He reaches for me, fingers catching in my jacket, pulling me closer into another kiss that’s deeper now, hungrier. I climb into his lap without thinking, straddling him, and the moment my hips settle over the hard length of him through our clothes, he groans outright.
“Mara,” he breathes, like it’s a warning.
“Shh,” I whisper, rocking my hips just enough to make him suck in a sharp breath. “I’ve been wanting this since you said my name like you were afraid of it.”
That earns me a helpless, wrecked sound from the back of his throat.
“Cruel,” he mutters.
“Just honest.”
I reach down between us and unfasten him slowly, deliberately, watching his jaw tighten, watching the way his eyes darken as I free him. When I finally slide my hand around him,he curses in Vakutan—something low and reverent and probably obscene.
“You like that?” I tease softly.
“Yes,” he says immediately. “Gods, yes.”
I stroke him slow, just enough to make him lose control of his breathing, leaning down to kiss him again while I do it, loving the way his hips twitch helplessly into my hand.
He finally catches my wrist.
Not stopping me.
Just grounding himself.
“Mara,” he says quietly. “Look at me.”
I do.
There’s something naked in his eyes that has nothing to do with being undressed.
“This… this isn’t a distraction,” he says. “This is a choice.”
“I know,” I whisper. “That’s why I’m here.”
Something in his chest seems to loosen.
He sits up then, reversing us smoothly so I’m the one sinking back into the moss, stars flickering overhead. He strips me with the same care I gave him, sliding fabric away inch by inch, hands reverent, mouth following every newly bared patch of skin.
“You’re beautiful,” he murmurs.
I laugh softly. “You say that like you’re surprised.”
“I am,” he admits. “Every time.”
When I’m bare beneath him, he just… looks.
Like he’s memorizing me.
Like he’s afraid this might be the last time.
I hook a finger under his chin and make him look at my face instead.
“Hey,” I say gently. “I’m still here.”
He nods, throat working. “I know.”
Then he lowers himself between my thighs.
