Page 57 of Avelina

He closed his eyes and gave in to the pleasure, kissing me as he pressed into me again and again, just as I pressed my energy into him. He held nothing back, and I didn’t think it would take either of us long to climax. I suspected that our experiences were so entangled that I would have little choice but to be carried along with the tide.

Unfortunately, his wound chose that moment to finish healing. The scab fell off, landing on my forehead, almost in my eye, which broke my concentration and grossed me out a little. I tensed, unsure what to do. Aaron paused to see what had happened, then he laughed absurdly hard.

“Rude,” I said, but he sounded so happy that I couldn’t even bring myself to be annoyed. His deep belly laugh was a rare hymn.

“At least it’s not pus this time,” he responded and broke up again, shaking the whole bed.

“This is quite the romantic start we’ve got going here,” I commented.

He struggled to contain himself, then picked the icky little thing off my face and tossed it off the side of the bed. “Sorry,” he said. Then he kissed me again and restarted his rhythm.

“What would happen if I kept pushing Protection into you?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Nothing, I think. You can try.”

I did. At first, it seemed like he was right. He could feel it, and it still felt incredible, enhancing his pleasure and subsequently my own, but the energy didn’t pass through him or come back to me. Instead, it accumulated.

I should stop, I thought.

Not yet.

The unused Protection fragment sought a new target and, not finding one, became a diffuse energy that seeped into every cell of his body. After a minute or two, Aaron glowed with a faintly aqua-colored light. In fact, we were both glowing.

He paused briefly to gaze at his own hand, holding it up to his face just as I had the first time. He let out a short laugh then resumed thrusting. He looked back down at my face and thought to me, I want to try sending it back to you.

I nodded and closed my eyes, letting my head rest back again. With a grunt of effort, he pushed Protection back into me from the newly enhanced reservoir that had collected within him, and the feeling was just like what I had experienced in the portal. The pleasure was so intense that I involuntarily cried out. It was as sharp as pain, and I arched my back in response.

He felt it through Connection, just as I had, and it drove him into a frenzy, which was only heightened when the fragment flowed back into him from me a moment later. His speed increased to his maximum, and the room became brighter than day as we continued transferring the Protection fragment back and forth, building with each cycle.

The noise we made when that frag bomb finally detonated was probably heard on Earth. Aaron felt it coming and propped himself up on straight arms for leverage, then threw his head back, his entire body rigid. He was inside me as deeply as he would go, paralyzed by the intensity of his orgasm.

I was dragged willingly into the climax with him, overwhelmed by a feeling of not only pleasure but wholeness. Out of nowhere, my perception of reality bent and twisted, like an intense episode of déjà vu. My awareness expanded, allowing me to see my life as a river. It connected to an extracorporeal part of myself that I instinctively recognized but hadn’t been consciously aware of. I felt a Oneness with Aaron that existed in some space outside of physical reality, and for an instant, I caught a glimpse of myself outside of the constraints of time. The moment was over before I could process it, but I was left with the certainty that our paths had not crossed by accident.

Aaron had explained to me that his mother, Violet, predicted our meeting, but I didn’t comprehend until that moment the significance of the event. The outcome of our relationship would have momentous consequences not only for us, but also for everyone we knew and loved. If I hadn’t been in the middle of a mind-blowing orgasm, I would have been scared shitless.

The Protection fragment surged and subsided, then surged and subsided again, like a pulse. It finished cycling through us one last time, then dissipated. The room dimmed, and we clung to each other for a few more seconds. Aaron slowly pulled out and slid off to the side like a jellyfish, one leg still draped over me. We were both drenched in sweat and breathing hard. We lay there for a long time, panting.

I had never had sex like that before. The use of fragmental energy had turned the experience into something much more profound than just physical gratification. It had been a spiritual experience that had moved me and made me question my entire life’s purpose.

“I don’t even know what that was,” I said, “but it was worth risking the pit for.”

Aaron burst out laughing, joy radiating out from him like Evocation heat. “Good?” he asked, though he knew the answer.

I laughed even as tears streamed down my cheeks. “Yes,” I said, still catching my breath. “Understatement. Fragment sex. Holy crap. That was just . . .” I shook my head. I couldn’t think of a word that described it.

“The very essence of perfection,” he said in that deep voice.

I laughed again, almost hysterical. Jesus, I need to get ahold of myself. “Yes,” I said, “and your memory is too good. I need to watch what I say to you a little better.”

“You don’t,” he said seriously and hugged me to him.

“Good,” I said. “I was bluffing anyway. I’m going to fall asleep now. Poke me if I accidentally die.”

“That’s not funny,” he mumbled, “and I already did that. Maybe tomorrow.”

I grinned, surprised that he’d made another joke, then snuggled into him and closed my eyes. You sure did, I thought.

“I glowed,” he said.

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