The night was deep, the kind of quiet that felt sacred. The fire outside had long since burned down to embers, casting faint, flickering light against the fabric of Eli’s tent. His friend was asleep in the other tent, their breathing barely audible beneath the hum of the wind through the trees.
Eli lay on his back, staring at the tent’s ceiling, thoughts tangled like the branches above. Then, without warning, a weight settled on his lap.
His breath hitched. The warmth of another body, the unmistakable press of thighs on either side of his hips. His pulse pounded in his ears. He blinked, adjusting to the dim glow of her.
She wasn’t human.
He didn’t know how he knew it, but it was a certainty that crawled beneath his skin.
She was a vision of the night itself, draped in celestial light. Her skin shimmered with nebula-like hues, violet and indigo shifting like a living galaxy. Tiny constellations freckled her cheeks, glowing faintly, pulsing as if alive. Her lips were plush, a surreal shade of lilac, parted ever so slightly. Her hair, cascading in luminescent silver waves, framed her ethereal face, strands drifting like they were caught in an unseen current. And her eyes—they weren’t eyes at all, but swirling, infinite cosmic voids, filled with galaxies he couldn’t name.
Eli’s breath came shallow, his hands gripping the sleeping bag beneath him as she watched him, silent, unreadable.
His mind screamed at him to move, to speak, to do anything. But her fingers, cold like the void of space and warm like stardust at the same time, traced his jawline, stealing the breath from his lungs. A strange energy coiled around him, thick and intoxicating, making his body betray him, making him want to lean into her touch. He swallowed hard. "Who… are you?" His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. her touch became heavier—electric. A sudden rush of sensation burned through his veins, curling in his chest, spiraling down. His body reacted before his mind could. Eli shivered. His heart pounded.