Birds screech and trees rustle as we hike along the barest of paths through the jungle, the tropical humidity making me bathe in my own sweat, the uneven ground shifting under my boots, alone with my guide on the tiny island of Kurutaukari in the South Pacific. We've come here to examine some supposedly fine examples of stone carving made hundreds of years ago by a relatively unknown isolated community with a unique culture.
My guide, Arani, who is thankfully clearing a wide web out of our way right now, has told me that there are some truly impressive statues here. Examining them, I am sure, will be invaluable to my thesis. After clearing our way, he continues deeper into the trees and I follow him. I am in his handsâand that's precisely where I want to be.
My supervising professor recruited him to guide me on this trip. He's an undergraduate at my university, in the same department as me, who grew up among these islands. As a child, his father took him to many of the nearby islands, giving him intimate knowledge of all the sites I'd love to see with my own eyesâincluding some I haven't even seen pictures of. Having the opportunity to examine some ancient carvings and statues up close would be invaluable to my degree, and Arani agreed to help out by guiding me to a few sites over these two days.
He's in his early 20s, maybe five years younger than me, with short black hair that adorably won't lie flat and skin the colour of a dark tan. He told me he's into kickboxing, and I can tell that it's given him a tight, muscular physique. His forearms are thick and veined, his calves flex as he hikes in front of me, his shorts tight against his well-developed ass.
I met him for the first time at the airport for our flight from Auckland. To be honest, it's been about a year since I last had sex and I barely even jerk off these days. Working on my thesis for the past four years has sapped all of my energy and passion as I race to the finish. It takes a lot to wake me from my fog of journals, dictionaries, citations, courses, and essays. But Arani was able to do that. The second he smiled, the second our palms met and I felt his rough skin, saw the cords in his forearms dance, felt his smiling brown eyes look into mine, my heart beat faster and my stomach dropped out. And talking with him was fascinating; I could spend hours listening to him speak with endless enthusiasm and humour, appreciating his keen insight, intellect, and optimismâby the end of the flight I was smitten and wishing that there was more to his friendliness than just friendliness.
We've been hiking for ten minutes and it's absolutely sweltering, my soaked shirt plastered to my skin. It's so uncomfortable that I unbutton it, fan the air with its edges. Arani glances back at me, and I swear his eyes rest for a few heartbeats too long on my sweaty chest and stomach. But it's probably just wishful thinking. Maybe I'm looking for excuses to think that all my hours in the gym lately, training for treks like this, have been paying off.
After about twenty more minutes, we arrive at the site. It's completely deserted except for us. Arani takes a long drink of water, his Adam's apple bobbing in that strong neck, and he points out the locations of the carvings and stone statues. He then goes to a small hut that was built near the site in recent years. I told him that I might need several hours, so he's brought along some of his own work which he's going to do in the relative cool of the little hut. I wish I could benefit from his knowledge and company instead, but I'm already taking up too much of his time.
Wandering through the site, a low churning starts to build in the pit of my stomach, like I'm about to go onstage in front of hundreds of people. My palms are sweating too now, and there's a slight quivering building in my gut. I don't know why I should be nervous. There's no reason for that.
I see some remarkable carvings, but for some reason I can't escape the feeling that there's something better further in. I walk past them all, vowing to return later, and head away from the clearing into the trees, even though Arani didn't point out this spot, the tremors building in my stomach, a buzz of electricity and a heart-pounding anticipation growing inside me, making me unsteady on my feet. I push deeper into the treesâmaking sure I can still see the clearing so I won't get lostâand then I suddenly come to a standstill.
At the center of a small clearing is a magnificent stone statue. Man-sized, broad-shouldered, withâit must be saidâa magnificent phallus etched between his legs. Based on the size of that organ, I'm guessing it's some sort of fertility god designed to bless both the land and its inhabitants with abundance.
I don't believe in ancient fertility gods or the effectiveness of amulets, charms, icons, and godsticks, but a strange attraction sweeps over me and that shaking, churning feeling in my stomach deepens. My knees quiver twice as hard, and my steps are unsteady as I cross the clearing. And shockingly I suddenly realize that I'm developing a massive erection. That nervous quiver is now swelling out my cock; I'm feeling it press more and more insistently against my zipper. I've never felt such a sudden fierce burning unavoidable NEED. My pants are so tight that it's starting to actually hurt. Besides, there's no one else around soâ