A Place To Bloom

Look

Miyani led me into the great mud building where, inside, it was cool and comfortable. Light came from several of those spherical paper lanterns hanging from strings all around. A few women sat beneath the lanterns reading, while an old man had leaned his head back and slept. There was a large open space in the center where several older children were bossing one another around over something. An older girl glanced between Miyani and me and gave off a wry grin, elbowing her friend to point and giggle at us as well.

Miyani ignored them, and I had bigger priorities. It was the perfect amount of light to shimmer off Miyani's dark skin and gift my eyes with every muscle in her glorious back. And oh, how the cotton flap in the back of her loincloth did bounce over her arse as she walked.

Miyani grabbed a stick from a small basket beneath one of the lanterns. I watched her adorable face, peering up into the lantern to get a flame, and with the shape of her face, the way she smiled with her eyes, my heart fluttered. She peeked at me, then smiled wide, gesturing with her neck to follow her.

There was a dark, narrow corridor beneath a wood frame amid the mud walls with a closed curtain on each side, beyond which was a stone flight of stairs leading up. Everything was dark but for the oiled stick she carried, which cast barely enough light for me to study her sublime silhouette. Her hips, her thighs, God her legs looked delicious. The passageway led us past a few more curtains, and she stopped at one on the right. I came up, and she pressed her hand on my chest. I thought she was about to say something, but instead her fingers meandered down over my stomach and wrapped around my side before sliding down over the curve of my butt. Her face tilted all the way back to look up at me. It was dark, but I could see she was smiling.

I bent down to kiss her.

Her lips pawed at mine, and I was on fire. I couldn't believe it. This wasn't happening. I heard a slight moan, and she brought her hand up to grasp at the back of my head and pull me into her. My heart froze. What if I screwed this up? What if I disappointed her?

What even was about to happen, and would I even be ready?

She pushed me into her apartment and pulled a curtain over the entryway. Then she lifted the flame into a white sphere of a lantern, and the whole thing began to glow a muted orange. Then another in the corner beside a thick padding that sufficed for a bed. With that, she blew out the stick and set it down, then came to stand before me.

She giggled, "dowa ɣʊdʊ ʃʌ'asodesa!" and set her hands to meander across my chest and up to my shoulders. I could see her smiling wide.

My heart thudded against my chest. "OK..." I had to think about that one. "dowa. You want something. ɣʊdʊ, you want it really bad." Miyani gazed up into my eyes as I put the pieces together. "Uh..."

"ʃʌ'aso," she nodded expectantly, still beaming and looking up into me.

I'd got it. "Wait, I know what that means. You... "oh!"

She giggled and continued to gaze up at me.

"Oh!" I nodded, though I couldn't help a grin. "I understood that!"

Miyani lowered her eyes, still giggling. "I soly! I respek chaste. OK?" She set her hands in the center of my chest and looked serious at me. "Plomiss. Uh... plomiss I respek chaste at you. Plomiss. OK?"

No girl had ever said that to me before. And I'd had situations... where... let me say it was evident that respect was not there. A part of me was able to relax. I couldn't help but grin at the thought of it. "So you promise to respect my chastity, do you?"

"Pa... param... paro... yes." She slid her hands just above my belt and around to my back side, gently dipping the tips of her fingers beneath my belt. "I wan look. Is OK?"