Gradually, her breathing grew shallower, less even. It was probably ridiculous how quickly he could get under her skin, how they could barely keep their hands off each other, the two of them as bad as lovesick teenagers in the kind of stupid holo she was never interested in watching. But then, she reminded herself, it was new for both of them. Before had no bearing here. It was just them: two people still learning each other, and the way he made her feel so utterly undone.

With the hand in his hair, she was careful not to push or pull forcefully, touching him more for the sake of it than anything else; her legs, where they'd been spread wide, now hooked over his shoulders. It wasn't, she realized, the physical sensations of it that made her chest ache and her body taut, at least not primarily. The way he touched her, worked his mouth against her, somehow made her feel loved. She'd known so little of that, and she'd thought she never would again.

"Cassian," she panted, a plea and an encouragement and a dozen other things rolled into one. More than anything, though, it was just that she liked being able to say his name.