((Contains reference to adult situations.))

From the snow-covered stillness of Rhy'Din, a newlywed couple had traveled to Earth, to South America, to Costa Rica, and to one of Costa Rica's best kept secrets, a wedding present from the parents of the bride. Pacuare Lodge was a beautiful hideaway deep within the jungle, accessed only by rafting on the Pacuare River, and thus only visited by those who were active types themselves. During the day, the jungle around the lodge was wild with the sounds and smells of the natural world; at night, it remained so, a quiet cacophony of sound and scent to lull the honeymooners in their canopy suite.

Each day brought some new activity to try, be it horseback riding, hiking, canyoning, or the spa on site, something to excite the senses and leave the couple feeling their time had been well spent. And today had been no different - a zipline tour through the canopy itself, rappelling down towering trees and sliding along cables through the jungle cloaked mountain, surrounded on all sides by the exotic beauty of the rainforest and all its secrets.

The quiet of the jungle was broken by a loud whoop of delight as Beth took on the last, thrilling rappel, plummeting to the earth from more than thirty feet up, laughing like a drain as her boots hit solid ground. "Oh, baby, you have got to do that fast," she called up to her husband, still on the platform high above her, as she was unclipped and moved away from the landing spot. "It's awesome!"

Jason was not one to be outmatched, especially by a woman. Their first date had been to Coney Island, each of them daring the other to ride after ride, each more thrilling than the last. He had quickly learned that this was one woman who could keep up with him, as fearless and ready for excitement as he was - so long as that excitement didn't involve anyone shooting at them. "It's high is what it is!" Jason called back, though thirty feet was nothing compared to some things. Their days had been filled with non-stop fun and excitement since they'd arrived, while the nights were quiet, romantic interludes spent listening to the sounds of the jungle and their own heartbeats. They were both having the time of their lives.

Jason hooked himself up to the wire, pausing a moment to look down the at Bethany on the ground, some feet away from him, waiting expectantly. "Okay, here goes nothing!" he called before pushing himself off the platform, whooping in delight as he sped through the air, streaking past trees high above the ground, feeling as though he was flying, before his boots hit the ground as he made it to the landing spot. "That was awesome!" he exclaimed, laughing with childish glee.

By the time Jason reached the ground, the guides who had been taking the exuberant newlyweds through the canopy were laughing along with Beth, infected by the enthusiasm Mr. and Mrs. Daly showed for every aspect of every activity they had taken part in thus far. Beth bounced playfully on her toes as Jason was unclipped, giving him only a split second to brace himself before she jumped up into his arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him with a giggly whoop of excitement. "We owe my parents so badly for this," she laughed, leaning in close to kiss him, heedless of their audience.

The guides unclipped Jason from the harness just in time to catch Beth as she jumped up to meet him. He laughed as he caught her, arms going around her so she wouldn't fall, unable to reply until she was done smothering him with her lips. "It's been amazing," he agreed, grinning back at her. "You're amazing!"

"You're amazing," she countered cheerfully, impossible to imagine down in that moment, glowing with excitement and joy and the adoration she felt for her husband. Lowering herself back onto the ground, she looked up at canopy towering over them, disbelieving in the best possible way. "I can't believe that took two hours," she declared in wonder. "It feels like just a few minutes ago we were going up there to get started!"

"It was amazing," he agreed, following her gaze to the canopy of green overhead, the adrenaline rush still pumping through his veins. Birds could be heard chirping and cawing somewhere in the jungle, sounds so alien to their ears, it was almost like being on another planet. While some couples enjoyed vacations relaxing on the beach, these two thrived on the high that came with a rush of adrenaline.

That wasn't to say that they didn't do their share of relaxing, but too long standing still, and they got antsy. There was so much to do and see here - it was the perfect place for their first holiday together, let alone their honeymoon. "And we get dinner up there tonight, too," Beth added with a little squeal. She was very much looking forward to the ultimate in private dinners offered here at Pacuare. It really was just as well neither of them were afraid of heights.

"It's going to take a lot of grand-babies to pay your parents back for this," he said with a teasing smirk, as he wound his arms around her, taking his good old time, despite the guides who were waiting to lead them back to their suite to change and eat and relax until it was time for the next adventure.

"Are you already renting out apartment space in my womb, Mr. Daly?" she accused her husband affectionately, unclipping the strap under her chin to remove her helmet before stepping out of the harness that had kept her safe all the way up there at the very height of the rainforest canopy. "Getting bored of the sex already, are we?"

He laughed at her teasing as he, too, unfastened the strap that held the helmet in place on his head. "With you?" He snorted. "Not likely." He drew the helmet off his head and handed it to one of the guides. "I'm not in any hurry." A small frown appeared on his face, if only for a moment. He had sort of promised his mother a grandchild before it was too late for her, but he and Bethany really were in no hurry. Time, it seemed, had always been their enemy. He didn't really want to talk about it now though, not on their honeymoon and certainly not in front of virtual strangers.

"Patience, young lion," Beth teased him, knowing what had sort of been promised. Anna had pulled her to one side the day after the wedding and had eloquently spoken on a number of subjects that all seemed to come back to grandchildren. "We have the whole house thing to do, and I gotta get a new job - which I am definitely doing - and I fully intend to have sex with you at least six hundred times before this time next year without consequences. We have to get the technique right before we go for the full run, after all." She winked at him, shamelessly embarrassing their guide with her less than discreet speech as he took the harnesses and helmets from them.

"Tempting, but I think private is the way to go." He smiled back at her, amused at the possessive clutch of his rear, which belonged, like the rest of him, completely to her now. He linked his fingers with hers and drew her farther into the privacy of their suite, where the only witnesses were the birds and the trees that surrounded their little oasis in the jungle.

Hours later, when the heaviness of the humid afternoon had lifted, and the cooler breeze of evening had begun to smooth over heated skin, Beth stretched and rolled onto her back, groaning with languid delight. "If there was an award for that, you would get it every time," she murmured, turning her head to smile lovingly at her husband. "We didn't put your back out or anything, did we?"

Jason chuckled at her question, rolling onto his side to face her and trace the luscious curve of her body with a slow, tender fingertip. "No, baby. I can take it. You didn't break me yet." The afternoon was warm and lazy and there was no better way to spend it than there in her arms. Even as the cool breeze hinted that evening was near, he wasn't quite ready for the afternoon to end. "This really is paradise. I wouldn't be anywhere else in the entire universe than right here with you."

"It's incredible here," she agreed softly, rolling back into his arms with a deep, contented sigh. "But anywhere would be incredible if you were with me." Love swollen lips brushed against his jaw, his cheek, teasing their way to his mouth tenderly. "I love you, Jase. Always."

He answered her declaration of love with a contented sigh of his own and a kiss that was as full of heat as the very first. His fingers traced her spine from the small of her back to the back of her neck, drawing her deeper into his kiss, for the first time in his life - maybe in his entire existence - in no hurry, savoring every moment spent with her, every kiss, every touch, every embrace. "I love you, Beth," he replied, as their lips briefly parted. He traced her cheek, looking into her eyes, wanting to see the look on her face when he kissed her, when he touched her, when he made love to her, amazed again and again that this beautiful woman was really his.

She really was his, from the tip of her toes to the gentle wave of her hair, inside and out and every other part of her. How many couples could trace their relationship back not simply months and years, but centuries" The past was always with them, the promise the goddess Vesta had made as strong now as it had been in that first lifetime, cut short so cruelly. Even as she melted under his touch, her eyes stayed fixed on his, showing him every facet and nuance of every feeling he evoked in her as her body warmed to his once again.

While some couples grew tired of each other in a matter of years or even months, the souls that were Jason and Bethany had fallen in love and been together lifetime after lifetime for centuries, and yet, they it was as if they had only just discovered each other. Though they might disagree from time to time, their love for each other was too deep and strong for either to ever consider life without the other. It was the bond that had been forged all those centuries ago that had drawn them together in the first place, unbeknownst to them at the time. Now that Bethany was Jason's wife, formally and legally, no one could ever tear them apart again. No matter how many times they made love that night, it was like the first all over again, discovering nuances about each other and just basking in the other's affection and attention.

It could have felt like some wonderful dream from which they never wished to wake, but for Jason and Bethany, there was no blurring of the lines between reality and fantasy. Their dreams told them of many lifetimes, lived in many places, always in one another's company; their waking hours proved that they truly had been intended for one another from birth. And thanks to a little backhander by Miranda and Rufus, they weren't interrupted when they forgot to dress for dinner, nor woken early for breakfast. They were left together, newlyweds revisiting the great moments of their centuries' long love affair, laying the strong foundation for the years ahead of them and the life they were beginning to build. Together.

((Ah, love. And, you know, the energetic expression of love. :grin: Huge thanks to Jason's player!))