“Gregor…” I cried out, my voice a raw, animalistic sound, and he matched me, his own body convulsing with a guttural roar. We collapsed together, breathless and slick with sweat, our bodies a tangled mess of limbs.

We lay there for a long time, the only sounds our ragged breaths and the soft thumping of our hearts. He held me close, his arm a warm weight across my waist, and I burrowed my face into the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent—pine, rain, and a newfound intimacy that ...