Even though something fragile beneath Ravi's ribs twisted at the sweet tease, even though all the painful possibilities were still circling with sharpened claws, even though Lio could leave him bruised, he was too starved for it.

He leaned in, curled a hand along Lio's neck, thumb skimming his jaw just above a pulse racing as fast as his own. And then the kiss he'd been dreaming about for night after night was warm and sweet and real. Lio made a muted sound, folded both arms around his shoulders and tried to pull him closer.

Ravi drew back. His exhale was shaky. This was such a bad idea. But it felt unbelievably good.

Lio's arms were still wrapped loosely around him. "Please tell me you're not immediately regretting doing that."

"No." He shook his head, half at himself for his own foolishness. "But I feel like I should be." There was more he should say, more they should talk about before the flimsy remains of good judgement abandoned him. But it was impossible. The mesa was so quiet it felt like they were the only ones around for miles. A legion of stars overhead. Warm wind stirred Lio's hair, and Ravi stared at him, captivated. He could do as he always did and deny himself what he wanted. Or he could just reach for it.

Moving before he realized it, his hand settled against Lio's cheek. Lio closed his eyes, and Ravi kissed him again, and then again. Addicted and done fighting it, no matter what it did to him in the end.

They half-lay on the caprock, kissing each other like it was breathing. Stopping was impossible. Propped up on one elbow, Ravi hooked his arm around Lio's waist, palm sliding along the thin mesh of his shirt, up the arch of his back. There was desert heat in his skin.

"Ravi," Lio gasped against his lips.

"Slow down?" he croaked. His arm was going numb beneath his weight and half of Lio's.

Lio kissed him again, hard, and Ravi almost lay down on the mesa and pulled Lio on top of him. There were too many people around for that.

"No," Lio mumbled. "No slowing down."

Ravi drew back with an unsteady breath. "Then...we should go somewhere with less people." His mouth went dry as soon as he said it. He didn't want to go fumble in a dark corner of a packed club. He wanted time. Lio in his room. In his bed. "Would you"—his tongue felt suddenly clumsy—"maybe want to go back to Opalina?"

He was light-headed watching the slow smile unfurl across Lio's expression. "Yes. Let's do that."

Keeping his hands to himself as they found their way from the roof to the elevators was nearly impossible, but very necessary. Kissing him had just smashed all the restraint he'd managed for so long. He tugged self-consciously at the waistband of his trousers, yanking them down to cover the way his body had responded to kissing Lio. Please goddesses, let them not run into any of the crew while he was walking around half hard.

The elevator leaving the club was empty, but Ravi slouched in the opposite corner from Lio. Neither of them said a word as they walked side by side through the ports and Lio coded the hov. It sailed down the mag lane toward them, a tiny, two-seat section split off from the rest.

Lio opened one of the doors and chewed his lip, eying the seating arrangement. "Perhaps I should get us another hov."

Ravi was already climbing into the front seat, so he didn't have to stare at the back of Lio's chair the whole time. "Nope, you're stuck with this." They wouldn't be able to do anything but talk to each other on the ride back, which was probably good. Even if he kind of wanted one of those old-fashioned hovs that was just one long, double seat, no armrests or consoles in the way.

The skinny little hov streaked away from the Starmesa ports and turned onto the flat desert mag strip. Lio's arms suddenly draped over his shoulders. Ravi glanced back to see him wearing a disarming smile, chin resting on the back of Ravi's chair and barely balanced on his own seat.

"Hi," Lio said, grinning.

He pulled a mock Jossen-inspired glare. "Seatbelt."

"But I can't reach you if—"

Ravi clicked his own belt into place emphatically. "Seatbelt, Lio."

There was sullen grumbling, the arms retreated, then a rustling in the seat behind him and a click, accompanied by a frustrated huff. "This is unjust."

"You know what might help?" Ravi closed his eyes and grinned, thinking of how Lio squirmed whenever it was silent for too long. "We can do the whole ride in peaceful, quiet meditation—"

"I will meditate on how to kick your ass," Lio threatened.

"You'll need longer than this hov ride to figure that one out," Ravi said cheerfully.

"Oh, you might be surprised."

At the sound of something knocking into his armrest, he glanced down to see Lio's stretching hand, groping between the side of the hov and the armrest. "What are you—" His seat shuttled backward suddenly, the back cushion dropping. He let out a yelp, and then he was almost flat on his back. The headrest on his chair was practically in Lio's lap.

Lio smiled triumphantly down at him. "Ha. I win. I suppose Yorune was right about these hovs being an engineering marvel." He smoothed both palms across Ravi's chest and kissed his nose.

"You cheated," Ravi managed breathlessly. But Lio was too close now, and he couldn't resist. He reached up to twine his fingers in the long waves of Lio's hair. Tipped his head all the way back, asking silently. He got his answer in a slow, consuming kiss. It felt like molten lava smoked in his stomach and dripped down his thighs.

"I've never kissed someone upside before," Lio said. Then he frowned. "I think I'm not very good at it."

It was completely untrue, he was so good he had Ravi's pulse pounding. But he narrowed his eyes, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I was just thinking that your upside down technique could use some work."

Lio flicked his ear, and then kissed it. "You know how when you're first trying to figure out kissing and you keep—"

"Knocking teeth and squashing your nose?" Ravi couldn't stop smiling. "Yeah. Been a while, but yeah."

"No, that never happened to me. I was going to say, 'and everything is so perfect.'" Lio let out an exaggerated sniff. "It's really just downhill from those days, isn't it."

Ravi wound a strand of Lio's hair in his hand and gave it a gentle tug. "Fuck off."

"I'd love to, if someone's chair weren't blocking my access."

He sputtered, laughter catching in his throat while Lio trailed kisses along his jaw. A faint, happy sigh escaped. He closed his eyes and tilted his head willingly, and Lio's lips found the sensitive path along the bend of his neck. By the time Lio started kissing his way back up to his ear, he felt heavy as a deep dream, lust pooled in his blood. They were at least an hour away from Opalina still. He didn't know how he was supposed to make it through the ride.

A kiss brushed his temple. Lio laid his cheek against the cushion of the headrest. He was so fucking beautiful it hurt to look at him.

Ravi eased back to see him better. "I don't know what you're doing to me. I'm not usually..." He didn't know how he wanted to say it. He wasn't usually so willing to be desperate. So quick to jump to needing someone.

"I like you this way," Lio whispered. "I was worried you'd stopped thinking of me." His hands slipped inside the collar of Ravi's shirt, warm fingers spread across his skin.

"I can't ever stop thinking of you." Even when it was frightening, the way this moment somehow was. He still didn't want it to stop.

Lio kissed him again, until he felt like he was blooming beneath the touch and pleasure steamed through every trembling muscle. He relaxed back against the seat, eyes fluttering shut. The air around him seemed to take on new pressure.

"Sometimes," Lio murmured against his skin, "when we're in a meeting and you're standing in front of the muster room, I think about bending you over the table and rimming you until you plead for things."

He almost went up in flames. Ravi opened his eyes and stared at the roof of the hov. "Little. Fucking. Goddess," he choked. He shifted to face Lio, smiling beatifically beside him. "How the fuck do you say shit like that?"

"I just thought you ought to know." That smile turned savage and hungry. Gravity abandoned him, all his limbs in freefall, yet somehow still pinned. He was going to end up completely at Lio's mercy. He was there already.

"Fuck." It was the only thing he could come up with. The rest of his brain was overtaken by images that weren't going to be banished any time soon. Lio's mouth, Lio's fucking tongue—

"I wasn't sure you'd like that," Lio said. "But"—his hand snaked down Ravi's torso—"I'm happy to see that you do."

Ravi looked down helplessly. His legs were spread as wide as the confines of the hov would allow, dick straining against the fabric of his trousers. He was going to last all of two seconds when they got in his room. If he made it to his room.

Lio's breath spilled across his collarbone, stretching. His fingers inched lower on Ravi's torso. But not far enough. "Fucking shit-ass seatbelt, let go of me—"

"Safety first," Ravi said shakily. He hitched his hips further down, out of Lio's reach. For his efforts, he got a sharp nip on his shoulder.

He expected —wanted— Lio to try again. Instead, Lio reared back slightly and then settled his cheek against Ravi's. One hand swept back and forth across his chest, while the other traced around his clavicle. "Alright." His voice was dangerously soft. "If I can't touch you, you'll just have to do it yourself."

Ravi twitched, breath punching out of him in something like a laugh.

"Not joking." Lio kissed the corner of his mouth. "It's my free day. And since we are already doing what you want and going back to Opalina, right now you're going to do what I want."

So. Apparently Lio had not forgotten what he liked, and how he liked it. He understood why Lio had said it that way, and the words had their intended effect.

"I'm..." He was way too breathless. "I can't do that in a hov."

"But you want to."

"I can wait." He swallowed. Liar. "I mean...I...you seriously want..."

Lio's smile curled sharply. "I am impatient," he murmured. "And I don't want to wait."

Ravi let out a harsh breath. His hand was already creeping down to do Lio's bidding, even if he couldn't quite believe it. He had not had nearly enough to drink to excuse feeling like this. Or doing this. But being with Lio that first night had been exactly this way. Like shame didn't exist anymore. He wanted that again.

"That's it. Trousers off—Goddess, I should be in charge all the time."

A laugh stumbled in his throat. He could barely breathe, much less come up with words to respond. In some kind of trance, he pushed his clothes down, away, until he was offering Lio bare skin.

"Goddess, fuck, okay," Lio sounded strangled. "You gorgeous fucker." His eyes gleamed in the light from the nav console. "You're going to do everything I want. Okay?"

"Okay," he breathed. He was mesmerized. Out of control. Lio's kiss was hard against his burning cheek.

He'd never done anything like this with someone watching. Couldn't imagine not feeling like an idiot doing it. But Lio's gaze roving over him made him feel sweet and feral and beautiful and filthy all at once.

A velvet voice poured in his ear, commanding him. Every touch and stroke and twist was irresistible. Ravi responded to it like his hand was Lio's hand, Lio's mouth, Lio's body.

"Slow down," Lio whispered. The order blew down along his jawline. Ravi groaned. He didn't want to slow down. He wanted to race his pulse to a finish. But Lio growled in his ear, fingers biting into his shoulder until he complied. His hand's languid glide turned torturous.

"Give me your hand," Lio said.

Still fogged with pleasure, he hesitated. His hand was a mess of sweat and pre-come. And now that he'd started, he didn't want to stop. But Lio was in control, so he closed his eyes and lifted his hand.

"Both of them. And look at me."

He cracked his eyes open and tipped his head back to see Lio. Just in time to watch that perfect mouth open. Lio slid his hot, wet mouth over Ravi's fingers. His skin sizzled with the feeling of it, and he whimpered on the chair, hips lifting fruitlessly with the rhythm of Lio's mouth. He wanted and wanted and was made only of wanting, and his breath rode on whimpers.

Lio drew back. "If you like it, you can say so," he purred.

Ravi's answer was too broken and unsteady to make sense. He didn't even know what he said. Something along the lines of "Please" and "fuck me" and "don't stop", all cobbled together and nearly frantic.

"I like you all ways, Ravi, but I think I have particular fondness for when you're like this." Lio whispered. "Shall we put that hand back to work?"

Teeth grazed his neck, and he knew that it should hurt but mostly he was caught up in the intense haze of pleasure from his hand back on his leaking dick.

Lio had him fucking his own hand slowly, drawing it out like it was a performance. It was a performance. And it was driving him out of his senses. Making his hand speed, his breath come in gasps. Whatever unfettered desire ran wild in Lio had stolen into him too.

"I'm going to put you on your knees tonight." Lio whispered against his ear. "I'm going to keep you chained on the edge 'til you forget everything but my name."

His back curved off the seat, pulse thundering. All the things he had fought to keep out of his head, things he wanted to do to Lio, things he wanted to beg Lio to do to him, everything caught him up in a flood. He was half-in, half-out of his own skin, and Lio held him there. The words didn't matter so much as the urgent desire in his voice, and Ravi's whole body answered. He was possessed, and he loved it.

Pleasure, diffused all over his skin, gathered unbearably tight. He moaned as Lio's mouth caught against his. Taking all the desperate sounds he couldn't stop making as he hurtled through a climax he'd been denying himself for what felt like fucking forever.

It left him wrung out, sagging into the chair. The front of his shirt was a mess. Sticky fabric plastered to his stomach. For a while, the only sound in the hov was his and Lio's mingled panting.

When his breathing slowed he looked over to see a glinting, slightly smug smile. "Good?" Lio asked, with the confidence of someone who already knew the answer.

"You're dangerous," Ravi said. He could feel the dazed smile on his lips.

Lio stroked his cheek. "Hardly. Moderately venomous at most." He sank in for another kiss, and Ravi melted beneath it.

Dangerous in so many ways. Lio could unlock him from himself somehow. It was still stupid to throw himself at another man's feet again. Hoping that making himself totally vulnerable could change what someone else wanted with him. The thought dug in uncomfortably under his ribs. He didn't want to, but he retreated a little from the kiss.

He distracted himself with getting out of his t-shirt, balling it up and mopping down his body before tugging his trousers back on. So what if he was maybe a bit more into Lio than he should be? It wasn't like being frustrated and empty felt any better than being exposed and a little afraid. He'd done frustrated and empty for too long. He wanted to feel the way he'd felt the morning after the first night.

"You sound stressed," Lio said.

Ravi twisted around to look at him properly. "I didn't say anything."

"Your silence sounded stressed." His gaze searched Ravi's.

He tucked Lio's hair behind one ear. "Nah, you just can't handle silence. C'mere." Twisted fully around on the seat, definitely not safety first, he leaned across the back of the chair to kiss him again. He spent the rest of the ride like that, lips tingling and all unpleasant thoughts shoved in a mental drawer by Lio's presence.

The hov finally deposited them at the end of the mag strip. Ravi stretched, his shirt hanging from his back pocket, arms reaching for the clouded sky overhead. Rolling his shoulders, he got a few paces up the trail before he realized Lio wasn't catching up. He turned to find that he was being brazenly ogled, and grinned. "What are you doing?"

Lio ran the tip of his tongue around his lips while his gaze skimmed Ravi's torso. "I'm appreciating nature."

"You should come appreciate a little closer." He slung his arm over Lio's shoulders as soon as he was near. Lio's hands stroked across his back and around his waist, which felt unbelievably good. They stumbled up the mountain linked like that, and by the time they made it through the door to Opalina, a familiar thrum had reignited in his blood.

"Are you sure?" Lio whispered, when Ravi had them tangled up against the wall outside his room. "I'd rather not have you hate me again later."

"I've never hated you," Ravi said. "Even when I tried." He dropped to kiss Lio's neck. "And yeah, I'm sure. I can't stop wanting you."

"Well, then." Lio's voice went just rough enough to make him shiver. "Take me to bed, Ravi."