He liked being close. He slid into her touch, pressed along soft, salty female skin and rubbed up to her in that feline way he'd never quite admit, gently shifting his grip to let her hand between them, down to his hip--vulnerable, but it would be safe here, with her. It was good to feel her, to breathe her in. She even smelled pretty.

A tension he hadn't known was still there uncurled in the floor of his spine, flashed to warmth at that whisper of tongue, the hint of a smile behind it. He curved his neck, turning--who was he to deny a lady?--and discovered that he could hear her heart in his other ear, leaping against her ribs.

Remarkable.

He didn't even realize he'd said it aloud.