Afterwards, they laughed together as Mark proudly gave her a walkthrough her his (or rather their) ‘spreader’, while she cleaned both the device and Mark in the sink with tepid water. It was still early and they both felt a little lazy to go hiking just yet, so they took breakfast in bed first.

Zava was half-sitting, ankles crossed, half lying up on the bed propped with pillows, munching at some snacks she had brought. Mark was sitting cross legged, on her rug-like pubic patch, looking up at Zava, as they chatted. She was feeding Mark cacay nuts and goldenberries, playfully biting them in less than half and reaching out to deliver them to his eager hands. As they talked, she also ate, and noticed Mark discreetly looking at her looming breasts. Mark’s member, not quite erect, not quite limp, started peeking from within his legs… just begging me to pinch it....

She suspected he had been so concentrated in making her come that he had not finished, so it was now her turn to get him off, she thought, although he had not said anything, and he would not. Rule number one in our book is that we are always even.

However, she wanted to make him wait a little, so he would be even more wound up when he got his due, and she had some ideas on how to drive him crazy when they were in the hot springs. When Mark had enough food, he casually stepped up from her ‘rug’ and, still facing Zava, he gave a few steps backwards, while still talking. When she started answering, very dissimulate, he lightly stepped on her vulva, one feet on each of her outer lips, her slit just below him, now tightly closed by having her ankles crossed.

Once she felt him there, her speech caught a little, and she could see a satisfied little smirk blossom in him as he looked up at her, obviously enjoying the effect he was having on her titanic body. The sensation of his so warm, so soft, so ticklish little feet slightly denting the flesh of her vulva started to make her very warm…

But she wanted to go out, so, winking at him so he could see his plan was discovered, but the attempt had been appreciated, she put the food recipients away on the nightstand and put her palm in front of Mark, who lightly hopped on it, grabbing to her thumb for support.

A few minutes later, both were ready to go out. Mark was naked, of course, as the day was looking to be quite warm and sunny. Zava was wearing her hat, a dark blue crop top, her hiking shoes and black (very) tight training shorts. She cut a striking figure with her long, athletic legs, bare midriff, wasp waist, great rack and bronze skin, Mark thought approvingly.  After loosely tying the scarf around her neck (better to have it around in case they ran into someone on the trail and had to hide Mark), she picked up Mark’s rucksack, inside which he only had his pitcher and poncho, and put it away on a pocket of her own backpack.

Then she kneeled on the floor near the nightstand and landed her boobs in front of Mark, inviting him to his favorite perch, but refusing to pick him up. She wanted to see him climb into her cleavage on his own. He did not need to be told twice and climbed, with some difficulty, into the awesome nest created by her bust, held together by the tight top. Smiling, with a hand on her chest to ensure he was secure and would not fall, she put on her backpack and left the cabin to hike to the first hot spring station.

As always, Mark was delighted on the whole experience of riding between her girlfriends bust. The view was much better than his usual, too-low ground POV. Zava’s perfume and her natural scent surrounded him, and her yielding flesh all around was like riding on a cloud straight from heaven.

Despite her tight top, each of Zava’s catlike steps made her boobs jiggle and sway slightly, but as he was on the center, he did not get dizzy, but got to enjoy the always welcome view and feel of swaying breasts… while riding them and being able to run his hands over them at all times unimpeded… what was not to like?

Also, as much as he loved the place Zava and him had together back in town, it was VERY good to be together outdoors for a change, not hiding in a pocket or under his skirt (that he did not mind) like a mouse all the time.

Not having to worry that somebody would see him and call the police on them was even better than he expected; he was glad Zava had thought of this trip; she certainly deserved it. The landscape around them passed surprisingly fast. He calculated that, at an unhurried pace, Zava’s long legs could carry her at more than 30 mph (Earth’s units, of course), and although she had never run at full pelt with him on her, he suspected that with her strong legs she could reach 100 mph, easily.

Zava had a map and a brochure she had bought at the check-in station the day before to guide them about the not-so well marked trails. As Zava walked and stopped at some scenic spots, she often reached out and stroked Mark’s little frame with her soft fingers, reading some of the explanatory text to Mark.

They ran only into a few groups of women, but Zava passed them quickly, saying hello but continuing her way, Mark ducking as he could of course see the lumbering figures approach them from afar. Zava had her scarf ready to drape it casually over her cleavage when people were in sight, but the light material allowed Mark to see a little through it. Nobody stopped them and everyone seemed to be minding their own business and going somewhere, not in a hurry, but purposefully.

“Hey Zav, I was wondering… why is it that there are only women around?” He did not voice the other thing he had noticed… very few of the ones they encountered were as young as Zava.

“Well, Mark, one of the reasons I chose this place is because is not very frequented by tourists” Zava said, as she negotiated a particularly steep part of the trail, puffing a little “the other reason is that it is VERY unlikely we’re going to see men around here…. because this is a sacred valley, consecrated since antiquity to Tchiah, the maiden (and moon) goddess. Far into the valley (farther that we’re going to go anyway) there is an old temple were women go as pilgrims to pray so their daughters find a good man. Young women also go pray for a husband, although, of course, after the Layman Revolution, not as many as in years past; praying is for old people, these days. Most people don’t mind the distance, though, as they take the time to enjoy the many hot springs along the way”.

“I take it, then, that men are forbidden to travel here?”. Said Mark

“Oh, yeah. As a matter of fact, in the old times, if a man was caught wandering in this valley, he was to be made prisoner, taken out of the valley and killed by with a stone axe to the head” answered Zava.

“O-Kay… can’t really imagine they still do that in these times even in this world”

“Mark, even us giant barbarians can evolve, it seems, as nowadays men are simply arrested and fined if caught here...” and as there is only one road to access this valley, police checkpoints quickly stop any man that tries, but very, very few do, even nowadays.”, she admonished. “Anyway, there was only one way a trespassing man could be saved”.

“Which was?”

“One of the women of the patrol who encountered the man had to vouch for him. She was to take him in fetters to the temple and he had to consent to marry her on the spot, with the priestesses as witnesses, and had to consummate the marriage immediately…. While still in fetters. Of course, that almost never happened, but it was not COMPLETELY unheard of… there are a few tales”.

“Men being what they are, I still think it curious that more men, even with those deterrents, did not sneak in here to peek at naked women bathing on hot springs”.

“Of course, there were some supernatural deterrents rumored to exist, as well…” Said Zava, ominously, tousling his hair with her fingertip.

“Such as?” Said Mark, grabbing her finger with both hands and pulling it to his mouth to kiss, then sliding its tip down his chest, but Zava, naughtily, took it away.

“Sometimes small imps with sticks that shot thunder out of them were rumored to appear and strike you blind… or your penis could wither and fall off… or become impotent as they were punished by Tchiah for trespassing… in any case, most simply were said to become lost forever in the forest, never being able to feel the touch of a woman in this world… or the other”. Said Zava, grimly, obviously trying to scare Mark.

“My god” Mark laughed. “I hope the goddess does not get mad at me for being here, and I’m getting a little uneasy at your other reasons to bring me to this place, love”.

The truth was, Zava fantasized often that, somehow, she and Mark got married. She had begun daydreaming of it quite early in their relationship, actually. But the odds of that happening were, of course, very, very slim (more like in the below sub-zero chance of occurring) … in fact, sadly, she had to admit to herself that only entertaining the notion was kind of ridiculous.

First there was the issue of introducing Mark to her parents. In fact, she HAD written them about him, or at least she had written to his father about having a boyfriend, even telling him his name (which he found rather odd), but making the excuse that he was a foreigner and he traveled a lot, not entirely a lie, anyway. However, she knew that as things were, the chance of her boyfriend being well received by anyone when she produced him out of her pocket in front of her parents and her sister at the year-end Holiday’s get-together dinner was abysmally low.

Even if that not insignificant hurdle was to be cleared, then there was the problem of finding a notary, or even a priest or priestess willing to perform the ceremony without first, balking at the choice of groom, and second, without calling the Patrollers or the SID on them. Little people did not even qualify as persons, anyway, legally.

Even if by any miracle the Little People ceased to be outlaws, and they married, the problem of proving they could consummate the union, physically, also could arise if they were to be challenged legally (she thought her mother might be capable of trying something in that direction).

And finally, if all those obstacles were somehow removed, she knew society at large, and of course the media, would never leave them alone if they ever got wind of them, making their lives a circus and a living hell, making it near impossible for them to earn a living. It is only a silly fantasy. But for me, Mark and I are husband and wife, in all ways that matter.

Of course, Mark and them never brought up the subject of marriage, but it was the elephant in the room, for a couple who loved each other so much as they did. If circumstances (sizes, actually) were different, let’s say it, they would have married long ago. Mark, was silent for his own reasons. He had also given the subject a lot of thought, even before confessing his feelings for Zava, coming to pretty much the same conclusions Zava had arrived at on her own. The difference was that every time he thought about the impossibility of marrying Zava, he felt inadequate, inferior, even, with feelings of self-loathing creeping in.

At such times (often when being home alone) he said to himself that Zava would be better without him. Such a WOMAN, certainly deserved better than being with an outcast, a non-person, who limited her social life in so many ways, making her waste her youth, energy and beauty. 

By having him around, she had put herself at odds with the law, compelling her to always be looking over her shoulder, to lie to her family and friends (to Zava’s credit, she cared about Mark so much that if he knew the lengths she was willing to go to shield him from harm at the expense of her own life and person, he would have been utterly shocked, perhaps even horrified).

Mark thought that she, who was so sincere and authentic, had to become sneaky and deceitful to protect him.  And all that he had worked his adult life for before crashing on the giant planet, his not inconsiderable fortune, which he had expected to enjoy with a wife someday, was lost and unreachable. He had to start all over again, so he was not a burden to Zava. If by some magic he managed to teleport his money to this world, it would be completely worthless here… who would take miniature green paper scraps in exchange for red, crackling lukass?

He tried to quell those thoughts whenever they arose, however. That way lay madness and despair. And when Zava came back home to him, the pure joy of her womanhood, the boundless love in her demeanor, in her eyes, her laugh, her voice and everything she did for him, begrudging him nothing at all, not her body, nor her thoughts, not her very soul, made such dark nihilism evaporate, as effortlessly and inexorably as the sun unfailingly dispelled the most stubborn night when day came. It was impossible to be glum with Zava around.

Zava… his wife. For so she was, in all but name.

“I do not think the goddess’s curse applies to… lit… I mean…  earthlings…Anyways, as a matter of fact, dear, I DID have other reasons to come to this particular place”, stated Zava, who had continued walking, finally catching sight of the landmark she had been told about by her friend. Three great black boulders with a giant red almazh tree growing over them, its enormous, buttressed roots spreading over all three of them. She pointed it to Mark, extending her willowy arm. “The main trail continues to descend to a river. But to the left of these boulders there is a small, steep path that goes to a grotto atop a hill. There is a beautiful hot spring up there that few know about and even fewer go to as the path is narrow”, declared Zava. “The perfect place for a young couple in love to…” she looked down at her bust.

“Cavort unmolested”, finished Mark, beaming up at her. She returned the smile, and then surrounded the boulder, turning aside some overgrown scrub, but she quickly found the path.

Before she followed it, as they passed close to the boulder, Mark saw (though Zava did not, as it was too small and at her chest level) a curious, much weathered little glyph, about three meters tall, deeply carved on the stone.  It looked like an inverted triangle, split in two by a line running down its middle.