Be Gentle, Immortal Master

We weren't at Mount Hua anymore, and I knew that Bai Ye couldn't set up the usual barrier around us—using spells against commoners was forbidden, since it would break their trust in cultivators and raise fear. But precisely because we weren't at Mount Hua, there was no more need to hide. Framed against the backdrop of a twinkling sky, we were just an ordinary couple pledging our love for each other on this very special night.

The lush summer grass was cool against my back when he lowered me onto the ground, their tiny fingers cuddling me like a fuzzy wool rug. I inhaled deeply, taking in the earthy tone mingled with his scent as his lips brushed over mine once more.

His kiss was soft and lingering, the usual passion carefully hidden behind endless tenderness. He nudged my lips gently, parting them only enough for the tip of his tongue to slip through, giving me the barest taste of him in a light caress. Only the heat from his quickened breaths betrayed how much fire he was holding back.

He didn't say it, but the cherishment and longing in that kiss told me everything. He wanted to be with me, and he wanted my wish to come true as much as I did. Stripped of wild desires and cravings for pleasure, this was the feeling that lay at the bottom of what we shared, a simple yearning to be together and belong to each other.

My heart swelled at the thought. I traced my fingers over his cheeks, along the hard muscles over his shoulders and his back. I had etched all the details of his contour into my memory long ago, yet a sense of unrealness still hit me every time I remeasured them with my touch. He was too perfect, as if the heavens had created him with all the beauty and power they could bestow. How did I manage to earn such favor and unreserved love from someone like him?

"Bai Ye," I breathed into his lips, suddenly recalling the lyrical praises that the young woman said to him this morning. If only I could be so good at words. "I wish I were better at telling you how much you mean to me … and how thankful I am to have you."

He looked at me, and a hint of amusement flashed across his eyes when he realized what I was thinking. He could always tell. "As opposed to songs of praises," he smiled slyly, "I prefer sounds like this—"

His lips moved down, dropping kisses along my collarbones and down my chest, and I moaned as he buried his head into my breasts and suckled.

His hand grazed over the curves of my body, no longer holding back the heat in his palm, trailing kindlings of fire in its wake. He knew exactly how to make me whimper and buckle under his lightest touch, how to make my yearnings throb and itch and ache throughout me. I dug my fingers into the silky strands of his hair, letting his lips and tongue work their miracles and send my pants drifting in the air, above the melodies of summer insects and the distant murmur of crowds.

A breeze stirred, carrying peals of laughter and cheers over the edge of the hilltop. The fireworks must be starting soon. I wondered idly if anyone in town would imagine a pair of lovers perching on the cliffs high above them, bodies entwined under the glowing blossoms that were about to light up the night. The throbbings within me intensified at the thought. "What do you think might happen if … um … if anyone hears us?" I massaged his scalp gently and whispered.

He rose above me, the sculpted edges of his face a sharp silhouette against the jeweled sky. "They would envy us," he said. "And maybe … be inspired."

He lowered himself and kissed me, swallowing my next moan as the swell of heat penetrated me from below.

I breathed heavily into him, tangling my tongue with his, circling my arms around his neck and pressing my body hard into him. He did the same. We held each other in such a tight embrace that I thought we might burst, but I couldn't have enough of this feeling of closeness, this feeling of him filling me and enveloping me from within and without, leaving no room for anything else to hide.

He made slow love to me, quenching the needs of every inch inside my body with his fiery caress. The fire he roused burned low but steady, and when the heat finally threatened to suffocate me, I broke our kiss and buried my face into his shoulders, gasping for air. But my arms only embraced him tighter while my legs hooked behind his waist, inviting him closer, deeper.

The stars of the Weaver and the Cowherd shone bright over his shoulders, twinkling on the opposite sides of the milky way. I gazed up, remembering that tonight was the time when they would meet again after the year-long wait, and the time when they would bless all the lovers on earth with a happier ending than their own.

We had their blessings, and I would do everything I could to make our happy ending come true.

"Bai Ye …" I breathed, clutching him and pushing myself up to meet his rhythm. "Let's make everyone envy us … for five hundred more years to come."

There was a brief moment of silence. Then he laughed softly and threaded his fingers through my hair, pressing my cheeks against his as he picked up speed. I let myself get lost in the sensation, in the overwhelming joy of just the two of us lying at the top of the world and setting our longings free.. I moaned into his ears, and when we gasped the height of  our pleasure in each other's arms, I saw the most beautiful fireworks I had ever seen in my life.