"Hrmph." He nodded, but his youth betrayed him; in the end, he wanted not just to mate, but a mate, and his face registered both the disappointment and the mild bitterness that had grown from it. "I'll manage, Ma'am. This is still paradise compared to the Sandbox."
He was a little startled at the public show of...well, not affection, but certainly a bit of wanting. His big, callused hands slipped up and down her arms caressively as he blinked down at her.