I want to break every clock the hands of time could never move again

Summer storms had come and gone and left his world damp and soft. Overhead, the sky was a darkening palette of shades of lavender, red, and pink, the kind you could only ever find in the sky. Pale plumes of clouds were strewn across it, each with their own silver lining brighter than any of the distant stars that stood watch over this place. The sort of quiet that resonated through the forest he’d come to know well never went away, and tonight there was only the sound of far-off raindrops falling and dripping to drown out the sound of his paws squishing through the mud and moss.

He'd never ventured to these parts before. He knew Darkwater Rapids like he knew his own heartbeat, and he'd spent some time around Secret Falls itself and its many waterways; this evening, he was west of the cascade, somewhere between his own heaven and the mountains that separated this world from the one he'd left behind. Slipping through the forest like a ghost in the night, Kade had begun a swift ascent along a rocky outcropping that rose above the forest. The ridge's rocky surface was littered with smaller stones that made his paws slip from time to time, and after a while the earthen, grassy features of the land below faded away. Up ahead, he could see the salmon-colored sky where the forest seemed to open up. When he got there, he wasn't prepared for what he saw.

It was a quaint meadow, adorned with wildflowers that seemed as though they didn't really belong. The far side of the meager field dropped off, and a cautious look over the side revealed a tapered cliff that eventually disappeared as if it were swallowed up by the forest below. Where the forest was dark and shadowed behind him, before him was a picturesque view─what seemed like all of the east of Relic Lore, bathed in summer sunset, the fluffy columns of clouds in the sky lined with silver and gold. Serpent's Pass loomed in the distance; in the time he'd spent in the forest, he'd nearly forgotten how impressive and treacherous they were. Its peaks were crested with caps of white where the sun still fell, and shadow seemed to drip down its crags and twists as daylight slipped away and left its valleys in twilight darkness. Between the hidden meadow and the mountains soared a single raptor, gliding motionlessly over the woods like a winged guardian. A sharp wind blew across the grasses and bushels of flowers, rustling across his chest and up his back, sending a shiver down his spine.

The greying man sat for a time, nestled cozily among the grass with only the scene of peace to see and the sound of the wind to hear.

I Want To Be Your Last First Kiss
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I want to break every clock the hands of time could never move again

Beneath a sky strewn in heavenly shades, the rolling hills and far-off forests of places he knew well and had never seen from such heights seemed like something to exist only in imagination. It was unlike anything he'd seen before and as he basked in the warmth of the fading summer sunlight, receding as slowly as winter's last snow from the land, he felt himself melt into the wilderness. With the breeze at his back and his mind lost in thoughts of the past, he'd failed to pick up on the swooshing of the grasses behind him as a certain someone quietly crept closer.

Where his ears failed his nose did not, and his eyelids slipped shut as the scent of his beloved drifted across the windswept meadow. It didn't cross his mind to consider what had brought her here, if she'd followed him or if it were just happen-chance. He didn't question her presence or this were all just a dream. Instead, he held fast to the ground underfoot as his heart skipped a beat and began to race, as an overwhelming current of love and excitement threatened to fly him away. As she reached for him it felt as though the sun had fallen before his eyes only for its heat to spread from the ground and across his body like wildfire. The sweet scent of the woman who was the best part of him put the flowers to shame, and he breathed in all that he could deeply enough that his lungs might explode.

The kiss she planted upon him grew into a flower of their own making, invisible and immortal and more beautiful than even the sun-kissed skyscape that could have swallowed them both whole. Her words fell upon him like the touch of a angel, and he shuddered softly if only from her proximity. A lopsided smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he struggled to keep his eyes from her. Looking out into the wilderness, he was quiet for a few moments before turning to look upon Ava. "I could conjure a thousand dreams," he spoke softly, leaning to graze his muzzle against her cheek and to her ear, "but none of them would ever be as beautiful as you." Pulling slowly away, his silver eyes burned as they looked over the planes of his lover's face thoughtfully. It had been some time since he'd seen her in such a light─away from the world they made together, where life revolved around the children and duty. Here, out in the open on what felt like a cloud of their own, Ava was more breathtaking than she had ever been. Bold, strong, irresistible. The thrumming of his heart against his chest was so loud it could have given away the facade of calm he attempted to portray.

I Want To Be Your Last First Kiss

I want to break every clock the hands of time could never move again

He welcomed the soft butt of her crown against him and the way even a touch so slight caused his skin to prickle beneath his coarse fur. The electricity that flickered like invisible lightning when they touched faded as she pulled away, replaced by a familiar gravity that ensued to tug him in her direction. Against the brilliant sunset backdrop, he could see every sultry curve of her and the shine of her golden eyes made brighter by the fading light. The grace that was apparent in every step of her caper eluded the star-struck man as he rose from his seat to join her at her invitation. It was strange─out here, on the edge of a ridge high above the rest of the world, it was as if they were the last two beings alive. They were no longer the queen and the king, the mother and father, or the leaders; up to their bellies in verdant grass and vivid wildflowers, they were merely lovers with only an intent to be lost together forever.

A throaty growl resonated in his throat for her as every step took him closer, and every second that passed made the emerging stars that much brighter overhead. Against a now bruised violet and indigo sky, they twinkled like tiny shards of glass suspended in a bottomless ocean. Kade soaked up every shift she made with an intent gaze as the combination of fading sunlight and surfacing starlight painted the sheen of her fur in streaks of a pale glow. Effortlessly, he matched her movement with a sway of his own, closing in on her and feinting away at the last moment, the heat between them rising as the seductive dance for two was accompanied by the soft symphony of the crickets somewhere deep within the forest.

I Want To Be Your Last First Kiss