Ben knew that and generally didn't wallow in this kind of behavior, but Novinha had been getting under his skin and he'd internalized most of it (though not as well as he'd thought...). Here, in a safe place well away from Lusitania, he was fine with marking Ender up a little bit.

Lizard-brain was clearly leading what little thinking was happening right now.

He broke the kiss to suck a bruise into the hollow of Ender's throat.