He fell asleep.
I remained awake.
Not waiting for a change in his breathing.
Not counting the seconds between movements.
Only holding him while evening darkened the apartment.
When he woke, the headache had dropped to two.
I helped him to bed early and joined him after closing the yard.
The medication had already pulled him into a deep sleep.
The sheets smelled clean. The green navigation light glowed softly in the hall. Marlowe circled three times at the foot of the bed before collapsing with an exhausted sigh, despite having done nothing all day.
I moved close enough for Noah to find me without waking.
His body shifted immediately.
One hand spread across my chest.
His face settled beneath my jaw.
“All right,” I whispered. “I’m here.”
His breathing stayed slow.
I kissed his forehead.
“I love you.”
He did not answer.
He did not need to.
Morning arrived warm.
Noah woke before I did.
I knew because his body went subtly tense against mine.
He did not pull away.
He had simply become aware.
We lay on our sides with his back against my chest and my arm wrapped loosely around his waist. His shirt had ridden up during sleep, leaving my palm against the warm skin of his stomach.
My erection pressed between us through thin sleep clothes.
I kept perfectly still.
Noah shifted his hips.
Only a small movement.
Pleasure surged through me.
