"We'll go slow," I promise, positioning myself between her thighs. "You tell me if it's too much."
"Okay." She spreads wider to accommodate me, her hands settling on my shoulders. "I trust you."
I line myself up and press forward slowly, watching her face for any sign of discomfort. She's tight and wet and perfect around me, her body accepting me inch by careful inch. When I'm halfway in, she makes a sound that could be pleasure or pain.
"Alright?" I freeze, not moving.
"Yes. More. I want more."
I sink deeper, my control hanging by threads as heat and pressure surround me. She's taking me so well, her body adjusting to my size with each careful thrust. When I'm fully seated, I have to stop and breathe before I lose it completely.
"You feel incredible," I manage, the words inadequate for the reality of being inside her.
"So do you." She rolls her hips experimentally and we both groan. "Move. Please move."
I start slow, withdrawing partially then pressing back in with measured strokes. Testing. Learning. Watching her face for reactions—the way her eyes go heavy-lidded with pleasure, how her lips part on silent gasps, the flush spreading across her chest.
She's not in pain. She's not afraid.
She's enjoying this. Enjoying me.
The knowledge breaks something loose in my chest, permission to want this as much as I do. I increase my pace, still careful but with more confidence. My hands map her body—cupping her breasts, tracing her ribs that no longer hurt, holding her hips to angle her exactly where I need.
"Harder," she gasps, her nails digging into my shoulders. "I won't break."
I give her what she's asking for, my control slipping as pleasure builds at the base of my spine. She meets each thrust with equal enthusiasm, her body arching to take me deeper. The bed creaks beneath us but neither of us cares, too focused on the heat building between us.
I want this to last. Want to memorize every sound she makes, every expression of pleasure crossing her face. Want to prove that intimacy can be good and safe and perfect instead of violent.
My thumb finds where we're joined, circling the bundle of nerves that makes her cry out. She tightens around me immediately, her whole body tensing.
"Close," she whimpers. "I'm so close."
"Then come again." I increase the pressure, angling my hips to hit deeper. "I want to feel you."
She shatters with my name on her lips, her inner muscles clenching around me in rhythmic pulses that destroy what's left of my control. I follow her over with a groan, spilling inside her while pleasure whites out everything else.
We collapse together, both breathing hard and tangled in rumpled blankets. I manage to shift my weight so I'm not crushing her, pulling her against my chest where I can feel her heartbeat gradually slowing.
"You okay?" I ask when I can form words again.
"Better than okay." She tilts her head up to kiss my jaw. "That was perfect."
Perfect. Yeah. That's exactly what it was.
I hold her close while our breathing steadies, my hand tracing idle patterns across her back. Outside, the settlement's gone quiet for the night. Inside this small cabin, everything feels right in ways I didn't know I was missing.
18
FALLA
Iwake to pale morning light filtering through thin curtains and reach for Ressa automatically. My hand finds only cool sheets.
The bed's empty.
I sit up, scanning the small bedroom. Her clothes from last night are gone from the floor where we'd scattered them. The blankets on her side are empty, and there's no warmth. Like I've been alone for a while.
My stomach drops.
