Staring into the clearing from a distance, Laina had trouble believing this was really happening.

From where she was standing, she could see the entire married population of the village standing around waiting for the bride and groom to arrive. Flickering torches lit the area, hung from trees, and the villagers stood in a large circle about Consummation Rock, holding hands, and chanting quietly in time to beat of the drums, swaying with the flow, buck naked.

The single adults and the children were back in the village, forbidden by tradition to witness the joining until it was their own turn to take part. Laina had heard rumours about the ceremony, but knew now that most of them were false, or at least severely warped. Her older brother had explained what was going to happen to her yesterday, and whilst she was still nervous, she had been relieved that her worst fears were unfounded.

Laina shivered in the cold and wished they would get on with it. She harboured no doubts about Korta's love for her, and was confident of their happiness together if only they could get the Joining out of the way. She was dressed at this point in a single long string of red, while and black flowers.

As she peered into the torchlit area, she could see the high priest lighting the fire around the Rock, and knew the time was close. Suddenly the rhythm of the drums changed. A pulsing boom-chigga-boom-boom reached out into the forest and triggered something in her mind. She'd heard this sound many times in the past, and knew what it meant. The time had come.

Putting aside all doubts, hesitations, worries, indeed all thoughts, she started the suddenly long walk toward the light, the noise, the Joining. As she neared the torchlight, the chants became louder, the swaying more pronounced. The villagers nearest her approach parted to let her through, and rejoined behind her. Looking forward she could see the large flat Consummation Rock, covered in flower petals, and surrounded by small fires, warming the Rock for that yet to come. Further away, across the clearing, Korta suddenly also appeared within the circle, dressed the same way as Laina.

As the drum beat changed again, Laina turned to the villager nearest her, who happened by chance to be her aunt, and handed her the white flower on the very end of the string.

"Life," chanted the aunt.

Spinning around to undo a single loop of the string, and stepping to the left, she presented the next flower, still attached, to her aunt's husband. This one was black. "Death", he told her, solemnly.

Spinning and advancing again, she presented a red flower to the next person. "Blood".

She continued around the circle, distributing the flowers to all the participants, and receiving the appropriate chants from each. As she reached the halfway point, she started to give flowers to people who were already holding the string which Korta was sharing. Her heart gave a lurch as she started to hand people their second flower. This part of the ceremony symbolised the joining of their two lives, and the colours of the flowers were a reminder of the importance of their commitment to spend the rest of their lives together, only parted by death, and the blood of menstruation and childbirth.

Much faster than she expected, she was back in front of her aunt, who was smiling at her with great affection. The drumming stopped, and the swaying circle was quiet, entwined in the life string. "It is time for the anointing, girl. Are you ready?"

"I am ready. Anoint me." She heard an echo of the comments from across the circle, but could not see Korta.

The drummers appeared outside the circle, and distributed small clay pots to the entangled villagers, and then the aunt spoke again to Laina.

"Come then, and feel the fire."

Laina walked up to her, and the aunt pulled a few fingers full of a pale paste from her pot. She gently smeared the paste on Laina's left breast, and rubbed it in. Laina yelped as the paste penetrated her skin, but then could feel her breast become hot, and her nipple became erect.

"Go on. You are a girl no longer."

"Thank you aunt."

As she progressed around the circle, the villagers rubbed more and more of the paste on her body. All over her chest and stomach, her arms, legs, even between her thighs. The further around the circle she walked, the more aroused she became. As she neared her aunt once again, she felt her whole body begin to glow. The sooner she could get near Korta the better.

The circle complete once again, Laina knew that the ceremony was reaching the finale, and she couldn't wait. Vibrant in the cold night air, no longer cold, nor shy, she turned to the Rock. From here she could vaguely see Korta at the opposite side, undoubtedly also excited. The villagers had rubbed the remaining paste onto each other, and Laina could see that some of the men nearest her were sporting huge erections as they stood in the circle, waiting. The women too, looked expectant.

Near the rock, between her and the small fires, there sat a single small birdcage. Inside was a white dove. Releasing this bird was Laina's final unspoken vow. If she gave the bird its freedom, she gave away her own. Not in any sexual sense, but she committed finally and irrevocably to Korta. He in turn was required to release his own bird. Though the lovers could barely see one another, they would certainly see the doves once they were released.

Bending her body to the cage, she picked it up, held it to the dark sky, reciting again "Life, death, blood". The dove flew from the cage, and as she watched it escape toward the treetops, it was joined by another, and suddenly the drums started again, and the villagers resumed their chants, with a new rhythm, an urgency that wasn't there before.

The effect of the drug on her was reaching it's zenith, and she barely noticed the details around her now. She felt the beat, heard the chant, shivered to the feel of the caress of the wind, nearly having an orgasm on the spot. She knew what to do next without prompting, and approached the Rock boldly.

Stepping across the small fire around the Rock, she stood on its warm surface, her body begging for release. Korta appeared across the rock, and the two of them met on a pile of petals in the centre. Completely oblivious to the surrounding ring of relatives and friends, they embraced, their glowing skins reacting to the touch by setting off small explosions of pleasure. She whispered to him briefly, and he nodded.

Silently, Korta lay down on his back, on the warm rock. Laina knelt over him, smothering his face with kisses, her hands exploring the rest of his body in the dim light. He shivered with delight as she stroked his chest and stomach. As she reached further, she found his erection. Solid as a tree trunk, definitely reading for Joining.

She would normally have taken great delight in a slow buildup to this, teasing and pleasing him, and he her, but not this time. Moving herself into the right position, still kneeling, she guided him inside her, amazed at how wet she was, desperate for release, oblivious to everything else.

As the drums effected her somewhere in the back of her brain, unnoticed, she began to move above him, sliding in and out to the beat, her whole body entangled in the process, her thighs on fire, her entire body erect. The drum beat slowly increased in speed, and Laina's movements matched. Korta started to match her thrusts from below, grunting as he moved. Her long black hair flew about as she pumped him, her breath becoming short, she too grunting. As the speed increased, she could feel herself starting to come. Her thigh muscles contracted and released almost violently, and the movement was the only thing left. Even Korta was forgotten at this point, until he reached up and took hold of her breasts. Pulling her closer to him, he raised his head, and took one of her nipples into his mouth. As she screamed with pleasure above him, he swirled his tongue around her nipple, and then bit her lightly, his hand squeezing her other nipple at the same time.

That was it. Her whole body shook with orgasm, muscles straining momentarily, she gripped his cock with a fierce strength, and screamed loudly into the night. As her hands clenched on his shoulders, Korta's cock convulsed in time with his whole body, and he shot his seed into her, Pumping and pulsing long after he was dry, matched by her contractions, as she orgasmed again, and collapsed on top of him.

This was the moment the villagers were waiting for, and they tore the string of flowers from their bodies, and attacked each other with a lust heightened by the drug and watching the Joined couple.

As Laina slowly regained her senses, she looked around her as bodies latched together and managed quick joyful fucks, grunting and screaming all around. Kissing her new husband, she noticed that his cock was still at attention, and whispering to him again, they turned over, and he entered her again. This time he did the thrusting, and they came together again in a more refined but no less satisfying climax, as the surrounding villagers slowly relaxed in the grass, spent but happy.

"I love you Korta"

"And I you, Laina. Do you think we could arrange another Joining?"