The Very First Time

The Man walked through the dappled glade, feeling the warm sun against his bare skin. It had been a beautiful day, just like they all had. But a change had come over the weather, something he had not felt before. There was a build up in pressure in the air and, although the sun still shone bright, it did so through a gauzy film of cloud that seemed to be steadily building.

There was something a little unsettling in the change of weather, but only a little, above all he had faith that this was part of the plan, that, like everything else that had happened, this would turn out for the best.

It had been bright sunshine that morning when he had first set out. He had wanted to explore the eastern part of the Garden, near where the great river ran out of the water gate into the wide world beyond.

The Woman had not wanted to come with him, preferring to gather fruits near the glade that was their home, so he had set off alone. At first they had not wanted to be parted for even a moment and had spent every waking hour walking hand in hand through the Garden, marvelling in its sights and sounds and they had spent the nights sleeping softly in each other's arms.

But after many, many days, too many to count, the Woman had begun to favour spending more and more time in the glade while he was ever more inclined to wander far, even as far as the great walls circling the Garden.

So today, he had travelled even as far as the extreme eastern edge of the Garden and had run his hand along the rough stone wall along its circuit. A thought came into his head, to see what lay beyond.

The thought gave him a moment's pause, which was itself unusual, as to whether such a thing was allowed. The Master had given them the Garden and surely that was enough? But the Master had only laid one command on them and it wasn't this. Besides, he didn't plan to leave the Garden, merely peer beyond.

He had found a nearby tree and started to climb it, which was something he had never done before. The bark of the tree was rough but in a way that felt good to grasp. He found the ascent a little difficult and often had to pause to consider his next move. But again the difficulty simply increased his pleasure as each small obstacle overcome felt like a minor victory.

He almost forgot why he had even started to climb and was simply concerned with climbing higher and higher, losing himself in this new and simple pleasure. Soon enough however be reached a point where the branches would no longer bear his weight and he remembered his original purpose. He was easily higher than the wall now so he turned his head and looked East.

The great river ran wild and rugged through a vast and rocky landscape. To eyes accustomed to the lush richness of the Garden, the wide world looked almost unimaginably barren and desolate. There were a few stark and broken trees and clumps of grass scattered between the rocks and the sandy wastes. Somewhere in the distance a lone jackal scampered towards the horizon.

Clearly life was possible beyond the Garden walls but only in a stunted, precarious form. The whole vista was bleak, dreary and monotonous, broken only by distant mountains thrust up like broken teeth along the horizon.

The Man shuddered and turned his face away. He had seen enough. He couldn't ever imagine wanting to see it again.

Turning to look at the Garden after starting at the wasteland, it seemed almost shockingly green and the merry chatter of birds in the branches, which seemed as though they had fallen silent when he gazed out over the wasteland, to be deafeningly loud.

He drank in every sight of it. The great river splashed playfully through the rocky pools in the Garden, so unlike the raging angry torrent it became beyond the wall. A family of deer stooped down to drink by one of the shallow pools.

The rich green canopy of the forest stretched away in every direction. And in the very heart of the Garden, upon a smooth green hill, the two great trees grew.

His heart leapt inside him and he was overcome with the sudden desire to return to the Woman and be blissfully beside her in their glade in this beautiful Garden, all desire to see more quite forgotten.

He scampered down the great tree, quicker perhaps than was wise, falling almost as much as climbing, the branches whipping and scratching him on the way down, but he paid no attention to that.

Reaching the lowest branch, he jumped down and set off at a run. But he had travelled most of the morning to get there and it was too far for a run. And as he moved swiftly through the Garden, it worked its familiar magic on him and all urgency seemed to leave him. The memory of the great wasteland soon seemed to feel like something confused and out of a dream.

That unfamiliar thrill of horror that had gripped him soon began to subside and if it hadn't been for the steady build up of pressure in the day he might even have entirely forgotten it. His pace became languid and it was already late afternoon when he arrived back at the glade.

The Woman wasn't there.

He called for her but heard no response. He wandered on again and called again and again until finally he heard her call back. Her voice came out from the direction of the green glade with the great trees.

His heart full of foreboding, he rushed towards her.

She was sat at the very foot of the tree, her legs slightly parted and a faraway look in her eyes. Straightaway he noticed something different about her, so that at first he didn't even notice the half eaten fruit in her hand.

He didn't know how to describe the change but it was unmistakable. She looked somehow even more real than everything around her. But harder somehow, the soft gentleness of her was tempered somehow.

But she looked even more beautiful than ever, even if it was a beauty that unsettled him.

She looked up at him, a look in her eyes that he didn't recognise, eyes flashing and hungry as she gazed on his naked body. There was a desire there he didn't understand.

Then he saw the fruit.

He was somehow less shocked than he might have been. There was, perhaps, something inevitable about it.

The pressure in the atmosphere was becoming unbearable. A change was coming.

"You have eaten," he said, matter of fact.

"I have."

She stood up as she spoke and walked towards him, the fruit still in her hands. Their bodies so close they were almost touching.

"How was it?"

"It was good," she almost purred the word. "And as you can see, I am not dead."

She held the fruit up to his lips. A little dribble of juice was still on hers.

He paused. This was forbidden. This was the one thing that was forbidden.

But he loved the Woman. Her fate was his. And there was something more as well, everything seemed to be leading to this, come what may.

The garden was hushed, expectant, waiting. There was a low rumble of thunder in the distance, too low almost to hear.

He looked the Woman in her flashing eyes.

He took the fruit. He bit. He tasted.

Somewhere in the undergrowth, a serpent slithered stealthily away.

At first all he was aware of was the taste, it was almost overpowering in its deliciousness. It was sweeter than any fruit but with a deep and unexpected richness, set off and perfectly balanced by a tang of sharpness. There was just a lingering note of bitterness.

As he swallowed the tiny mouthful of fruit, he was very soon aware of different and more profound effects.

He looked around the Garden and suddenly everything was different, the colours were brighter but the shades were deeper. He could see insects burrowing into the bark of the trees, became aware that the chatter of the birds was really a fierce jostling for territory.

The Garden suddenly seemed so much more alive but so much more alarming than before. Suddenly he was aware that things were not simply there, everything had a purpose and a reason, even if he did not yet know what it was.

Then he looked at the Woman.

He had always known she was beautiful but somehow had never really noticed quite how beautiful, had always just taken he beauty for granted. Everything in the Garden was beautiful.

But now it was like he was seeing her for the first time, her deep brown eyes, her long black hair, her flawless clear skin.

And her body, the way it curved and flowed, so different to his own, the slim waist, the wide hips, rippling like water.

And her breasts, hanging large and firm from her body like ripe, juicy fruit. The dark mysterious thatch between her legs.

His wonderment at her beauty turned to desire, he wanted her, wanted to possess her in a way he never had before and didn't really understand. He understood now the way the Woman was looking at him and how she was feeling the same thing.

He felt his whole body tingle and call out for her. He was suddenly aware of his own organ swelling and growing and hardening, thrusting out from his body and pointing towards the Woman.

He didn't know if it was an effect of the fruit or something else but It made him feel good. A little giddy but powerful, potent, manly.

The Woman noticed it too and gasped a little, unable to taker her eyes off it, her desire flooding through her more than ever.

She took a step closer to the Man and put her hands on his chest. Her touch felt electric in a way it never had before.

She leaned in and put her lips to his. They kissed. They kissed like never before, mouths open, tongues sliding over each other.

He placed his hands on her hips and then slid them over her round, ample buttocks and pulled her body close to his, his hardness pressing against her flesh.

She reached a hand down to grip his length, sliding her fingers up and down. The pleasure was indescribable, like nothing he could have ever imagined.

The thunder rolled again, louder, closer, more threatening. The sky was darkening, ugly bruising clouds spreading, but, so lost in each other, neither Man nor Woman noticed.

Instead, responding to the Woman's touch and guided by some inner instinct he reached down to the dark space between her legs.

He didn't know why but he just had to touch it. He felt the flesh part and the delicious, unexpected wetness within. She felt every bit as good to touch as he felt being touched.

She moaned as he slid his fingers up and down her dewy wetness.

A sudden urgency gripped him. He put one arm round her neck and the other under her buttocks and half carried, half pushed her backwards until her back was pressed up against the tree trunk.

Bracing herself against the wood, she pushed herself up, spreading her legs and wrapping them around him. And with the bark from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil pressing against her back, he entered her.

It started to rain. Heavy, bulbous raindrops splashing into the dry ground. But it was still dry under the canopy.

The Man hadn't known what to expect as he thrust inside her, had no idea what he was doing, yet somehow he knew exactly what he was doing. Her flesh opened for him and his hard, thickness pushed inside her.

She was incredibly tight but she was so smooth and so wet that she welcomed him easily inside her.

Was this wrong? It felt so right. It felt like they belonged together like this, that this was what their bodies were designed for.

They felt so good together, their skin pressed up close, their eyes locked, hearts aflame with love like never before. He could hear her breath and her moaning as if it were his own. They felt like one being.

He had found another garden, another heaven, right between her thighs, and he didn't care if it cost him the other one.

The half eaten fruit lay discarded and forgotten in the wet grass.

He began to move inside her, sliding in and out, revelling in the feeling of her wetness along his length. He heard her moan again and again as he thrust so deep inside her.

He lost track of time. He could feel the stars wheeling overhead, even though they were obscured by the dark angry skies.

He moved inside her faster now, deeper, harder, her moans were a higher pitch and he was calling out too.

Something was building inside him, something strong and powerful, something deep and ancient but also new born. Something that would not be denied.

Looking in her eyes, he could see that it was building in her too. That they were in this together, to the end.

The rain began to seep even through the thick canopy above them. Drops fell onto their bare skin but they were too far gone to notice or to care.

He moved inside her with a wild abandon, surrendering utterly to her body, to his love, to this pleasure, this feeling swelling inside him like a crescendo.

And it grew and grew, blotting out everything, the rain, the tree, even the earth and the sky, it was just them alone, a Man and his Woman, lost in space and time.

And it just kept growing, until it was so overpowering that it felt like it must burst.

And then it did.

He felt himself explode inside her, like a second act of creation. She called out at the exact same time and he knew she felt it too.

It was a moment or two before the world came swimming back, a moment when he was perfectly happy and a deep calm of love and peace came over him, lost in her eyes, their souls entwined.

But then the world did come flooding back.

He remembered what they had done. They had tasted where they should not. They were soaking wet and naked under a sky now strafed with lightning and thunder.

They were naked. He had never noticed that before. He looked at the Woman, she had come to the same realisation.

"Quick," she said. "The Master will be here soon. Let's find somewhere to hide before he comes. "

The Man agreed. Not looking back, he led the woman away from the glade with the two trees, deep into the undergrowth, never to return.