The Start of Time

by Marilyn Foxworthy

I said, “There is no doubt of that. I will do my best to make you happy as well.”

  She said, “My Love, my life has never known what happiness was until today. Even as we each lay dying in the heat of the day, my happiness was spoiled only by the thought that it had been so short. I have lived a lifetime of happiness…and the ‘little deaths’ just since sundown. We have a thousand years ahead of us.”

  We fell asleep moments later. My final thoughts were of how right she was. And how right I felt here under these furs with my new princess, and here on the new world. What tomorrow would bring would wait until it came. But, did we have a thousand years ahead of us? I knew that the people of Barsoom were nearly ageless, and so had been John Carter, but was I? Would something in the environment prolong my life as well?

  Chapter 10 Morning on a New World

  Aeyli-ah woke me in the morning saying, “Mark, it’s dawn.”

  My first reaction as I woke up was to question the reality of my circumstances, the events of the previous day, and to reassure myself of our feelings for each other. It was just a fraction of a second, but my first thought was to ask her if she had regrets; if she still felt the same as she had last night.

  How ludicrous life was on Earth! Here there was no need. Aeyli-ah spoke her mind, and she expected me to. We knew the intentions behind every word spoken to us. If there was deception, we might not know what that deception was, but we’d generally know that it was there. Aeyli-ah loved me and she meant that in the same factual way that she meant that is was dawn.

  There were no windows in the room and it was only the lamps that lit the place, but where the lamps had been red the evening before, they were now a brighter daylight color. Aeyli-ah explained that the lamps acted as a clock of sorts, mimicking the movement of the sun above the planet. Throughout the day, they would remain white, but at evening they turned dimly red. The red light stayed on all night because of the constant possibility of danger, but the red tint did not interfere with night vision and transition from the red light into darkness wouldn’t cause temporary blindness the way that moving from a white light into darkness would. We had slept in the red glow throughout the night, but if darkness were required, the small water bags could be used as lamp covers to hide the light.

  I felt good as I rose for the day. I noticed a very slight stiffness in the large muscles of my legs and in my stomach. They had been exercised a great deal more than usual over the past two days, but the soreness was much lighter than I would have expected. I felt good, and of course, my companion looked exceptionally good!

  This new life was a paradox. It was more dangerous and completely unknown, and yet simple and entirely knowable. The burden of each moment was lighter than on Earth. Starting with the ease of communication and continuing with the daily choices to be made. A week ago, it would have been ‘What problems will come up at work? How will I deal with upper management in the meeting at 10AM? Should I buy gas on the way there, or should I wait until I leave for the afternoon? At this time of morning, what’s the fastest route to the office? Which of several projects should I try to make progress on? Are we on schedule?’ and that was all before leaving the house. Here my question was, ‘What will we find to eat?’ and nothing more. Actually, the question was ‘What will I find for Aeyli-ah to eat?’ As for me, I could, and would love to, exist on just the honey flavored milk. Its restorative nourishment seemed more than adequate and the means of getting it from its source were…very nice in the extreme. I began to dwell on that thought, but forced myself to move on.

  That was another difference; on Earth, I would have had a sense of poverty about things and I would have wondered if and when another opportunity for sex would come. Here there was no real question: it would come as soon as I asked or as soon as she did.

  I didn’t know what the morning routine on my new home planet was, but I followed my beautiful companion’s lead. There was no ‘getting dressed’, because there were no clothes, but we did buckle on our belts. I removed the bracing poles from the door and Aeyli-ah removed the hanging fur that had muffled any sound we had made the previous night. I’m sure that it hadn’t been much help in that regard.

  When we went to pick up our weapons, the girl stopped and took my knife from me and cut a shallow notch where the handle met the blade and attached a small thong of leather that she used to hang the swords from our belts.

  She said, “Mark, again I have to say that these are remarkable weapons. They will make travel much more secure and comfortable. I’m looking forward to seeing them used.”

  I didn’t share the sentiment. I dreaded the use of the swords, but I knew that I would use them without the slightest hesitation when the need presented itself. I didn’t intend to go looking for trouble. I knew that Aeyli-ah wasn’t looking for trouble either; she just knew the dangers of this world far better than I did and she knew that trouble was inevitable.

  Aeyli-ah attached several more of the water bags to her belt, and when we were ready, she opened the door and checked for dangers. Satisfied that it was safe, I followed her through the door. She closed and locked it behind us. We carried every possession we owned except for the large sleeping furs. Our belts, a few pouches for water and the items that I’d received as gifts from John Carter, a few extra thongs of leather, our knives, and our new swords.

  I followed my Martian lovely down the hall on the floor that we were in and at the end, she turned into a room that served as a Martian restroom. No one wants to read a long description of a Barsoomian toilet, but briefly, there were four. Roughly the size and shape of a western toilet on earth. There wasn’t any water in them, but they were made from a nearly frictionless material that made flushing unnecessary. There were no stalls; everything was in the open. Without clothing, there was apparently no need for modesty or privacy here either.

  As we left the room, Aeyli-ah said, “My wonderful Mark, the building should be safe enough for us during the day. The large creatures will not return again until it gets dark tonight. We should fill our water bags and then we can go find food. Today will be easier than yesterday,” and she smiled at me and led me down the stairways to the ground floor.

  She took me back to the pool of drinking water. First, we drank a bag each, and then we filled the rest, six bags in all. Then we left the building to find food.

  Outside, as we passed the edge of the ruins, still moving in the direction we had come the day before, Aeyli-ah pointed and said, “See, there in the distance? About an hour away? There’s a forest of a kind. We’ll find fruit and vegetables. They are delicious,” and we walked on.

  After a bit, I asked, “Aeyli-ah, um, you have never seen a woman of my world,” I teased slightly paraphrasing what she had said to me about the differences between myself and men of Barsoom. I continued, “There are differences between you and them.”

  She smiled and said, “Oh, in what ways?” and laughed.

  I answered, “Well, first, you are a little taller. On my world, the average woman is about four inches shorter than you.”

  She continued smiling and said, “Well, here, I assure you that I am of average height. What else?”

  That was funny. She had just lied to me! Not exactly, and I could tell from the emotional content that she was joking a bit, but apparently she wasn’t exactly average height in some way. Of course, she knew that I knew that she was teasing me somehow.

  I smiled and went on, saying, “Well, I told you already that you are more beautiful than any woman of Earth.”

  Again, smiling she said, “Oh, you poor people! How sad for you both. I assure you again, here I am considered no more than average in my looks. It is my great fortune to have found a mate who knows no better but thinks of me as a beauty.”

  This time there was no hint that she thought of herself as anything but average in the beauty department.

  She went on, “But, in what other ways? You have something specific on your mind, I can tell. Don’t tell me that the pussies of you
r world are tiny and dry and that mine is abnormally juicy and active!”

  I said, “Well, um, that’s not what I was thinking about, but now that you mention it, yes, in many cases, what you just said is true. You are amazingly wonderful feeling and have much greater muscle control there than I have ever heard of on earth. Making love with you is more than Earth women could ever hope for. But you’ve already said that you’re unusual in that respect, even for women here. And lucky for me!”

  She said, “How did I say that I was unusual? I said no such thing!”

  I answered, “You said that other women don’t experience orgasm as easily, as intensely, or as frequently as you do.”

  She said, “Ah, but I said that you are unusual in that respect. Who knows but that you would have the same effect on other women as well. But still, you are avoiding the true issue. What is the difference?”

  I said, “It’s the milk. First, on my world, women only produce milk for babies and only for a short time after birth.”

  She raised an eyebrow and said, “And? What else?”

  I answered, “And, they don’t squirt during orgasm!”

  She smiled and said, “You like that don’t you! You really like it. And I am so happy that you do! Um, OK, let me explain what I can. The milk of a woman’s breasts, as I’ve said, is a gift for her mate. She produces it only when her mate has been chosen and her body desires to nourish him.”

  I started to interrupt, but she shut me down and continued.

  She said, “Yes, you stupid prince, by the time I caught up with you, I had plenty of milk! I felt it being made inside me for the hours that I chased you. I knew that my choice was made. My body had chosen you. Do you know that if you hadn’t dropped to the ground when you did that I would have never caught up to you? I chased after you for several hours, and it took me another two or more to reach you after you collapsed. If you hadn’t slept, I found the place where you had lain, I would have had no hope. I ran all night and had just caught sight of you when you rose up and ran away from me again. Within minutes, you had out distanced me and I couldn’t see you, but I ran on in the direction you pursued until I found you again. By then, my body had produced a lot of milk. A lot! It was a relief to have you drink from my breasts.

  You see, the milk is produced by strong emotional attachment and according to how often it is drunk. Mark, I love you very strongly and my body knows it. I feel my breasts filling with every step and every touch of your hand and hip as we walk. I told you, I’m yours!”

  She paused and looked at me, “My goodness, that’s what this is about! You want my breasts even now! I can tell. Why do you hide from me? Prince, take your prize! Take off your belt.”

  Aeyli-ah stopped and faced me and took off her belt and dropped it on the ground and I did the same. She was right, I did want her breasts again. I think that she expected me to lie down on the moss, but instead, I pulled her to me and hoisted her legs up around my waist and lifted her breasts to the level of my lips. I took one fully in my mouth and sucked hard. The girl threw her head back and moaned and pulled my face firmly against her chest.

  I felt the sweet liquid flow into my mouth and I drank hungrily. With each mouthful, I felt strength flowing into my body. With each mouthful, I felt her love and my love…and my body responding below my waist. I drank deeply from each breast, filling myself with the life that her body produced for its chosen mate. My penis was hard as a rock, but she was too high on my body for it to penetrate her while I fed at her tits. But the tip did tickle at her now swollen and eager entrance.

  When I had drunk my fill, and when my body screamed that it couldn’t wait any longer, I pulled her down the seven inches separating me from the depths of her womanhood. Aeyli-ah had been in orgasm for several minutes already, but now, with me filling her, her motions and moans intensified.

  Minutes later, I grunted, “My Princess I can’t wait anymore!” and she surprised me my pushing herself forcefully away from me.

  I tried to hold her to me, but she cried, “No! Mark, let me go!”

  I was shocked out of my caveman brain, and actually dropped her to the ground, having no idea what was wrong and why she insisted on escaping my embrace.

  In the next second, the reason became clear as she reached around me and used her arms to force my shaft all the way down her throat. And now I threw my head back and exploded with a loud groan. My eyes rolled back in my head and my legs wobbled as shot after shot of my ejaculation was swallowed eagerly by my bride. Even after I was done, she continued sucking at me and milking me with her fingers, pulling every drop I had.

  When she was done, she pulled me from her lips and looked up at me from the ground where she knelt.

  She said, “Mark, if this is how you want to breakfast every morning…and dinner every night, we will be a very happy couple!” She took my hand and I helped her to her feet

  She said, “After that, I don’t need to rest, and I know that you don’t either. Shall we go on and I’ll tell you more? So, first, listen to me. Just as you enjoy drinking from my breasts, I crave your nourishing gift to me as well. I love it. Am I different than Women of Earth in that respect as well?”

  I nodded and she continued, “As girls coming of age, we were told that both our milk, and the milk of men, was valuable for survival in dire circumstances, but in private, the women would whisper about the pleasantries of feeding a mate and being fed by him. They would say that the ways of instructing girls was passed down for many centuries unchanged, but that in our times, survival was harder and that our bodies had decided that since we needed the nourishment, that they would make it more delightful for us.

  There is another reason. The human birthrate on Barsoom is very low. We don’t know why. Women are in control of their birth cycles. They conceive when they consent, we say. Some think that in these times, women don’t want to conceive. Of course, a woman would never conceive without the consent of her mate anyway. They say that perhaps consent to conceive effects the seed of the man and that he has some control, just as the woman does.

  My Prince, you may fill my pussy with your essence as often as you like, but if you give me the chance now and then to take it from you as I did a moment ago, you’ll make me very happy. If you warn me in time, I’ll take the drink; if not, I’ll feel you fill me and orgasm as I did last night. Oh the ecstasy!

  Um, but to the differences between me and women of my own planet, I don’t really know. I’ve never been told about women who squirt milk as their lover gives them his best, but I still think that may be due to you, rather than me. I think that any woman subjected to your lovemaking would do the same. I don’t see how it would be possible not to. No one ever said that a woman could have the ‘little death’ with her mate at her tit either, but I have it over and over because of your mouth sucking at me and the feeling of it being pulled from my body to course through my lover’s veins.

  The milk of my breasts is very nourishing; perhaps more than any other substance on the planet. You’ve gone for three days without food. Our women do feed infants on our milk as well, and they grow very strong, very quickly. We will only feed an infant this way for a month and then they are ready for solid food.

  My Beloved, if we lived alone our whole lives, I think that you would thrive forever on nothing but the milk that my body makes for you. I suspect that’s why we live for a number of years that no one counts. Fruit is nourishing, but people with no mate don’t live as long. Even a woman, if her mate dies, if she doesn’t find another one, will eventually age and pass from this world.

  The milk you give to me is somehow life giving to me, though obviously of in a more limited quantity. Some think that perhaps the woman is sustained by the production of her own milk, even if she does not get her gift from a man. I don’t care. I love it and will take it as often as you give me the chance.

  Oh, and the milk has the other effect on the man. It seems that, as you have seen, and I have felt between my legs ha
ppily, the breast milk enhances the effects of arousal and makes more lovemaking possible.

  Mark, My Prince, sadly men are becoming rare on Barsoom. The birthrate is low, and when a child is born, it’s five times as likely to be a girl than a boy. It causes a lot of problems for the planet. But we can talk about that later. While you may not need food since you have me as your fountain of youth, I still do. Help me find some.”

  Chapter 11 My Weapon Works

  We had arrived at the small woods that Aeyli-ah had led us to, and as we entered she taught me about the plants and warned me about the animals.

  The trees were small, maybe no more than thirty feet tall, and the wood wasn’t dense. As we walked, Aeyli-ah scanned the trees for fruit.

  After several minutes, she suddenly pointed and said, “There! See, the fruit is near the top.”

  She crouched down and unrolled the larger sack that she had brought from the room that we had stayed in.

  She said, “Now, all we have to do is reach it. The branches are sparse and the bark is smooth. But I think I can climb it.”

  I laid my hand on her shoulder and looked for the fruit that she had indicated. It was about 25 feet off the ground in the uppermost branches. I walked to a spot under the tree that was fairly clear of intervening foliage and gaged the distance and the opening above me. I unbuckled my belt and laid it aside. Then I sprang up straight into the air and caught hold of the top branch in a single bound. I swung easily into a sitting position on the branch and reached for the nearest piece of fruit.

  Aeyli-ah stood below and called, “Mark, you constantly astound me! What a mate I have!”

  I plucked the piece of fruit and said, “Catch,” and dropped it down to her. She easily caught it and called back, “It’s perfect. Get us several.”

  I picked and dropped about 40 pieces of the fruit and dropped them down to the girl who caught each one gently and placed them in her sack. When she said that we had enough, I hung myself by my arms from the branch and hoped that the 20 foot drop would be as easy as the ascent had been. I let go and when I hit the ground, I easily kept my feet and didn’t get injured at all. I suspected that I might be able to jump down twice as far without hurting myself if need be.