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Temporary.

Contained.

This was not.

That realization should have stopped me.

Instead, I buried my face against her neck and let myself want.

For once. Just want.

No debt. No mission. No one else’s survival balanced against mine.

Talia.

Only Talia.

She was close.

I could hear it in her breathing, feel it in the tension gathering where our bodies met, in the way her hands found my shoulders and held on like I was the only fixed point in a room that had started moving.

I shifted my angle. Drove deeper.

She gasped.

I did it again because I wanted to hear the sound she made.

“Veyr…”

Her body tightened around me.

Then I felt the first involuntary pressure gathering at the base of my kuvak.

I stopped. Immediately.

Talia’s eyes opened, her breathing ragged. “What?”

“If I continue, I may knot.”

Her brow furrowed. “Meaning?”

“We may remain joined for a time after I finish.”

Understanding started to replace confusion.

“Because Zunatorian males…”

“Knot.”

Her hands loosened slightly on my shoulders. “Will it hurt?”

“It should not.” I kept myself absolutely still despite the pressure building through my body. “But once it begins, I cannot simply withdraw until the swelling recedes.”

She studied my face. “How long?”

“Usually several minutes. It varies.”

“And if I don’t want that?”