His psychological deliberations were interrupted by Breta, who had already reached the bottom of the stairway.

“Stop!” she commanded.

He stopped.

“What?”

“I just remembered our conversation that very first night. Remember, when you wrongly assumed there were two steps between us? I want to see how many steps you’ll need to go up to become the same height as I am right now.”

This means, he thought, she’s either genuinely interested in his research or just having fun—not less than he is. He couldn’t decide which idea he liked more, then he thought there’s a good chance of having the two combined in a mysterious mix, and then he nodded to her.

She was standing on the floor beside the stairs, holding the rail. He slowly stepped down, then again—and again, until their eyes nearly leveled. And, just like back then, he was intentionally delaying the pleasure, and didn’t look down or count his steps, preferring the figure to remain unknown for a while.

“Don’t you fancy giving me a hug at last?” Breta asked.

Her head was just an inch lower than his, and he embraced her and kissed her on the lips.

“Enjoying looking down at me?” Her eyes were shining as she returned the kiss.

“I am, but only this way!” He couldn’t hide his excitement any longer. “You know, it felt so surreal yet so unbelievably sexy to look up at your knickers!”

“Did it? Afraid I’ll never be able to gain an experience like that—it’d take a woman more than five meters in height.”

“You mean a woman twice your height? Like sixteen feet?”

“Can you imagine her? You’d be up to her knees.”

“Oh, don’t exaggerate!”

“Do you think I am? You were not much higher up against me just minutes ago, remember? Okay, I’m in huge platform boots, but she’s twice my height, right? I guess it’d take a spyglass for you to see her knickers,” she chuckled.

Robin liked the game Breta played, yet felt somewhat uneasy. He didn’t really know how to respond without giving away his overexcitement about the matter, which, he suspected, might cause a jealousy attack—the last thing he would wish.

“So,” Breta lightly pinched his arm. “How would you react to encountering that woman?”

“What woman?” Robin pretended to have floated away with his thoughts in an attempt to win some extra time and think through the best way out of the situation.

“The sixteen-foot-tall one.”

“Ah. Erm... I don’t know... I can’t really imagine anybody that big...”

“You don’t know? I’ll tell you! You’d die right there, right then,” she laughed again. “Oh no, you’re dying right now, just picturing her in your imagination!”

“No, I’m not,” he wasn’t sure he could even convince himself.

“Yes, you are,” Breta pulled him closer. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall. And I’ll fight that bloody giantess for my little one, even though I know you’d dump me for her straight away.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“Yes, you would.” She wasn’t smiling as she said that. “Happily, though, she doesn’t exist. At least not that we know. So, throw this freaking freak of nature out of your mind at once, and come back! You have me—and I believe I’m tall enough to qualify for your love.”

“You are, my dear, you’re more than tall enough—you’re absolutely unbeatable in every way!”

This time Robin knew he was telling the truth. He really loved her, and no force in the Universe, no matter how tall that female force would be, could take him from her.

They stood like that for some time, embracing each other, caressing each other’s heads. Then Breta said:

“Must confess, I would like to share your experience of looking so much up at another person, if I’m honest. To find out about your feelings.”

She tilted her neck up and raised one arm, as if to reach somebody much taller than she was.

“Is it this tall that she would stand?”

“Oh, I don’t know, seriously.”

“Let me see… I’m about two hundred and ninety centimeters right now, am I? How high would you say my hand extends upwards beyond the top of my head?”

“Wow, you’re really getting into that scientific research, are you?” Robin laughed and looked closely at Breta’s limb. “I’d say about thirty inches.”

“Inches, inches! Metrics is easier to deal with, you silly,” she patted him with her other hand. “So it’s like seventy-five centimeters, right?”

“If you say so.”

“I do, haha. Well, my reach then goes up to three hundred and sixty-five...”

“Twelve feet,” Robin entered the numbers into the mobile conversion app. “Almost precisely.”

“Oh no! Four feet lower than she is tall… Is it up to her tits then? Or even lower—belly? Can you imagine this, Rob?”

He stared up at the tips of her fingers.

“Uhm… No, I can’t.”

“I can’t either. Me! One of the tallest human beings on Earth! Wearing these unbelievably high shoes! Reaching up! Yet only touching another woman’s belly? No!”

“No,” he agreed momentarily, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer. “No.”

“So, it’s impossible for me to get under your skin?” Finally, Breta lowered her arm. “Understand your feelings?”

“Breta, sweetie, you’ll never understand them. I can only hope I will one day.”

“If you do, you’ll get a cathedra at Oxford, remember?” At last, she laughed and kissed him passionately. “I’ve no doubt you can achieve it, my clever little scientist!”

“Not so little right now,” he playfully looked down at her. “And not so clever either—not enough to guesstimate how many steps separate us, anyway.”

“What’s the problem? Just count them.”

“I cannot.”

“Why can’t you? Look down!”

“I’m afraid of heights, you know.”

“In this case, you must be scared to death of my not-so-humble self,” she giggled. “You don’t have a chance to find a height any higher—we just discovered that scientifically. So don’t play fool and start counting. I hope you’re as good in arithmetic as you are in journalism, and can cope with numbers greater than five.”

“As long as it’s no more than ten, I’ll manage!” he promised and lowered his head.

One, two, and three he accepted relatively easily. Four didn’t cause a big surprise, either. Two feet and eight inches’ difference, he thought—that’s something I’m already used to.

The five was tougher to comprehend.

The six made him feel a little sick—the difference increased to forty-eight inches. Four feet exactly.

The seven. He suspected that he might have been confused—and began from scratch. No, no mistake here. Seven steps up the stairs—and there he was, three or four inches taller than his gorgeous girlfriend. Seven steps down—and again, all he could see without tilting his neck were her knees.

He hugged them, pulled them together—not without Breta’s assistance, of course—leaned on them, and kissed them. He loved them, he was full of desire, and he would give anything to stand like this forever, to feel this unexplainable tenderness and erotic excitement. This was unlike anything he’d experienced in his life. Ever. And this was a wonderful sensation.

Her hand touched his hair, stroking it.

“Back to business?”

“Yeah, I think it’s about time.” Reluctantly, he pulled away. “The camera’s ready.”

It wasn’t easy for Breta to walk into the sitting room on those platforms, but he gave her his helping hand—up, always up.

“Waiting for your command, Sir!” reported Breta. “I would assume, if I may, the operation ‘Highest Madness’ is coming to its final stage?”

“Looks like that.” He came up to the camera and leaned to the viewfinder. “You’re not fitting into the frame, sweetie. Take a couple of steps back, please.”

Now the picture was perfect. He set the ten-second delay, approached Breta, and stood by her, with his hand on her left thigh, at the level of his face. The flashes flashed; the camera clicked.

“A couple more—just in case, all right?” he came back to the tripod.

“Let’s vary them,” suggested Breta. “Don’t you want to stand under my pins? I suppose there’s enough legroom—hahaha!—for you down there. And you’ll get a unique picture: a handsome, nearly average-sized man standing underneath a pretty woman’s groin. I bet this will be a new experience for you.”

“Only for me? What about you? Have you ever had a man standing between your thighs?”

“You won’t believe me if I tell you how many bizarre cases I’ve lived through with shorter men!” she laughed but said nothing more. “Are you coming?”

“Pretty close to,” this time it was he who was smiling. “Having been for a while now.”

“Hold it a little longer, please,” she laughed and spread her legs apart a little, and he walked into the arch he could’ve never imagined being in. He decided to give his hands a rest and embraced her knees.

No need to rush, he thought—we’ve got a whole night ahead to play. The photo shoot was done, but he was still standing there, admiring his goddess and worshipping her from underneath her. He craned his neck and saw her knickers—was there a tiny wet spot on them? Was it what he thought it was?

“Do you want me?” he asked.

“Yeah, baby, yeah,” she wasn’t laughing this time. “I did this before with a stranger… on his request… But, despite his hair actually touching me down there, unlike yours right now, I didn’t want him. And now, just sensing you’re looking up at me, I’m horny as hell. How would you prefer to be raped? Should I get rid of the boots beforehand?”

“I’d like you to stay as you are. And I even have an idea. Do you think these lovely legs of yours are able to keep some extra weight?”

“If you mean yourself, then easily. I’m a fashion model, after all, meaning I hit the gym regularly and am overall fit. What’s the idea?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he rose on his tiptoes, put his hands on her hips, embraced her shins with his own legs, and pulled himself up. Just like a monkey between two tree trunks, he thought.

She was standing still, wondering what was coming next.

“Are you gonna climb all the way up to me? The distance will take you ages.”

He didn’t answer again—he was too busy. Pulling himself a little higher, relocating his legs, he finally reached the destination. His nose managed to move the string of her knickers aside, and his tongue found the target.

A moan from above and a tremble of her body returned him to reality. And what a reality it was—he was eating a girl, while suspended between the girl’s legs.

Could it be for real? Did it really matter?