Dain's tails dragged against me, and there was no fucking way it was an accident. He walked with slow deliberateness, a sensual, dangerous saunter that made it look like he was about to go ravish the innocent chair next to the door. He flexed his hands open as he went, those tails of his held low and emphasizing his movements as they trailed behind him. Then he flexed his wing-arms, moving them through arcs that made the muscle shift, and rolled his strong fingers before closing his wing-hands into fists.

He stopped on the far side of the small room, his shoulders rising and falling as if he was breathing hard. Dain turned his head slightly towards me, still facing away. "How did I do, Leah?" he asked, his voice rough.

Holy... shit. Dain was displaying himself for me, not to horrify, but to attract. He was taking me at my word, choosing to act as if I truly found his body natural to look at, and that question was spoken with too much emotion to be only about whether I thought he had a nice saunter. He was asking if he was doing well at stripping away the hatred layered onto his body, a question not about his movement but about him as a person.

"Impressive," I said, meaning it.

His head turned a little more towards me, enough that I thought he could see me in his peripheral vision.

I put one hand on my hip and leaned into the position. "We're going to make one hell of an entrance, Dain Sundamar," I said. "Whoever you pin with that liquid gold gaze of yours is going to have her panties vaporized."

Dain turned at that, still breathing harder than the situation called for. He had a strange expression on, a vulnerability that didn't look at home on his face, and his ears kept moving as he hunted for sounds. "Are you even wearing panties?"

A slow smirk spread over my face. "Surely you know you'll have to trade for that one."

"Ask, then," he said. "I will be tormented by curiosity if you don't answer."

I raised one brow. "I thought you had other things to think about besides trying to imagine what was underneath my clothing."

Dain lifted one in return. "When you're wearing plain clothing? Certainly. When you're wearing something designed to make people think of exactly that?" He gave me a lopsided smile, one side of his mouth going up. "Even the Beast of Phazikai looks at women with admiration from time to time, regardless of if they're ones he'd like to try befriending."

I made a thoughtful noise, smiling at him, and tapped one finger on my lips. "I think I'd like to trade for a special request, if you're amenable."