No Way Back

Gerald was awakened the next morning by the glare of bright sunlight streaming in through the tent flap and winced. Maybe it was just him but Equestrian sunlight seemed warmer - and brighter - than the sunlight he’d known on his old world.

Derpy lay nestled tightly against his side, her foreleg draped over his stomach, one of her wings spread out and covering them like a warm, soft, downy quilt. He felt her stir beside him, heard her  coo softly, contentedly, her warm breath caressing his neck.

“Good morning, lover”, she purred softly into his ear.

Gerald blinked and looked down at her, smiled, rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

He started to rise on his elbows when Derpy pulled him back down onto the mat on which they slept. He turned to look at her.

“Oh, no!”, she giggled, as she gently nuzzled his cheek, “you don’t get away that easy!”

Her eyes sparkled and danced as she looked at him with that warm, sweet smile of hers as she began softly kissing his lips.

Gerald closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her and happily surrendered to those kisses.

It had been their first night together and, knowing that he wasn’t ready for anything more, Derpy  lay next to him all night and slept snuggled close to him, perfectly happy and content to do nothing more than that in spite of her deep and obvious desire for much, much more.

They’d fallen asleep almost instantly with a deep sense of contentment they never imagined and slept more soundly and peacefully than they ever had, before.

It was as if this was the way it had to be, that such had been fated for them both, that all the stars in the heavens and all the powers that be had decreed that they were meant to be together and always would be.

In spite of the morning sun streaming into Gerald’s eyes and blinding him, all he wanted to do was to spend the rest of the day laying there holding each other warm and close.

She lifted her head from his shoulder. Smiling softly, she looked down at him with those glorious sun gold eyes of hers.

“You’re all my dreams and deepest fantasies come true, Gerald”, she purred softly, sweetly, in his ear.

He lay silent for a moment letting her sweet and very touching words sink and settle into the very depths of his heart, his soul. Then he began to gently stroke her sweat soaked silk soft mane.

“Were you a star”, he whispered, “I would place you high and bright within the heavens and so fine the heavens you would make that all the world would fall in love with night and give no worship to the garish sun.”

“Oh, Gerald! That’s beautiful!”, cooed Derpy, “Did you just make that up?”

“No”, he said, “It’s from Romeo and Juliet - From Shakespeare - an ancient writer from my world. Well, a paraphrasing of it, anyway. It describes you perfectly.”

Tears of joy welled in the corners of Derpy’s sparkling eyes as she closed them then gently laid her head back his my shoulder, sighing in contentment.

“I love you Gerald”, she whispered.

“I... I love you too, Derpy.”

Ignoring the growing heat of the tent and not wanting to leave their embrace, they soon fell back to sleep.