Chapter 11 #2
"Choice," Lunar repeated, testing the word. "Shadow-dwellers are not encouraged to embrace such concepts."
"Yet here you are," Poppy said softly, "making choices every moment you stay with me."
The truth of her words resonated through his being. Each moment since their first encounter had been a choice, small divergences from his programmed path that had led him here, to this cabin, to this woman who saw through darkness as easily as breathing.
"I am compromised," Lunar concluded, the admission both liberating and terrifying. "My objectivity regarding Earth no longer exists. By every measure of shadow operative protocols, I have failed."
He hadn’t even been logging his mission reports to take home.
Poppy moved closer, her hand finding his in the dancing firelight. "Or maybe you've succeeded in ways you didn't expect. Maybe connection is worth more than intelligence gathering."
"A romantic perspective," Lunar observed.
"A human perspective," Poppy corrected. "Though I'm starting to think it's not just a human thing.
Solar and Dani, Eclipse and Rowan, you and me.
.. There's something about these connections that transcends species. I have to believe there was some kind of fate that brought you three here at this time to meet us. There’s a power in the universe greater than all of us.
It drew our energies together. What are the odds that we would find each other so quickly, so assuredly? "
Lunar considered this, analyzing the patterns that had emerged. Three Zorveyan representatives, each finding unexpected resonance with Earth females. Statistically improbable unless some deeper meaning existed.
"You may be correct," he said. "The resonance between us suggests factors beyond simple attraction. Your shadow sensitivity, in particular, indicates possible genetic variations that—"
Poppy silenced him with a kiss, her lips warm against his cool. The familiar circuit of energy established itself instantly, star patterns accelerating within his darkness as her warmth flowed into him.
When they parted, her smile carried a gentle amusement. "You're overthinking again."
"Analysis is my nature," Lunar defended, though he felt his clinical perspective dissolving under her touch.
"Your nature is changing," Poppy observed. "I can feel it in your energy. The patterns are different than when we first met. More complex. More..."
"Human?" Lunar suggested with what might have been irony.
"More open," Poppy corrected. "Like shadows at the edge of dawn, when they start to soften and blend instead of standing in sharp relief."
The poetic description sparked something in Lunar's consciousness, a recognition that Poppy understood his nature in ways that even other shadow-dwellers might not. She saw not only the darkness but the subtle variations within it, the beauty in the absence of light.
A soft knock interrupted them. Rowan peered inside the open door, her face drawn with exhaustion despite her earlier insistence on taking watch.
"You should rest," Poppy told her gently. "Lunar and I can handle the watch."
Rowan hesitated, clearly torn between exhaustion and the need to remain vigilant for any news of Eclipse. Finally, fatigue won. She moved to the cot, still clutching the energy stone.
"Wake me if anything changes," she said, her voice thick with unshed tears. “He’s out there. Alone.”
"I know. We will," Poppy promised.
As Rowan settled onto the narrow cot, Lunar and Poppy moved outside into the desert night. The temperature had dropped significantly, but Poppy seemed unbothered.
“I can only imagine what she’s feeling,” Poppy whispered. “The idea of a missing loved one is probably one of the worst feelings in the world. The not knowing.”
They found a natural shelter in the rocks above the cabin, a position that offered clear sightlines while remaining concealed. Poppy settled against a smooth boulder, and Lunar flowed around her, his shadow form providing both warmth and protection.
"How long do you think we can hide here?" Poppy asked after a while, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Unknown," Lunar admitted. "Milano's resources appear extensive. But this location offers significant tactical advantages."
"That's not what I meant," Poppy said softly. "How long before Galaxy Brides returns? How long before you have to choose between duty and...?" She gave a helpless gesture. “Between duty and us?”
The question pierced through his defenses more effectively than any weapon. Lunar found himself tightening his protective embrace, as if he could shield them both from the inevitable.
"I don’t know," he answered at length. He hoped for more time than duty would dictate.
Poppy turned in his arms. Her eyes found his. "Whatever time we have, I want to spend it without regrets. Without holding back because of what might come."
"A dangerous philosophy," Lunar observed, even as he felt himself drawn to it.
"The only one worth living by," Poppy countered. "Especially now, when everything feels balanced on a knife's edge."
She was right, of course. He found she understood these things better than he.
Their situation was precarious, their future uncertain.
Logic dictated maintaining emotional distance and preparing for their inevitable separation.
But logic had failed him the moment she'd placed that first shadow stone at his feet.
"Then we proceed without reservation," Lunar decided, surprising himself with the conviction in his voice. "Whatever time remains, we face it together."
Poppy's smile illuminated the darkness more effectively than any star.
"Together," she agreed, sealing the promise with another kiss that sent shadow and warmth spiraling between them.
The passion that hummed between them built like static electricity before a storm. Lunar's essence swirled with increasing intensity, his star patterns accelerating as Poppy's warmth called to him.
"I want to feel you again," Poppy whispered, turning in his embrace.
Her hands traced over his darkness, sending ripples of sensation wherever she touched.
The desert night cradled them in perfect privacy, red rocks rising around their hidden alcove like ancient guardians.
Lunar responded by letting his shadow form flow over her exposed skin like cool silk, each point of contact creating those familiar circuits of energy between them.
Poppy shivered as she pulled her shirt over her head, exposing herself to the night air.
Lunar's shadow essence caressed her breasts, drawing a gasp as his cooler darkness met warm, soft flesh.
His touch was everywhere at once, ghosting across her nipples, trailing down her stomach, sliding along her thighs as she shed the rest of her clothing.
She made tiny noises that called to something deep inside. When he solidified partially to take her breast in his mouth, the contrast of his tongue against her heated skin made her arch against him.
“You fascinate me,” she whispered.
Star patterns swirled faster within his form as her hands explored his body, finding him solid where she needed him to be. Her hands moved over him and through him.
"Please," she breathed as his fingers slid between her thighs, touching her in the way he had learned she liked. He found her wet, a human signal that she was ready for him. The star patterns within his darkness pulsed in response to her desire.
He molded his form against her, his essence pushing forward to fill her body the way she wanted. Lunar groaned, the sound resonating through his entire being as her inner muscles gripped him. He sent pulses of his energy into her, growing himself inside her tight depths.
“I very much enjoy your wet pleasure port,” he admitted, pushing himself deeper and stretching wider.
Poppy gave a small giggle before gasping. “I very much enjoy you in my pleasure port.”
They moved together in the darkness, finding a wiggling rhythm that built like an approaching storm. Lunar's shadow essence enveloped her completely while maintaining that exquisite friction where their bodies joined. Each thrust sent waves of ecstasy through their connected energies.
She cried out in pleasure as he felt a spark along her nerve endings where they merged. The faster he pulsed, the more she writhed. Her legs wrapped around him, and she grabbed his hips to pull him tighter.
Poppy's ability to channel shadow frequencies amplified every sensation.
They were connected in a way that should not be possible.
He felt her not just physically but energetically.
He felt her desire, her pleasure, her growing need that resonated through his being.
Her passion fed back into him, creating loops of shared sensation that spiraled higher and higher.
When release finally claimed them, it was a cosmic release.
Poppy's orgasm triggered Lunar's, and their combined energies exploded outward like a supernova, creating a burst of soft blue light.
For an endless moment, they were one being, shadow and human perfectly balanced in crystalline pleasure.
The star patterns within Lunar's form blazed so brightly they illuminated the night around them before settling back into gentle swirls.
Afterward, they remained entangled, Poppy's warmth wrapped in his protective darkness. He kept his essence partially inside her, unwilling to fully separate. The connection between them was stronger than ever, and he felt as if a permanent bridge had been forged between their energies.
"I love you," Poppy whispered into the darkness. "Whatever comes next, whatever choices we have to make, I want you to know that won't change."
Lunar tightened his embrace.
"You have altered me in ways that cannot be undone," he replied. "My darkness will always resonate with your light."
He again wished Earth had given him better words to tell her how he felt.
The desert stretched endlessly around them, keeping its secrets while they carved out their own small sanctuary in the shadow of the rocks. They stayed that way until dawn began to paint the eastern sky in shades of gray and pink, grasping every moment of connection while they could.
Lunar felt the familiar threat of impending daylight. Soon he would need to retreat to the cabin's shadows. But for just a moment longer, he held Poppy close, memorizing the feel of her warmth against his darkness, storing each sensation against an uncertain future.
Whatever came next—Milano, Galaxy Brides, or choices he couldn't yet fathom—this moment was theirs. And in the end, perhaps that was all anyone could ask for, a perfect moment of connection in a universe full of shadows and light.