Paradise Reclaimed

by Raymond Harris

  He finished his tea. “I am mindful that on Earth we will need to support each other. Sexual contact with Earth humans will be fraught for all sorts of reasons. So I want to have absolute ethical clarity between you, Biyu and myself.”

  “Yes, I see that. It’s not easy.”

  He took her hand. “Make no mistake. I find you very attractive. But in honour of that clarity I have to tell you I am over-tired.”

  She nodded in recognition that she was hoping for some release that night and was a little disappointed. “It’s okay. I understand and agree.”

  She finished her tea in silence as Prax waited graciously. They parted at the cafeteria entrance: Prax to hop on a waiting scooter to take him down to his forest hut and she to catch the lift up to her small room.

  The corridors were empty and the lights dimmed. It seemed dream-like. The corridors became symbols of her thought process, each one a choice leading to a different future. She thought she might find self-release to relax, but decided instead to use the strangeness as a kind of meditation, each step pulling her deeper into a contemplative state. She didn’t remember entering her room and getting into bed. Instead she fell into a dream of floating down a long tunnel toward a dark unknown.

  64

  Akash

  When he awoke the bed was empty. He turned and looked at the digital clock. It was ten am. They had let him sleep in. He panicked, until he realised it was the weekend and he had promised to spend the morning with Tshering and Pema. He stretched and yawned and became aware of the smells and sounds of breakfast being prepared. He only had vague memories of the night before; of Tshering and Freja scrubbing him down in the hot shower and Freja applying a loofa, explaining that in traditional saunas the skin was stimulated using birch leaves. He remembered her speaking authoritatively and surprisingly soothingly about how stimulating the skin releases oxytocin – as if she were teaching Tshering.

  Then they dried him and lead him to the meditation room, which had been prepared for massage. They laid him down and Freja showed Tshering the various techniques while he drifted off into a dream-like semi-consciousness. He did not resist when they rolled him over and he was fully exposed to Freja’s gaze. It was only then that the massage started to become arousing. Freja did not react adversely and he assumed it was normal in such massages (although clients would normally be covered by a towel). He did not expect that after they had finished with his torso and extremities, they would turn to his partial erection. Following Freja’s whispered instructions, they massaged and kissed him and performed fellatio. Tshering was familiar with tantric techniques, after all, the Himalayas were the home of tantra, but he was surprised that Freja was so expert. Somewhere he remembered in the recesses of his memory that Pagan wise-women, like all witches and sorceresses, practised sex-magic and that the goddess Freja ruled these arts, but how could this modern Swedish girl know of this? When she had said her family were Vikings he didn’t think they were practicing Pagans engaged in fertility rites.

  They were gentle and deliberate in their ministrations, moving from his erection to sensitising his whole body. When he finally reached orgasm it was surprisingly powerful. Freja did not stop her massage and used the release to remove any residual tension. When they had finished he felt totally relaxed, his body limp and unwilling to move. They covered him in a blanket and he slipped into a deep sleep. He thought he dreamt that Tshering and Freja made love in front of the meditation room puja, invoking the wild spirit of Padmasambhava’s consort, the Lady Tsogyal.

  At some point they helped him to bed. He had stirred in the night and sensed two bodies beside him, curled up in each other’s arms and realised that he had no objection.

  He felt pressure in his bladder but resisted getting up until it was too demanding. As he stood unsteadily he wondered if he should wrap one of his many gho around him as a kind of dressing gown. He didn’t always bother if he was just walking to the bathroom and back, but this time he was mindful that there were others in the house. He decided against it in the spirit of their casual nudity the night before. He opened the door and squinted at the bright sunlight pouring through the open plan living room’s large windows.

  “Papa,” declared Pema as soon as she saw him.

  “The master awakes,” said Tshering sarcastically.

  Pema ran up to him as he focused on the room. Tshering and Freja were in the kitchen preparing a late breakfast. Suddenly he felt exposed because they were dressed in traditional kera with their silk blouses (wonju) hanging loose. Pema was dressed in just a simple oversized t-shirt with a cute anime character on the front that had been bought for her in Seoul.

  “Morning Akash,” he heard as he scooped Pema up in his arms. He turned to see Alice, similarly dressed in just a t-shirt. He immediately felt self-conscious because she was unabashedly staring at him and he realised that he was still semi-erect from a subsiding morning glory.

  Tshering had noticed and was giggling at his embarrassment.

  “Alice’s never really seen cock before,” said Freja to add to his discomfort. “The bath houses of Korea are single sex so she is only used to female nudity.”

  He didn’t know how to react. Pema was in his arms blissfully unaware of their teasing and his nudity (as young children often are) and she wanted his immediate attention, “Papa, now you are awake you can hear me play piano,” she said.

  Alice refused to stop staring and said calmly, “interesting, looks like you’re becoming erect again – I’ve heard about morning tumescence.”

  He reacted immediately. “Yes, Pem, but first I need to pee.” He put her down and made his escape. In the privacy of the bathroom he shook his head with disbelief. He could see the amusing side of it but he also felt outnumbered by women, who he knew could be merciless in their teasing, especially in regard to the male appendage.

  When he finished he returned quickly to the bedroom and put on a gho and returned to the kitchen. Alice apologised as soon as he appeared.

  “It is my fault husband,” added Tshering. “I was telling Alice and Freja about the ter cham of Dorje Lingpa.”

  He understood the reference: the ter cham, or naked dance, formed part of the four-day festival at the Jampel Lhakag monastery. It had initially been performed to scare off evil spirits but was now performed as a form of blessing.

  “And I was telling them of my experience as just a girl watching these men do lewd and funny things with their penises…”

  “And then you walked in, right on cue,” added Freja.

  “Which is why we were laughing. I am sorry, it was disrespectful,” Tshering apologised.

  “I can’t see what all the fuss is about,” said Alice.

  “Ah, I see,” he sighed. “Well, if I’d have known that perhaps I should have performed the dance for you?”

  Tshering smiled because he had taken it well. “Okay, enough of that. Freja has prepared a treat, pancakes.”

  The rest of the morning was chaotic (and spoken in a mixture of English and Dzongkpa) as they ate an interrupted breakfast with Pema proudly demonstrating her new musical skills. It was clear her talents were prodigious and it reminded him of the chaos of his own childhood as his sisters competed for praise by eagerly demonstrating their latest accomplishments. Alice wondered aloud if it might be possible to measure Pema’s brain activity using ECG or fMRI, just to see how her genetic enhancement was progressing. Pema seemed to understand and objected (not that such facilities were available in Bhutan).

  He couldn’t help but notice that Tshering and Freja seemed to be acting in a slightly conspiratorial fashion, as if they knew a secret. It was difficult for him to think too much about it because Pema and Alice were both getting a bit hyperactive and showing off. In a way he found this domestic chaos relaxing because it was a complete break from his work. In this moment he couldn’t care less if the world was going to hell.

  Tshering decided to call a halt to the hyperactivity when Pema started squealing as Alice di
d a cartwheel, her t-shirt falling, revealing that she wasn’t wearing underwear, thereby causing her to lose balance and crash into a side table. “Okay, enough. Pema, go have a shower and get dressed now. Alice, help her get ready. We are going for a family outing. Come on, get going.”

  Alice was chastised by Tshering’s rebuke and blushed with embarrassment. She may have achieved an adult level of cognitive ability but she was still prone to over-excitability. He took it as a cue to start to clear dishes but Tshering stopped him.

  “Husband, I have something to say.”

  She looked serious as she sat opposite him at the table, Freja sitting beside her.

  “If this is about last night…”

  “In a sense.” She looked at Freja for support. “Freja and I were up early this morning. We did yoga and then we talked. I asked her for a more permanent arrangement. I have discovered I have feelings for her.”

  “I see,” he said, unsure of what more to say.

  “I did not expect it, but I have feelings for Tsher too,” said Freja. “I know this is moving fast…”

  “But what will people say?” he asked, trying to find an impersonal objection.

  “Provided it is not made too public… You know that driglam namzha (Bhutanese custom) allows for multiple marriages and it allows a man to have three wives, provided I, as first wife, consent to it. There is also no prohibition on wives sharing affection, it is dharmic within my tradition.”

  “Are you suggesting something formal?” he asked Tshering.

  “No, this is between us. It is illegal under recent Bhutanese civil law, but you know I regard that as a foreign imposition. There must be a period of getting to know each other of course. It has been rather sudden. I feel as if I have fallen in love.”

  Tshering turned and looked directly at Freja, squeezing her hand tightly.

  “And what is my place in this?” he asked nervously.

  “My feelings for you have not changed. Freja can never replace you, nor does she want to.”

  “I join your marriage and we form a polyamorous triad,” said Freja calmly. “I become an addition; there is no subtraction. Ever since I heard of polyamory I have thought it sensible – and I am bisexual.”

  “It was Freja who allowed me to think it was possible.”

  Freja reached her free hand across the table to reassure him. “You must also think of this in the context of the colony. You know there has been some interesting, initial research that shows that an increase in IQ corresponds to a greater acceptance of unconventional sexuality. It is early days yet, but the higher the IQ; the more stable the emotions and the less likelihood of emotional or sexual jealousy. I expect the colony will develop its own rules and I don’t expect it will look much like traditional marriage.”

  “You’ve studied this?”

  “I have always been interested. My mother is an ethnographer, which is why we have travelled so much. I have had firsthand experience of the different customs. Humans are not really wired to be monogamous; they find ways around it. It is my opinion that people should make whatever arrangements best suit them.”

  “I know I should have spoken to you privately, but you have been very busy and distracted,” Tshering apologised.

  “But you have hinted of it to me and it is I who should apologise. I know you have been lonely.”

  Tshering nodded, tears welling in her eyes.

  “You and I will have to get to know each other, but Tsher wants me to carry your child. I will only do so with her love and support in a family where the child is treasured,” said Freja.

  “And I think sooner rather than later. It would be nice if this one…” she patted her stomach “…could have a sibling her own age.”

  “Sooner?” He looked at Freja with her impossible blue eyes. He saw no hint of doubt; no hint that she was anything other than fully aware of what she was doing.

  She smiled in response to his stare. “This has caught me by surprise. Perhaps it is all the phalli in Bhutan, but I feel quite clucky. I had imagined I would wait until I was in my twenties before even thinking about a child. But now Eden has changed everything. I have already begun to see myself as an Edenoi.”

  “Something changed last night. Somehow having Freja there seemed perfectly natural…”

  “I dreamed that you made love…” he started to say.

  “Yes, last night and this morning,” said Tshering bowing her head coyly. “And I have a desire to witness you making love to her. Do you object?”

  He looked at them both. He loved Tshering deeply and did not want to disappoint her. She had given him many hints that she was bisexual. “I don’t know what to say. I feel strangely shy.”

  “So we take it a step at a time,” said Freja.

  “Can she stay with us - discretely?” asked Tshering.

  He nodded. They both smiled and leant over the table to kiss him and then turned to kiss each other.

  At that moment Alice and Pema came into the room dressed for the day in traditional clothes. Pema seemed puzzled by the kiss and Tshering summoned her to sit beside her.

  “How would you like to have another sister or brother?”

  Her eyes lit up. “But you are already pregnant mama.”

  “Would you mind if Freja married your father and me and was the mother?”

  She scrunched her face as she considered the situation. She knew that her grandpa had two wives but what she said surprised them all. “And will you marry Alice too?”

  Alice smiled mischievously. “Of course, if we are to talk about Bhutanese custom then I believe the tradition of child marriage still continues.”

  He felt a moment of panic.

  “I am sorry husband; it is my fault again. I was telling them stories of old Bhutan…”

  “Tshering’s grandmother married at my age,” said Alice, enjoying playing devil’s advocate. “From what I understand it was a happy marriage.”

  He looked at Tshering for an explanation. “It was an arranged marriage and he was a good man,” she said. “It was the same for her mother – going back generations.”

  “It is still practiced in India. It doesn’t make it right,” he objected.

  Alice folded her arms and scowled. “Perhaps you forget that I was going to specialise in fertility. I know how sex works, physiologically, neurologically, even psychologically. I have experimented on myself and achieved orgasm. I may know more than the three of you. How absurd to think I am like some ignorant girl forced into an arranged marriage. Are you a wife-beater Akash, a beast? Do you think I would be interested in your genome if you were?”

  “What are you suggesting Alice?” asked Tshering.

  “That you stop treating me as a child. If you are open to expanding your family, that you see me as a future wife. I recognise that this comes as a shock to you, but I would be happy to act as a wife now.”

  “But what of love and desire?” protested Freja.

  “I do not pretend to understand these things. I will be myself. You take me as me. But if you accept my proposal that Akash father my first child then I can see no rational reason not to start now. Consider me an apprentice. I believe Tshering’s mother trained her in the traditions of her lineage. All I ask is to be included in the training - if I am eventually going to carry Akash’s child…”

  “I haven’t agreed yet,” he objected while she continued to talk.

  “…then I will need the same kind of support as Freja. I don’t expect you to decide now. Obviously we will need to get to know each other better, especially intimately. I know the taboo is difficult to overcome. But I want you to know that I’m not here to play at being Pema’s big sister. Instead I plan on Pema being my child’s big sister. Besides, some interesting studies have shown that exposure to non-related male hormones speeds up the process of puberty and I can’t wait to have an adult body and escape the prison of childhood. So from my perspective, the sooner, the better.”

  Akash looked at Tshering
for help. “She is right. I was her age when I began training and in my tradition I am somewhat obligated to consider a request from an aspirant - if she comes under my authority as both first wife and guru.”

  “That is acceptable, consider me an apprentice wife, at least until I can conceive.”

  He knew that he had the power to object, but he did not. In these matters he trusted Tshering completely.

  They found a beautiful, secluded spot along a tributary to the Thimpu River. They picnicked, played and went for a leisurely walk along a riverbank laced with wild flowers. It was an idyllic afternoon. As they rested, soaking up the sun’s rays before it slipped behind the mountains, Freja lay down beside him and took his hand. They talked about frivolous things, about childhood memories of other picnics; of her childhood hiking through the woods of northern Sweden; he, of his childhood visiting temples and his first glimpse of the Himalayas. Then she fell silent and kissed him and he returned the kiss. He did not expect her passion and his reaction was immediate.

  “You will be my second male,” she said guiding his hand under the traditional toego she was wearing to a firm breast.

  “Second?”

  “Male. Jules was my first, and of course, Anaïs.” She reached under his gho to his erection. “I decided last night,” she said softly. “Tshering said you were a sensitive lover and knew how to satisfy her.”

  He wanted to object and say something self-deprecating.

  “I never wanted to have sex just for the sake of having sex, especially not with some foolish youth with pimples and no self-control. It was always going to be an older, experienced man. It seems you are to be that man.”

  She kissed him with greater passion. He heard the laughter of Pema and Alice playing chase and felt the presence of Tshering close-by. He turned to look at her and she smiled in a way that he had never seen before. Freja rolled on top of him, released her kera and tossed it to the side. He wanted to object because it seemed too public, but they were in an isolated area. Freja lowered herself onto him slowly as Tshering sidled over to reach under and stimulate her clitoris. Freja came quickly but he resisted release and continued until she eventually shuddered with another orgasm. Her contractions took him over the edge and he groaned with pleasure.