She felt his gaze, even with her eyes closed. Tucking her chin further into the blanket, she hoped to hide, though she knew it was futile. It had been a long day, and all she wanted was sleep. Yet, his gaze lingered.

As he watched her, his mind wandered. When they will fall asleep, where will they go? Their bodies will rest here, pressed close, warming each other, but they—who were they, really? And where would they drift one the silence and darkness took over?

Ten years together, yet neither of them was the same person they had been at the start. Even their bodies were new, every cell replaced. So what still drew them together, tethered them so tightly? Was it the bodies? The minds? Or something more?

She began to shift, slowly turning away from him. He’d seen it countless times—the sigh she let out just before the turn, the habitual tug of the blanket to tuck herself in.

He recognized that sigh. It wasn’t one of resignation but of invitation. Her silence was louder than words, calling to him. Yet he remained still.

He could feel her frustration rising, her unspoken plea vibrating in the air between them: Why doesn’t he hear me?

His hand found her hip, pulling her a few inches closer. She shimmied back against him, pressing her cool skin to the heat of his hardening cock. He knew what she wanted. She knew he wanted it too.

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her tightly to him. A soft moan escaped her lips, blending with the gentle rustling of the blanket.

“You know it’s time to sleep, right?” she whispered, her voice trembling with anything but conviction.

“Right,” he murmured, his hands sliding over her breasts. She shuddered as his fingers brushed her hard nipples. His hand moved to her neck, wrapping gently around it.

Her neck—so delicate, so vulnerable. Trusting his grip to tighten, yet knowing the slightest shift in her body would release it. Years together had refined this trust, like the careful tuning of a guitar.

And yet, the moan he heard this time was different. It did not release his grip, nor tighten it. For a moment, he lost the moment and his thoughts took over.

It was different, right? Or am I crazy?

Unsure how to respond, he realized: this was what kept the attraction alive. The everlasting change.

He never fully knew her. Not really. He did not know where did she go when she slept? Where did she wake from each morning? Every day, he met her again, rediscovering her.

Change is the force of holding everything together. Without it, all would come to a still, and slowly fade.

The thoughts fell away as he started to move from a place not knowing where, his hand sliding through her hair and pulling gently. Slowly, he tilted her head back, exposing her throat. Her back arched as she gasped.

Then she laughed softly. “Oh, fuck you,” she teased. “I said it was time to sleep, and now you’ve got me all wet.”

She turned to face him, their gazes locking in the dim light of the room. For a moment, they were suspended, only the faint reflection of the moon glimmering in each other’s eyes.

He rolled her over, gripping her hips firmly, pulling her closer again. His hand slid to her left cheek, squeezing it, then down her thigh. As she moved to lift her leg, he pressed them together, holding her steady.

His cock found her entrance, poised at her slick, tight folds.

The moment before it happens. Are these not the moments we live for? The fireworks are beautiful, but the moment of ignition—hearing the hiss, waiting for the rocket to shoot skyward—that's where time stretches.

Anticipation builds. And even though you’ve seen it before, heard it before, done it before, you still savor that moment just before.

And then, it happens.

The fireworks shoot out. The cock slides in. And aah! The sky brightens. It slides out, the sky darkens, another hiss, and it slides in again.

These are the moments we long for, since birth. Since angels pressed their fingers to our lips as we waited to descend to Earth. Since we first touched ourselves, since we first saw her eyes, since his first caress.

Sex. So primal, yet cosmic.

He was fucking her fast. Pounding her ass against his belly. It definitely did not seem like time to sleep. Her hips pressed back, meeting him with equal force, their movements primal, synchronized, cosmic.

His hand slid beneath her, wrapping tightly around her waist, while the other grasped her bouncing breasts, squeezing them firmly.

He slowed, savoring the moment, but she wouldn’t let him linger. Her hips pounded back against him, demanding more.

“Oooaaaghh!” he groaned, as he fell over the edge spilling deep inside her and she kept pounding herself to a crescendo that finished with the scream that took over the room.

And just like that, it was over.

As when the last firework explodes, and slowly it's light fades into the night sky. Together, they disappeared into that space, into each other, into the unknown.