It’s just a touch, just a simple gripping of his hip, and Ram’s pushing against him and panting into his neck, the very picture of desperation. It’s a marvel. It’s not just a marvel, it’s astonishing to him, who’s had flings and dalliances but never this sort of fierceness, especially something that keeps building in intensity.

He almost doesn’t understand it. Desired is one thing, but Rama sounds like he’s about to come apart for want of him. He feels that twist in the pit of his stomach, a rolling, tumbling free fall of a feeling that creeps along his spine and in his limbs, settling into a deep burn in his loins.

“You want me that badly?” he whispers roughly, hand moving to caress down the back of Rama’s neck.