Most likely she would regret all of this in the coming days, when she learned about his history here or when the sun effects wore off. But she seemed to want this, the way Nina had wanted to spar him when they first met, to work out some external issues on him. He was a good punching bag. And he was also, well, a warm body with a lot of surface area to touch.

When her hand slid behind his back, he found himself arching up against her, making a sound like a hiss of surprise, and his hand on her thigh gave an involuntary squeeze, before releasing. He liked the touch along his scalp, tilting his head into her fingers, and tried the same with her, his other hand gently stroking her hair off her face, the backs of his fingers grazing along her cheek.