"Are you well?" Zeph asks, his hands on my hips, steadying me.

"More than well," I assure him, sinking down further until I've taken him completely. "Fuck, you feel amazing."

And he does, the ridges along his cock stimulate nerves I didn't know I had, creating sensations that make my thighs tremble. When I'm fully seated, I lean forward to press my forehead against his, breathing the same air, our bodies connected as intimately as possible.

"I want to feel everything," I tell him, rolling my hips slowly. "Through the bond. Show me what you feel."

Zeph's eyes widen slightly, then close in concentration. Suddenly, the empathic connection between us expands,deepens, until I can feel not just echoes of his physical pleasure but the emotions beneath, wonder and desire, yes, but also an aching tenderness that makes my own chest tighten in response.

"Like that?" he asks, his voice rough.

"Yes," I breathe, overwhelmed by the dual sensations, my own pleasure and his, physical and emotional, layered and intertwined until I can barely tell where I end and he begins. "God, Zeph, I can feel how tight I am around you, how good it feels when I—"

I rock my hips, creating a delicious friction that sends pleasure spiraling through both of us, amplified by the bond until it's almost too much. Zeph's hands tighten on my hips, guiding my movements, helping me find a rhythm that works for both of us.

"Jake," he groans, his bioluminescence pulsing with each thrust. "You are... exquisite."

I ride him slowly, savoring every sensation, watching his face as pleasure transforms his features. His usual composure is gone, replaced by raw need and vulnerability that's somehow even more beautiful. Through the bond, I can feel his rising pleasure, the way each movement of my hips sends waves of sensation through him.

"Touch me," I gasp, and his hand wraps around my cock immediately, slick with that natural lubricant that makes everything better.

We move together, finding a perfect rhythm, the empathic bond creating a feedback loop of sensation that builds with each thrust. I can feel what he feels, the tight heat of my body around him, the way my inner muscles clench when he hits just the right spot, and he can feel what I feel, the perfect pressure of his cock against my prostate, the dual stimulation of his hand stroking me in time with our movements.

It's sex, yes, but it's also something else, a conversation without words, a promise without hope, a goodbye neither of us is ready to say.

"I'm close," I warn him, my thighs beginning to tremble as heat builds at the base of my spine. "So close, Zeph, I can feel you—"

"Let go," he urges, his thumb sliding over the head of my cock in a way that makes stars explode behind my eyelids. "Let me feel you come apart."

When release finally hits, it's less like an explosion and more like a wave, washing through both of us simultaneously, amplified by the empathic bond until it's almost too much to bear. I cry out his name as I come across his chest and stomach, and he responds with mine, his cock pulsing inside me as his own orgasm crashes through him.

For a moment, just a moment, it feels like we might actually merge into one being, never to be separated. The empathic bond flares so bright, so intense, that I can't tell where my pleasure ends and his begins, can't distinguish between my emotions and his, can't remember why we're supposed to be two separate people at all.

But then reality reasserts itself, and we're just two bodies, two separate individuals, clinging to each other as if we could somehow prevent the inevitable.

"I don't want to let you go," I admit, my face pressed against his neck, his cock still inside me, my come cooling between our bodies.

His arms tighten around me. "I know."

"What if—" I start, then stop myself. There is no 'what if.' There's only what is, and the knowledge that our time is running out.

We stay like that for a long time, neither of us willing to be the first to pull away. Finally, Zeph shifts beneath me, his hands sliding to support my thighs.

"Hold on to me," he says, his voice low. "I want to take you somewhere."

I wrap my legs tighter around his waist, keeping him inside me, my fingers tangling in his hair as he rises from the bed with seemingly effortless strength. The movement causes his cock to shift inside me, sending a shiver through me.

"Where are we going?" I whisper, still joined with him as intimately as possible.

"To the water," he answers simply. "It helps... clarify thoughts."

He carries me through the ship like that, still connected, my legs around his waist, his hands supporting my weight, his cock buried deep inside me. It should be awkward or uncomfortable, but it's not. It's intimate in a way that transcends the physical, as if neither of us can bear the thought of separation, even for a moment.

The cleansing pools are still illuminated with that soft blue-green light, the water gently rippling as if welcoming us back. Zeph carries me directly into the water, descending the steps without hesitation, until we're both submerged to our shoulders. The warm water swirls around us as he settles on an underwater ledge, our bodies still joined, my fingers still tangled in his hair.

For a while, we just float there, the gentle current of the pool supporting our weight, the soft glow of the water mingling with Zeph's bioluminescence. I open my mouth to say something, then close it again, not knowing what words could possibly be adequate.

"Tell me about your world," I say finally, my voice barely audible over the soft lapping of the water. "Something I don't know yet. Something I'll never see."