The Coming of Age Ceremony Ch. 02

Jess poked her head around the doorway. The light was streaming in through the opening and it did indeed illuminate a still sleeping Theta, lying on the mattress where she had lost her virginity a year ago. His body was covered with the sleeping robes that villagers traditionally wore to bed.

Half of the hut remained empty, the half that had been left free for her things, still preserved, waiting for her return. She walked in slowly. Villagers generally did not enter each other's huts without permission, but she didn't think Theta would mind.

She stepped on a small stone on the floor. The pain of it against her bare sole made her say "ouch!", and Theta started to wake. He rubbed his eyes and opened them slowly, blinking in the bright light. As soon as he saw her a wide smile crossed his face.

"Hi Jess," he said.

"Hi Theta."

Jess took a seat on a stool in the populated half of the hut. She sat there looking at him for a long time, and he looked back at her, again not wavering from her face, resisting the opportunity to enjoy the sight of her naked body.

"I'm really sorry about what I did last year," she started.

"I know," Theta nodded.

"Thanks for this..." He gestured down at her naked body. "It means a lot to me, you showing your shame to the whole village; especially choosing to do it in the traditional tribal way."

"It was the least I could do," she smiled.

"Do you love him?" Theta asked, suddenly changing the topic. "Does he... make you happy?"

Jess averted her eyes. She didn't want to answer those questions.

"What does love mean anyway?" Jess asked, more to herself than to Theta.

There was silence for a long while. Then Theta spoke.

"Do you – did you – love me?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jess said, then stopped herself. What was she saying?

"I... I thought I did... it's... it's different with Stu."

"Different better?"

She didn't answer him. Sitting here in this hut with all those memories, remembering how she had felt a year ago – she hadn't felt like that since. She didn't know if she ever would again.

Theta smiled at her. She had ruined his life. She had offered him that perfect future then ripped it away from him. Now he lay here every night dreaming of what might have been. Yet he didn't hate her. He didn't hold a grudge against her.

"I just want you to be happy Jess," he said.

He stood up and walked over to a box at the edge of the hut. He pulled out some clothes – some western female clothes. Jess' clothes. She had only remembered when she had returned home. She had been given her own set of tribal robes a week or so into her last visit, and had changed into them at the home of one of the villagers. She had meant to pick her discarded clothes up before she left, but with everything that had happened she had forgotten. Theta had kept them for her.

She took the handing over of the clothes as permission for her to get dressed. Theta even averted his eyes whilst she put the clothes on, something which seemed rather unnecessary, but was a nice gesture. As she pulled the top on she noticed something – a hole she had made in the top shortly after arriving in the village had been seamlessly repaired. Theta noticed her searching for evidence of the hole.

"I fixed it for you," he smiled.

"You?" she exclaimed. That sort of work was normally allocated to the women of the village.

"I know how!" he retorted with mock indignation.

"I just wanted it to be right for you if, you know, you ever came back," he said, more softly.

Jess couldn't help but rush up to him and give him a hug. The tears came almost immediately. She had missed him so, so much. A year away may have dulled the ache, Stu may have provided a distraction, but now she was back with Theta the feelings ripped through the flimsy wall she had built around them, attacking her with full force.

"What the fuck?!"

Stu was standing there in the doorway with a face like thunder. Jess and Theta broke the embrace.

"Get your fucking filthy hands off her!" Stu raged.

Jess manoeuvred herself between Theta and Stu. She had never seen Stu like this before. What the hell had got into him?

Stu marched up to them and shoved her aside. She lost her footing and fell to the ground. She looked up just in time to see Stu aim a punch straight at Theta's face.

With the swiftness that had made him the village's best hunter Theta evaded the punch, then he grabbed Stu and wrestled him to the ground. Stu's gym-built muscles were no match for Theta's finely honed hunting skills, and Theta pinned him to the ground.

Jess jumped to her feet and raced out of the hut. She soon found some passing villagers and gestured for them to come and help. They followed her to the hut where they surveyed the scene. Theta explained what had happened in his native tongue and the two men roughly took hold of Stu, yanked him to his feet and escorted him out of the hut.

"Are you OK?" Theta asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled. "You were really good. Stu's a strong guy."

"I wouldn't normally have fought him," Theta said. "I'd normally just have run. I could outrun pretty much anyone. I'm not one for fighting. But I was worried he'd hurt you, and I'd never let that happen."

Suddenly that rush of feelings for Theta came back even stronger. She'd always thought he would protect her, but now she knew. He was a brave man taking on Stu, and he had done so with almost super-human strength.

She could see it in his eyes. He hadn't enjoyed grounding Stu, despite his good reason to hate him. He could clearly have hurt Stu if he had wanted to, and nobody would have blamed him if Stu had received a black eye in the struggle. But he hadn't. He'd just done enough to protect Jess.

She threw her arms around him again. There was only her and Theta in the world. Nothing else mattered. Stu was history. She didn't know what the tribe would do to him. She didn't care. All she cared about was Theta. She had caused him so much damage emotionally last year. This year she had brought Stu who had almost caused him some serious physical damage. Yet he still loved her. And she loved him. This was what love meant.

***

The sun shone brightly in the sky. It had done so for the whole of Jess' first week back in the village. Jess was happy. Stu had left, thrown out of the village in disgrace. The villagers had welcomed her back with open arms. The skills that she had learnt last year came straight back to her, and she was able to make a real contribution to village life. She was delighted to renew her friendships with those she had got on with so well the previous year.

At this time of year everyone in the village was in a good mood. The annual coming of age ceremony was coming round again in a few weeks, and another group of villagers would be finding themselves admitted into adulthood and (hopefully) finding a future spouse to share their life with. A month after that was another big ceremony – the wedding ceremony. All those couples who had got together at last year's coming of age ceremony would be formally marrying in front of the whole village.

Jess spent a lot of time with Sigma, and she could tell how nervous her friend was. It was going to be one of the most important days of her life. Sigma was blissfully happy with Chi and couldn't wait to make her vows to him.

Jess tried to get Sigma to provide details of the wedding ceremony. After all, given the strange traditions that surrounded the coming of age ceremony, surely the wedding ceremony would have some equally strange events. But Sigma was keeping quiet. She just kept telling Jess that she would have to "wait and see".

"What about you and Theta?" Sigma asked her one day.

"What about us?" Jess replied.

"Well... you became betrothed at the coming of age ceremony last year. You're back together now, aren't you? Will you be taking part in the ceremony?"

Jess shook her head.

"No, I don't think so... I mean, I've only been back a week. It's a bit soon."

"You're not planning on going back to England again, are you?" Sigma asked, looking concerned.

"I don't know," Jess said, shaking her head again.

She had been giving this a lot of thought. She had a plane ticket booked for the end of the month, she had university to return to. But over the last week she had felt so at home here, so happy to be back in Theta's arms. Seeing all the other girls preparing for married life, she wished she was one of them.

But then, why shouldn't she be? She had gone through the coming of age ceremony the previous year. She was a member of the tribe now, and officially betrothed to Theta. She was perfectly entitled to marry him alongside the others if she wanted to.

It was late one night when she made the decision. She and Theta were lying on their backs in exactly the same clearing they had lain in a year ago, staring up at the sky, breaking from their observations of the heavens only to stare lovingly into each other's eyes.

"Remember what we said last time we were here?" Jess asked.

Theta screwed up his face. He didn't want to remember the moment when she had told him she was heading back to England. Perhaps he thought she was going to make a similar revelation now.

"No – I'm not going to tell you I'm going back to England again!" she exclaimed, laughing a little at the look on his face.

Theta visibly relaxed and a smile started to develop on his face.

"I mean about the moon – I said that we could both look at the moon at the same time and think of each other."

Theta nodded, smiling at the memory.

"Did you... did you ever do it?" she asked, a little nervously. She had laid there for so many hours starting up at the moon – she didn't really want the feeling of comfort it had given her to be shattered by a revelation that Theta had not been doing the same.

"Every night," Theta said, still smiling but with a little bit of sadness crossing his brow at the memory of lying there, waiting for a return he didn't really think possible.

Jess threw her arms around him, pressing her lips to his. He held her tightly, kissing back violently, making the most of a feeling he had never thought he would have again.

Finally Theta broke the embrace. Jess looked at him, slightly disappointed that he had chosen to end the pleasure. She put on an exaggerated sad face to indicate her disapproval.

Theta raised himself to his knees. He made a little bowing gesture of his head. Jess gave him an inquisitive look. She had only ever seen the gesture at formal occasions: her welcome to the village, the coming of age ceremony, worship of the spirits. She had never seen it exchanged between friends in a social context.

"Jess, you are the only girl I have ever loved, the only girl I ever will love," he said, staring straight into her eyes. Her heart gave a little jump and her tummy flipped. He wasn't about to do what she thought he was, surely?

"In our village we believe that every person has only one perfect match. We trust in the spirits to bring the two people together. We joke that the spirits don't like to travel much, because they always seem to match people up from the same village! We're grateful for that though, because it means that the spirits are always here to protect us."

"But in my – our – case, the spirits travelled a long, long way," he continued, then took a deep breath before continuing. His speech was getting faster and faster with the nerves of the situation.

"They brought you here from England not once, but twice. I'm so lucky just to have met you. But... but... I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least ask... will you stay? Will you marry me?"

She wanted to answer, but she was rendered mute. All she could do was nod her head, staring into those beautiful eyes of his, seeing a tear start to well up, fighting back her own tears.

They lay there in each other's arms, the beauty of the clear night sky and its millions of shining stars an irrelevance to them now. All they cared about in the world was each other.

There was something magical about this moment – they were going to get married, spend their whole lives together here in this wonderful village. It was fitting that it had happened here, the same place where she had told him she would be returning to England the previous year. It had been a long year.

Jess started to tug at Theta's robes, wanting to see her future husband in all his glory. He didn't resist. She unwrapped him like a longed for birthday present, and discarded the robes on the ground. She ran her eyes slowly down his body, bathed in the moonlight. She had seen him naked a few weeks ago at the welcoming ceremony, but then he had been in a large group of village men, largely concealed from her. Now she could examine closely once again the body that she had seen only in her fantasies for the previous year.

Theta returned the favour by helping her out of her robes. The tribespeople did not wear underwear, so the removal of her robes left her naked. Theta rolled on top of her, laying her on the thankfully soft ground. The sound of a disturbance made her jump – was someone watching? She turned to see a little rabbit like creature scurrying into the undergrowth.

She giggled nervously.

"Theta – what if... what if someone catches us?" she asked. She didn't think this was the kind of activity that the tribespeople would approve of taking place in public.

Theta gave her a concerned look and started to raise himself up and if he was about to stand.

"You're right," he said. "We shouldn't do this here."

She felt a twinge in her girl bits. Her body didn't want to wait. Besides, wasn't the risk of getting caught part of the fun?

"No!" she protested, a little too sharply.

"No," she continued, softening her tone. "Let's do it here. We'll just have to hope we don't get caught."

She gave him a coy look then giggled a little. This was totally out of character for her; hadn't everything been since she came to the village?

Theta looked for a second like he was going to protest, but then he looked down at her naked body again, her nipples already hardening with excitement. She could see that his cock was already starting to respond too.

Theta smiled at her, then lowered himself again, wrapping his arms around her, bringing his lips to meet hers. Her whole body tingled with anticipation. She wanted to be touched everywhere. They kissed, gently at first, refamiliarising themselves with the feeling of their naked bodies together. She stared into his beautiful eyes, mentally trying to communicate to him how much she loved him, because she knew she couldn't put it into words.

Jess ran her hands down his back, and he bit her lip, quite hard. She winced a little but didn't complain. Her tongue touched his, then she pulled it back. It was strange: for the first time she felt a little shy with him.

Theta's lips separated from hers for just long enough for him to tell her he loved her. A smile spread across her face. He kissed her smile. Their tongues touched again, and this time she built her confidence with him. He took her hand in his, a beautiful romantic gesture.

Her boobs were teasing her now, tingling, demanding to be touched, promising her pleasure if she obliged them. She felt herself gently rubbing her chest against his, which felt so good. Theta seemed to detect her need, and his free hand moved onto her boob, gently exploring it, watching her reaction.

She let out a groan of pleasure, and Theta's smile widened. He gently started to massage her boob, increasing her pleasure. She could feel herself getting warmer and wetter between her legs, her clit starting to respond to her arousal. She wanted so much to be touched down there, but she wanted Theta to do it.

Jess took hold of Theta's cock which was now partially erect. She decided to help him along a bit. Firstly she just held him, enjoying the feeling of touching him there.

"Jess," he breathed, squeezing her boob just a little bit harder.

She teased him, rubbing her hand backwards and forwards so slowly, knowing he'd want it faster but denying him the pleasure, frustrating him. He gave her a knowing smile, then in protest released his grip on her boob, leaving it lonely, demanding attention again.

He rubbed his hands down her side, moving promisingly closer to her aroused vagina, but at the last moment deviating to feel her bottom instead. She decided to take the matter into her own hands, rubbing his ever harder cock against her vaginal lips, letting him feel her wetness, delighting in the reuniting of their private parts.

This increased intimacy made them kiss even more passionately, both now letting out groans as their bodies rewarded them. She pulled back his foreskin and stroked the exposed head of his penis against her clit. They were now both fully aroused, every stroke giving her more ecstasy that the last. She was so wet now, ready to welcome him inside her again.

No words were needed. Despite their short time together, Theta knew her better than anyone else ever had. He took hold of his cock and gently slid it inside her. Jess squeezed her arms hard around his body, delighting in the feeling of having him inside her again.

"You're really wet Jess," he said, smiling.

"Because of you baby," she replied, smiling back.

Theta started to gently thrust in and out, making both himself and Jess moan with pleasure. His breathing was becoming heavier now, faster. Jess tried to time her own breathing to match his, uniting them as one writhing mass.

His hands continued to explore, flooding her brain with tingles of pleasure. In return she massaged his own body, delighting in the knowledge of the pleasure she was giving him.

Everything around them was blocked out now: they could have been anywhere, it didn't matter. All she knew was Theta: her eyes stared into his, her ears delivered his moans of pleasure. All she could smell was his scent, all she could taste was his lips, his tongue. But her fifth sense rewarded her most of all: the feeling of his cock thrusting powerfully deep into her vagina, the touch of his hands against her and hers against him.

She knew that she was close to orgasm, and she could tell that he was too. She didn't want it to end, but she knew this was just the beginning. His breathing was so heavy now, as was hers. She could tell that he was struggling to keep himself from coming, waiting for her to be ready too.

She took his hand and placed it between her legs, remembering how his hand had felt on her clit.

It was just as good – no, better – than it had been last time. Her whole private area was on fire, the flames of pleasure radiating down her thighs and up into her tummy. She knew that in just a few seconds she would have the most lovely orgasm.

"Ou'le?"

A voice broke through the wall she had built between her and the outside world. A shock of panic went through Jess' body, competing with the pleasure, fighting it.

"Ou'le?"

Louder, closer. The thrusting between her legs continued, still feeling amazing. Frustration joined the other two feelings competing for space. She couldn't come now. There was someone here.

"Ou'le?"

Even Theta noticed it now. With a look of great reluctance on his face he pulled out his engorged cock and then jumped to his feet, the alertness of his inner hunter taking over immediately.

"Someone's coming!" he whispered, somewhat unnecessarily.

He helped Jess to her feet quickly, then holding her hand quickly started to make off in the opposite direction to the voice.

"Ou'le?"

Jess' whole body was incredibly sensitive from the cocktail of sexual pleasure and outright panic. She could feel every little stone, every twig she stepped on. She could feel the tightness of Theta's grip on her hand. She brushed past a prickly tree and each little thorn felt like a tiny knife.