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My name, broken across a breath.

“I need…”

I knew.

My body knew too.

But knowing was not the same as choosing for her.

I drew my hand back and shifted between her thighs.

The head of my kuvak rested against her entrance. Not pushing. Waiting.

“If this changes⁠—”

She stopped.

I felt her pulse against my palm, fast and certain.

“It already has.”

I sank in slowly, watching her face.

She gasped, her back arching, and I held still to let her adjust around me.

Then she moved first, a slow roll of her hips that drew me deeper.

The sound that escaped me was not quiet.

Her eyes found mine, and whatever she saw there made her do it again, harder this time.

Her fingers dug into my hips and pulled.

I gave her what she was asking for. The rhythm built.

Silver-white light moved beneath my skin with every point of contact.

There was no confusion. No biology deciding for us. No order, no duty—only choice, hers and mine together.

The world narrowed.

Not into instinct.

Not into something inevitable.

Into her.

Talia’s voice.

Her hands.

The way she held on to me not because she was afraid I would leave but because she wanted me closer.

I had been with women before.

None of those memories prepared me for this.

Those encounters had been physical.