A/N: It's been an age hasn't it? I'd like to say this chapter means this story is coming off of hiatus, but really... I was watching Pushing Up Daisies and I get inspired... but tomorrow its back to adulthood and work and... idk I might be back. I might not.

Song for this chapter: Bloom by The Paper Kites

That short baking adventure turned date at the Pie Hole had been the beginning of something both Letty and Ned had secretly wished for but never dreamed could be possible. It was a sweet relationship that challenged both of them in different ways. Letty began to loosen up about the idea of being around other people (in very small doses) and Ned began to truly let go of the small flame that had still burned in a very small dark corner of him for a girl named Chuck. It also lead to Letty buying a few psychology book of her own. On her first foray into Ned's apartment with him she'd seen his book sitting forgotten on his coffee table with a few miscellaneous bits of mail stacked on top of it and it had sparked her curiosity. They'd had a short conversation about why he'd had it at all, but that had been it. She'd later purchased several books about the effect of social isolation and restriction of physical intimacy to better understand some of her own impulses. It was what led to a conversation that a blushing Ned had not been fulling prepared for.

"I'm hungry," Letty had said as a way of greeting when he'd let her into his apartment late one evening.

It was clear by his face that he hadn't expected to see her that evening, but was happy to none the less. It was also clear that he was immediately concerned that she had no food in her house. She could easily see the thoughts dance across his face while he weighed the choice of changing out of his pajamas to make a late night food run with her or to go to his kitchen and start making something for her. She saw the moment that his own desire for comfort won out and he settled into his skin a bit more.

"I can whip something up in a jiffy. What sounds good to you tonight?" he asked as he started to back toward the kitchen with a smile quirking his lips. "Are you up for something new and challenging?"

"I am up for something new and challenging," she said with a small smile of her own as she fully closed his door and stepped toward him. "But I think I've made myself unclear."

"I don't understand," Ned said with a tilt of his head to the left. She loved that he did that when confused, and wondered if he knew that he did it.

"I am hungry," she said again as she reached into her purse and extracted a book to hand to him. "But not for food."

She watched his face closely as he took the book from her and looked at the cover. She was mesmerized by the way his tongue traced over his bottom lip, though she suspected he had no idea he'd done that, while he traced his fingers over the beveled text on the leather cover. There was a slight flush to his cheeks when he met her gaze once more.

"Skin hunger," he said softly. "It's not a phrase I've actually ever heard before."

"I hadn't at first either," Letty said with a soft laugh that pulled a smile back onto his face in an instant. "The book was referenced in another that I was reading, so I bought it... it's all very medical and scientific despite how the title sounds, but it put into words a feeling I've never been able to properly articulate despite using hundreds of word. They did it with just two."

"I admit, its the last thing I would have thought for you," he said, running his hands somewhat nervously through his hair. "I'd think it would apply more to me. I mean when we sat together in the park the other evening, and you were sitting on that swing with your shoulders bared... skin hunger could definitely describe what I was feeling."

Letty felt herself blush at that. She was not really aware of the fact that she immediately reached to pull open the buttons on her coat, but she was grateful that the heat that had risen into her skin was released away from her body by the coat falling open.

"I have a hunger like the one you are describing," she said softly as she dropped her purse to the ground and removed her coat to set it on top of the discarded purse. "But the book... its not sexual. Its about how the skin craves the touch it has been starved of. That social isolation and a lack of touch can lead that organ to be hungry for relief."

"Oh?" he said quietly, his eyes drifting from hers to look at her shoulders, that were just as bare as the day he had just spoken of. "Which hunger were you wanting to sate... when you came... to see me I mean? Goodness Letty, I didn't mean that how it sounded."

"I wouldn't have minded if you had," she answered softly. "To answer you though, I am not sure? Both? I would like to see if I am able to give over to the hunger that rises when I kiss you, and not be driven by the fear that comes when I bare more skin than I have before despite how safe I feel with you."

She saw his shoulders rise and strengthen a bit when she finished and she was glad that she had finally said those words out loud. He'd never ask for them, but she could see clearly that he had needed to hear them. She wondered at how long he had been concerned about whether nor not she felt truly safe with him.

"So what do you say Ned?" she asked as she took one tiny step closer to him. "Would you like to test that hunger with me? It could be as delightful as the pie we shared in my apartment in what seems like a lifetime ago."

"What if it isn't though?" he asked cautiously, setting her book down on the coffee table before sliding his hands in his back pockets, which she suspected was to keep from touching her just yet. "Will you hide from me for an extended period of time if I were to slide my fingers under that blouse only for you to find this was not the best experiment for us to tackle just yet?"

There was a pause while Letty thought about it. That pause caused Ned to grow nervous. It caused him to regret his question.

"It would be okay if it did," he said in a rush. "I don't know why I asked. I guess... I was just worried and I wanted to make sure we'd though it through-"

"Ned," Letty said softly, cutting off his rambling. "It was a fair question. I was just thinking about it. I can't promise I won't I suppose, but I don't think that will happen. We've come a long way, and not only do I trust you implicitly, I feel like I am much more open to the idea of touch. Heck, the other day I honestly considered that thing you said about going to the beach together. I'm not ready yet... but I thought about it. So this... this seems like small potatoes in some ways. But..."

She trailed off, her throat drying up as she tried to express herself.

"But really big in others?" he asked as he withdrew his hands from his pockets and took a step closer to her.

"Yes," she whispered. "I didn't even think to ask if you were ready for something like this. It would be big for you too wouldn't it? I didn't even think... yeah I just didn't think."

"It would be big for me too Letty," he said softly, a smile in his eyes as he took another step toward her. "But I find... I'm a little hungry myself."

"Well, perhaps we ought to sate that then?" she asked as she reached across the now much smaller distance between them and took her hand in his.

"Yes," was what he whispered back as he drug his fingers slowly over her knuckles, lighting up all of her nerve endings before tugging her along with him as he began to walk out of the living room.

They were quiet as they walked together through his kitchen and down a short hall to his bedroom. Letty noticed that he must have been quite a ways along in his preparations for bed as everything was in its place and the lights were out save for a bedside lamp when the entered his room. She doubted that it was meant for reading with how dim it was, but she appreciated the slightly pink glow it gave the room. It was cozy, and the homey environment was only improved by the plush looking bed that was covered in a deep blue blanket that looked like it was almost furry. She suspected it would be very soft.

"Let me feed you Letty," he said quietly as he led her over to sit on his bed.

She followed the gentle instructions his hands gave and sat down on the foot of the bed. She vague registered that she'd been right about how soft the blanket was before her focus tunneled down to just his hands as he placed them on either side of her face and slowly trailed them down, tracing her features from her brow to her collar bone. She felt the slight flutter of her eyelashes touching the skin beneath her eyes as his thumbs dipped into the notch in her collar bone and her eyes drifted shut. Her focus was torn between the sensation of his fingers sliding under the chiffon strap of her tank top and feel of his breath ghosting over her forehead telling her he had leaned closer to her.

"Will you open your eyes?" he asked softly. "Seeing your eyes while I do this will help me stay somewhat grounded... keep me from rushing."

She opened her eyes quickly, surprised to see that his face was right above hers. She felt a smile pull itself onto her features quietly at the realization, and she couldn't help but to lean up and close the slight distance to place a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Would it be okay if I took this off now?" he asked in a whisper, trailing his finger along the edge of the tank top strap.

Letty nodded her consent, and fought to keep her eyes open despite the tingles running up her spine that made her want to close them when he slide the backs of his hands down her arms as he reached for the hem of her blouse. Instead she kept her eyes focused firmly on his, watching the hunger that seemed to grow there as he lowered himself to his knees so their faces were level. He trailed his fingers under the hem of her blouse, his face inches from hers, watching her reaction, as he tickled the taunt skin just below her bellybutton. She would never have thought that would be skin that could feel as many things as she was feeling right now.

She couldn't help the way her breath puffed out of her leaving her feeling somewhat light headed, as he curled his fingers around the fabric and began to slowly pull it upward. Her breathing increased somewhat at the feeling of his thumbs trailing up her abdomen and then her rib cage as he slowly lifted her shirt. It was tantalizing, and she felt he was teasing himself as much as he was teasing her. Savoring the slow exposure of skin.

Her view of him was cut off when he finally pulled the shift over her head. For a moment all she saw was black chiffon, and then as her hair settled around her again, floating a bit due to static electricity, she saw the way his eyes had broken away from her face and seemed to be devouring the view of her in a pair of jeans and nothing else. She suspected that he had assumed she would be wearing a bra, but she'd never had much need for one in the past, so it was rare that she wore one now even as she began to fill out from her improved diet. Ned was clearly surprised, but she didn't think he looked disappointed so she didn't regret the choice. Eventually he was able to drag his eyes back up to meet hers, and she felt that now he was truly as hungry as she had felt when she'd decided to come over for this little experiment.

"Letty," he whispered as he brought his hands back to where they had been on her collar bone not so long ago. "You are the most glorious creature I have ever laid my eyes on."

She couldn't help herself, she preened a bit at that comment. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks and begin a slow decent across all of her skin. It seemed to be racing after his hands as they slowly trailed over the ridge of her collar bone and down her chest. He somehow pulled a shuddering breath out of her as his hands shifted to the side so they could wrap around her rib cage, his fingers brushing her back, while the heel of his palms just barely grazed the edges of her breasts as he continued his journey down the trunk of her body.

"Ned," she whimpered, her breaths coming quickly as she tried to find words to ask for what she wanted but couldn't quite describe as two different hungers warred within her.

Ned seemed to know anyway, and just before his hands could drag any lower she felt him extend his thumbs out. They raked over each nipple at the same time and she honestly hadn't been prepared for the way his touch there lanced through her. It was full of pleasure and shock and it feed both of those hungers so well that for a second they fell away on the breath the escaped her collapsing lungs. A sound that she hadn't been aware she could make hissed out of her as her eyes drifted closed and she arched up into his hands seeking more.

"Letty," he called back, his voice much deeper than it had been earlier.

It called to her, and despite the weight her lids seemed to have gained, she drug her eyes back open. She didn't realize until she did, that she'd thrown her head back. She found herself making eye contact with him from heavily lidded eyes. She panted with the effort to keep them open and in response to the feelings he was driving through her as he brushed his thumbs back the way they'd come, over those rosy peaks that she had never truly appreciated until this moment.

"I think I could touch you forever," he whispered softly as he fell into a slow rhythm of pulling his thumbs back and forth.

"Yes," she hissed quietly, her body taking over as her mind turned to mush an suddenly she found her hands working their way over his shoulders, up his neck, into his hair. "I never want you to stop."

"I want to touch more of you," he groaned as she fisted the hair at the base of his head in her hands and began to pull his face to hers.

"Yes," she whispered before pulling him to her so she could drink from his lips.

She began to lose herself in his kiss, but not enough to miss his hands beginning their decent once more. She felt the warmth grow in her as his thumbs passed over the plans of her stomach before his hands began to travel in when he reached the top of her jeans. She ran her tongue over the seam of his lips, seeking entrance, while his fingers deftly slipped the button of her jean from their home. He opened to her and invited her tongue into his mouth to play at the same time that he began to move out of the kneeling position he had been in. At first she feared her would break their kiss, but instead he used the leverage of his change in position to lay her back across his bed and bring one knee to rest beside her on the mattress while he continued kissing her.

Her body was overwhelmed with so many sensations. She could feel the softness of his blanket caressing her back at the same time that one of his hands began to caress her breast again. At the same time she was so concentrated on kissing him, just breathing him in, and yet she was not distracted from the feeling of his other hand lowering the zip on her jeans before he began to work his hand into them on her hip.

She felt like she could melt into the bed within seconds, but instead busied her hands. One remained in his hair, slowly caressing his scalp, while the other dropped to his hip and worked its way under his t-shirt so she could feel more of his skin as well. She trailed her hand slowly up his spine, feeling the ridges, as she dragged his shirt up toward his shoulders. Ned was temporarily distracted from his own mission, and his hands left her so he could aid in the removal of his shirt. She felt she probably ought to have been embarrassed by the little whimper that fell from her when he broke their kiss so he could pull his shirt over his head, but all she felt was a hunger for his return.

He did not leave her wanting. As soon as he tossed the shirt away he lowered himself down to begin kissing her once more. Her nerves lit up like the fourth of July when his bare skin touched hers, and she could not stop herself from arching up into him to ensure that every bit of her chest and torso was touching his. If the growl that emanated from the back of his throat meant anything, Ned was happy with that choice as well. She returned one had to his hair and the other to trailing his back as Ned slipped both of his hands into the top of her jeans and began to shift them down off of her hips.

Letty couldn't really explain how she instinctively knew what would help him, but she brought her knees up on the the bed, creating a cage around his hips, before she lifted her own of the bed to aid him in pulling her jeans off. She hadn't considered that it would bring her hips to rest against his. She didn't think about what it would feel like when she felt his rising arousal come to rest in the cradle of her thighs. In that moment a different hunger began to win out against the base skin hunger that had started this evening of exploration.

"Letty," he groaned as she pressed more fervently against him. "Do you want me to stop now? Before... I push you farther than you're ready to go."

"Ned, if you stop right now, I swear!" she breathed against his lips as she slipped her hand into the top of his jeans.

"Well when you say it like that," he said with a husky laugh as he broke away from her somewhat so he could continue removing her jeans.

He trailed kisses down the column of her throat and in a straight line down her sternum and abdomen as he pulled the denim down her legs. She arched up, her body aching for his lips to touch other places, but she managed to hold in the whine trying the break free as the jeans were tossed away. She shivered in anticipation as he wrapped his hands around her ankles and began a slow accent back up her legs.

"Your skin is so soft," he whispered as he crested the hills her knees created and he began to decent toward her hips. "Not as soft as these though."

He trailed his fingers over edges of her black silk panties and Letty was certain that part of her brain had short circuited. She was unaware of making the conscious decision to do it, but she lunged forward to grab him and pull him back up her body so she could claim his lips before she turned them forcing him to lay down on the bed so she could climb atop him and begin to touch his skin in the same ways he had just been touching hers. She tried to maintain focus on trailing her fingers down his chest, tracing the shadows created by his chest hair, but it was difficult with him wrapping his hands snuggling around her hips and pressing them down firmly so she could properly feel what she was doing to him. It sent shocks up through her body and simultaneously made her feel powerful to know that she was doing that to him even if he was using it to turn her brain to absolute mush. She began to slowly rock against him to increase those shocks that rolled up her spine as she drug her nails across his skin. His his in response pulled a shocked gasp from her lips that he took full advantage of.

In her distraction he flipped their positions back to what they had been, and instead of settling back into the cradle of her thighs he knelt on the floor once more, and this time he was not slow at all in removing her clothing. In less than the blink of an eye her panties were gone, replaced instead with his fingers slowly tracing barely there lines over where the edge of the material had just been. She simultaneously focused on the feeling of the cool air touching skin that had never been exposed in the presence of another, and the warm feeling of his fingers trailing the line of where her legs met her pelvis. She felt like she was cooking inside her skin, but it was not an altogether unpleasant feeling. She lost out to a whine that was building in her throat and she found herself begging without every giving voice to what it was that she wanted exactly. She wasn't sure she knew.

"Please Ned," she whimpered and he continued to trail his fingers around the part of her body that seemed so desperate for his touch. "Please."

"Is this what you want?" he asked as he blew cold air over her exposed womanhood, and thought she was certain that hadn't been what she was begging for she couldn't stop her hips form arching up to meet the sensation that cold air created. "Or maybe this?"

And then his fingers that had been so gently tracing lines before added more pressure and slipped into her. She felt terribly wet as he dragged through her folds, and then he hit the top and a shock of pleasure so brilliant that she could not think rolled through her and she knew nothing but the sound of her heart pounding in her ears and the sensation of rocking her hips to meet the slow thrust of his fingers over and over again until she was careering into something dark and blindingly bright at the same time.

"Ned," she screamed as she reach the peak of it and it was as if fireworks went off underneath her skin. Her entire body was on fire and plunged into ice water at the same time. It was the more pleasurable thing she had ever experienced and it simultaneously sated her and made her ravenously hungry for more.