The Great Escape Chapter 5, Part 3 of 5

The Great Escape
Chapter 5, Part 3 of 5

"It's not a secret, Annela; everyone can see it. I don't know why you don't want to tell everyone."

"Because we have to avoid jealousy. I don't want people to think I would try to stop Ezra from going to another woman."

"But why should that matter? I can't see why any other woman would want him unless she wants babies."

"You can't? You don't think Ezra is attractive?"

"Of course not!" Tamar exclaimed, shocked that Annela could judge her taste so severely.

"I like Ezra because he's clever and kind. I helped find him, but he's horrid."

"Ugly?" It was Annela's turn to exclaim. "Why do you say 'ugly'?"

"Because he's big and hairy and all straight lines and angles. You and Erin are beautiful because you're smooth, curvy, and soft."

Annela had nothing to say, though she thought it would not be long before Tamar began to think differently.

She also thought that if it was confirmed that others could see she was in love, she might not need to try hiding it. Also, why do people suffer pangs of longing to prevent gossip?

"Thanks, Darling," Annela said, getting up. She planted a soft kiss on Tamar's forehead. "I'm off to find Ezra."

With that, she ran to her hut, collected a water bladder, flung it over her shoulder, and ran out of the camp into the forest, her peasant skirt bouncing up to reveal her well-turned calves and slim thighs. Tamar watched her go and then, shaking her head at the foibles of adults, visited Mirselene to return the book and collect the last volume from the Woodlanders' small library.


Annela found Ezra alone in a clearing far from the banana plantation. He was returning to camp with a full basket on his shoulders.
Dipti and Urulla had made an excuse to go off together for nuts or berries, but even Ezra knew why they wanted to be alone, and he was content to walk back, at peace with the forest and happy with the world.

Hearing Annela call him, he thought at first there was an emergency. When he realized what she wanted, it didn't take him long to drop his basket and pull her to him, planting his mouth on hers.

They made an impromptu bed of bracken fronds, and soon Annela was naked, her back arched, his mouth on a breast, his hand on her pussy, his fingers building waves of ecstasy. He pushed her onto her back and kissed down her belly to her clitoris, which he tongued as he finger-fucked her.

She grabbed handfuls of ferns and writhed on the floor, shaking her hair over her face as she climaxed quickly and sweetly, leaving her high, like the buzz from a potent cocktail on a warm day.

Now, Ezra tried something he had not done yet. They had fucked in lots of positions but not missionary because his sprained left arm was painful to lean on, but it had been feeling better of late, and Ezra wanted to try.

Kissing back up her body, his weight on his good right arm, he gingerly leaned on his left elbow and took a mouthful of small firm tit. Annela squirmed sexily, the glow of her first orgasm still warming her.

His elbow held firm and didn't hurt much. He flicked his tongue up her neck to her chin and lay full on her, kissing her deeply as she automatically spread her thighs wide, lifting her knees. It was time to test his arm more.

He shuffled into position and tried to push his stiff cock into her, but the angle was wrong. Annela understood and put her hand down to guide him into her vagina.

She gasped and held him tight around the neck as he thrust in hard. She crossed her legs on his back to give him better access.

Ezra got a rhythm going, and she met his thrusts independently. The fucking was deep and sensual. Annela adored the sense of being trapped under him. It was delicious for her to take his weight and be used for his pleasure.

It felt like all his needs were centered on her, but she didn't know how much his arm hurt. Using it had been too soon, but he couldn't stop himself. She moaned sweetly in his ear as he panted, his eyes shut, the pleasure from her body overwhelming the discomfort in his arm.

He felt her spasm as a percussive rhythm on his cock, and she cried out, "Oh, God! Ezra, I love you!" as she came.

"I love you, too!" he managed to gasp between thrusts, his voice gruff.



Her wet thighs shook with another orgasm as she dug her heels hard into the small of his back, getting more purchase to buck upward at him. Another half-dozen thrusts and the throbbing began in his cock, so pleasurable it was almost painful. He groaned and spurted his juice deep into her pliant body. She hit a final peak herself before the last moments of his convulsive throbbing were over, and he lay still on her.

He rolled on his side as soon as possible to take the weight off his arm. He probably wouldn't be able to use it for a while.

Annela rolled to face him and entwined her legs with his. She put her hand on his sweaty cheek and said: "That was wonderful Darling. I'm glad your arm is better."

"It isn't," he said, "but it was worth it."

Later, they walked hand-in-hand back to the camp and were greeted with benign smiles and knowing looks by the tribeswomen, who followed the pair with their eyes as they descended to the river to bathe.

It wasn't until they had been lovers for three weeks that Ezra's arm was well enough for him to go on top again. His muscles were weak, but his arm no longer hurt him. Ezra, on top, gave Annela new pleasure in sex. She lay back, spread her legs, and put Ezra's weight on her. She loved to feel their mouths, chests, and bellies pressed together. She would cross her legs over his back and dig her fingernails into his shoulders as he pumped her hard, their sweat mingling as they reached a frenzied climax together.

She liked it when he pulled her head to one side by her hair so he could kiss her neck. Or when he put his hand under her to raise the arch of her back, presenting her tits to his mouth, which he greedily sucked.

Even so, Annela's favorite position was on top, controlling the angle and speed of their fucking, leaning back. Hence, his cock rubbed the sensitive spot on the top wall of her vagina, and her flat stomach stretched tautly, her round tits bouncing freely. With him underneath, her orgasms were long and sensual, with gasping peaks and sighing valleys, which did not finish until her pulsating muscles had milked his cock of all its load. Afterward, she would lie on him in a hyper-sensitized stupor, not wanting to move and unable to talk.

With his arm finally mended, Ezra could do more of the kind of work he wanted, helping Sharne and Dagma fell trees and cut timber. Though he was happy to help Annela weave or the younger girls forage, a man also needs vigorous activity. Even a couple of hours of passionate sex with Annela each day was insufficient exercise. He went out with Sharne and Dagma to cut logs and was surprised that Dagma, who still barely spoke to him, accepted him without demur. They taught him to fall trees by digging around the trunk and severing the roots. Then, they would mark the ground with stakes to warn people to stay clear; a year later, the tree would fall of its own accord or in a high wind.

Working up a sweat and rebuilding muscle felt good as he shaped boughs with a heavy stone adze or hefted substantial logs back to camp on his shoulders.

The skin on his hands hardened, and Annela felt their roughness on her soft flesh. At first, she wasn't sure she liked calloused hands caressing her sensitive inner thighs or breasts. Then she thought these were a man's hands and she liked it.

Ezra was a good worker. Soon, there was a large surplus of logs, and some repairs that had been put off could now be attended to. One such repair was to Annela's bed, which the couple had broken twice, and he didn't think it could be lashed up again. With Sharne and Dagma, he built a sturdy new frame with extra cross-pieces. They also used wooden slats rather than cross-laced bamboo for the platform. The old bed was broken up and thrown on the fire. Ezra wished he could also throw the ancient mattress on the fire, but there were no new mattresses to be had, and this one was still serviceable when patched up with feathers.

The effort he spent on hard work during the day did not make their love-making less frequent or energetic. They could not get enough of each other's bodies and were still fucking passionately every night and morning when they entered their fourth week as bedmates. An obvious calculation that all the women could perform led to some hopeful whispering.

Annela thought nothing of it when her period did not come on its due date: a few days' delays was no reason to hope. However, she and Ezra were bedmates a week past her due date, and they could not fail to cause susurration of gossip about the camp. When, a few days later, the couple still retired early together from the feast, rose late from bed, and slipped off into the woods during the day, the gossip began to gain an envious edge.

So far, Mirselene had only beamed happily at the pair. Nothing could be said openly while she was prepared to quash jealous talk. But it was also Mirselene's task to prevent causes of jealousy from developing into genuine grievances, and Annela and Ezra had now been bedmates for more than their allotted month.

Mirselene invited Annela into her hut for a chat. When the girl was seated, she said: "You have to give him up, you know."

Annela began to blush.

"Now, don't be angry with me," Mirselene said with an unexpected motherly tenderness. "You know you can't keep him to yourself."

"I know. ... I'm sorry to be so selfish." Annela looked down, hot tears starting in her eyes.

"Don't be soft, child. I'd think something was wrong with you if you weren't selfish. That's why I'm here as a referee to ensure Sharne gets her chance. ... You've had Ezra for over four weeks. Why don't you say goodbye to him tonight and let him rest a day? Tomorrow night, he and Sharne will be bedmates."

Annela thought that parting from Ezra would be like dying. She had fallen in love and wanted her time with Ezra to last forever, but she knew the bargain they had both made, and she would not defy her tribe. Accepting Mirselene's demand with good grace, she said:

"I understand. I'll tell Ezra."

"Good girl. ... Now to the more serious business."

"More serious?"

"Of course. Would you care to explain why your eyes sparkle so much?"

"My eyes?"

"Your hair shines, your complexion is perfect, and" (here Mirselene reached forward and put her plump hand on Annela's waist) "you feel warmer than normal."

Annela blushed again and said nothing. Mirselene smiled at the girl's embarrassment.

"We can all count, child! Your period was due ten days ago, and you have made Ezra do his duty to you daily. We won't get our hopes up, but you must know that everyone secretly wishes you've been lucky the first time."

"Thank you, Madam."

"So my orders to you are to take extreme care of yourself. You are precious to our tribe, and what you might carry is equally precious."

Annela was grateful for the concern but unhappy about parting with Ezra. She didn't hide her sadness, which her chief, for once, picked up on. She put a hand on Annela's knee and spoke softly.

"Don't be dejected, Annela. I see how you care about Ezra. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'll speak to him and ensure he returns to you when he has done his duty to the other girls. Go and tell Ezra I want a word with him."

Annela was sure she knew Ezra's mind and he didn't need Mirselene to tell him to return to her, but she wouldn't stop her chief talking to him.

The truth was that Annela had been carried away by her passion for Ezra and barely even noticed when her month with him was up. It was advantageous for her, and she took it to heart.

Ezra saw her unhappiness when she told Mirselene she wanted to speak to him. He kissed her forehead and immediately went to the chief's hut, tapping the doorpost.

"Come in, Ezra, sit down," Mirselene said. "I want to talk to you."

"Yes?

"Are you a lucky man, Ezra?"
"I must admit my colleagues thought so. Some of them called me 'Lucky Ezra'."

"Why?"

"Because I survived a dozen missions, and some of them even made a profit. In my profession, a mission is considered successful if most men get back alive."

"And now?"

"Well, I didn't think I was lucky until I came to Samothea. Now I think I am."

"Because?"

"Well, for lots of reasons. It was good luck to find Samothea despite the disrupted hyperspace pathways (though it was bad luck to crash-land here and bust my arm). It was good luck to be rescued by Wildchild and Tamar and to be accepted into the Woodlander tribe, but it is bad luck that you have no men and no modern technology, and there is friction between the tribes. It was excellent luck to meet Annela ..."

He paused.

"I see," Mirselene said. "And is it bad luck to give her up and move on to the other women?"

"I will do what I agreed ..."

"But?"
"But Annela is special to me. You can see that. I don't want her to be hurt."

"Yet she was the one who persuaded you to take the other bedmates."

"Yes, she did. We can't always know how we will feel about our future decisions until the time comes."

"I understand. ... You know I have a lot of influence over the tribe. I could nullify our agreement and tell the other bedmates that you are staying with Annela. There would be anger and protests, maybe the threat of defection, and the resentment would last for years, but I think the tribe would survive. Would you like me to do that?"

Ezra hesitated. He opened his mouth to speak and then shut it. Finally, he said:

"I am in debt to the tribe for saving my life, and even more than that, I want to keep my word. Annela and I must patch things up between us as best we can."

"Well said, Ezra! I like you. I like your manliness."

"What do you mean?"

"You say things straight and stick to your word, and you don't use tears or pleading to try and get what you want."

"I've not seen any of the Woodlanders do that."

"No, I'd see they'd get short shrift if they did, but it's our womanly nature to try. You've told us about Earthwomen, and (reading between the lines) you seem to think they're needy and possessive."

"I never said that!" he exclaimed. "I merely said that a prospector's life is not conducive to long-term relationships."

Mirselene laughed at his protest.

"You don't need to justify yourself to me, Ezra. I also think women are too underhand and clingy to live with."

Ezra tried to protest again, but she held his hand. She had her idea of what he thought of women, and his arguments would not turn her.

"I also like that you didn't say you were lucky to be the only man on a planet full of women."

"Well, I have learned a few things in the six weeks I have been on Samothea. I admit that many men fantasize about being the only man in a society of women, thinking they would live like an Eastern potentate with a harem of willing servants. But it's only a sexual fantasy."

"I think I know what you mean by an Eastern potentate and by a sexual fantasy. I agree that reality is not the same. So here's my advice to you. Don't worry too much about Annela. I know the girl. She has a strong heart, and her passions are long-lasting. If she truly loves you, she will still do so in five months when you can return to her."

The interview seemed over, and Ezra turned to leave, but when he got to the door, Mirselene spoke again in a quieter and kinder voice:

"Ezra, you know why you're allowed only one bedmate at a time, don't you?"

"Yes. To prevent jealousy."

"If only we could prevent jealousy so easily," Mirselene sighed. "No, ask yourself how our little tribe could cope if two women bore children in the same month."

He nodded to show his comprehension.

"So even if Annela is not pregnant, or if her missed period does not turn into anything, she is off-limits to you until you are done with Urulla."

"I understand."

"And you will return to her then?"

"Yes," he said in a voice that meant, "You try to stop me."

"Well, why are you still here? There's a wench out there who loves you. Go and make your last day together count!"

"I will," he said with resolve.

"Good man. Off you go."

Although Ezra looked for Annela, he could not find her. She had gone into the forest to be unhappy. Even if he had searched in the right direction, she probably would not have heard him calling; she was so distracted.

Both returned to camp just before the feast began, and they sat together without talking. As usual, they retired early to her hut and undressed for bed.

They lay on their sides, facing each other, and, at last, she began to talk.

"I'm sorry I went off," Annela said, "but I couldn't face seeing you, knowing I have to give you up."

"I understand. You know I'm coming back to you?"

"I know it, but I can't believe it. I think something will happen."

"What could happen?"

"Something. Anything. You've talked about going to salvage your ship. You could be drowned, or another tribe could take you."

"Are these fears serious, Annela?"

"No. Probably not. I don't know. I'm sorry to be so stupid, but I don't want to lose someone I love again."

"Darling, I do understand. And I promise I will come back to you. What can I do to prove it to you?"

"Nothing, Darling. Don't worry; I'm just being stupid. Will you hold me?"

She snuggled close as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Shall I tell you what Mirselene said today?" he asked.

"Go on."

"She said if I asked her, she would annul the agreement and let us stay together."

Annela paused for a second.

"She wasn't serious," she concluded.

"I thought she was," Ezra admitted.

"But she knew you'd say No."

"Maybe, but I was tempted to say Yes."


To be continued