New Wife, Old Lover: Ancient Gods

Here's something different: a Loving Wives adventure with an action character, accompanied by his new wife and an old girlfriend. While the names of institutions and businesses used in this account are fictitious; many of the other details are real.

Ancient Gods

So much had changed in just eighteen months, all of it for the better.

Wesley Bruce Arundel- 'Jaguar' to everyone he knew- couldn't help but smile, staring at the framed Machu Picchu photograph on this desk. It was taken at the ancient Peruvian astronomy platform, the Hitching Post of the Sun, and showed him holding up Marina's hand, the couple gazing into the morning sky. There he had asked her to stay with him as long as the sun god Inti shone down.

Jaguar knew that by going with his instincts he had done the right thing. From a tedious life on the road with seemingly endless Andean Experience tours, he had settled into a much better existence. Marina was at the centre of it.

His desk at the National Archaeology Museum in Lima overflowed with papers and reports, but that photo was always assured a prominent place. Marina had come into his life at just the right time- for both of them- and that remarkable woman had changed everything. Jaguar was a different man now.

But not in every way. Though no longer leading groups to tourist sites across Peru, he was still completely absorbed in the ancient past. In his new role as Chief of Acquisitions at the national museum, Jaguar was responsible for acquiring precious pieces for their extensive collection. Given his experience and university graduate studies, this was right up his alley.

In Acquisitions, he watched carefully for leads; researched everything he could find about any artifacts which might be available; then tracked them down. After only six months in the job, he had already landed a few prime items for the museum's extensive collection.

The role was a perfect fit with his new life with the former Marina Rasmussen. A year and a half ago she was just another American tourist on his bus. Her husband had returned to Wisconsin, badly injured in a fall- some say that Jaguar's incantation to the ancient Chavin jaguar god was responsible. In any case, the Rasmussens' marriage was already on the rocks, and Wayne's sudden departure was a way out.

Jaguar was ready for a life change himself. He was tired of living on the road, and since the tragic death of his fiancee twenty years before, Jaguar had made no lasting connection with women. Instead, he was like a sailor, with a girl in every port. He carried a painful memory of his lost love, caught in a shootout by rival Peruvian political gangs as they strolled one evening in Lima.

Marina's soft, kind nature had gradually captured his heart, leading to that defining moment atop Machu Picchu at the end of her tour. Like some snap decisions, it had been a wise one. The Rasmussens' divorce came through fairly quickly, neither of them voicing objection. Wayne was as eager to move on back in Wisconsin as Marina was to bury the past.

The new couple shared Jaguar's downtown apartment and every other part of their life together. Marina's university background, combined with her outgoing personality, had landed her a part-time position at the national museum as an English-language docent. She led tour groups through the museum's collections, sometimes working with Elena Rodriguez to assemble artifacts for special-interest groups.

Yes, the same Elena Rodriguez who had a sometimes intimate history with Jaguar. The same one who had taken him aside during his last group tour of the museum, asking him to recall the good times, the smoke and the sex. Jag and Elena remembered, but they weren't telling now, and would keep it that way.

He took another lingering look at the framed photograph, smiling again at the memory of that defining day. Then his office phone rang, Elena on the line from her own private space one floor down.

"Morning Jag. Feel like something exciting today?"

"Sorry Elena. You know those days are finished. I'm a happy...."

"I know, I know. That's all behind us now that you that Marina are so hot for each other."

"Good. And you work with her now too. Small world, isn't it."

"Yes. She is a fine lady, Jag. I must say, between Marina and me, you have very good taste in women! But you still might feel like something exciting and different."

"Elena.... Stop that."

"Exciting in archaeology. You didn't think I was coming on to you?" she teased.

"I wondered.... So, what's archaeologically exciting, Elena?"

"Moche decapitator artifacts, that's what."

"Tell me more. I'm very interested."

Jaguar knew that the Moche people had dominated northern Peru almost two millenia earlier, a culture with surprisingly advanced technical abilities to work with ceramics and metals. Like many ancient Andean peoples, right up through the Inca, they practiced human sacrifice to honour their gods. Moche artifacts are rare and precious objects.

"There's a rumour that someone up in Lambayque region has come across some very rare Moche decapitator god material. I'm not sure if it's ceramic, or something in metal. My word! Imagine if it was an actual knife used in the sacrificial ritual! That would be priceless!"

"So do you think I should go up there to check it out?"

"Both of us, this is so important. But first you and I will need to work together to narrow this down and see if anything substantiates the rumour. I believe there are at least two digs going on in the region. One by Phoenix College- they've been there a couple of seasons now- and another one by a private company, Olympia Research."

"Elena, you know how it is with private companies. They want to sell anything they find and make a big profit."

"That's why we need to act fast, Jag. Of course, we believe that artifacts are part of Peru's national heritage, and that they're protected by our laws. But if that company finds anything of value, you know they'll get it out of the country as fast as they can, and into the hands of private buyers."

"Moche decapitator stuff would sell for big dollars! So, yes, we need to get on this. I'll start working up some plans right now, Elena."

"Let's meet at lunch to set out some timelines, Jag."

"OK. One o'clock, upstairs in the cafeteria."

****

Jaguar had gone home that evening excited by the prospect of some field work. It was difficult for a man who had roamed Peru for almost twenty years in his tour bus to settle into a desk job, interesting as it was. Marina was home and immediately saw the spark in her man.

"Good day at the office, was it?" she commented.

"Yes. Elena and I are going up into northern Peru, Moche country, to track down rumours of artifact discoveries there."

"I've never been there. Your tours didn't go north of Chavin de Huantar. Could you take me with you?"

"I don't know, Marina. I'd have to clear it with Elena."

"She's not your boss. I know that. Wouldn't it be fun be be on the road together like our tour? That's how we met. We could do it all again."

"All of it?"

"Yes. All of it!"

Both of them remembered the great sex on several nights of that tour. They were aflame with the other, and the fire still burned hot for them. Jaguar smiled at the memory of it.

"Maybe you could come with us, if it's OK with Elena."

That night, they relived past experience from that trip. Marina wore a sheer gown to bed, just to be sure that Jaguar hadn't forgotten those days when they were new. Her lithe, athletic body shone through the filmy fabric in the dim light of their bedroom. Marina saw by his cock that it was already affecting him, just as she had expected.

The gown wasn't on for long, as Jaguar quickly loosened the ties which were keeping her naked flesh from him. Then he devoured her body like his namesake, the fierce jungle beast. Her soft curves were his tonight and he was hungry. He kissed her neck and trailed down to her stiff nipples, pulling at them with fevered lips. Marina tilted her head back, sighing with pleasure, offering him all of herself.

Then her hand was on his stiff cock and she leaned forward, taking it into her mouth. Her lips and flicking tongue toyed with the sensitive head, while her firm grip stroked the length of it. Jaguar groaned with satisfaction, but he knew that if she kept this up much longer, his evening would soon be finished. He pushed her away and brought his hard member to her wet pussy.

They were moving together now, Jag down inside, his wife grasping his firm buttocks to pull him deeper. The room was awash with the sounds and scents of the intense love they felt for one another. They'd done this many times before, but it always seemed like the first one. Then they picked up the pace, the jaguar slamming into her feline form, both like two wild things in the jungle night.

Marina was toned and strong. As firmly as Jaguar pressed into her eager body, she pushed back, bringing their damp, aroused flesh together as one. She grabbed even tighter for more leverage, and he used his knees to pivot down into her vagina. He didn't realize that her long, red nails were embedded into his skin, because nothing else existed now. Only the driving need to release and drop into that other world beyond the edge upon which they were poised.

This intensity could only last for so long before their passion erupted. Jaguar came first, groaning with pleasure as he spewed forth, bending his back to the pleasurable work. Marina felt him exploding inside, triggering her own orgasm. Her muscles grabbed and her body bounced involuntarily against the bed. She shook until it passed and she caught her breath.

"That was a little preview of our trip to Moche country," Marina whispered.

Jaguar laughed, for he knew that there would be no denying his wife. They would both enjoy the trip.

****

A little over a week later, Jaguar was up in Lambayque district, transitioning from museum researcher to field investigator. One look at him revealed part of the origin of his Jaguar handle. With his trademark fieldwork camo clothing and his sleek tawny hair and beard, he had something of the look of the beast.

Those who knew him were also aware of his reverence for the Chavin jaguar idol. He had studied that ancient cult as a graduate student in Peru, and in a time of deep emotional turmoil- his fiancee killed in communist Shining Path street violence- he began to pray to the spirit for assistance. In fact, he had chanted to the jaguar to make Marina stay, and that had worked like magic.

Of course, Marina was with him in Lambayque. She was about a dozen years younger than her mid-forties partner, a very attractive woman with big blue eyes. Her tall, athletic form paralleled Jaguar's strong, muscular build. Anyone seeing them together would concur that they were well-matched, especially if they noticed how often they touched or smiled at one another.

Elena was an important element on the trip because of her deep knowledge of Moche culture. The Special Collections administrator was about Jaguar's age, a curvy mestizo with a very engaging personality. She projected warmth and enthusiasm, a friendly exterior that masked an underlying intensity. In the matter of acquiring any Moche decapitator god material for the museum she would be like a bulldog.

There was always a very subtle undercurrent of tension between the two women. Marina noticed an easy familiarity between Jaguar and Elena which sometimes seemed to go beyond their roles at the museum. They just seemed a bit too comfortable together, and it set off alarm bells.

There were times when she observed Elena watching Jaguar the way a woman does when they have been intimates. She seemed to know some secret about him; however, at least Jaguar wasn't looking back the same way, and this did reduce the threat level. Elena was Marina's boss, but she had to be kept at bay, another motivation to join the trip.

Before leaving, Jaguar and Elena had decided to first of all visit the Phoenix College fieldwork site, then pursue Olympia Research, an innocuously named 'treasure- hunt' operation thought to be active in the region. As expected, Olympia kept their work wrapped in a cloak of tight secrecy. "Get in, get it, and get it out" was an apt summary of their search strategy.

In preparation for on-site research, Elena and Jaguar had turned to the field reports of Walter Alva and wife Susana Meneses. In 1987, they had made astounding discoveries of un-looted Moche tombs at Sipan, in northern Peru. For three years, they unearthed rich finds dating back to about 350 CE. The Moche were a powerful culture led by a hereditary king, and the archaeologists had found the royal tomb of the Lord of Sipan.

The dead man was dressed in a funeral outfit covered in gold plate. His tomb also contained six hundred gold coins and the coffins of eight ritually sacrificed people- including three young women. There were skeletons of llamas to carry him to the afterlife, and his old dog, to keep him company there.

Other Moche sites in the region had contained large knives and sharp metal tools used for ritual bloodletting and decapitation. Although ritual beheading was widespread among ancient Andean cultures, the Moche finds were particularly striking. Any such material was coveted by the national museum.

The three of them had just arrived at the Phoenix site in a rented Land Rover. The archeologists and students were watching the new arrivals with suspicion- such was the 'cloak and dagger' world of unearthing the ancient past. Jaguar stepped forward, identifying them as people from the National Archaeology Museum in Lima.

"Good. We wondered if you might be with Olympia. They've been keeping track of our progress here."

"Ah.... They must think you're onto something," Elena spoke up.

"Not that we'd tell those treasure-hunters anything, even if we were," the woman who appeared to be in charge stated firmly.

In the world of professional archaeology, the term 'treasure-hunter' brings the scorn and derision which scientists feel toward those who deal in antiquities entirely for profit.

"So how is it going here?" Jaguar asked carefully, hoping to find out if they had located valuable Moche objects.

"Good, but nothing spectacular. It's our second season, and we're basically reworking an old dig site, extending it farther to see if they missed anything."

"You say 'nothing spectacular'. What have you been finding?" Elena asked.

"Moche material, yes, but mostly bits and pieces. Nothing fully intact, like the stuff Alves and Meneses got in the Eighties. It's painstaking work and great training in the field, but frankly, a bit disappointing so far."

As the chief archaeologist spoke, all three visitors watched him closely trying to get a sense whether what he was telling them was true. The nods of agreement from the other members of the fieldwork team supported the veracity of his remarks.

"What caught Olympia's interest here?" Jaguar asked. "Did they seem to think that you might be onto something?"

"We couldn't tell, really. They never show their cards. They may have had no success wherever they're working, or they may have wanted to see if our site characteristics could give them any clues where to dig? One thing is sure- it wasn't just a social call."

"Where are they working? Any idea?"

"None. They told us almost nothing except that they were interested in the Moche. Maybe they wanted us to point to a nearby spot and tell them to dig there for the best artifacts!"

Everyone laughed at the joke, after which Jaguar, Elena and Marina sat with the Phoenix group, chatting over hot tea. In this isolated setting visitors, other than Olympia snooping around, were nice to see every now and then.

If there was Moche decapitator material being unearthed, it might be at Olympia's field site. But where were they operating? Elena knew from experience that no archaeological dig could be undertaken without a permit, always identified with a very detailed location. Sometimes these were so specific that a GPS identification was required. If that had been filed, it would bring them within a few metres of the Olympia dig.

There was still enough daylight to reach Chiclayo, about thirty kilometres away, where the company would have filed for their permit. Unfortunately, they just missed closing time, so booked into two rooms beside each other at a nearby hotel. At supper, Marina made a point of sitting between Jaguar and Elena in the curved booth, sending a message to her boss: "Hands off!"

During their meal, Elena told a particularly interesting story about the 1987 excavation of the royal tomb at Huaca Rajada.

"It was rare to find an un-looted burial tomb, but word got out in the local village that Alves and his wife had one. The first night, it was robbed of several precious metal items, so the archaeologists fenced off the site next day." She continued.

"After that, the villagers threw rocks at them as they worked. They were trying to drive the professionals away so more artifacts could be stolen for the black market. Income for the community. Almost too crazy to believe, right?"

"That makes treasure-hunters like Olympia seem almost civil, doesn't it?" Marina commented.

****

That night, Jaguar and Marina made love in their hotel room, unaware that Elena could hear them through the thin walls. Jag's former lover lay listening to murmured endearments on the other side as they kissed. She heard the naughty laughter as the couple playfully tussled on the bed mere inches away from her own. The rustling of clothing being removed was unmistakable.

As she lay still, Elena could visualize the whole thing unfolding next door. She heard the soft sounds of Marina sighing as her husband touched some sensitive part of her body. Then came those wet, sucking noises of Jag's mouth toying with his new wife's nipples. It was excruciating! Elena wished that she was there in Marina's place. She remembered a time when he was doing that to her.

It was impossible for her to simply lay listening to sex, wanting it for herself. Elena quickly unbuttoned her nightshirt and tossed it aside, She needed to be as naked as the lovers. On her back in the dark now, stealthy fingers found her nipples, caressing and pulling them into long points. She rolled them firmly between her fingertips and moaned softly at the sensation.

As Elena pleasured herself, she listened to the progress one door down the hall. The bedsprings began to creak, and she could picture Jaguar coming to his knees between Marina's spread thighs. He'd be pushing that fine, hard cock of his into her, and god, did Elena want to be fucked herself! Instead, she brought one hand to her pussy, using the accumulating moisture to curl two fingers deep inside. They would have to do tonight.

Next door, the bedsprings began to squeak as the lovers rocked against each other, Marina matching his thrusts with her parries, like jousting partners. Soon, the couple was in the throes of excitement, Marina moaning in her arousal, with Jaguar breathing hard and deep. It was painful for Elena to hear another woman being fucked by the man she wanted. But she was determined to make the best of it.

Elena pumped herself hard with those two fingers, legs apart, the soles of her feet pressed together. The other hand came down from her chest and found her eager clitoris. She was flowing freely, and used her lubricant to swirl around the swollen bud, while furiously fucking herself. Head thrown back on the pillow, Elena was in an imaginary realm, one where Jag was doing her, not her own fingers!

From the other room she could hear the lovers climbing closer to the edge. Marina was urging her man to take her from behind, then there was a scramble into the new position. The slap-slap-slap of his groin against her fine ass carried through the thin walls, and probably down the hallway. Elena could tell that Jaguar was pounding hard into Marina, so she picked up their tempo in her own room.