Pavla shook his head at the offer of water. He was parched but at the moment none of that mattered. The captain wanted to have a painting commissioned of him and thought he looked beautiful.

The small Romanian was bare under the covers that pooled in his lap. His night clothing had been tossed in a fevered attempt to get cool. His sitter had seen far more of his slender body that she had meant to as the covers were kicked off and pulled back on. Suddenly, Pavla felt modest, blushing as he adjusted the blanket higher, feeling nervously hopeful under the captain's attention.

As Nate sat on the edge of the bed, Pavla had trouble focusing on the words coming from the captain's full lips. Although the subject was one of great concern to the shadow mutant, Pavla found himself merely watching as the lips dropped to his nose, his chin, finally connecting with his lips. Blue eyes lifted and locked with those of his captain, feeling the rumble more than hearing the final question that hung on the air between them.

The breath that Pavla released was a soft needful moan, slender arms rising to wrap around Nate's neck as lips closed the distance to recapture those hovering above, deepening the kiss and arching to press flesh to flesh. Waiting any longer was not an option, Pavla needed to be devoured by this man, feel what he had been imagining for days. The small mutant's urgent desire pushed him forward, clawing and climbing in an attempt to close any space between the two.