The One About Jamaharon, Part Three
Posted on August 13th, 2015 by Alexis Wright and Kathryn Harper

by Alexis Wright and Kathryn Harper

The remainder of their walk down the moonlit shore took but a few minutes, and soon Kate and Lexy were brushing the sand off of their feet outside the guest house before entering. Lexy darted inside ahead of Kate, vanishing into her room for a moment before returning to the comfortably furnished common area. “Now,” she said, fidgeting nervously, “I have another question for you. Would you say I am a standard tourist here?”

"Of course not. I would never have taken you to that particular beach if you were, not to mention all the other things you have seen." Kate narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Why would you ask that?"

Lexy’s cheeks burned like fire, but she forced herself to be bold. “Because I want you to understand that I know what it means when I show you this.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a fist which she held out in front of her. Slowly unfurling her fingers to reveal the small statue resting on her palm, she slid her eyes up to meet Kate’s.

Kate gasped, certainly not expecting Lexy to show her a horga’hn, of all things. "You know what this… how did… I mean who, er, but, hm." She took a moment to gather her thoughts, then tried again. "I thought you wanted a slow pace?"

Lexy’s face fell and she swiftly hid the horga’hn behind her back. “You don’t want to? I’ve offended you! I’m so sorry! I just thought that… well, after the native beach, and… we’re about to leave on this dangerous mission… I just thought… Oh, forgive me!”

"No! That is not it at all! I just did not think that you would be ready for such a thing quite yet." Kate placed her hands on Lexy’s hips. "I assure you that it is not offensive to me. Not coming from you, and certainly not in the way that you mean it."

Bashfully, Lexy brought the statue out from behind her back and stared at it as she spoke. “To be honest with you, I don’t know if I’m ready either, since I can’t even talk about it without blushing like a silly person. Not to mention… well, like your mother said, I… don’t know ‘how to have the sex with a woman’. But it just seems like the right time, you know?” Meeting Kate’s eyes, she continued with a grin, “Besides, how much longer can I keep you waiting after we’ve hugged and kissed completely naked?”

"Mmmm, yes, that was exquisitely intimate," Kate began, the memory clearly quite pleasing, "but it is not about keeping me… wait, what?… my mother did what?!"

“Wh-when we were talking this morning, she wanted to know why you and I ‘have not yet had the sex,’” Lexy replied meekly, shrinking slightly away from Kate’s raised voice.

Kate dropped her face into her palm, covering her eyes and nose with an audible thump. A few choice words in the Risan language made their way out of her mouth before she looked up, blushing, and said, "I am so sorry, Lexy. That must have been unimaginably awkward for you."

“Well, it was, but…” Lexy stopped once she saw Kate’s face. “Are you… are you blushing?”

There was no sense in denying the heat in her cheeks. "I am, because of my mother – I just can not believe she did that! I told her about human sensibilities and to not to go full Risan on you. I think human parents often embarrass their children just as much, yes?"

“Yes, I’m sure. Parents are probably the same no matter your species. That’s why I think Jhnal was just trying to help, Kate. I don’t think she meant any harm.” Lexy put her empty hand on Kate’s shoulder reassuringly. “Your parents together gave me this,” she said, indicating the horga’hn with her chin, “in the hopes of helping me communicate with you when I was ready.” With a faint smile, she added, “In their way, it was actually really sweet of them.”

"I know they meant well," Kate conceded. "But you told me you wanted to move slowly, and I would respect your wishes. I explicitly explained this to them, yet she still had to force the issue. I do not want you to feel uncomfortable…" Kate paused a moment, willing herself to move past what her parents had done and into the present. Lexy was trying to tell her something right now, and could not have picked a more unambiguous way to convey her message. "But here you are, presenting me with a horga’hn, with full understanding of what it means to a native Risan. So maybe you are not uncomfortable after all?"

“I’m nervous, and maybe a little scared, but not specifically uncomfortable,” Lexy replied with a shrug. “As I said before, I don’t know if I’m ready either, and I have no idea what I’m doing, but… it just seemed like a good time. So I decided, why not be bold? I thought… it might be good to do it before we leave. That’s all.”

Kate trailed her fingertips down Lexy’s cheek, her voice quiet. "It is far more than a good time. And were one… or both of us to not return from this mission, then yes, it is a shared experience I would wish for us, while we have the chance." Tears threatened to escape the corners of her eyes at that thought, but she blinked them away and offered a tender smile. "I admire the courage you have shown on this trip. Confessing your feelings for me, accepting the mission, and even actually going to a nude beach! Now this… you never cease to surprise me, and I find that to be delightful. But, after what you told me on the way here, I must be sure that this is truly your desire, and not perhaps some latent fear that you are not moving fast enough for me."

Lexy shook her head. “I don’t think it’s that. I trust you. I feel safe with you. I think this is truly what I desire, and if at any point I change my mind, I’ll say ‘stop’.” She slipped the horga’hn back into her pocket and took both of Kate’s hands. “But are you sure you want this with me, as awkward and clumsy as I’m going to be, all blushes and fumbles? I can’t stress enough that I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s okay if you don’t want me.”

"Oh, believe me, I want you," Kate growled, her voice acquiring an undercurrent of primal lust as the restraint she had been exercising around Lexy began to fall away. "Yes, yes, I would be thrilled to perform the rite of jamaharon with you." She dropped Lexy’s hands and pulled their bodies together with a surprising amount of force. "As for not knowing how to ‘have the sex with a woman,’ do not fret. I will. take care. of that." Each staccato assertion was punctuated by a light tap of her finger on the tip of Lexy’s nose.

A shiver went up her spine at the sudden huskiness in Kate’s voice and the roughness of the embrace, and she licked her lips. “So, you’ll teach me? Because I really wanna learn…” She slid her hands up the curves of Kate’s back and tipped her chin upward for a kiss, which Kate eagerly provided with a new ferocity that caught Lexy off guard. With a soft whimper, she melted into Kate’s arms, wondering just what she had unleashed. “Plus,” she mumbled breathlessly when they came up for air, “I need to experience jamaharon… for science."

"I will teach you everything I know. And after tonight, you will not remember any science…" Kate whispered as she began to back away and pull Lexy toward her bedroom, seductively biting her lip, eyes hungry.

Emboldened by the positive response and nervously excited about what was to come, Lexy giggled and let Kate pull her into the bedroom. The properly-done complete rite of jamaharon took the entire night, and during that time, she only ever said ‘stop’ when directly preceding it with ‘don’t’. The next morning, both of the new lovers missed breakfast, instead remaining fast asleep in an utterly spent pile of tangled limbs, tousled hair, and rumpled sheets. At the dining table without them, Jhnal and Rolik feasted on a morning meal of self-satisfaction, pleased by what they had helped come to pass.