Chapter 18: The Kiss
After lunch, Amaya washed the dishes and kept them neatly in the tree house.
She went down and told Marx. "I'll take a bath in the pool. You can rest in the tree house if you feel like it."
Marx simply nodded but he did not feel like resting. He took out his cell phone and started taking photos. He glanced at Amaya who was taking off all of her clothes without a care in the world. Her back was towards him. Her waist-length hair covered her back but Marx could clearly see the outline of her curves, her well-rounded butt, and her long slender toned legs. Without meaning to, he took a photo of her back.
Her skin was a shade of tan and it was glowing like honey. He blinked and she disappeared under the bubbling water. Marx released the breath he was holding. He busied himself examining the place and continued to take photos of the tree house. He admired the structure and how neatly and meticulously the bamboo nodes were cut into halves and interwoven into a tightly knitted wall.
His gaze came back to the pool and the sockets of his eyeballs almost popped out. Amaya emerged from the pool fully naked and this time the front of her body was towards him. She was squeezing the water out of her hair. She has a beautiful body. Her waist was narrow and her hips were wide. Her breasts were firm and the areola pink. She was hairless.
Marx tore his gaze away from her. He felt like he was a pervert peeking at something he was not supposed to. He blushed from embarrassment. He was an adult and she was just a child after all.
The next time he looked, she was fully dressed in a vest and a short skirt. She took his clothes and passed them to him.
"They are already dry. You can change into them."
Marx went behind a tree and changed. He felt more comfortable in the newly washed cloth.
She went to a nearby tree and climbed it with ease. She looked like an ape when climbing a tree. She picked out a few red fruits from the tree and then swung them to the tree house using a vine.
"You can come up." She urged him.
Marx came up. Indeed the tree house was much bigger. There were shelves made from bamboo and lined up along the walls. On the shelves were lots of bamboo nodes around ten centimeters tall with covers. They were filled with dried petals and barks of trees.
The tree house has a pleasant smell of herbs and potpourri.
Marx sat down on the floor and continued taking photos.
Amaya sat beside him studying what he was doing. "You are awesome. You make paintings really fast and they looked pretty natural." She exclaimed.
"These are not paintings. These are photos. This thing here has a camera that captures a picture." He handed her his cell phone. "You simply point to the object and tap here and that's it."
Amaya started snapping photos and she was delighted. "I saw something like this in Daddy's room but it wasn't working." She suddenly said.
"This will stop working too once the battery is used up," Marx explained.
Amaya accidentally opened the gallery and saw all the pictures she and Marx has taken. She also saw photos of people in Marx's company. Her finger paused on a photo of a woman.
"She is beautiful. So this is how people dressed in Usturia?" She asked.
Marx nodded. Amaya thought for a while. "Looked like this is very difficult to make."
"Not really. There is a place where you can select as many dresses as you want. You just buy them."
Amaya looked at him blankly. Marx sighed. "I will take you shopping when we get to Usturia."
Amaya clapped and covered her mouth. "Really, are you going to take me with you?" She said excitedly. She thought of something and a fleeting sadness crossed her eyes.
"It was Daddy's wish to bring me back to his world but nobody found us." She said sadly.
"Don't worry, rescue will arrive in ten days."
…
During the night, Amaya slept curled up in one corner of the tree house, while Marx slept on the opposite side and there was a big gap between them. They left the tree house early in the morning after having a breakfast of boiled eggs, root crops and wild fruits.
Marx still rode Khalil as his thigh has not fully healed yet. The tiger was no longer hostile to him. The animal seemed to understand that he was his master's mate.
They arrived at the cabin after one hour. He noticed another shack at the far end of the backyard. He went in and checked inside. He discovered a lot of tools in the shack. There were hoes, trowels and big knives. They were crudely made but useful. Marx admired Amaya's father more and more. What a genius!
"Marx!" Amaya called him from the cabin. "Come, let's catch some fish for lunch."
Marx followed her as they trodded along the sandy shoreline. They reached a rocky portion and Amaya reached out under the water to retrieve a fish trap with a few big fishes inside. Amaya released the others and just kept the two biggest ones.
In the evening, Amaya grilled some meat and opened a jar of wine. Marx was a connoisseur of wine. What he just tasted was a unique kind of wine that left an impression on him.
"That's Daddy's favorite wine. It has tiger bones on it." She said as she poured half of the contents into Marx's wooden glass and a half into hers. She then raised her glass to Marx in a toast. Marx was surprised to see such action from her. His father taught her well.
After dinner, Amaya happily led him to the spot where she and her Dad watched the stars.
It was a clear night and the stars were shining brightly. Amaya carefully placed the animal skin on a patch of grass and lay on it. She tapped the space beside her and gestured for Marx to lie down. He hesitated only for a second before obliging.
"Look, there is the Polaris, Capricorn and Aquila. And over there are Ares and Pegasus." Amaya blabbered on like an excited child. Marx fixed his gaze on the brightly lit sky above him. He never realized how beautiful the night sky was. The bright lights in Usturia have dimmed the natural glow of the stars.
Amaya continued reciting the constellations but Marx was no longer listening. He became conscious of her nearness and the heat that was spreading on his body. It must have been the wine!
"Looked, there are Daddy and Mommy's stars!" Amaya happily pointed to two adjacent stars in the expanse of the night. She turned sideways to Marx and he felt her breath on his face.
Marx lost control. He moaned and cupped her face and pressed his lips to hers.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone