She took him in her mouth, widening her lips to fit around the broad head, for a while content to simply hold the tip inside her, she stroked her tongue in a gentle pulse against the most sensitive part of him. The tension in his body grew tighter until it fractured in micro tremors. He started to pump gently, and she took him in farther, opening her throat until she encompassed all of him.

She took and he moved, silently intent until the very end. Then a sound broke out of him, harsh like a hawk’s cry. He shuddered, spilling into her, and she closed her eyes and swallowed every drop down.

Because we know this dance, don’t we, my friend? We’ve been here before in this private place.

You push harder, and I give in. You fall into your animal while I rise up to meet you.

And we might break our hearts, but we’ll say it will have been worth it.

To bathe in this fire one more time.

Just to spark the fire.

One more time.

*     *     *

Afterward, he knelt and held her. She rested her head on his shoulder and drifted until he picked her up to lay her on the bed. As he stretched out beside her, she rolled away and looked out the window at the wild array of lights. Eighteen weeks.

Lifting aside the heavy fall of her hair, he said against the nape of her neck, “I would love to return the favor, but suddenly you feel like you’re a million miles away.”

She shook her head and said telepathically, <It doesn’t have to be quid pro quo, Alexei.>

<You are so wrong, milaya. Lovemaking always has to be quid pro quo.>

Her lips pulled into a smile. <Okay, but it doesn’t have to be all at once, you know? Sometimes it’s okay if I give, or you give, and we can let it be at that.>

He kissed her earlobe. <I don’t care what it has to be, as long as you stay here. Come back from wherever you went.>

<I can’t.> She looked over her shoulder at him. <You asked for time, and I’m going to give it to you.>

His expression tightened. <Every time I see you it gets harder to leave.>

She nodded, unsurprised, then pushed to a sitting position. <Same for me. That’s why I don’t want to see you again until the eighteen weeks are over. We both need to stay focused on what we need to do.>

<But not right now.> He sat up too and gripped her by the back of the neck. <We can take the fucking weekend, Molly.>