intended to consume her. Like the world might end if he didn’t get inside her. His hands gripped her ass, lifting her and crushing her against him. She helped him by wrapping her legs around his waist.
There were none of the teasing touches of earlier. No delaying the inevitable culmination. It was like someone had lit a match and they were going up in flames.
He was inside her between one breath and another, thrusting up into her and pressing frantic kisses against her throat and breasts. She threw her head back and moaned, feeling her womb pull tight, and those feelings spiral deep inside.
He reached down, rubbing the bundle of nerves just above where they were joined, building the tension in Shea. She was hurtled into climax before she could even think to guard against it. He followed moments later, his groan echoing through the trees.
Finished, he pressed her closer as he rested his forehead against hers. Shea was still breathing hard as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as he moved to the side of the pool and lifted her up to set her on it.
They were quiet as they dried off, each keeping their thoughts to themselves. They shared little touches with each other, a caress against the shoulder, a fleeting touch to the back, a press of lips against the chin, telling each other without words the depth of their feelings.
They dried off and dressed in the change of clothes Shea brought. She pulled out the food, mostly trail rations—nothing fancy—except for two pieces of fruit she saved for their dessert.
By now the sun had set and even its memory had faded from the sky, leaving only night in its wake. This high in the canopy there were gaps for the sky to be seen, and what a sight it was. This far from the camp and village meant there was no light pollution to obscure the heavens on this nearly cloudless night. It made for the perfect opportunity to lay next to each other and stare up, as the stars woke one by one, until they were a stream of light twinkling across the heavens, sometimes so thickly that they looked like a river of sparkling dust.
It wouldn’t be long now until the main event—the reason Shea had wanted Fallon to see this. It was only visible for a limited time beginning a few hours after the sun set. Not every night, but often enough that Shea had risked the trip.
“This is beautiful, Shea. I can see why you brought me here.”
Shea turned her head to find Fallon staring at her. She gave him a smile, only visible because of the moon and stars. Something over his shoulder caught her eyes. She tapped him and pointed. “Look.”
The purple flowers that had been folded tight in daylight began to unfurl, looking nearly silver in the pale light. Out of each flower a light rose, slowly at first, then with ever-increasing speed until the little treetop grove was aglitter with moving, flickering lights. It turned the grove into a fantastical oasis as the tiny lights became nearly as numerous as the stars above.
“It’s like the stars have come down for us to touch,” Fallon said in a soft voice, reaching out one hand to touch a light that had drifted close.
“This is the only place I’ve ever seen these,” Shea confided. “It seems to be a phenomenon unique to this area. This is a small showing. I’m told that deeper in the forest, the lights are so plentiful that it’s brighter than the sun at midday.”
“What are they?”
“Bugs, as near as I can figure it. The locals call them fairy lights. They’re nocturnal and reside in the flowers during the day, using its cover as protection against predators. At night, when the flowers open, they wake up and come out.”
Fallon caught one, gently cupping his hands around it. He held his hand out between them and unfurled his fist in a slow movement. In his palm, no bigger than Shea’s thumbnail was a miniature figure, almost humanlike with a head and arms and legs but no features, and wings that closed and opened in a lightning fast movement. As they watched, its wings flickered, creating the glow they’d been watching.
“How does it create light?” Fallon’s face was intent as he tilted the fairy light in his hands, this way and that as if he could find the mechanism it used just by observation.
Shea shook