluttony and avarice. It was back in many ways to the bare basics that our ancestors had known. We made use of every single resource.

But it changed our societies in other ways as well. The most noticeable became the family. In a world with decreasing numbers of humans, reproduction became not a private matter for individuals; but the central issue to rebuilding the species. As the skies began the clear and the days began to lengthen hailing if not the end of the ice age at least a tempering of it; it became even more crucial that humans breed.

And that was exactly what it was...breeding. It became much the same procedure of selecting mares and sires that it had once been with horses, cattle and other domestic animals. All women from the age of eighteen to thirty-five were enslaved once again to task of producing children, as many as they could. Gone were words like birth control and reproductive choice. Our sole purpose was the bearing and raising of children.

Men too faced a new reality. Only the smartest, fittest, those once called Alpha males were suited for reproducing. From youth, they were segregated from others. They were groomed; given the best food. When they turned eighteen, they would spend the next five years impregnating as many women as possible. But once their sexual prowess and fertility began to decline, they were cast back in with other males. If they had been selected for their intelligence, then they might land a job as a computer technician, engineer or scientist. But if they had been selected for physical qualities, they soon fond themselves along side others re-building cities or growing the precious food without which our society would perish.

As an older woman (meaning beyond child bearing years), my task became to care for the younger women and instruct them in what was expected of them. I cared for them through out their time of confinement as well. Although each had the most expert of physicians assigned to care for her and her child, it was always matrons, such as myself, to whom they turned for emotional support. Once the child was born, its care became my central duty. Having lost three of my own four children during those dark days of fire and ice, it was a task into which I poured my whole being.

It was a good thing too, because this new order meant that the recreational sex we had once enjoyed was a thing of the past. With the notable exception of the annual harvest festival, which was a three day orgy and mingling of all the men and women regardless of status, sex was considered a high energy task that was reserved for the sole purpose of creating new life. Older women such as me were not privy to the pleasures of the flesh. If we missed the sexual freedom that we had once known, then we could satisfy our own needs or on rare occasions find another matron, who might be equally frustrated with her new status for a lesbian tryst.

So it was that I came to be close to Lilly. Like me, at forty-one she was considered a matron, but unlike me she had never known the joy and pain of bearing children of her own. Before the dark days, she had been too caught up in her career; thinking there was always plenty of time for settling down (didn't we all think there was always tomorrow?). But since the world changed certain professions just were not necessary; hers in advertising was one of those. So she found herself relegated to this new role. If it were sometimes hard for me to take joy in the smiling faces of babies that were not my own, it was more so for her, whom it was forever out of reach. I could see that wanton look sometimes cross her beautiful face when she thought no one was looking.

It was after one of those times that I found her alone in the room that we shared with two other matrons. She had large tears streaking down her dark ebony skin as her lithe body shook with retching sobs. Knowing the pain of my own loss, I had no words to offer her. Instead I did the only thing I could think of; I wrapped her shaking body in my warm embrace and simply held her while she cried for what could never be. Slowly she began to still in my arms. Her dark brown eyes were almost swollen shut. Her cheeks were red and her broad nose runny. Overall, she was not at her best; but still her Nubian beauty shown through.

I don't know exactly how it happened. One moment, I was wiping her face and reassuring her in a cool, calm voice. The next moment, our lips were locked in an erotic dance of the ages. Our hands soon began to push and tug at the clothes, which encased our bodies and protected us from the cold that even inside our dwellings seemed to plague us day and night. That evening as the others ate their evening meal in the dining hall, we played scant notice to the chilly air as we divested ourselves of all clothes. The crisp air made her dark brown nipples stand out against the small mounds of her breasts. My mouth could not resist the temptation to sample them. She too suckled at my more lush mounds that had once nourished four young babes.

Eventually that was not enough as my fingers moved to the coarse black curls that spread lushly between her firm thighs. I heard her rapid intake of breathe as my fingers found the hard bud of her clitoris. She was slick with desire as my fingers danced in small circles about the bud. But still it was not enough. I had to taste this dark treasure. Now, before these dark days, I had sampled the joys of both men and women; although I clearly preferred males. My husband had been of West Indian descent; his dark skin only slightly lighter than my Lilly's. But while I had feasted upon the treasures offered by black men in those care-free times; I had never tasted the sweet flesh of a Nubian goddess until that moment. I lost no time feasting upon her sweet, dark flesh as I suckled, nipped and slurped at the moist warmth between her legs.

That first time, my lover lacked the courage to return the favour; having exhausted herself with the tearful crying. But from that moment forward, we became one. She moved from the top bunk to my lower one. Of course, this allowed not only for us to make love late at night while the others slept; it also made for cosier sleeping arrangements as our shared body heat warmed one another on those cold nights of winter. But I especially enjoyed the human touch from the simple act of cuddling one another. After two decades of loving marriage, it was one of the things I missed most about my husband.

That winter, spring and even the milder days of summer fell into a comfortable pattern as we rose early to care for our charges. Our evenings were filled with memories of the past that we both longed to return. Sometimes we cried. Others we laughed. But through it all, we loved.

One beautiful mixed race little girl in particular drew my deep attention. She had been born early and needed extra care and attention to help her thrive. She was so tiny; reminding me of my youngest daughter, who had miraculously survived the fire and even the ice. Although I saw her only rarely now as she attended the communal school with the other young children; each time I managed a glimpse or brief moment with her was a treasured memory. At eleven, she was flourishing. She possessed a quick mind as well as being a fine athlete. I was certain that she would have as bright a future as this new world could provide.

Although I often lamented the freedoms and privileges that she would never know, such as a career beyond the bearing and caring for children; I took solace in the fact that even before those dark days, she often spoke of being a mommy when she was big like me. So I supposed that for women like us these new, old duties were a joy.

But for my Lilly, who had known a different time and longed for those same freedoms and rights, the long days and cold nights offered little hope. In the end, I came to love my Lilly as much as I had once cared for the Nubian god that had been my husband for so long. My only regret was that I could not give my lover the one thing that might ease the pain she endured: a child of her own.

That summer was the best since...well, since the world changed forever. The harvest in the greenhouses was especially abundant. There was every chance that instead of the late winter rationing to which we had become accustomed we would have enough food to take us while into the next summer. It was a great time of rejoicing through out our community. As a result, the annual Harvest festival would be especially large this year. The food, fermented drink and herbal medicines would be abundant as would the sexual freedoms.

I have to say I was a bit at odds about how I should behave during the festival. I loved Lilly deeply, but there were certain things she was missing. Those three days would be my only chance for a year to partake in some hard cock...preferably black. I was uncertain how to broach the subject with my lover even as we both washed and tidied up for the first night of festivities. I was relieved when it was Lilly that brought up the topic. Her suggestion of a two-for-the-price-of-one sale made me laugh at the simplicity of the obvious solution to our dilemma.

At first, we were so taken with the banquet that was laid before us that we had little thought for men or sex. After another year of rationing, the plenty reminded me of how the pilgrims must have felt that first Thanksgiving. For the first time since the disasters I had something to be truly thankful for...my Lilly. But after three hours of eating and drinking even our empty stomachs began to fill. Although it might seem odd to desire sex after such a large and heavy meal, our bodies were as hungry for cock as it had been for the food earlier.

Since this was to be a shared encounter, both Lilly and I had to agree upon the man or men to which we would offer our favors. Both of us preferred black men, so that at least we were agreed upon. In the past, I had always found a man, who looked like my husband; but I was not certain if my petite lover would enjoy such a beefy selection. I spent a great deal of time worrying for nothing. The moment our eyes lit upon Sean it was settled.

Sean was as dark as or darker than Lilly with a shiny shaved head that reminded me so much of my husband. He had the traditionally African-American features of a wide nose and kissable thick lips. His shoulders were wide and his ass and thighs firm and thick like tree trunks. He was very much what I would have chosen for myself. In the preliminary negotiations that come before this sort of feasting, we learned that he had recently been retired from his years as a stud. At twenty-eight, he had lasted almost a decade; well beyond the average. We both looked at one another with meaning; just what we needed a younger man with a still decent appetite that was as starved for loving as we were. For discretion's sake, we decided that it would be best to acquire one of the private rooms on offer each year. The steward raised his eyes when we asked for all three days accommodation, but once he saw our younger stud his face lit with a broad smile.

When we entered the privacy of our room, my bravado fled. I was alone with one of the hottest men I had ever seen and my equally beautiful lesbian lover. By comparison, my greying hair, sagging breasts and Rubanesque figure seemed out of place. I would have been happy at that point to sit back and enjoy the show of my lover receiving the fucking that I could not give her. But Lilly had other ideas as she led me to the large bedding on the floor. She smiled widely as she pronounced that she thought our boy-toy might enjoy a special show. I did not have the heart to disappoint her and soon I was too caught up in loving and pleasing my partner to worry about how my mature body might look to the young stud.

Lilly and I were engaged in a sixty-nine with our heads buried in one another's snatches when I heard a deep intake of her breathe and left her whole body tremble. I look up from my work at her clit to see a large, full pair of hairy black balls in my face. I was glad that Lilly had been his first choice. I knew I would receive as much pleasure from watching her be pleased as I would when it was my turn. With a mischievous smile, I took turns licking those balls and her hard clitoris. I was especially happy when I felt her trembling above me; our young lover had brought her to the first orgasm of the evening with his deep thrusting in her tight cunt. I was even more pleased when that orgasm turned into another and another and another. I could not contain my joy when I noticed or stud's quickening, shallow thrusts that I knew meant he would soon be emptying those rather substantial balls deep within her wet pussy. As they both cried out in mutual release, I lapped at the copious offerings of their mixed love juices.

The joy of having selected a young lover was that we did not have long to wait for the games to resume. As I finished cleaning up my lover's gapping pussy, she rolled over so that I was staring up into those dancing dark eyes that mirrored her sweet soul. She laughed as she said, 'Oh my god, just wait until you feel that cock!'

But it was not his cock that I felt first but his large, dark hands cupping and squeezing my full tits from behind as I knelt between Lilly's open legs. Then I felt the sting of those hands on my up-turned bottom as his deep laughter mingled with Lilly's. 'And I can't wait to turn this nice white ass red while I fuck you silly.' He did not wait for any further invite as he slammed his thick cock inside my cunt. My body had always been highly responsive and that was all it took to send me on a roller coaster of one orgasm after another. His thrusting was so powerfully that it slowly inched me up my lover's supine body. Within moments, we were locked in an embrace and kissing as he continued to pound away at my cunt. As I cried out in ecstasy Lilly swallowed moan after moan wrought from my trembling body as she held me tightly. By the time, he poured his offering deep inside of me I was mindless with the pleasure so long denied.

The next three days were an unforgettable orgy of sex and food. When one of us tired we would go out to the banquet and bring food back to sustain the others. By the end of the festivities, both our cunts were sore, but satisfied...hopefully for another long, cold year. The best part was that this encounter was to give my lover something I could not as over the coming weeks her breasts became more sensitive and she was increasingly tired. Of course, the baby changed everything for us.