They had hiked all day to get to the clearing on the mesa, taking turns leading. Jack liked to follow. Instead of having to scan ahead to find a decent path through the brush, trees, and rocks, he could watch Nancy’s ass and tanned legs as he followed in her footsteps.

She was the avid hiker, but he was growing to love it. This would be his longest trek so far, one or two nights, depending on how things went. They had slept in the SUV where the dirt road ended the night before. At dawn, they drove off-road for an hour to get to the starting point for the hike. With more experience, Nancy generally led through the harder areas, like finding a way up the mesa, but she let Jack learn from his mistakes when it was his turn.

“You can’t argue your way forward,” she repeated her own maxim when she realized she had reached an impasse, then turned to backtrack a few hundred feet and try a different route. His trust and admiration for her skill and temperament had grown as had her respect for his efforts and increasing abilities. This trip was something she had wanted to do for a long time; having Jack made it possible. For his part, he was infected by her enthusiasm.

The sun was touching the top of the trees that ringed the mesa when they chose a spot to set up camp. They ate their meal in shadow as it dropped behind the trees, but the sky above was still bright. Gradually, a red glow emerged and retreated in the west, leaving a dome of lapis darkening to indigo.

“No more looking up, no peeking,” Nancy reminded him as they put things away. She spread open the sleeping bags, positioning them for optimal viewing, and arranged what they would need for the evening.

“Be sure you have everything,” she warned Jack as he returned from stashing their food vault some distance away. “You won’t be able to use a light to find something later.” They wanted to maintain their night vision.

As they settled onto the spartan bedding, the meticulous plans and pleasantly sore muscles seemed ready to pay off. They had done what they could. Now it was up to nature and the universe.

They were there to experience the Perseid meteor shower. The moon cooperated by being on the other side of the planet. Still, finding a spot far from city—or country—lights, from civilization, from other people, was a challenge. Clouds and haze were possible, and there was no way to predict the intensity of the shower itself; some years were better than others.

Side-by-side, they stretched out prone on the sleeping bags; their padding did little to cushion the hard bare soil. But the air had cooled comfortably from the heat of the day and there was no rain so, for being in the wilderness, it was four-star accommodations.

“A little bit longer,” she sensed his impatience. He had accepted her proposed embargo on watching the stars emerge in the darkening sky in order to increase the anticipation and the impact of seeing them all at once when it had reached full darkness.

Perhaps to provide a distraction, Nancy wormed her head under his arm, wriggling into a hug and turning to kiss him on the lips.

“I love you for doing this with me,” she said. They had been dating for six months. Sharing her love of the outdoors with this city boy, she had found him to be a willing participant. She had pushed him hard the past two months once she got the idea of this adventure. The Perseids arrive in August whether you’re ready or not.

“I love you for making me do this,” he said, pulling her tight. “That’s not right,” he reconsidered, “it sounds like you forced me to be here. I love you for taking me along and helping me do this.”

Rolling to embrace each other, they took turns kissing and caressing. Almost without thinking, buttons were undone and skin was exposed and stroked.

“Oops! I almost forgot why we’re here,” she laughed when she realized her hand had unhooked his belt. “I think it’s time. Close your eyes.” She gave him one more long, deep kiss, gently rolling him onto his back in the process.

Only when he closed them did he realize that his dark-adapted eyes had been able to see her face, vaguely in the dimmest of light scattered by the atmosphere. Nancy snuggled next to him, laying her head against his shoulder, tickling his trimmed beard with her short curly hair.

“Ready?” she prompted. “You can call it.” He blushed at her allowing him the privilege, giving her a grateful squeeze. Feeling the tension in her body, he knew she had kept her eyes closed as well.

“Three… two… one…,” he counted slowly, “Open!” There were two sharp gasps as they took in the sight.

Jack had never seen so many stars. Living in a city, of course, he would only see the brightest ones even on a clear, moonless night. On occasion in a remote location, he had seen more, but this was different.

The entire dome was peppered with greater and lesser points of light. As he struggled to grasp the expanse, his eyes were drawn to the great geyser that was the Milky Way, shooting up from the horizon beyond his feet where Nancy had aimed them. Whatever knowledge he possessed of astronomy evaporated in the sheer majesty of it.

“So beautiful,” he sighed, breathing again. Nancy squirmed in delight against him.

“It’s better than I imagined,” she trilled. “It’s never been this good.”

With only occasional nondescript murmurs, they spent a few minutes trying to grasp it. The photons that had inexorably traveled for eons through the vacuum of space finally impacted on the retinas of their eyes, allowing their brains to see all those glowing orbs, so distant in time and space.

Jack stole a few glances at Nancy as she turned to gaze at different areas of the firmament. The darkness masked her beaming face, but he could sense her delectation. She certainly saw more than he did, knowing about the constellations and what and where various stars were.

With romantic nerdiness, Jack mused, “Just think about two beams of light from one of those stars, only inches apart for so far and so long, one ending in your eye, the other in mine.”

“Oh, Jack!” her voice caught in her throat with unexpected emotion. Her blurring vision required her to wipe away some spontaneous tears.

A flash in the corner of her eye reminded her of the occasion.

“As amazing as the sky is, tonight, we are also looking for meteors. They should appear to come from around there.” She leaned her head against his so their lines of sight would be the same. He could see the dark shape of her arm and hand as her finger pointed to the area.

A few minutes passed in silence. “Wow!” they exclaimed in unison when a streak finally appeared.

“That’s the idea,” she continued, “some may be dimmer or brighter, shorter or longer, depending on size and material and exact position. You know, ‘shower’ makes it sound like they are moving and aiming for us, but that’s an illusion.  Really, they’re just bits of stuff floating in a different orbit around the sun, and earth just moves through them once a year, burning some up with our atmosphere.”

Over the next half hour, they saw a handful of bright ones and a dozen fainter flashes. Nancy filled the time pointing out the constellations that helped her find the right place to look as well as some individual stars.

“Before civilization, every night was like this,” she explained. It’s no wonder that the people living in this area built structures aligned to the stars. They must have recognized how the positions correlated with seasons and helped them keep track of time.”

Jack recalled the Puebloan ruins they had visited on previous day-hikes. The seemingly arbitrary construction details of some features turned out to be aligned with celestial positions and events.

Sharing the wonder of the experience, almost unconsciously, Jack held and caressed Nancy, and she reciprocated. Their hands rediscovered the partially opened clothing and, without discussion, continued the incremental process.

When she reached the zipper on his pants, he kissed her head and said, “Let’s make this easier.” Sitting up, he shrugged off his shirt, then back-bridged his pants off. Seeing no reason to do otherwise, he shed his underwear and socks as well.

Nancy apparently reached the same conclusion because when they settled back against each other, he felt nothing but skin.

“That was a good one!” she exclaimed, and he realized his attention had been on her instead of the sky. He didn’t want to admit that he had missed it, so he turned his gaze upward and focused on watching for meteors.

Nonetheless, their hands roamed their now completely accessible territories, randomly but tenderly. Her squishy breasts flattened and spread as she lay on her back, but his fingers easily located the prominent nipples that stood up in the night air amid the soft flesh. His nipples were less defined on the firmness of his chest, but her sensitive fingers found them, knowing he enjoyed her playing with them.

As if they were cuddling while watching a movie, their attention moved back and forth between the distant heavenly bodies and the genial bodies within reach. Nancy’s wandering hand had followed his chest hair lower until she encountered Jack’s half-hard penis. It twitched as she ran a finger from the base to the tip, and she couldn’t resist wrapping her fingers around the shaft and pumping gently. She loved to feel it swell in her hand.

Jack’s soft moan alerted Nancy to the effect her caresses were having. Not ready to abandon the stellar observation, she juggled his balls for a bit, then moved on to stroke other, less blatant areas.

Being male, Jack was always ready to consider sex, but as Nancy lowered the temperature, he was satisfied with her ongoing attention. His hand roamed down her belly to tease her muff. He resisted the urge to probe deeper but drew a sigh as his fingers explored the range of her lower curls.

The slowly rotating panoply of lights marked the passage of time as they shared this magical experience. The blanket of night kept both from being self-conscious of their nudity and lascivious behavior out in the open. The slow simmer of sensuality seemed natural in the context of the cosmos spread above them.

“Ja-ack,” Nancy cooed, stretching his name to two syllables. It got his attention like a hypnotic trigger word; he suspected he would be eager to comply with whatever her request was.

“Would you lick me, edge me, how you’ve done sometimes?” she sounded shy.

“Sure, Nance,” he said without hesitation. He enjoyed eating her but knew she was asking for more. In the sessions she referred to, it was for an extended time and, despite his assurances, she thought of it as an imposition.

When she was in the mood, she liked to be edged, not so much being teased and frustrated as some women preferred, but more dancing on the edge. Even she wasn’t sure if she had edges or multiple soft orgasms; there would be an ebb and flow of excitement, anticipation, pleasure, and serenity without needing a crescendo or denouement.

“I want to feel like I’m making love with the universe,” her voice was uncertain. His roaming hand moved to stroke her neck, reassuring her. “I want to lay myself open, feel like I am Mother Earth, Gaia, bathing in and returning the love of the cosmos.”

Jack doubted she could have made the request in any other circumstance. In the dark, under these heavens, exposed but hidden, she had allowed the glimmer of a notion to blossom into a full fantasy. He waited to see if she had more details but, feeling her grow tense in the silence, he worried she might think he was reluctant or found the idea silly.

“On behalf of the universe,” he sang cheerfully, “it would be an honor to make love with you.” He leaned to kiss her deeply to confirm he was happy to do what she wished. Rising to his knees as she parted her legs, he crawled between them, just able to make out her arms spread wide as she looked up at the sky.

When he bent close to her pussy, he easily detected her aroma, inhaling the evidence of her excitement before nuzzling her bush. Unless she had just seen the brightest meteor of the night, he took credit for her loud moan as his mouth pressed home.

Getting comfortable on his elbows, he used his lips to explore her anatomy. This activity was rarely done in full illumination, so finding his way in the dark was no challenge. He lapped up the excess liquid as he probed with his tongue.

“No! Wait!” she cried, slipping her hand between his face and her sex. She could only imagine his puzzled expression and it took a moment for her to search her own mind for why it didn’t feel quite right.

“There’s nothing between me and the stars,” she spoke slowly, trying to put the misgivings into words, “but I’m not touching the ground.” She wanted to melt into the earth, but couldn’t do it lying on top of even those thin layers of synthetic fabric.

“Let me try something,” she said, hoping Jack would be willing to resume. She rolled off the sleeping bag and pushed it aside, relieved to notice that Jack had quickly understood and helped. She had removed the rocks from the spot before rolling it out, so it was just the firm reddish soil. She settled onto her back, the grit rough against her ass and shoulders. It still retained some of the day’s heat. As she spread her arms and legs, maximizing her contact with it, she felt strangely better.

“Is it too weird?” doubt weakened her voice. “Can we try it this way?” She worried she had lost the moment.

Jack was already moving back into position. “Whatever you want to make this night perfect for you,” he encouraged, keeping any hint of humor inside. He would follow her lead even if it meant occasional backtracking.

He returned to her crotch, starting over assuming that her excitement had backtracked as well. The rough ground against his skin felt odd but not terribly uncomfortable; he did rotate onto his left hip to keep the tip of his dangling cock from rubbing against it.

Jack nibbled in silence, feeling Nancy relax as she reentered her fantasy. When he slipped his tongue between her protruding inner lips, she flexed her buttocks in a familiar way. He pressed deeper, gradually opening her with tongue and fingers, relishing her taste, terrain, and texture.

“I feel it now,” her voice was low, “I’m sinking into it, merging with it, becoming part of it.” She continued her narration, interspersed with sighs and moans as he continued stimulating her.

“It’s like I am the earth,” she said solemnly.

“Of course!” she said a few moments later as if it were a new revelation, “I’ve always been part of it.”

“So many stars, all focused on me.” Each observation betrayed more excitement. “Filling me with energy. Drawing me toward them.”

Jack’s handiwork contributed to the rise in her voice as she approached fruition.

“I’m close,” she said, reminding him of her intentions. He reduced his intensity until he felt her relax a little. “I’m weightless, floating, no, speeding through the emptiness of space.”

His tongue teased her clit, keeping her from falling too far, and gently urged her back toward the precipice. Calibrating her fervor, listening to and feeling her responses, he kept her near the threshold.

Using varied techniques, he selected more ways to titillate her. He swirled two fingers into her opening, her flow providing more than enough lubrication. When he drew her clit between his lips, he felt a few contractions as she gasped. He paused, waiting for her regular breathing to signal it was safe to proceed.

“I am staring at the Milky Way,” Nancy continued. “Hundreds of billions of stars, who knows how many planets. I can feel beings on some of those planets looking this way, wanting to share what I am feeling, what they are feeling.”

Jack chose not to disrupt her fantasy, suppressing his rational mind’s understanding of the span of tens of thousands of years and light-years. He was happy to be the means of conveying or creating that experience for Nancy.

Together they kept her dancing on the brink of ecstasy as the sky rotated above. He lost count of the number of times she had approached or briefly crossed the line. In his mind, she was like a cartoon character who stepped out over the abyss but leapt back before gravity could take hold of her. Her narration had stopped and he wondered if her eyes were still open as her limp body floated in a warm pool of euphoria.

He was preparing for another ascent when she groaned, “You make me feel so good.” She giggled, “Just one more, assuming I have it in me,” then added, “This time, don’t stop.”

Knowing she was tender, he was gentle but direct, applying his whole range of skills. Fingers stroked and probed, lips sucked and nibbled, and tongue swirled and flicked.

Nancy wanted this one for Jack. She had been wandering the universe, sampling the delights of the stars. Now she was back at the campsite. She reached to cradle his head in her hands, not to guide him, but to show that she was with him. After so many interplanetary joys, this would down to earth.

“Oh, Jack!” she moaned softly. “Sweet Jack! Wonderful Jack!” finding more complimentary adjectives as she got closer and closer.

He struggled to stay focused; he was sure she could see the glow of his blushing in the dark from her praise. When her words turned into a gasp and a jerk, he kept going until her long sigh punctuated her climax.

“Thank you, Jack,” her voice was hoarse.

Unsure of his next move, he gave her time to recover, gently drying her vulva and inner thighs with his tongue.

After a minute or two, she asked “What can I do for you? Do you want to get back on the sleeping bag?”

When first he moved up next to her, he thought that would be a good idea, but as he leaned to kiss her, she seemed so comfortable, he didn’t want to disturb her. There was something natural, primal, about being naked in the dirt.

Nancy felt a little selfish when she tasted herself on his lips and tongue. As her mind had roamed through space imagining the variety of planets and beings that were sharing her journey of pleasure, it was Jack who had been the instrument of it. She rolled to him, pulling him tightly to her, emotion overtaking her and denying her speech.

Initially surprised by the dampness on his shoulder, Jack tasted a salty tear as he kissed her face.

“Aw, my love,” he soothed. “You wanted to merge with the earth and reach out to the universe. I want to merge with you and share that adventure.”

In the dark, he couldn’t see her expression, but he sensed it was his turn to lead. Slipping an arm behind her neck and drawing her far arm toward him, he embraced her languid body and rolled her on top of him. Accepting the coarseness of the dirt beneath him, his body thrilled at the warm softness above.

She settled on him like a bulky quilt; he felt completely happy, swaddled by the night and her body. With her head on his shoulder, his gaze found the stars again.

“I’m beginning to see what you see,” he whispered, his eyes scanning the sky in renewed wonder. Sensing the throbbing heart close to his, feeling the living breath on his neck, it seemed that the universe held him in its grasp.

As these thoughts filled his mind, he wanted to share them as she had done. Awkwardly, he began, “The deep darkness of space doesn’t feel cold and empty to me. It’s alive and embracing.”

That cosmological excitement made him shiver. As Nancy shifted slightly on top of him, they both were surprised and spontaneously giggled when his erect cock brushed against her pussy. While his ethereal mind contemplated the astronomical, his reptilian brain nonetheless responded to the biological. The geometry of their position had left them close but not quite in the most intimate contact.

Jack’s hands instinctively moved to squeeze Nancy’s ass. She slid down his body a bit so his surprisingly rigid shaft pressed against her slit. Their movements together were slow and spare.

“Are you up to it?” he asked, not sure if she was too sensitive or worn out.

She was unsure herself but decided to make the effort, whispering, “Just give me a minute.” She moved her hips to grind herself against his dick. Gradually, she spread her legs to let the head probe deeper, and he felt it slide against her still damp folds.

She reached behind her to press the tip home and rose slightly to lean onto it. He moaned as he felt that warm wet grasp. Looking up at her shadow against the sky as she rode him, he moved his hips to match her cantor.

As his excitement grew, he missed the feel of her on his chest, so he pulled her down onto him. He wanted her soft breasts and belly against him, enfolding him with warmth as her pussy engulfed his cock.

Jack didn’t rush but, unlike the long symphony of pleasure that Nancy had enjoyed, his would be a shorter rhapsody. “It’s drawing me up, out, yet—somehow—in,” he reported, an urgency growing, accelerating his strokes.

She bent her knees under her to raise her ass a little and give him more freedom to move. He used his feet to brace himself as he thrust up into her. Like a nuclear reaction, each pulse of delight created two more of yearning until it was beyond control. Looking up, the cloud of the Milky Way seemed to churn as if time passed billions of times faster.

The bright streak of a meteor ignited his explosion. As the ecstasy flashed through him, it seemed that the stars throbbed brighter. He was not just erupting inside Nancy’s hot cozy depths; he was emitting infinite sparks of bliss to the heavens.

Nancy had known that he was close but was too drained to share that apogee. Nonetheless, she loved the heat of his body against hers, and his penetration revived the satisfied tingling that had only recently subsided. Unable to keep pace, she gave control to him; his hands clenched her hips as he bucked forcefully. When he yelped his rapture, the echoes warmed her body as well.

They clung to each other, alone but not alone, far from people, but close to something immeasurably distant. Jack took a deep breath and confessed, “It was like I was sending out an explosion of ecstasy to all those stars, all those planets, all those Nancys who were sharing it with me.”

Nancy rose up to plant a hundred kisses on his face. When she tasted a salty tear, she didn’t know if it was his or hers.

“We should get some sleep,” she said finally, rolling off him, already seeing some lightening of the eastern sky. “It’s a long hike back tomorrow.”

Jack tugged the sleeping bags back into a usable position and crawled in, welcoming Nancy next to him, each pulling their side to cover them. They fell asleep counting meteors.

When dawn came, they stirred, breaking into giggles when they stood up. Like Adam and Eve after eating the forbidden fruit, each felt awkward to be naked in sunlight. When they noticed the red dust on their bodies as well as the bedding, they laughed even harder, hugging each other as they faced the results of the night before.

“I guess we’re going to be dirty today,” Jack teased. They had carried in enough water to consume for the hike there and back and for an extra day, in case the first night hadn’t been good. But there was no provision for bathing and no natural water on the mesa.

They turned and brushed off what they could, quickly making a game of it, since their reddest parts were their backsides. They finally agreed to a truce when they weren’t getting any cleaner. After dressing, Jack went to retrieve the food vault while Nancy shook out the sleeping bags.

Munching their breakfast bars and drinking their rations of water, they couldn’t stop smiling at each other.

“So were the meteors worth the hike?” Nancy grinned.

Jack replied with a wink, “I was thinking… we do have enough provisions for another night!”