"I'm pretty good at multitasking." And there went the other stocking into the corner. More kisses back up Alice's leg, and he took a moment to press one to the inside of her thigh of nothing but lingering heat before Thomas stood up again. There was still a faint tingle at his lips, just a little more sensitivity than normal, but he could overlook that for the taste of Alice's skin, of soft lips and breathy laughter.

He kissed her again, slow and steady, as his fingers slid up her thigh, tracing the path of his kisses, until they slid past cloth and found warm flesh. Thomas swallowed her gasps as his hips rocked lightly against her, teasing as his fingers moved in her. He could almost predict Alice now, predict when breathy laughter would hitch into arching want, when desire would hum against his skin at the perfect pitch. The Hunger slid against her, a light velvet touch, unspooling emotion and all the threads of futures and possibilities. "You can leave whatever you want on my bed," he laughed, lips moving away from hers to trace the line of her jaw, up her cheek, to that spot behind her ear.

Featherlight touches , quick and fleeting, alternated with steady strokes against nerves on fire. "I hope you don't mind if I don't get to any of it tonight."