UTOT- From This Day Forward

3- Exploration

The first month Riftan and Max began officially dating, they'd stroll the grounds of the fortress hand in hand, feeling the balmy breeze announcing the incoming summer weather. He would sometimes stop by the lab she worked in and wait for her to get off on a Friday so that the pair could get dinner or meet up with some friends.

Riftan picked some wildflowers growing near the lab and felt his face grow warm when he handed them to Maxi. She started at the small bunch of flowers and shakily took them from him. Her long red curly hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and her bangs obscured her eyes, making it hard for Riftan to see her expression. He should have purchased a proper bouquet, he thought to himself, almost cursing under his breath.

"They're just weeds," he mumbled, looking down at his shoes.

"N-no," Max whispered. "I really like these.... th-thank you... no one's ever g-given me flowers before."

She stood on her tip toes and quickly pecked Riftan on the lips. It took all his strength not to pick her up and twirl her around in the middle of the street like a fool.

They walked back to Riftan's apartment, his palm sweating against hers. He plopped himself on the couch and tapped his lap.

"Come here Max."

She timidly sat on his legs and leaned her head against the crook of his shoulder and neck. Riftan's fingers were trailing up and down the open back of her dress, she turned and gently kissed her way up Riftan's neck.

"I-I've never..." she began and stopped.

Riftan took his hands off her waist and wiped the sweat off of them with his pants. He then pulled Max in to hug her closer, he tried to calm down his breathing, he wondered if Max could hear him practically hyperventilating. All his life, he had frozen up on dates, whenever someone tried to kiss him, or when he was hit on at outings with friends. No one had ever gotten through to him until Max.

"I haven't either," he half whispered into her hair.

Moments later they were in his bed. They helped each other slip out of their clothes with trembling fingers. The first time was sticky sweet and slow and fast all at once.

"Did I hurt you?" Riftan asked.

They lay facing each other afterwards, foreheads touching, legs intertwined. He couldn't tell whose heartbeat belonged to who that night.

"It hurt a little," Max whispered.

He pulled her in closer to him.

"I won't hurt you again Maxi, I promise," Riftan told her.

She replied with a gentle kiss and hugged him back.

He hadn't known he was thirsty for her affection until they had each other that first time. It felt as if a dam had broken inside of Riftan. He wanted to spend every day holding Max and finding new ways to explore the heights of pleasure their bodies could reach together. He'd gently coax Max to open up to him like a flower and he marveled at the feel of her lips, her sweet breath, her mellow skin, and the way she clung to him in her newfound passion. 

Max laid on the small coffee table in the living room, Riftan knelt between her legs kissing up her bare thighs. She squirmed and tried to close her knees but he pushed them open again. He slowly lapped the length of her wetness.

"Riftan... i-it's too bright right now, you can s-see everything."

He nipped her inner thigh and laughed against her skin at the eruption of goosebumps along her skin.

"I want to see everything," he murmured, tracing the outline of her with his fingers.

She moaned when he swirled a slow circle around the small crest between her legs and tried to close them again.

"I-I didn't f-finish shaving today."

"You act like I care about that, Maxi."

Riftan savored Max slowly. Their love activity often started slowly, gently and almost clumsily. Their fingers would tremble and they'd practically pant while trying to remove their own clothing or take items off each other.

The pair moved into Riftan's larger apartment and his spartan unit was suddenly filled with her plants, her seemingly endless biology tomes, and the scent of her soft white floral and rose perfume. He learned new recipes and savored the sight of her trying new dishes that he experimented with, practically feeding Max by hand until she reminded him that she could eat by herself.

Riftan would stare at Max as she slept alongside him, memorizing her wondering why holding her felt like coming home to a place he had maybe known in another life.