"Yes, well -" but she's right, it was a shit plan. One of the worst he's come up with, born on the fly as the reality of their situation crashed in on him.

She's also right, insomuch as it's going to be far easier to make it through this entire business if he's not being precious about who and how he fucks. He's coming swiftly to a point where he's going to have to make a choice - Vex or someone else - and neither option is going to give him what he wants. At some point, he'll have to give up priggish fantasies about nimbly dodging every blow coming at him and start planning how to limit the damage he takes.

"It's not that I don't want to," he murmurs, and just the thought sends a familiar heat moving south from his chest. "If I thought ravishing you here and now would sort things out, I wouldn't hesitate."

Even knowing that it'll probably just make things worse, he's newly tempted. He's eaten and drunk his share of aphrodisiacs lately, without any release, and his muscles remember her touch without any care for complexities. "Tell me what you want, Vex. You have more to lose than I do; I can't make these decisions alone "