One Life Well and Truly Promised Read online

  “Everyone will be all right,” he told her. “They’ll run up the mountain like we did. Father should be here soon, and he’ll know what happened to your family.”

  Akhila glanced up at him, slightly embarrassed by her behavior and then stood quickly. “I need to go out for a minute,” she said and Akintunde nodded.

  He fretted while she was gone. His father should have been here by now…or Eryx or his mother. If they escaped the attack, they would all come to the glade and the Onion Hut. He was worried, but quickly decided that he couldn’t let Akhila see his apprehension. He didn’t want her crying again. He didn’t want her crying…ever. So when she returned he smiled weakly and placed another small log on the fire.

  “The fire’s great,” he told her with false pleasure, though it did feel nice and snug inside the hut.

  Akhila smiled wanly, then took his hand and led him over to a large pile of furs.

  “Let’s go to sleep,” she told him and he nodded, suddenly nervous again as they stretched out side by side. She kept her clothes on and he made no move to remove anything at all.

  “Hold me Tunde,” Akhila whispered as she rolled on her side, her back to him. “I think something bad has happened.”

  Akintunde said nothing to contradict her. He just wrapped his arms around her and pressed his nose into her hair. She smelled like Akhila. She smelled glorious. They were both tense for a long time, each aware of the feel of the other’s body. Together, in silence, they worried about the events below, but after a time they began to relax, though sleep was a long time coming for either.

  ♀

  Akhila woke early the next morning utterly embarrassed by her actions the night before. She couldn’t believe she’d cried like a baby in front of Akintunde and she felt ashamed by her display of weakness. She wondered how Akintunde could even stand to be around her; after all he was in the same situation and appeared to be handling it very well, completely fearless. It was amazing actually. Akhila knew he was deathly afraid of heights, and that snakes and spiders worried him, but apparently attacks from the Lowlanders had little or no effect on him at all. Even now she was up fretting, while he was sleeping peacefully, not a care in the world. She’d fidgeted most of the night and jerked awake at every unfamiliar call or noise that sounded in the night. He hardly stirred, not even when she pulled back several flaps to let in the early morning sunshine.

  His apparent disregard for the danger they were in was beginning to get on her nerves, but instead of waking him, she just watched him sleep. His face was seamless and serene and he wore a slight smile, as if he was dreaming of something pleasant. His black hair was tussled, but that only made him more attractive and vulnerable to her. She studied his face. She thought he was handsome now. In the past year, his features had changed as he’d grown, in her opinion becoming rugged and somewhat manly. However, she could only find a wisp of facial hair on his chin. She knew more was coming; men from her village had a great propensity for facial hair.

  Her mind drifted to the events of the day before. Not the attack, but rather the kisses they’d shared on the sandbar just before the world spun out of control. She flushed at the thought, remembering the feel of his body so close to hers, but then the memory of blood pouring from Tasunke’s mouth flashed through her mind. She shivered, and morbidly wondered who else was dead.

  All at once her hands were shaking and she was afraid she was going to cry again. Instinctively she lashed out and kicked Akintunde in the leg, suddenly fuming.

  “Wake up!” she yelled and Tunde jolted awake and sat up quickly. For a moment Akhila saw fear in his eyes and felt better for it, but after he glanced about and saw no immediate threat, his expression changed to confusion.

  “What?”

  Akhila frowned. “I’m hungry,” she snapped, which was the truth, but it had little to do with her dissipating anger.

  Akintunde nodded, still groggy with sleep. He stood and ran his fingers through his hair then moved out of the hut to relieve his bladder. Akhila remained where she was, bewildered by her recent actions. She was afraid and worried for her family, but she knew if she was going to survive she had to get her emotions under control. Well, she was sure of one thing; she wasn’t going to hang around the hut all day while Akintunde went out hunting. She stood and snatched up a long, thin spear and stepped out of the hut. Akintunde was only about fifteen paces away, facing a tree with his back to her. The front of his tunic was pulled up. She couldn’t see anything, but the sight brought up the memory of his staff pressing hard against her belly the day before. She felt blood rush to her face just as Tunde dropped his tunic and turned to look at her.

  “Can’t you do that farther from camp?” She barked to cover her embarrassment.

  Akintunde frowned but said nothing, still unsure how to act around Akhila since last night. He glanced at the spear in her hands and saw her bristle once more.

  “I’m going with you today,” she announced, her voice brooking no argument.

  “All right,” Akintunde agreed, though he felt he had a much better chance of making a kill without Akhila in the mix. Oh, she was good with a spear, very accurate and he’d seen her make several big kills with it over the years, including a badger and a Roe deer. Even so, such kills were relatively rare and the chances of them coming across anything large in the glade were long. Nevertheless, he remained quiet about his misgivings, sensing that Akhila was still unsettled by the Lowlander’s attack

  “Well, let’s go get something…I’m hungry too,” Akintunde remarked and smiled. Akhila smiled weakly back, happy that he agreed to have her along despite her recent behavior.

  They didn’t bother to seal the hut up tight; they wouldn’t be leaving the glade. Without a word, Akintunde headed out of the pine grove and directly across the open meadow. He planned to hug the inside of the hedgerow, hoping to catch a jack drawn out into the open by the succulent grasses. The sun was already over the distant hills and shining brightly, but it was still early enough for the animals to be about. They’d only gone a few hundred paces down the hedgerow when Akhila spotted a family of partridges in the distance. She tapped Akintunde on the shoulder and pointed. Akintunde already had a stone loaded in his sling. He nodded, but knew that the birds were too far away at the moment, so together they crept forward, working their way closer.

  Akintunde moved patiently, Akhila directly on his left hip. She made sure to stay well out of the way of his sling arm, in case he had to swing and fire quickly. The birds seemed unaware of the threat as the two slunk to just within range. Akintunde eased out of his crouch, but before he could launch his missile the birds flew off across the open field, and were lost in the distant trees.

  Akintunde frowned and glanced back at Akhila. He was sure he’d not done anything to alarm the birds, but Akhila was just squatting behind him, a similar expression of disgust on her face. Akintunde sighed, and was just about to follow after the birds when the bushes fifty paces ahead began to rustle with movement. He readied his sling, understanding instantly that it had been something in the briar that had frightened off the birds. He thought perhaps it might be a jackal or a fox, either way he would try to kill it. He was very hungry and his stomach rumbled loudly at the thought of fresh meat.

  Akintunde twirled his sling overhead as the hidden beast moved closer. He sensed Akhila tensing by his side, but his eyes never left the spot where the sticker bushes were rustling about. Finally, a dark snout appeared at the edge of the field and as it grew larger Akintunde fired. It was a risk, flinging the rock through the outer edges of the hedgerow, but he was hoping to kill the animal before it became aware of the danger and could dart back into the protection of the bushes.

  The polished river stone flew straight and true, bursting through the thin tangle of growth near the edge of the meadow and both young hunters clearly heard the satisfying thunk of a strike. They both started forward in a rush, Akhila raising her spear in case their prey was just stunned, but before th
ey’d gone a half a dozen steps a deep, angry growl greeted them. Akintunde came to a quick halt, stopping just behind Akhila who was a bit more anxious to complete the kill. Neither had time to react before a large black bear bolted out of cover. It immediately turned on the two young hunters and roared its displeasure.

  Akintunde’s eyes widened and he actually backed away a couple of steps before stopping once more. Akhila hadn’t moved other than to raise her spear a bit higher in defense.

  The bear was unimpressed by the girl and moved slowly closer. Suddenly he stopped and roared again; showing a mouthful of sharp, white teeth. Despite the impressive display of fangs, both Akhila and Akintunde knew it was the bear’s claws they had to worry about most. One quick swipe could break an arm or back, and each claw was sharp enough to shred skin to the bone.

  The bear was still about twenty paces away, but even from that distance Akintunde could smell the sharp, musky tang of its fur. It was all he could do to keep from turning and sprinting off as fast as he could go. It was good he repressed the urge; the bear would have caught him easily in the open field. In any event he could not leave Akhila, who showed no sign of wanting to flee. She steadfastly faced the bear; her gaze never wavering. It was only the whites of her knuckles where she gripped the spear that betrayed her true fear.

  The bear roared again before standing tall on its hind legs. Akhila raised her spear higher and circled to the left. Akintunde followed behind her and out of the corner of his eye caught sight of a long branch lying in the tall grass. Despite the danger facing them, Akintunde briefly wondered how the branch got there, since the closest tree was thirty paces away. His mind however, did not solve the puzzle before Akhila slowly crossed in front of it. Akintunde took his eye off the bear for a brief second as he bent down to retrieve the branch. Once he lowered his gaze however, the bear roared and charged. Akintunde jumped and jerked the branch up, accidentally tripping Akhila who shifted quickly back. She staggered briefly, but did not go down.

  “Tunde!” She gasped partly in anger and partly in fear, and by the time she’d regained her balance the bear was nearly on top of her.

  Akintunde tried to point the end of the branch at the charging beast, but it was absurdly long. It was all he could do to keep the far end off the ground. It was very heavy and unwieldy.

  By a stroke of good fortune however, the bear was only bluffing and pulled out of the charge at the last moment. He roared and swatted at Akhila’s spear, catching the point and nearly ripping the weapon from her grasp.

  Akintunde lifted the branch with all his strength and leaned back slightly to counter its length. He finally managed to raise the point and then without hesitating, he swung the branch around until the tip pointed at the bear’s midsection and charged.

  The bear backed away, swung its paw and shattered several feet of the rotten branch. It roared again.

  “HA!” Akhila yelled. She slowly circled, jabbing quickly with her spear, but not actually coming anywhere close to the beast with the weapon.

  “HA!” Akintunde yelled with her, lifting the branch once more. The tip came off the ground with ease, partly because of fear induced strength and partly because it was now considerably shorter. He charged forward again, frightened to his core that Akhila would get hurt…or worse killed.

  The bear’s attention was split between the two as he once more swiped at Akhila’s spear. The bear missed as Akintunde pushed forward. This time the tip of his makeshift weapon actually poked the bear in its side. The force of the blow was minor and certainly not enough to break through the bear’s tough hide, but the touch alarmed the beast and it swung its full attention to Akintunde and bellowed. It swiped at the branch again, knocking the point away and opening an avenue to attack.

  Before the bear could take advantage however, Akhila moved in and jabbed it in the backside. The spear was a good deal sharper and poked through the thick hide, but it did not sink deeply. Nevertheless the bear jumped and howled as Akintunde lifted the branch once more.

  The bear however, was finished with the fight, and quickly spun around and lumbered away from them, before veering back into the tangled growth of the briar.

  Together they watched the bear retreat until it was out of sight, but neither lowered their guard for several long minutes. Finally, Akhila glanced over at her best friend and managed a weak smile before her legs went rubbery. She squatted; feeling wrung out, and then fell onto her backside. Akintunde dropped the branch, raced over and fell to his knees beside her. He started laughing, and after a moment she shakily rose to her knees and pulled him into a hug. They embraced tightly, laughing hysterically in relief, and before either of them were truly aware of it their mouths came together and they kissed.

  The touch was soft and innocent at first, but quickly turned hard and searching, both looking for comfort, reassurance and acceptance. They kissed, oblivious to their surroundings, wanting nothing more than to hold one another, at least until Akintunde’s hand wandered from Akhila’s waist and found her right breast. Small though it was, it was still incredibly soft, and he instinctively squeezed gently, afraid of hurting her.

  Akhila made a small noise of pleasure and it was all the encouragement Akintunde needed. Greedily he pushed against her, and she eagerly dropped back into the grass, pulling him on top of her as she went down. Akhila relished the feel of his lean, hard body pressing against her own. His hand was still on her breast, teasing her nipple and driving all coherent thought from her mind. Her hands were wrapped around him, pulling him closer then suddenly, seemingly on their own accord; they began fumbling at the tie at his waist.

  ‘I hope the bear doesn’t come back and eat us,’ Akhila thought and then Akintunde was kissing her neck, driving away any such thoughts.

  Akintunde was oblivious to her efforts for several moments, but then he felt the tie loosen and he lifted his weight off of her. Almost instantly his tunic was pulled up around his shoulders, his under tunic fortuitously coming with it. They continued to kiss for several seconds, both refusing to break contact, but finally they moved apart. Akhila quickly yanked Akintunde’s tunic up and off and her clothes quickly followed.

  Tunde hovered over her for a moment, his eyes flickering over her body, lingering on all the spots normally hidden from view. A hawk cried from high above, and Akintunde took a moment to glance around at their surroundings. No bear, no people. They were alone, utterly alone.

  “Tunde,” Akhila whispered huskily, reaching up for him. He turned and looked down into her dark brown eyes and smiled. He dropped down on her gently, his hard staff of life pressing warmly against her lower belly.

  “Tunde,” she repeated quietly, her hands on his lower back, pulling him close. His mouth moved to hers and then drifted back to her neck and then down to her left breast. She gasped as he sucked and pulled at the taunt nipple. She concentrated on the feel of his mouth for a brief moment but was soon lost in the electric sensations that flooded her young body. Instinctively she pushed her hips up while pulling him closer still.

  Akintunde was content to tease her breasts, circling her hard nipple with his tongue, until she groaned and thrust hard against him. Akintunde pulled up, his face hot. He was vaguely aware of Akhila’s breath coming in deep, quick gasps. Once his weight was off of her Akhila quickly shifted her position and spread her legs and pulled him down between them. She felt his staff of life press firmly but deliciously against the heat of her crotch. It pushed insistently against her, but was never quite in the correct spot. Tunde’s movements quickly became frantic and for a brief second she despaired that he would ever find her on his own, but then she rotated her pelvis up toward him and he slipped painfully inside her, plunging in deep and then deeper still.

  Akhila cried out, the pain and warmth much more intense than she anticipated. Suddenly Akintunde was backing out of her and her heart fell. Her hands struggled to grasp his waist; afraid he was going to pull out all together, for fear of hurting her, but he had no in
tention of leaving her soft warmth. Lost as he was in the smooth heat of her body, he was completely unaware of her discomfort. Almost immediately he plunged back into her, deeper this time and she gasped again, though more in surprise this time than pain. Then, he was moving in and out quickly, gaining both momentum and rhythm. In moments he was moving in and out of her so frantically that it was all she could do just to hold on. At first it was painful and awkward, but as his movements continued she slowly began to feel a slight hint of pleasure.

  The pain of his repeated penetrations was just beginning to recede into the back of her mind when Akintunde suddenly tensed. A second later he cried out and she felt his wet, hot fluid of life fill her lower belly.

  Akintunde collapsed over her, panting hard and pinning her down in the tall grass. Akhila was confused, but oddly satisfied. She was well aware that the first time was often filled with pain, all the women of the village said so. But according to their daily chatter, she also expected a great deal of pleasure. She could still feel Akintunde inside her, filling and stretching her nicely, and while the sensation was oddly comforting, Akhila couldn’t say that she derived much pleasure from the encounter. Nevertheless, she did not want Akintunde to leave her and remained motionless beneath him.

  Finally he lifted up and smiled down at her.

  “Hi,” he said softly.

  “Hi,” she replied huskily, and he was so obviously happy that Akhila could not help but smile back. However, her hands continued to grip his waist firmly least he think of pulling out of her. Despite her fear, Akintunde was quite content to remain exactly where he was; the thought of removing himself from her body had never even crossed his mind.

  “Are you…are you all right?” he belatedly asked, feeling a bit horrified. He’d completely lost control of his actions and feared he’d hurt her badly.

  Akhila smiled up at him, relishing the feel of his hard member resting inside her.