If Chase had any second thoughts or regrets, it was too late. He stood barefoot and half naked under a covered walkway as a small crowd of influential island leaders and other members of his family's pods waited patiently in the middle of the villa cloister. Anticipation was thick in the air. Chase and his new bride, Luana, had finished their vows inside but now they needed to complete the main event, the bonding ceremony that would connect their family pods in the eyes of the island community.
At twenty one years old, Chase had already learned about the old ways of the islands in the archipelago, spending his late high school years alternating anthropology classes with a job working with his father to make sure the crops on Osisi were healthy and sustainable. Over the last last few years, he'd bounced around to mainland universities and interned with some of the world's' most powerful influential private sector leaders. He developed a slow and easy manner with people thanks to his internships abroad and mentorships locally and he felt the need for a primary partner who would connect him to the island's history while they worked together to build the island's future.
In the end, Chase's parents let him make the final call in the courting process for his partner. The decision was serious as the new couple could eventually steer the governance of the island, assuming they could navigate the ins-and-outs the new pod their bond would create between their families over the next decade. The pods, formally announced relationships formed between families once members of each family bonded with each other, formed the building blocks of the island. Once they had shown the island and their loved ones that they were ready to take on new challenges, Luana and Chase could start new pods for themselves.
For now, all Chase could do was stare down the walkway at his beautiful new partner. Like Chase's family Luana Lee's parents meant something special to the island. Her mother, Malia, could trace her heritage back hundreds of years to the native people of the island, before they were mostly run off by European settlers. Many years later, her family built up a fortune that allowed them to help re-settle the island with families searching for a refuge from the rest of humanity.
Chase loved how mature Luana was for her 19 years. He knew his parents had loved the idea of bonding their family pod to a family that traced their roots so far back on the island. Luana and Chase had known each other for years, going back to their early years chasing each other around at co-ed childrens' socials on the island, and they had become romantically close in the last year as Chase unlocked mysteries of the island to her and she taught him of the traditions of Pacific Island families.
She looked stunning tonight. She wore a traditional tribal outfit for the ceremony. Luana's small breasts were covered only by a series of tightly woven bamboo threads that hung from a single strap that ran from her right shoulder to her left side. The top bared her think ochre midriff to warm night air. She wore earrings made from purple shells found on the beach. A thick beaded skirt hung from her heart shaped hips, fashioned from colorful glass beads passed down for generations in her family and and shells collected from the island's beaches.
Chase felt like a fake. Despite the Topol family's European heritage, his parents insisted that he wear traditional island apparel for the ceremony. A frontal apron woven from native grasses and shells was all that covered his manhood. It hung from a woven belt that covered most of his mid-section up to his belly button. A light brown woven cape hung across his right shoulder and draped down over his broad back and chest. Working in the fields had not been wasted on Chase's physique.
"This ceremony will come to order!" Chase's father, Spiro called out next to him.
"Let us bond our families for the good of our spirits and the spirits of our ancestors!" Luana's mother called in response. Speaking of stunning, Malia looked magnificent in her full length gown that clung tightly up against her small breasts and thin arms. Chase and Luana knew their parts and they both lowered themselves to their hands and knees as Chase's mother and Luana's father affixed collars to their necks and took hold of the long chains attached.
"We affix chains to our children to represent the chains forced on the ancestors of these islands," Chase's mother, Audrey, called out per ceremonial customs as the two processions began to move. Their adult children walked on their hands and knees across paved stones the short distance to the middle of the villa. Much like the other adults who served as their witnesses tonight, the new couple's parents were dressed in contemporary black tie apparel: expensive suits for the men and gowns for the women. As they reached the gardens in the middle of the cloister, Chase peered into the crowd and recognized the Lees' podmates as well as his parents', people with whom Luana and he would eventually become intimately acquainted.
"We release these bonds so that the only bonds that unite our families will be those chosen by these two adults," Luana's father, Deng, announced as he followed the script. With this announcement, Luana and Chase stood up from their scraped up hands and knees and turned to each other. Deng walked behind Chase and removed his collar while Spiro crossed to Luana's collar and mirrored the gesture. The two men held the collars and chains in the air and then dropped them to the ground.
The ceremony script was well known to all of the participants and attendants; all except perhaps his mother's special guests, the Anna and her stunning daughter Kari. The audience for the evening sat far enough from the ceremony participants to make sure Luana and Chase wouldn't get claustrophobic but close enough to keep close watch over the intimate ceremony..
The two young lovers moved closer together while their parents took their seats in large intricately carved wooden chairs, almost thrones, behind them on either side and then sat down. Malia picked up a small bell off the table between the two sets of parents and rung it to signal permission for the bonding to begin..
"Just remember I love you," Chase whispered into Luana's ear, to try to relax her.
"I love you, too. I'm so excited for this," she reassured him.
Traditionally, the bonding ceremony was a time for two young adults to make love with each other for the first time. They did so in front of their parents to prove their loyalty to their families. Years ago, the audience was added to make sure the lovers also were introduced to the physical intimacy that was a critical element to the culture of the bonded adults of the island.
These days, young adults rarely lost their virginities in the bonding ceremonies. They'd grown up on clothing optional beaches and with regular classes on sexual health and identity, so they knew where their parents were on those late weekend nights, even if they were expected to feign ignorance. Luana and Chase were no strangers to each others' most intimate thoughts. Early in their courtship, Chase had confessed to Luana about that crazy night when he watched his mother go down on her best friend while he watched and played along from his bed. Luana had confessed that she'd already masturbated to the thought of his father ravishing her more times than she could count. They knew their sexual appetites would be good matches.
Luana stood on her tiptoes and planted a long wet kiss on Chase's lips. As she pulled away, he looked into her bright brown eyes and the contours of her beautiful Polynesian features. He reached his hands down to her waist and then spun her around to face outward to the audience as he caressed her flat stomach from behind. He moved his hands up and under the delicate strands that covered her breasts. He cupped her breasts as he leaned down and planted his mouth on her neck and started to work his way up to her ear lobe. She sighed as he nibbled on her ear.
