Intended Ch. 02

Jakal stroked the petals and opening of Sala's canal with his fingers, gathering as much of the copious fluid as possible. Moving his now-slippery hand to her second orifice, he gently circled the soft skin with his slick digits as she keened deliriously.

Feeling her body relax, he placed his finger at her entrance; pressing forward carefully, he waited for the clenching muscles to yield and grant him access. At last she opened, welcoming him inside. Again he paused as she adjusted to his entry. When he noticed the tight band loosening slightly, he slid a little further, and later, further still until at last he was inside her to the last knuckle.

After allowing her to get used to his digit's presence, he slowly drew back until it almost completely exited her hole, leaving only the tip to the first knuckle inside. Once again he pushed forward and pulled back. Now that she had completely accepted him, he pumped in and out, and Sala cried at this new stimulation.

"Uh, uh, uhhh... You will make me die!" she wailed, pushing back against his hand.

Taking this as a sign to move forward, Jakal lowered his other hand to gather more of her essence. Transferring the lubrication to the middle finger of the opposite hand, his index finger left her rear opening to join its now-wet neighbor. Together, they repeated his previous actions, and soon both penetrated her narrow passage.

When her body indicated its readiness, he added a third digit and soon he was thrusting them in and out of her while Sala murmured in a daze. "Ohhh... It feels like your manhood is inside me... Mmm...so good..."

With his free hand, the Tracker gently raised the woman's bottom so that he could taste her. As when she pleasured his manhood, her sex dripped hot secretions onto his chest; lifting his head, he licked from the bottom of her slit all the way to the quivering node nestled atop her opening.

"Your taste intoxicates me, woman," Jakal moaned, burying his face into her folds.

He felt the ring squeezing his pumping fingers begin to flit erratically and knew the end was imminent. Placing his lips over her hard nub, he suckled it earnestly, stroking his tongue on, around and over it. He began thrusting even faster in and out of her backside and then all at once Sala unleashed a rolling, full body groan.

Her entire genital area throbbed as the taut muscles of her rear orifice contracted rhythmically, clamping down on his digits. She shuddered, drops of her juices sprinkling Jakal's face and chest. Her body roiled as the wave crashed through her, and she spasmed again and again.

With great effort Sala pushed herself up and turned around. Still quivering all over, she crept her way toward the man who had given her so much. The aroma of her own fluids thick in her nostrils, she wearily lowered herself into his waiting arms.

"Jakal," she began, voice trembling from the effort, "never have I known such pleasure. It was almost more than I could bear. I do not know how to thank you."

He kissed the top of her head. "The actions of your magnificent body already thanked me."

Sala was confused but still too exhausted to move; as it remained difficult to speak, she did not respond.

"Never have I seen a womanhood so wet, so swollen," he went on excitedly, his voice growing husky. "Your essence flowed out from within you and covered me with your sweet fragrance."

"Few men have...touched me as you have," she confessed shyly when she was finally able to speak clearly. "I did not realize it could be so pleasurable."

"It is my desire to bring you pleasure in every way I know," Jakal explained, fingertips stroking one of her nipples as he thought of other means of bringing her rapture.

"I must rest and regain my strength," she told him, snuggling under his arm as she breathed deeply of his scent mingled with her own. "When I awake, I wish to pleasure you in any way you desire. Is that agreeable to you?"

He grinned. Leaning over, he kissed the woman, and Sala tasted herself strongly on his face. "I also need rest. Sleep well, sweet Sala."

~*~*~

Wrapped in pelts, the couple sat nestled together in front of the flickering campfire. Though he was loath to do it, especially in the afterglow of their lovemaking, Jakal had to confront her at last.

"Sala, we cannot continue to postpone our return to the Camp. I do not think we can afford to wait any longer. We must head back soon. We should have started days ago."

She flinched. "You say that as though I have been deliberately delaying the journey."

"Forgive me; that is not what I mean," he apologized. "Other than leading us here, to which I myself agreed, there is nothing either of us did which intentionally postponed our return. I am only concerned that the Spiritwalker might send Sedon to track us, and if he has to do that, I fear he will be even angrier once we do arrive."

"I do not wish to return. I beg you; do not try to force me to go."

The Tracker shifted to face the woman head-on. "Your face and your body have told me that you carry great fear. Will you not tell me why you oppose this joining so strongly? I wish to help you if I can, but I cannot if I do not understand."

Sitting in the undulating glow of the firelight, she lowered her eyes and did not respond. As he waited in silence, the man desperately searched his memory for clues he may have overlooked which would provide the answers she denied him.

Finally she spoke. "Jakal, I have many secrets. Some are dark and frighten me. To fully comprehend my resistance, I would have to reveal those secrets to you."

"I understand," he replied, though in truth he was not sure if he understood at all.

"I first must know if I can trust you with my life."

He was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. "What must I do?"

Sala paused, thinking. "There is a ritual..." She hesitated.

"Yes?"

"A special journey we can take together. If you join me on this journey, I will learn if it is safe to reveal my secrets to you."

Jakal attempted to recall a ceremony such as the one she described. A ritual before they took a journey? What did that mean? Was she trying to take them even further away from the Camp?

"I am not familiar with such a ritual," he admitted. "You wish to go somewhere? I do not know if it is a good idea to travel further than this place, Sala."

"It is not that sort of journey. We will be going somewhere, but we also will not need to leave."

I do not understand, he thought with some frustration. The woman speaks in riddles. She almost sounds like a Spir...

The man jerked up his head and with growing shock stared into Sala's face. "You do not mean..." He could not bear to finish the unthinkable idea forming in his mind.

Steadily holding his gaze, she soberly nodded, only once.

"But, but," he sputtered, "it is forbidden! How do you know...how did you learn... It is too dangerous!"

"I cannot answer your other questions unless we undergo the ritual," she replied seriously. "But I can tell you this: It is possible to take the journey and return unharmed, as long as you go with the right person. But it does change both you and your companion."

Jakal was incredulous. The more she spoke in these cryptic riddles, the more questions it raised. Besides, how does she know one can return...

"Sala," he exclaimed suddenly, "have you taken this journey before, with another?"

"I have."

"Who? When?" he asked in astonishment.

"Those are questions I can answer only if you come with me."

Their people had powerful prohibitions against such wisdom leaving the domain of the spiritual caste. It was dangerous knowledge, and there was good reason why it was guarded so carefully. In the wrong hands... A memory began to form in the man's mind. He had been on an excursion when the event occurred, but when he returned everyone at the Camp was talking about it.

"Sala, Mala died attempting what you propose," he stated, taking a leap. He was starting to piece together the means by which the woman before him may have learned such magic. "I know you were very close to the mother of your mother. Do you, do you wish to join her in the Other World?"

"Mala did not die for that reason!" she flashed with such vehemence, such force that Jakal recoiled.

He watched her struggle to regain control. More calmly, but deliberately and with feeling, she continued, "I knew the mind of my mother's mother better than any person I have ever known. She never would have made such a mistake, and I know she did not."

The man was moved by her conviction. Still, he was unsure. "But the others..."

"They did not know her as I knew her," she responded firmly. Sala paused and looked straight into his brilliant blue eyes. "I have no wish to die, Tracker, and even if I did, I would never try to take you with me. I have traveled there before, and returned to speak of it. As you can see with your own eyes I am before you now. You ask me to trust you; I only ask for your trust in return."

Jakal looked into the woman's rich brown eyes, her face tense both with determination and worry. Since he captured her four days ago, he had refused her almost nothing. He wondered now who had captured whom.

What she proposed went against everything he was taught. He knew it was wrong, knew it was dangerous. By the Spirits, into the middle of what mystery had he fallen?

He wanted to believe the woman. Though the past few days were the first in which they spent considerable time in the other's company since childhood, he felt a true bond with her. It was more than the deeply satisfying pleasures they shared together, though they certainly contributed powerfully to his feelings. He did not have the words for it exactly, but it was as if they shared the same spirit, or at least pieces of each other's.

One thing was certain. He would not attempt to force Sala to return to the settlement, no matter the consequence to himself. I could just let her go, he supposed. That way she would get what she wanted. The Spiritwalker will be furious, but he cannot mate one who is not there and will have to choose another. And if I let her go free, it will no longer be necessary to undertake a journey as dangerous as the one she proposes.

Almost as soon as the thought passed through his mind he was flooded with shame. She has risked losing everything to remain in control over her own life, he reminded himself. Do you really want to let her go without finding out the truth? Do you really want to abandon her out here, alone without a People?

Out of the silence Jakal spoke. "It is against my better instincts, and I tell you truthfully, Sala, I am fearful to undergo this voyage, even with you. But you are right. If I expect your trust then I must return it. So I give it, and my life, to you willingly. When will we embark?"

Sala sighed with relief, unaware she had been holding her breath. "It is too late to go this night, and I will need time to prepare. We will set out the day after this one as the sun drops from the sky."

~*~*~

At dawn the woman woke filled with nervous anticipation. She had not seen the sacred mushrooms growing since just before crossing into womanhood. Because of Mala's warning, she did not actively seek the magic from that time forward, but she always kept an eye out for them, just in case. And now years later she found them, many of them, growing right here.

When Sala and the mother of her mother traveled to the Other World, they shared spirits; after they returned from their visit they sensed, they knew a piece of the other's spirit remained within them. The realization was profoundly moving for them both. The young woman grieved that they did not have more time to reflect upon their shared experience. She never considered that her mentor could be gone, would be gone, so quickly, so suddenly.

Her eyes filled with tears. Mala, I know you did not die because you ate the wrong mushrooms; I have never believed the Spiritwalker's explanation.

That was not completely true. She did believe part of the shaman's claim, but not in the way he intended. Sala wondered if he slipped poisonous mushrooms into her grandmother's food or drink without her knowledge, and the "explanation" he provided the Camp was actually a sort of veiled confession. She had no proof of her suspicions, though, and doubted she ever would.

Because she had no proof, either for her theory of Mala's death or for her own assault in the Ceremonial Hut, the woman felt the only way to know for sure if she could safely disclose her secrets to Jakal was by looking directly into his spirit. It would also provide him an opportunity to know her most intimately. Taking this voyage together would give them both the means to see clearly and know whether the things they spoke to each other were the truth.

Yes, but you could just take a leap and trust him with your secrets, she thought guiltily. He is placing his life in your hands simply by agreeing to participate. Why can you not put the same faith in him without the ceremony? Does he really have to use sacred magic in order to be told that the Spiritwalker hurt me?

Sala had been so focused on Mala's warning to share what she knew only with one she trusted with her life that it had not really occurred to her there might be additional motivations behind her wish to mingle her spirit with his.

She had suspected for some time he was not the kind of person to force her to go anywhere against her will. In fact, she could have left days ago and he probably would have returned without her, even if it got him in trouble with the spiritual leader. But she had not even attempted to leave. So now here they both were, five days later, one delay after another impeding their return. Or their parting.

Recalling how the sacred voyage powerfully strengthened the connection between Mala and herself, Sala unwittingly sought to replicate that intimacy with Jakal. Though she could not admit it, she did not wish to be parted from him. She needed to be with him almost as much as she detested the possibility of being with the Spiritwalker.

But she could not expect him to just leave their people and go off with her because of her own decisions. Traveling to the Other World, looking into and sharing each other's spirit, was the only way she could think of to confess, stripped and laid completely bare, her true feelings while also completely knowing his.

The young woman knew none of this. She had a sense more lay below the surface of the explanations she told both Jakal and herself; however, the intensity of her emotions for the past few weeks, ever since the Spiritwalker named her his Intended, obscured her insight. She knew only that she longed to reveal her secrets, but desperately needed to trust her confidant, and just as desperately needed to be believed.

~*~*~

Some distance away from the camp, Sala sat grinding the sacred mushrooms on a large flat stone. Jakal had gone hunting, looking for a bird or other small animal for the evening meal. The woman hated to do it, but she had sent him on the expedition. The primary purpose for the task was to give him something to do. That, and provide her a respite from his constant interruptions while she made preparations.

She did not tell him directly that the meat was needed for the ritual; he jumped to that conclusion on his own. But she had implied it, and felt a little guilty for deceiving him, even if she knew being assigned the task relieved some of his anxiety.

He is only afraid, Sala reminded herself. By staying busy and contributing something to the evening's activities, Jakal could distract himself from his growing fear. No, she had made the right decision. It was important for him to be an active participant. Besides, it wasn't as if there was a strict protocol to follow. As far as she was aware, among their people, or at least their Camp, only she and the mother of her mother had made the crossing to the Spirits' realm outside the influence or control of a spiritual leader.

The woman transferred the powder to a small section of animal skin. The wooden bowl the Tracker had carved lay next to her, filled with assorted plant leaves and berries. The mushrooms had a bitter taste, and she wanted to camouflage their flavor as much as possible. Just because the Spiritwalkers have us consume the beverage tasting so foul, Mala had said, does not mean we cannot enjoy it. Sala was inclined to agree with her.

She thought about what she would say to the Spirits during the ritual, before they left this world; as her mentor taught her, it was important to appeal for one's safe passage into and returning from the Other World.

Trying to recall the words her mother's mother had used on that night so many years ago, the woman also considered adding her own requests. After all, the circumstances surrounding this visit were quite different from that of her previous experience. Also, she did not know the man as well, or in the same way, as her grandmother. She already had a strong bond of trust with the companion of her first crossing. With Jakal there was more uncertainty.

Even though Sala did trust him implicitly, she had been through too much, carried too much pain both old and new to let down her guard completely. Taking me to the highest pleasures I have ever known is not the same as being trustworthy, she reminded herself.

Despite her intentions, bringing up the thought of their many pleasures made her groin twist and throb. How does he hold such power over me? The woman's eyes flitted closed as a shiver flowed up her spine, the memory of his smell, his feel, his taste flooding her senses. Allowing herself to be lost in the moment, she slowly slid a hand between her legs.

~*~*~

Holding a rabbit by its long ears, Jakal approached the camp from downstream. As he walked along the strip of grass near the forest's edge, he saw Sala's figure in the distance. She came nearly as far as me, he thought. He wondered what she was doing. Probably another preparation for the sacred journey.

His stomach quaked. For a time, he experienced the satisfaction of completing his task, looking forward to showing his companion proof of his success. Going hunting had been a good way of quelling his anxieties; he had been reluctant to leave her, concerned that Sedon or one of the others might appear in his absence, but she was insistent. He was grateful now the woman had suggested it. But the effect did not last; already his body tensed with worry.

I hope Sala knows what she is doing. Jakal tried to remind himself of her words, that she had no desire to die and had successfully taken the journey before. That brought some comfort, and he did trust her, but still he was very concerned. A lifetime of programming against the very thing they were planning to do did not disappear simply because of one conversation. He did not know if the way he felt would truly go away until they had reached the Spirit World. Not that it was the most comforting thought either.

He was distracted from his internal conversation as he approached his companion's location. Her back facing him, she was sitting on the ground with her legs bent and spread apart. Then he noticed that it appeared she had a hand between her thighs.

Jakal's manhood tightened as a surge flashed through him. Is she pleasuring herself out here? Not consciously knowing why he did so, he increased his pace. He was almost right behind her when he could hear her moaning.

Now that he was here, he realized he did not know what to do. It seemed a little...unseemly just to watch her complete what was clearly intended to be a private act.