If time had stopped, if this moment stayed and didn’t move on, if the rest of eternity was dedicated to just the here and the now… then I don’t think I would have minded that one bit. 

Coated in her touch, of her in her entirety, the feeling of her body resting snugly against mine – when it came to staving off the nippy chill of the nightly breeze, there was no better comfort I could have asked or thought of then.

She was soft. Everywhere I glided my hands, I felt the same sinking, supple sensation… and depending on where, and depending on the pressure I exerted, her heavy breath would sometimes quiver at the touch. 

For a long, long while… I just caressed her, held her in a tight cuddle, and the thought of letting go was practically nonexistent. At first, as always, apprehension stifled most of her movements, hesitation had her fingers trembling trying to get a hold. 

Even after everything, even after all that she’s said and asked, nerves once more got the better of her. I didn’t have to ask, I just knew… it was in her demeanor, in her gaze, trying and failing to scrounger up any composure. She wanted to want, she wanted to desire… but she just didn’t know yet how exactly to go about it. 

It’s fine, there’s no reason to rush – why rush this, why let it end so quick? The whole night belonged to us, better we make the most of it, make it last as long as we could, and make it a memorable experience none of us will ever forget. 

So with a light kiss on her forehead, and my fingers streaming through her silky cascade of snowy-white locks, looking deep into her almost blinding, glowing emerald luster, I silently let her know to take her time, and to do as she pleases at her own pace. 

But in the silence, in the moment, she didn’t exactly get the message. 

“Master?” She asked, slightly confused. 

“It’s a beautiful night tonight, I’m sure you noticed,” I muttered, shifting over upwards towards the vast, expansive ceiling that shimmered and twinkled on to infinity. “Lots of stars for you to just lie down and admire.” 

“Admire?”

“You like to stare at the stars, right?” I said. “I figured… hey, why not? Just for a while.”

“Stars…” her dazed green eyes gave a single blink, the way she reacted, it’s like she wasn’t hearing me, or if she was, then she just wasn’t registering me. “Hmm…” 

Figure this might be what she needed – a favorite pastime to latch onto while immersing herself deeper and deeper into new, frightening, and unfamiliar territory. Perfect timing too, tonight it seems as if the universe was keen and eager to put on its most captivating light show yet. So many countless stars scattered across the blank infinite canvas up high just sparkling with relish… did a bit of stargazing in my time too, let’s find out if my memory was still up to the task.

“That one there, see that?” I pointed a finger up at a large patch of blinking dots. “The brightest one there, see it?”

“Umm…” Ash didn’t see it at first, hopelessly lost scouring the many bright dots, so I tried again, this time nudging her head at an angle, doing my best to sync her gaze with mine. “Oh,” a flicker of recognition then shimmered back in her eyes, and a faint smile slowly began to form. “I believe… is that it?” 

“Yeah, you got it,” I said, nodding approvingly at her gleeful expression. “We call that the North star here. Polaris.” 

“Polaris,” She repeated in a whisper, a trace of fascination lingering in the quiet after. “What a nice name.” 

“You have something like that where you’re from?” I asked.

Ash shook her head, her stare stuck mesmerized. “Perhaps we do, we’d never know… we pay already so little regards to the skies to notice, let alone to even brand them with titles of their own. Oh, Polaris…” She muttered again, the ends of her lips curling at the sound. “What a nice name it is, indeed.” 

“Is it really that good of a name?” I asked, a little amused by her fascination with it. 

“It is…” Ash slowly leaned towards me, resting her head between my neck and shoulders. The breath leaving her smile was a calm, relaxed one. “A beautiful name… I like it.” 

Guess that means stargazing was actually working. 

I kept at it.

“Then a little over there, a little harder to notice – but there you’ll see another bright spot, see it? That’s Vega,” I pointed my finger elsewhere, drifting it right across the ocean of stars, then I drifted it again. “Altair further down, Deneb a little far on the right there. Together they form what we call the summer triangle.” 

Silently, she attentively followed my every move as I guided her through the diverse arrays of constellations and shapes, and to my own surprise, I found myself enjoying the sight as much as she was. 

Up there, in that vast expanse, it was so easy to lose yourself, except only, um, I was pretty much in the same boat as her now, because apart from the popular picks I knew from general knowledge… I had absolutely no idea what I was looking at anymore. Looking around now, I didn’t know my Big Dipper from my Small Dipper, still, for her sake – I tried my best.

“Um, I think that one there is – that kinda looks like an eagle or something, probably,” I sifted through another patch of twinkling dots. “And the one there is, um – Saturn? Looks like Saturn. Oh, but that one there! That’s actually – “

But what that actually was, I never got to see much further to find out. Something came between to obstruct the view of the starry sky, looming above me in a shadowy, murky outline, and yet… there was just no mistaking that slender figure of hers.

Ash slowly slid her hands into mine, our fingers intertwining, locking. From above, her tender gaze swiftly drew closer towards me, and I felt the strands of her hair pouring down onto me, and in that blanket of warmth, her weight pressing lightly against my hips, she buried her lips into mine, a furious, passionate, loving kiss, that rocked us both gently from side to side. 

It happened so quick, so abruptly, I didn’t even know what the hell was happening, and just when I was about to lose myself in the moment, Ash broke us apart, lifting herself, and hovering her lips just an inch away from mine, our breathing intermixing, our stares prominently reflecting one another.

“Your consideration is much appreciated, Master, I thank you for it, I do,” She whispered softly, her low voice like a caressing sultry melody. “But if you really mean to comfort me as you intend to, then please consider there are far less subtle means of doing so,” Ash blushed, smiled. “Y’know?” 

I felt a rush of hot bubbly lava stuff pour into every pore of my face. It took me a moment to get a grasp on myself, to know what the hell just came over me, but I think I do now – Ash just flustered me just now. Cheeky little…

“And here I thought you were still being shy,” I hoisted myself upright, keeping her steady atop my waist by placing my hands firmly against her back. “Lost interest in stargazing that fast, did you?” 

“My interest in the heavens above brims endless and bountiful, Master,” Ash leaned forward again and began resting her forehead against mine, cupping my cheeks with both of her hands. “That being said, how am I ever to dedicate any focus to anything else, when you’re all that I can possibly stare at?” 

I smiled, feeling my lips slightly grazing hers. “Fair enough.” 

“My wants, my desires, I decided that I will ignore them no longer, that I will not forestall any longer, this is what I want, Master,” She said, drawing closer and closer again, the shape of her lips forming her last words before leaning in for a kiss. “I want you.” 

And she meant it. I have never felt rougher, I have never felt her more eager than this, the way she was pushing, fighting, her hands scouring every inch of me. I tried to keep up to no avail, she had me totally overwhelmed.

In between pauses, in between breaths, the sounds, the fleeting moans she’d make, the quiver in her voice… in feeling, in sense, I could hear her true desires manifesting and I couldn’t at all compare. 

Then with a loud pucker, she broke away again, only briefly, just for a moment, a single second, to have her true desire be known once more. She took my hands again, placing them firmly at her sides, and through the fabric of her clothes, I could feel the curve of her hips, and right then I wanted to feel more.

But as it turns out, that’s exactly what she wanted as well. 

“Master, if you would,” She said in a breathless whisper.. “Undress me please.”