“But I cannot remain here for the rest of my life!” I laughed.
He nodded his head, smiling. That, too, could be arranged, he said. In the meantime it would be better to say nothing of my intention to leave, since many of the parents, who could accept my departure in the normal course of events would, if warned of it prior to my nuptials with their daughter, perhaps be unwilling to surrender their daughter to me. But afterwards, who could be forewarned of the will of God? Like the practical people they were, they would accept.
At sunset, I sat next to the chief and watched the males with their hideous tribal masks raising dust from the earth by the beat of their hard heels. The dance was confessedly sexualthere is no line of demarcation between religion and sexuality amongst most of the tribesmen of Africa. Religion, or rather religious experience and sexuality, are contained and expressed within a composite series of actions, gestures and genuflections, incapable of analysis into their component elements. It is not clear even to these people themselves where the frenzy of religion ends and the ecstasy of sexual passion begins. The men, feathered and masked, seemed almost to be involved in a kind of orgasm as they danced. The women, as they approached with their breasts bare and a little tail of colored cloth between their glistening black thighs, moved inwards in a loose circle about the men, obviously in the grip of some kind of lust which caused them to wish to mingle with the men. Then, suddenly, the women were in the center, huddled together and quivering, like a flock of Sabine women waiting to be taken, while the men, making obscene gestures with their plumed hips, seemed to threaten them in a way that was half ritual and half stark physical lust.
The circle was not closed. A segment had been cut out, as it were, to allow the headsman and those, among whom I was numbered, who sat about him to see deep into the center where the women quivered frenziedly in half-simulated passion.
Before the dance had gone far, I found myself looking directly into the eyes of one of those women, whose black body rippled and writhed in the torchlight. My friend, the chief, followed my glance and laid his hand on my forearm.
“You are attracted?” he whispered. “You wish to fuck her?”
I nodded without replying.
“It is easily arranged,” he said. “I am a good friend of her parents. I myself will provide the oxen and in return you can send me a gift when you return to your own country.”
I agreed immediately. The girl, her round, firm breasts smeared with some kind of oil that glistened in the light of the fire, was still undulating her hips and gazing in my direction. I desired her at once.
Without delay, the headsman sent a boy to fetch the girl's parents who, a moment later, presented themselves obediently before their chief. He spoke quickly in the native tongue. The father, a man of about fifty, nodded gravely all the while, and swiftly the chief turned to me and said that everything had been agreed upon.
The dance continued, but I noted with pleasure that the girl had broken away from the group of women who were still huddled in the center of the feathered and painted men, and that her mother took her hand immediately and led her away into the darkness.
“In five minutes,” my friend said, “a boy will come to fetch you. You will go with him and then you will be free to do as you please.”
I thanked him gratefully and waited for the return of my messenger. The whole pristine nature of this assignation caused the passion within me to become almost uncontainable. I was more than relieved when the boy arrived and waited respectfully for me to join him. I left at once after shaking hands with the headsman, who said in his broken English:
“May the night bring you much pleasure and the woman much love!”
The boy conducted me through the village to the door of a small hut which was set apart from the rest. It occurred to me to wonder whether this was the hut which was set aside for the nuptials of a first mating. Unfortunately, I always forgot to ask the headsman, so I have never been able to confirm my suspicion. The boy left me at the door. In the distance I could still see the black shadows of the dancers who hurled themselves about the fire at the far end of the village. Drawing a deep breath, I stooped and entered.
There was no light within.
At first I thought the hut was empty. There was no sign of movement. But then, suddenly, I became aware of the stenchI use the word advisedlyof my young bride. It was like no smell I had ever smelled, or rather, if one is impolite enough to suggest that European women have a smell, the present one was that of a female raised to an indescribable pitch of sexual pungency. It struck at my nostrils and caused me almost to lose courage. But I divested myself of my silly prejudice and breathed inwards deeply. What an amazing effect! The odor seemed to rise in my head like strong drink and send a soft, needling sensation over the skin of my belly and loins. Never before in my life had I felt such a powerful lust.
Still in the darkness, my eyes growing accustomed gradually, I removed my clothes. My throbbing engorged tool sprang out before me as if seeking its warm receptacle in the gloom. By this time, I had become aware of the girl's breathing. Undoubtedly, because she had been there longer than I, and because of the stark whiteness of my skin, she was now able to see me clearly, but as yet I had only the vaguest notion of her whereabouts in the hut. My erection was almost painful in its rigidity. Leaning forwards, like an animal in the forest, I tried to sense her exact position. Poor civilized creature that I was! How slow are the senses of a civilized man! I was aware of her, but I did not know where she was!
Dear girl that she was, she realized immediately the nature of my difficulty. Almost at once, I felt a warm hand close around my wrist and I was pulled forward in the darkness onto a bed of dried rushes. At first they pricked my sides painfully, but then I became overpoweringly aware of the oily softness of the body that pressed itself against me. She guided my hand to her thighs and with gratitude I began to stroke her pussy tenderly. My thumb found her clit and teased it until I could feel it swell to my touch. At the same time I inserted first one finger, then another into her accepting grotto. Her subtle movements beneath my hand combined with the darkness of the hut acted like a drug on my senses. I felt dazed and overcome by lust, my sophisticated nature being overcome by the raw vitality and sensuality of the place. I manipulated her with my fingers, my palm flat against her mount, while my erection grew to enormous lengths.
I abandoned myself completely to her embrace, finding her lips with my own and crushing her mouth open with the pressure of my lips and tongue. She groaned softly as I reared back and my cock burst through her coarse hairs. I found myself inundated with the sticky lubricant of her passion, risen naturally from the fertile gland within the soft orb of her belly. I set myself to give her the ultimate depth of pleasure, teasing her, rousing her, running my hardness again and again in long full strokes between the smooth flanges of her sex.
Her soft buttocks rose and fell in a perpetual rhythm, and each time I drew my rod from her, her mouth opened and she let out a wild, animal cry that caused my buttocks to tighten and my movements to become frenzied. I drove into her again and again, reveling in my strength and my dominance, though I suspect she used me as she wished. Of course, no thought of that entered my mind. My entire attention was focused on bringing her to the brink of utter surrender, then letting her down before the joyous moment was passed. In this way we continued to build our anticipation and desire until she bucked beneath like an untamed animal and I plowed into her with the same savage fury. My cock tingled and my body began to spasm uncontrollably, though I was not quite ready to release the geyser that was rising quickly to the surface.