He responds immediately, arms wrapping around me with that inhuman strength, lifting me slightly off the floor as he returns the kiss with equal desperation. The moment our lips touch, the empathic bond flares back to life, a burst of sensation so intense it makes my knees buckle. All those emotions I couldn't feel across the void suddenly rushing back, his relief, his joy, his hunger.

"You're here," I manage to gasp against his mouth. "You're actually fucking here."

"I am here," Zeph confirms, his voice rougher than I've ever heard it. His hands are everywhere, as desperate as mine to confirm this is real. "Jake, I—"

"No," I interrupt, already tugging at the fastenings of his formal clothes. "No talking. Not yet."

I don't want explanations or apologies or whatever diplomatic speech he's prepared. I want him. Now. After ten days of nothing, of emptiness, I need to feel him.

I grab his hand and pull him toward my bedroom, my fingers working frantically at the complicated closures of hisformal attire. By the time we cross the threshold, I've managed to get his jacket off and his shirt open. The sight of his blue-tinged skin glowing beneath my touch sends a surge of possessiveness through me so intense it's almost frightening.

"On the bed," I command, pushing him backward until his legs hit the mattress. "Now."

Zeph complies immediately, his golden eyes never leaving mine as he sits, then reclines on my rumpled sheets. The contrast is striking, this formal, otherworldly being sprawled across my Target bedding, his chest already glowing with arousal, his expression a mixture of desire and surprise at my sudden dominance.

I strip off my t-shirt and climb onto the bed, straddling him. My hands push his shirt the rest of the way open, exposing more of that beautiful skin that lights up golden wherever I touch. When I lean down to kiss him again, it's less frantic but no less intense, a claiming, a reestablishing of connection.

"I missed you," I breathe against his mouth, my hands exploring every inch of exposed skin. "I tried to reach you. Every fucking day."

"I know," Zeph says, his hands sliding up my bare back. "I felt it. I could not respond—"

"Later," I insist, moving my mouth to his neck, tasting the salt-sweet flavor of his skin. "Explanations later."

I work my way down his chest, my tongue tracing patterns that make his bioluminescence flare brighter. When I reach the waistband of his formal pants, I look up to find him watching me with an intensity that steals my breath.

"Let me," I say, and it's not quite a question but not quite a demand either.

Zeph nods, understanding immediately what I'm asking. "Yes," he says simply.

My hands work at the fastenings of his pants, pulling them down his long legs along with whatever serves as Nereidan underwear. When he's finally naked beneath me, I take a moment just to look at him, the lean strength of his body, the blue-tinted skin now glowing golden with arousal, the impressive length of his cock already glistening with that natural lubricant that makes everything so much better.

"You're beautiful," I tell him, and I mean it. He's alien and strange and the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen.

I kick off my sweatpants and settle between his legs, running my hands along his inner thighs. The glow beneath his skin follows my touch, creating trails of light that pulse in time with his breathing. When I lean down to take him in my mouth, the sound he makes is somewhere between a gasp and a moan, his back arching off the bed.

The taste of him is exactly as I remember, sweet and clean, with that strange alien tang that's become so familiar. His natural lubricant makes it easy to take him deeper than I normally could, and I collect some of the slick substance that's coating his shaft on my fingers.

Without breaking rhythm, I slide my slick fingers lower, circling his entrance while I continue working him with my mouth. Zeph makes a startled sound of pleasure, his hips jerking slightly at the dual sensation.

"Jake," he gasps, one hand tangling in my hair as I press the first finger inside him. "Oh—"

I hum around his cock, the vibration making him writhe beneath me as I slowly work my finger deeper. His body is hot and tight around the intrusion, but the natural lubricant makes the glide easy. When I feel him relaxing, I add a second finger, curling them to search for the spots that make his bioluminescence flare brighter.

The glow beneath his skin pulses in waves now, synchronized with my movements as I work him open while continuing to suck him. His thighs tremble on either side of my head, and through our empathic bond, I can feel the overwhelming pleasure of the dual stimulation.

"Please," he begs, his formal speech patterns breaking down completely. "Jake, I need—I need you inside me. I never stopped wanting you. Never stopped feeling for you."

I pull back, my lips releasing him with an obscene pop, but instead of immediately crawling up his body, I take my time, dragging my tongue up his abdomen, stopping to bite at his ribs. His skin tastes faintly of salt and something alien I can't name, and every place my mouth touches leaves a brighter trail of golden light.

Zeph's hands find my hair, fingers tangling in the strands with desperate need as I work my way higher. When I reach his chest, I let my teeth graze one nipple, then bite down just hard enough to make him arch off the bed. The sound he makes, halfway between a gasp and a growl, sends heat straight to my cock.

"Jake," he hisses, nails digging into my scalp. "Don't tease—"

"Not teasing," I murmur against his skin, moving to the other nipple while maintaining the rhythm of my fingers inside him. "Just making up for lost time."

I work him methodically, mercilessly, mouth on his nipples, fingers stretching him open, my free hand pinning one of his wrists above his head. His bioluminescence flares with each touch, turning his blue skin into a canvas of shifting golden light. Through our bond, I can feel his desperate need building, threatening to overwhelm both of us.

"I dreamed about this," I tell him, adding a third finger, watching his eyes flutter closed as I stretch him wider. "Every night. Waking up alone, reaching for you, finding nothing."