Later, when the lights dimmed to twilight hues and the mountain settled into its night rhythm, we sat together at the small table. Tea steamed between us, sharp and herbal.
He studied me carefully. “And what do you pretend it is?”
“Something chosen,” I replied. “Even if it doesn’t last forever.”
His jaw tightened slightly. “That is what frightens me.”
“Why?”
“Because I have spent years believing I was unfit for permanence.” He paused. “And now I want it.”
I reached across the table and placed my hand over his. This time, when our fingers met, neither of us pulled away.
“Then want it,” I said. “Just… not alone.”
His thumb brushed my knuckles, slow and careful. “If we cross this line,” he said, “it will change things.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “That’s the point.”
He stood first, offering his hand. I took it. As I stood, he went down on one knee, still holding my hand, and said, “Would you honor me by sharing the Mesaarkan First mating ritual? I am not asking for forever; I’m asking for now.”
My breath caught—not from fear, but from the weight of what he was offering.
“I accept for as long as it pleases us both.”
He kissed my hand and rose.
The walk to the alcove was unhurried. The partition remained where it always was—half drawn, a boundary neither of us needed to move yet. Rygnar paused, searching my face.
“Tell me to stop,” he said. “And I will.”
“No, I want you.” I shook my head, reaching for him instead, and pressed my lips to his.
The kiss deepened immediately—no hesitation this time. Weeks of restraint unraveled in the slow press of his mouth against mine. His hands framed my face as if committing it to memory.
“But I need to explain some things—my people, we are... intense. When we bond, there are physical responses you should know about.”
A low purr rumbled from his chest when he lowered his head to mine. His tongue traced the seam of my lips before delving inside to explore my mouth. The sensation was intoxicating—unlike any human kiss, more intimate, more claiming.
“Tell me.”
“When I reach my peak, there will be a swelling. A knot.” His eyes searched mine, vulnerable in a way I’d never seen him. “It's a biological mechanism—it will lock us together for perhaps thirty minutes. I need to know you understand this. That you want this.”
Then he stepped back and began removing his clothing. I took that as a signal to undress too. By doing so, I was confirming my consent to mate with him.
I should have been nervous. Perhaps I would have been, with anyone else. But this was Rygnar, who saved me from the raiders and vouched for me to his colony. The same male who looked at me like I was something precious.
When I was naked, I stood proudly in front of him with my hands at my sides. His golden eyes roamed my body, taking in every curve and hollow with a reverence that made me ache for his touch. Then he put his hands on me.
“You are soft,” he murmured, starting at the top of my head and running his hands over my hair, smoothing it down. As his fingers traced my collarbones, he made me feel beautiful and fragile.
His touch was electric as he explored my body, learning my responses with an almost scientific curiosity. I gasped as his mouth found the sensitive skin behind my ear, his teeth scraping lightly against my pulse point. The slight edge of danger only heightened my arousal.
Rygnar's tail swished behind him, a clear sign of his growing excitement. Then, something shifted between us. A subtle change in his stance, a soft click as a previously hidden pouch at the base of his tail opened.
My eyes widened as his cock extruded—unlike anything I'd seen on a human male, yet undeniably male. It was bulbous at the end, kind of like the top of a mushroom with rows of little nubs up and down its length, with a slight curve that promised to hit all the right places inside me.
“Is this… acceptable?” Rygnar asked, his voice strained with restraint.
