Eden sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and tried to regulate her breathing. Her leather jacket had become stifling despite the comfortable climate-controlled temperature in her cabin, but even after she shrugged it off, her body heat flushed her skin and burned deep inside her. She read the e-mail over once more. Twice more. Each time her eyes scanned the screen, she grew hotter—suns beneath her skin seared every molecule and boiled deep in her core.

Darling, beautiful, tenacious Eden,

I want to try something different with you. Wait for me tonight. I will come to you.

In love,

Jaal

Something different. It was just vague enough to be blatantly sexual. Eden pressed her knees together and ran her fingers through her dark bangs. Of course, Jaal had things he wanted to experiment with in bed—Eden would be lying if she said she hadn't pondered on the implicated uses of Jaal's more alien physiology—but the idea of alien kinkiness had her mind reeling. Did he mean to tie her up? Was there some Angaran sexual act that he wanted to try and replicate with her? Eden tried to list every reasonable request her alien lover could ask of her but found she didn't know enough about Jaal's culture to determine a plausible idea.

The hydraulic door to her cabin hissed open just as she was about to search for more clues in Jaal's brief message. Eden pushed away from her desk. Her fingers scurried over her omnitool to darken her monitor before her visitor could peek over her shoulder, and she turned to greet him with a smile.

"Jaal." Eden's voice was soft. Her throat tightened whenever he was near. Her breathing was strained and her heart was a hammering mess in her chest as his gaze settled on her face and his lips cocked into a smile. In two long strides, Eden was nestled in his arms. She heaved a relaxed sigh and breathed him in—an odd combination of weapon discharge and a floral scent that she recognized from Aya, but it calmed her in ways she never imagined were possible.

"Darling Eden," Jaal crooned. He pressed his lips to her hair, his arms holding her snug against his chest. "Did you get my message?"

"I did. I'm...curious about what you have in mind. Maybe a bit nervous, too," Eden confessed.

"If you don't like it, I'll stop immediately."

"Do I need a safe word?" Eden joked with a laugh. Jaal pulled away, his head cocked to one side.

"Are some of your words more dangerous than others?" He asked and seemed thoroughly concerned. Eden grinned and pressed a kiss to his jaw.

"Don't worry about it. I'm happy you're here and I can't wait to try whatever you have in mind." Eden pushed aside her apprehension. She was confident Jaal would never do anything that would cause her pain, and the softness in his eyes at her trust only strengthened her resolve.

Jaal dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers. The universe was in his kiss and Eden could swear stars formed whenever their lips met. It lasted an eternity—the 600-year journey from the Milky Way to Andromeda was over faster than they separated for air. Eden was already light-headed when Jaal finally pulled away. He stroked her cheek with his thumb, soft and hesitant, but he smiled fondly.

"Your hair," was all he said. Eden touched her hair, raised up from the static of his kiss, and laughed. She tried to pet it down but it was to no avail. Jaal shook his head and kissed her gently, causing it to muss further. "I love it."

"I do too," She confessed and smiled when Jaal pressed his forehead against hers. They remained there for a moment, just feeling each other, breathing together.

"May I undress you?" Jaal finally asked. The innocence of the question—as if he weren't solely responsible for the pile of ripped clothing gathering in her closet—almost made her laugh but she could tell the request was important to him, so she merely nodded.

Jaal's hands were careful. His fingers dipped beneath the hem of her camisole and slowly slipped the fabric over her stomach and ribs, over her breasts, until her torso was bared to him. Eden remained still and only moved her arms so he could pull her shirt over her head. She stepped out of her jeans when Jaal slipped them down her legs and she was completely bare before him.

Jaal took a sharp breath and trailed his hands down her sides. His eyes took in all of her as though it was the first time and Eden felt heat rose to her cheeks under his scrutiny.

"You are so beautiful," he said. "Lay on the bed. On your side."

Eden nodded, a bit disappointed when Jaal began undressing rather than have her do it. She rested on top of the comforter, curious and anxious all at once. What could he have planned?

The bed dipped behind her and Jaal's strong arm wrapped around her middle. He pulled her tight against his chest, spooned her, and she could feel the start of his erection against her bottom. She shivered with anticipation.

"My love for you is immeasurable," he purred against her skin. "You consume my every thought, my every dream. Just the sight of you invokes a wave of passion to crash through me and fill me with insatiable desire. My body craves you, my heart demands you, and my mind...the things I think of doing to you..." Jaal moaned softly and buried his face in her hair.

"Jaal..." Eden wasn't sure what to say. Somehow "I love you" felt too weak of a phrase. Jaal's shushing ghosted across her skin as he adjusted his arms to hold her better against him.

"There is something the Angara do with their partners. It goes beyond love-making in the sense you're familiar with. It's more...intimate. I'd like to try it with you."

Eden nodded. The press of Jaal's bare body against her back already warmed her from the inside. Her body was prepared for anything he wanted to do to her and her skin buzzed with excitement and arousal.

"With Angara, we use our bioelectricity. The energy melds together, becomes a part of the other person and communicates their desire for each other. I know you won't be able to do it exactly but...I'd like you to feel it and I'd like to tell you my desires. Is that alright?"

Eden realized that the buzzing she felt was Jaal's bio-current. It pulsed through her gently, no doubt he kept it weak to avoid overwhelming her. Warmth bloomed in her chest and she rested her hands on top of his.

"That sounds beautiful, Jaal. Tell me, please."

The buzz inside her slowly morphed into a gentle pulse. It thumped in time with her heartbeat and pebbled her nipples as she gasped softly.

"I want to kiss every inch of you," Jaal began. His hands didn't move from beneath hers but the gentle pulses of his current were like dozens of hands caressing her skin. "I want to lose myself in the taste of you; your lips; your skin. I want to relive our first night together and watch you tremble as I kiss your most intimate place. I want to hear your voice as my fingers curl inside you and take you apart."

The pulse thumped between her thighs and Eden shuddered against him. Her fingers tangled with his and Jaal gently kissed her shoulder. His current continued to wash over her but she couldn't fully process how it made her feel. Jaal's hands hadn't left her stomach and yet he touched her everywhere. His current danced over her skin, and it grew stronger with each word.

" I want to devour you with your knees hooked over my shoulders. I want to listen to your sweet voice sing higher and higher until you come undone so many times, your knees shake long after the taste of you has faded from my tongue."

Eden moaned, unbidden. The electric sensation shifted and migrated to focus on the places he spoke of.

"I want to make love to you," he growled, and she felt a spark inside . "Slowly, deeply, here in your cabin. I want your body and heart bared to me completely. I want our bodies to mold together until there's no telling where we end and begin." Jaal moved, or his current did. It stroked her deep inside, mimicked his familiar thrusts but she could still feel his erection pressed behind her. It was a slow and gentle thrum that threatened to drive her mad with want.

"I want you to fuck me , my fierce warrior. I watch your grace on the field and my amor becomes stifling. I'd have you on top of me, riding me, demanding your pleasure from me. I want to feel your hands bracing yourself against my chest as you take me inside you, faster with each intoxicating bounce of your hips as you chase your peak. And then, I'd see your desire written in the scratches on my chest and shoulders in the morning."

Eden almost shrieked from the jolt that zapped through her. The pulses came faster, sharper. She couldn't keep her eyes open from the overwhelming sensation of him.

"J-Jaal…" She could barely choke his name out. Her breasts heaved with her panting breath. Jaal tightened his hold on her, the pulses inside her dulled and she almost screamed at him.

"Are you alright?" He whispered. Eden squeezed his hand, her fingernails dug into him but he didn't say anything.

"Don't stop. It's too much but...don't stop…" Eden wondered briefly if Jaal had caused her own electric impulses in her brain to misfire, but he carefully kissed her hair and the sensations returned. Eden didn't want to think about anything else. "Keep talking."

"I've frequently thought about taking you on the bridge," he acquiesced. "When you stand before the map and your lovely hips cock to the left as you determine the best course, I want to make you grip the railing and enter you from behind. I want to claim you, hard and fast, as I mark your neck and shoulders with my teeth. I want you to gaze into Andromeda while the stars watch you become thoroughly wrecked by my desire,"

While not as intense as before, his current continued to hum inside her and it took advantage of how hyper-sensitive she had become. Its staccato beat had her keening beside him. A litany of his name tumbled from her lips and her hips rolled back against his. Electricity stroked against that perfect spot inside her, skittered across her clit, and she cried out—a curse, his name, perhaps it wasn't even a word to begin with, but it echoed through her cabin and only added to her pleasure. Supernovas flashed in front of her eyes and Jaal tightened his grip on her hand to ground her. He continued to spark against her, drawing out her release, and the sight of her unraveling against him almost made him spill himself against the backs of her thighs.

Her body stopped trembling and Jaal reined himself in while she recovered. Remnant electrical pulses danced through her nerves and left her muscles twitching even after Jaal's current fully receded, though Eden couldn't tell if bioelectricity was to blame or the space-shattering orgasm she had just experienced, but her entire body felt numb.

Jaal stroked her skin, careful, so as not to overstimulate her. Eden turned in his arms to press a gentle kiss to his soft lips.

"Oh, Jaal, that was amazing," she cooed and shivered at the feel of his erection against her thigh. Jaal pressed his forehead against hers with a content sigh. His fingers combed through her staticky hair and her hands rested against his chest.

"Darling one, you've given me so much joy. It means so much to me that I could share this with you," he said.

"I wish I could do the same for you," Eden confessed, then paused. Her body wouldn't be able to take him as it was now, she knew the pleasure centers in her brain were overloaded and taking him inside her would more than likely prove more painful than anything—she knew Jaal would feel terrible if it came to that.

"You don't need to. Watching you, hearing you, gives me more pleasure than you can imagine."

"I have a pretty broad imagination," Eden teased with a grin. Jaal laughed and his head tilted as the Pathfinder gently extricated herself from his embrace. "But I'm not going to let you spend the night like that."

Jaal opened his mouth but said nothing as Eden softly pushed him to lay on his back. She kissed him once, deeply, before her body slid down his until her lips were kissing his shaft. The noise he made was clearly inhuman and Eden grinned mischievously.

"It's your turn to 'sing' for me."