I cross the space in two strides. My claws slip beneath the hem of her soaked shirt, cold meeting heat. She gasps, startled—but she doesn’t move away. Instead, she arches, spine bowing into my touch.
“Ella.”
She turns, mouth finding mine. We kiss like we’re trying to relive every one we ever missed.
“I missed this,” she whispers.
I lift her easily, setting her on the table I carved months ago—the one she helped me finish, wood still smelling faintly of oil and ash. Her legs wrap around my waist.
“You’re soaked,” I murmur, dragging my fingers down the line of her ribs.
“So fix it,” she dares.
I do.
I peel the shirt away, inch by inch. My eyes drink in every inch revealed: the slope of her shoulders, the swell of her breasts, nipples already tight from the chill.
“Stars,” I whisper. “You’re radiant.”
She tugs my shirt over my head next. Her fingers pause on my scars. The long burn that streaks across my shoulder. The twisted, silvered plasma wound near my ribs. Each one gets a touch. A kiss.
“You bled for me.”
“I bled to find you again,” I say. “And I’d do it all over.”
That’s all it takes.
She unbuttons my pants with trembling precision. I return the favor, peeling her wet clothes down until she’s bare before me—wet, warm, flushed.
“Fuck,” she breathes. “Takhiss…”
I cup her hips. “We can stop?—”
“No.” Her legs tighten around me. “I want this. I want you.”
I guide myself between her legs. She’s soaked. Warm.
She groans. “Slow. Don’t stop—but slow.”
I nod. My hands tighten on her thighs as I slide deeper.
Her walls stretch, tight around me. My cock throbs, aching to slam into her—but I don’t. I savor her.
“Oh gods—Takhiss—” she cries, her voice breaking as I bottom out inside her.
“You feel like fire,” I growl, forehead pressed to hers. “You feel like home.”
She kisses me again. Deeper. More.
Then she moves.
Slow at first. Then faster. Her gasps turn to moans. My name becomes a chant. My claws grip the edge of the table so I don’t break her with how hard I want to move.
“Harder,” she begs.
I do.
I fuck her like she’s the last light in a dying universe. Like she’s the only breath I’ll ever take again.
