The Treasure of the Amazon

"Highest Highest want know will come man seed. I make come man seed and her show."

I asked Iana why she would do that. I saw a tear trickle down her cheek. She wiped it away before she answered.

"Highest seed need. Babies make need. You baby make all Highest."

Iana held up her hands and opened and closed both fists eight times by my count.

"This times you baby make."

I'd already seen girls from toddlers to adolescents in the square, so this must have happened before. I asked Iana if that was their way and she nodded.

"Highest no men here want. Flood time go, Highest go town far away night steal white man. Man seed go woman inside, baby make. Go no this flood. You man seed baby woman make."

I asked her if she would be one of the women, and Iana shook her head.

"Baby Iana small, not big. Baby Iana yellow hair not. Iana work, no baby make ever."

I was beginning to understand a lot of things now. They'd fed me to make sure I was healthy enough to service what Iana said were eighty women. They also considered Iana to be too small to birth what they considered an acceptable child. Instead, she was a slave to the tall women.

What I didn't understand was why they needed a new man every year. I could understand why a man impregnating his daughter would be a taboo, for in almost all cultures it is, but a different man wouldn't be needed every year. I asked Iana why a new man every year. Her answer sent a chill down my spine.

"Why every flood time? Why don't you just keep one man here all the time?"

Iana frowned.

"Man Highest all baby make, Highest then man eat. Always Highest man eat. Baby man Highest eat too. Highest man not want ever here."

I saw another tear stream down Iana's cheek. She wiped it with the back of her hand and then touched my manhood.

"Eyes close. Iana know good make feel you. Iana man seed come make."

It was a strange feeling when she began stroking my manhood. Had it seemed as if Iana was abusing me, I doubt my manhood would have responded, but her touch was more that of a lover than that of a slave girl sent to relieve me of my sperm.

I was seized by the urge to take her in my arms and tell her I thought she was intelligent and beautiful and should not be made to serve the taller women, but I could not as I was still bound. Instead, I said, "Iana, it isn't right to treat you this way. You should be the same as the others."

Iana shook her head and wiped her eyes again.

"Can be not. Highest Iana kill if baby make. Iana baby small. No small baby want."

"Then why don't you run away?"

Iana looked at me and sniffed.

"Where go Iana? Iana not by self leave. Highest Iana find, kill."

I saw a possibility of escape then. It was obvious Iana didn't like her status and conditions. If I could convince Iana to leave and take me with her, she might be able to guide me to the river again. If we could find the river and if the canoes were still there, we could make it down stream and away from this tribe of women who wanted me only to impregnate them before they killed and ate me. I knew the chances of success were slim, but it was the only chance I saw.

"Iana, I wouldn't let them hurt you. If we ran away together, I could protect you."

Iana looked at me and I thought I saw hope in her face.

"How away get?"

"Do you know the way to the river?"

Iana nodded.

"Iana, I came up the river in a canoe. We hid the canoes in the vines so the canoes should still be there. If we can get to the river and in a canoe, the river will take us away before they can find us. Do you know where I was camped when I was taken? The river is two days from there, probably less than one if the trail is still open."

Iana's mouth turned up at the corners a little.

"Iana place camp know. Iana trail know. Iana watch Ahbaht two days walk."

"You knew we were there and watched us?"

Iana nodded.

"Iana small, good hide. Highest big, good hide no. Highest Highest say Iana men watch, say close come when. Iana watch, say close come men. Highest go, kill all men brown, you bring for baby make."

I looked Iana in the face.

"Iana, I want to leave here, and I want you to go with me. Would you go with me?"

"You safe Iana keep?"

"Iana, I will do everything I can to keep you safe."

Iana touched my arm.

"Iana go Ahbaht."

"Then we should leave right now."

Iana shook her head.

"Leave now, Highest see, kill. Iana man seed take, Highest Highest show. Highest all happy, watch not close. Iana, Ahbaht go dark."

Iana reached for my manhood again, and because I believed she knew best, I didn't resist.

What Iana was doing was so gentle, so unhurried, I was groaning by the time she lifted the cup to the tip of my manhood and made another stroke. Sperm erupted from my manhood and splashed into the cup, then again, and then again. When the last spurt was only a trickle, Iana stripped up my length, caught the few drops in the cup, then stood up and went out the door.

The inside of my cell was pitch black when I heard the door open again. Sandals scuffled quietly over the stone floor, and then I heard Iana's whisper.

"Highest together happy all. Ahbaht go Iana now."

In less than a minute I was free. Iana took me by the arm, led me through the door, and then down the stone path toward the latrine. A few feet before we reached that spot, Iana turned into the jungle.

I had no choice but to follow her. I could barely see her even though she was still holding my hand. If I lost her, I'd be truly lost. Iana didn't say anything until we reached the camp where I'd been taken. When I ran to the hammock where I'd slept that night, she followed while pleading, "No stop. Run now."

I had only one thing I needed to take and that was the rucksack. I opened the rucksack, strapped the pistol belt around my bare waist, then slung the rucksack over my shoulder and told Iana I was ready.

I knew I'd led the expedition to make some turns to avoid obstacles when the expedition left the river. I didn't think those turns had cost us so much time, but they had. Iana didn't follow the trail we'd blazed. She ran through the jungle along a different trail, the trail I assumed to be the trail she used when she watched us. In a matter of only a couple hours, she stopped and turned me to the right.

"Here river. There canoe."

It took us only a few minutes to pull one of the dugout canoes from the undergrowth and pull it to the water's edge. I pushed Iana into the canoe, then pushed off the bank as I got in. The canoe floated out to the center of the river and began following the current.

We were none too soon. I heard a shrill cry, then a thunk and then saw an arrow sticking in the side of the canoe. There was another thunk and Iana cried out. I pulled the pistol from my belt and began firing at the bank. After I emptied the first magazine and the slide locked back, I listened while I dug in the rucksack for another magazine. For a second, I heard nothing, then there was a another shrill cry and the sound of an arrow whizzing by my head. I fired three times in the direction of the sound, and heard a scream of agony after the third. After that, there were no more arrows.

We floated down the river in nearly total darkness. When the first rays of sunlight peeked over the canopy above and I could actually see, I was shocked. I saw Iana lying there in the bottom of the canoe with blood seeping from a wound in her thigh.

"Iana, why didn't you tell me."

Iana gave me a half smile.

"Hurt no bad. Cut small."

I used one of my spare shirts to bandage her thigh. I put on one of my spare pair of pants and gave my other spare shirt to Iana then. She didn't understand why she should wear it, but she finally relented. It was much too large for her, but if we met someone, it would at least keep her breasts covered.

I watched Iana carefully over the next two days. The cut didn't seem to be getting infected though I didn't know how it couldn't have, and she didn't develop a fever. I began to believe she would be all right once I got us out of the jungle.

Iana laughed at my careful attention.

"Iana baby not. Iana woman. Man no need Iana care for."

On the third day, we floated around a bend and saw a white man down by the river. I used a paddle to steer the canoe to the bank in hopes the man could tell me where we were.

His name was Samuel Jones, and he was doing missionary work among the local natives. When he asked our names, I hesitated for a moment. He would never believe the truth, so I told him my name, and said my wife Iana and I had been searching for native artifacts when our porters stole most of what we had and then deserted us.

He nodded and said he could believe as much, and then said we could stay with him and his wife until the weekly riverboat came by in two days. He then noticed Iana's bandaged thigh and said his wife should probably take a look at it. I reluctantly agreed. I wasn't a doctor so I wasn't sure Iana's leg wasn't hurt more than she said. I did take the precaution of telling him I'd met and married Iana in Germany after the war and she was still learning English. I hoped that would be enough to explain how she talked.

Mrs. Jones was a plump woman with a kind smile and when Mr. Jones explained Iana had a cut, she bustled Iana off into what I assumed to be their bedroom. About half an hour later, she brought Iana back out and Iana was wearing a flowered dress. Mrs. Jones smiled.

"Iana is such a beautiful girl I couldn't bear seeing her dressed in that leather skirt and a man's shirt. This is only a simple dress we brought to give to the savages, but on her, it looks like a proper dress for a proper lady."

I was nervous until the riverboat docked at the missionary's house. Iana was as curious as a cat about everything, and I feared she might tell Mrs. Jones something that would expose us. After I paid for our fare down-river and Iana and I were safe on board, I breathed a sigh of relief.

As soon as I closed the door to our cabin, Iana pulled the dress over her head and grinned.

"Too hot dress. Need open. Better now."

I smiled because she was serious. I just cautioned her that most of the people she would meet from now on expected women to be fully dressed. I said she could do as she wanted while we were in our cabin, but if she went out she should put the dress back on.

In my mind, I was wishing she'd left the dress on. Before, her skirt had covered her lower regions. Now, without the dress, I was looking at her round hips and the thick thatch of black hair between her soft, slender inner thighs. The man in me was reacting and I couldn't control that reaction.

Iana seemed fascinated with the bed, but since she'd only slept on a hard floor, I didn't wonder why. She curled her naked body up and grinned.

"Bed like feel moss. Good sleep."

I smiled, but I was instantly concerned. Now that I was reasonably safe, I wasn't certain what I was going to do with Iana. She didn't want to go back, and she couldn't go back. She couldn't stay in Manaus because she wouldn't know how to survive in civilization unless I was with her. If I took her with me, how would I explain her? I was thinking about that when Iana said softly, "Iana baby want. Ahbaht baby make Iana."

Her face was pleading me, pleading me to do what I had been opposed to doing with the women in her village. She evidently felt safe now, safe from the orders of the tall women and out of their reach. All she wanted now was what she'd wanted all along, to be accepted as a woman and treated as a man treats a woman.

I sat down on the side of the bed.

"Iana, where we're going, women don't have babies unless they're married to a husband."

Iana wrinkled up her brow.

"Husband is what?"

"A husband is a man who pledges to look after his wife, to care for her, and to hold her above all other women."

"Iana want Ahbaht make Iana baby. Iana how make Ahbaht husband?"

"We would have to go to a church and have a pastor marry us."

Iana grinned then.

"Ahbaht church take Iana husband be. Baby make then."

I shook my head.

"No, it's not just a church wedding that makes it right. It's the way a man and a woman feel about each other. The woman wants to be with the man and the man wants to be with the woman, not to just make a baby, but always."

Iana smiled.

"Iana not want go Ahbaht. Ahbaht want go Iana?"

"No, Iana, I don't want to leave you, and I don't want you to leave me."

She stroked my arm again.

"Iana say church matter no if Ahbaht want stay Iana and Iana want stay Ahbaht."

I thought about that while Iana lay there smiling at me and stroking my arm. In my world, what I'd told her was true. In her world, marriage didn't exist, and she couldn't understand what I was saying. It was the same as if she'd told me all the women in her village were over six feet tall and kidnapped white men to impregnate them. If I hadn't experienced it, I couldn't have understood her either.

Iana was as intelligent as I'd first thought, but her mind worked in a very simple way, more like a child's mind worked. She was not childish in actions or thought in any way. Iana was as mature as any woman I'd ever known, but she was as honest and forthright as a child. She had no knowledge of how to lie, and no way to say anything except her true thoughts.

As I stood there looking at her, I realized what I felt for Iana was not thanks for helping me escape, and it wasn't pity for her. It was an attraction born of her calm voice, smile, and caring nature when I was first captured that had changed into an intense desire to be with her.

What was marriage anyway, except a man and a woman pledging to stay together? Why did it require a preacher? All the preacher did was say a few words and then pronounce the couple to be man and wife. At that moment, I knew I could never leave Iana even if we weren't legally married. It wasn't just that she'd be lost without me. It was that I'd be lost without her.

I turned to Iana.

"Iana, do you promise to never leave me?"

Iana nodded.

"Iana leave never."

"I promise I won't leave you either."

I smiled and touched her cheek.

"I think that's about as married as we can get right now."

Iana grinned.

"Ahbaht baby make?"

"Yes, Ahbaht make baby now."

Iana smiled and held out her arms.

"Iana know baby make men how. Come baby make Iana."

I was sure it must be the first time for Iana. I knew it was the first time for me. Because of both, I was as gentle as I could be. The last thing I wanted was to hurt her more than necessary. I need not have been so concerned.

Iana wrapped her arms around me when I knelt between her spread thighs, and then touched my cheek.

"Ahbaht Iana inside put."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Ahbaht hurt Iana small, not big. Iana hurt want so baby make."

I didn't do what she asked. I couldn't just push my manhood inside her. That was something I could never do to a woman I felt this way about. Instead, I fondled her breasts.

I didn't expect the way Iana's eyes opened wide and the little moan that slipped from her lips. When I stroked her nipples, they became stiff and swollen, and Iana murmured, "Iana like fire warm. Iana feel before never. Ahbaht Iana make good feel".

I was fascinated by her breasts. They were so firm and yet so soft and yielding, and the way touching them caused Iana to shudder and catch her breath made me want to continue fondling them. Once her nipples stood proud from her nipple beds, they stayed that way, and with each caress, Iana would push my hand down a little firmer and moan.

When I closed my lips around one nipple, Iana gasped and I felt her fingers tighten into claws on my back. After another gentle sucking, her fingernails poked my back and she arched her breast up into my face.

When Iana began to breathe faster, I slipped my hand down to the thatch of black hair on her mound and then cupped her sex. Iana rocked her hips then, and one of my fingers slipped inside her. I couldn't believe she could be so wet and slippery after such a short time, but the slippery/sticky wetness I felt told me she was ready.

As gently as I could, I moved my manhood toward Iana's slippery lips and when I felt them close around it, I pushed in a little. Iana sighed and tried to lift herself into me, but I raised up just enough I still felt the same pressure. I then pulled back until I felt her lips fold around the head of my manhood. Iana pulled on my back and murmured, "Ahbaht Iana inside all way go. Iana need."

I pushed in once again, and felt Iana open her thighs wide. I continued pushing, felt a tightening, and then heard Iana gasp as my manhood slipped inside her. She groaned then and her body shuddered. I felt her dig her nails into my back, and then her voice.

"Ahbaht baby make fast. Iana need baby make fast."

I couldn't bring myself to do that. She felt so wonderful I didn't want it to end, and tried to prolong that feeling as long as I could. My slow strokes didn't seem to be hurting her. I'd thought the first time would do that, but instead, Iana began lifting her hips into each stroke a little.

Over time that little lifting became a slow rocking that pushed her body over my manhood, and a little later became contractions I felt around my shaft. I felt Iana slide her hands down to my hips, and with the next stroke, she pulled me into her and held me there for the second or so it took before I felt the tightening around my shaft relax. Then, she sighed and moved her body back down. I pulled back, then pushed in again only to have the same thing happen.

I was quickly reaching the point where it would be impossible for me to stop. Iana couldn't have known how she should be acting, so she wasn't acting at all. Every moan, every sigh, every time she pulled on my hips were just her body reacting in the only way it could. Those little sounds and other reactions filled my mind with a confusion of intense sensations and a feeling for Iana stronger than I thought possible.

It was when she made a little cry, dropped her hands to the bed sheet and clawed it in each hand, and then arched up off the bed, that I couldn't hold back any longer. I groaned as I pushed my manhood deep inside her and then groaned again as the first spurt of seed raced from my loins. Iana cried out again, and just as I was making another stroke, arched even higher and drove my manhood so deep I felt her soft, wet lips flatten against her inner thighs. After the third stoke and spurt left me gasping for breath, Iana cried out once more and her body shook hard.

When she fell back to the mattress, Iana pulled me down on top of her and stroked my back. After a while, she whispered, "Iana feel Ahbaht baby make. Iana like feather feel."

I had thought I would hurt Iana when I entered her, but it didn't seem that I had. She would not have reached such a release of her passion if I had. I later read that some woman who do vigorous exercises sometimes lose their maidenhead without being penetrated. When I read that, it was an explanation I could believe. That night in our cabin, I was very concerned. Iana was just happy.

Iana was happy all the way down-river. We made love every day, and sometimes twice. Iana wanted more, but after twice, I was unable to perform for a while. It was wonderful to just lay beside her, stroke her body, and watch as she closed her eyes and sighed at my touch.

When we docked in Manaus, Iana was afraid and held my hand so tightly it was nearly painful. Her fear soon gave way to wonder, and she asked a million questions about everything.

After withdrawing my money from the bank, our first stop was to obtain a passport for Iana because I would never be able to get her into the US without one. After a bit of searching, I located a man who didn't ask many questions and after taking Iana's picture, handed me a Brazilian passport that said she had been born in Manaus, Brazil, was twenty-three, and was my wife. After that, I purchased two tickets on a steamer to New York, and then we went shopping.