He didn't have the benefit of a cuirass to hide the rise and fall of his chest, not that he was overly intent on masking his reactions from her. The second time she flicked her tongue was close to his pulse point. His exhale contained a trace of voice then.

"No? Good." There was a smile in his voice, even if she couldn't see it from the way his head was tilted. He didn't have any silly notions about being the only one she wanted to see when this was only a second date, but it was nice to know that perhaps he wasn't one in a thick crowd of contenders for her attentions.

"I'd hate to bore you with something you hear all the time." He turned to brush his cheek against the side of her head. "Especially given the fact that when silver tongues were being handed out, I wasn't even in the line. I'm lucky not to stutter these days." Although at times he still did if he was overly flummoxed.