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“You’re so… big,” was all I could manage to say as he filled me so deeply I could barely breathe.

“Too much?”

I shook my head. “Perfect.” Pleasure arrowed through me as he tilted my hips forward and my sensitive clit brushed his skin. “I love it.”

He moved one hand from my hip to rake through my hair and drag my mouth to his. His tongue tangled with mine, the kiss deepening as his thrusts became more desperate. I curled one hand around his back to brush my fingertips along the raisedbumps that ran the length of his spine, reveling in the heat and hardness of them. Our kisses swallowed his moans that became more desperate the harder I stroked his nodes.

As he drove me down on his cock again and again, I lost track of everything except the press of his mouth, the grip of his fingers, the heat of his flushed nodes searing my fingers, the rasp of his stubble against my cheek. The steady rhythm he set erased every thought of danger and every fear of our uncertain future. My back pressed against the cool wall, the contrast with his burning skin so intense it was almost overwhelming.

He tore his lips from mine, his eyes wild.

"Stay with me," he murmured, pressing his forehead to mine. "Don't get lost in your thoughts again."

I sucked in a breath. “I’m only lost in you.”

“I will forever be lost to you,” he rasped as his movements became more urgent and less controlled.

When my second release slammed into me, I buried my face against his neck, breathing in the scent of him that was all spice and heat and something uniquely his own. With a roar, he pounded hard and then jerked several times before his body relaxed.

For a moment, we stayed like that, tangled together with him holding me up as we caught our breath. Then Tivek gently lowered me until my feet touched the floor, but kept his arms around me, as if reluctant to break contact. I understood the feeling. After everything, letting go seemed impossible.

Maybe we were lost in the vastness of space, maybe rescue would never come, but in this moment, with Tivek's heartbeat steady against mine, I couldn't bring myself to regret any of it.

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

Tivek

The darkness of space stretched before me through the viewport, an endless canvas of black punctuated by distant stars. I sat in the pilot's chair, wearing only my uniform pants, the cool air of the cockpit raising goosebumps across my bare chest. My fingers traced the edge of the navigation console absently, my mind light-years away from the ship's systems.

Everything had changed.

I gazed out at the stars, wondering which one of those distant points of light might be Drex. How could I possibly return to the shadows now? How could I resume my life of secrecy after finding Morgan?

But would she want to keep what had happened between us hidden? The thought sent an unexpected pain through my chest. Did I want to?

"There you are."

Morgan's voice startled me from my thoughts. I turned to see her standing in the cockpit arch, wrapped in a sheet from the bunk bed she’d left, her hair tousled. Even in the dim blue glow of the emergency lighting, I could see the questioning look in her eyes.

"I woke up and you were gone," she said, her voice still husky with sleep. There was vulnerability in her tone that made my heart constrict.

"I'm sorry. You were sleeping so peacefully, and my mind was racing. Looking at the stars helps me think."

She moved closer, her bare feet silent on the metal floor. "And what are you thinking about?"

I could have deflected, could have given her some partial truth, but I didn’t.

“About what happens if we make it back to Drex and the academy.” I gestured between us, words suddenly inadequate. "After all this."

Morgan studied me, her head tilting slightly. "You're worried I'll want to keep us a secret."

It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway, impressed by her perceptiveness.

She stepped closer, until she stood directly before me and let one hand lazily trace the markings that stretched down my right arm. "I don't care if everyone in the universe knows."

Before I could respond, she released her grip on the sheet, letting it pool around her feet. The sight of her made my mouth go dry and my mind momentarily blank.