Dahozhoni Meadow does my breath smell?

She did not think he was out of the woods yet, but he did reply... barely. He shortened her name, something she would have corrected for anybody else, and he said he was... shit. He pressed himself into her, and while she did not relax, she did feel a minuscule amount of relief that her mate was able to talk. Maybe he would be okay. Maybe it was part of the mating process. She remembered a time when she had been unable to talk, her terror so great it had stopped her voice, torn away her personhood.
"What do you need?" she asked.
There was hard edge to her voice, an eagerness even she did not know she was capable of possessing. Odessia's heart pounded in her chest, knowing with renewed conviction one thing: she would never—could never—leave him.