He turned his head, crashed them together. There was no hiding his arousal pressed against Marius' leg; there was no reason to try. "I hunger for your sleek laugh, your hands the color of a savage harvest," he said, as much a quote as a genuine invitation. He took one of those hands and pressed it against his own abdomen. If Marius wanted him, he would give. Even as cool air cleared his head, Rat was still swept in it, for a moment that he might forget his loneliness.

"Hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails," Rat said, biting down on the juncture of neck and shoulder with the intent to leave a mark. "I want to eat your skin like a whole almond."