Page 119 of Smart Ass

OnlyMax, though.

“Is that a hard limit, darling love of my life?”

“No,” Ben grumbled. But he’d be damned if he let Max know how much he liked it.

“In that case, oh apple of my eye, it’s time for you to go to bed.”

“That was even worse. And I’m seriously not that tired, Max. You just got back!”

“So that yawn was just for show?”

Hearing the stupid word made him yawn again. It was like a wave of exhaustion swept over him now that Max had returned and the stress had rushed out of him.

“Yeah.”

“Go to bed, love. I’ll be here with you all night. And in the morning. Forever.”

“Ooh… that wasn’t sinister or anything.”

Max gave his evil villain cackle, which made Ben laugh. It was like sunshine coming back to his life.

“Are you sure you don’t want to play humans versus robots?” Ben asked hopefully. “I’ll be the soft, vulnerable human and you can…”

“Bed, Ben. Soft, vulnerable humans need lots of sleep.”

“Fine.” But only because he was fucking tired. “Just one more thing.” He went to the box beside the door and pawed through the packing materials until he had three of the video cameras. They were supposed to be mounted to the walls, but he could prop them up on something for tonight.

He could tell when Max figured out what he was holding. “Oh, thank you, love.”

Ben shrugged. “I don’t have a new watch yet. And the FBI hasn’t given me any of my shit back.”

“I’ll get you a new one.”

Oh, good. He’d been wearing long sleeves so he didn’t have to look at his wrist.

He had the three cameras out of their packages now, and he set up two in his room and one on the bathroom cabinet.

He knew Max had accessed them when a gentle hum came out of the one nearest to him. The sweet melody didn’t seem to follow any pattern, but he could have listened to it forever.

He brushed his teeth and peed. It was both weirdly arousing and oddly sweet to not only know that Max was watching him intellectually, but hear the proof of it from the speaker.

He shrugged off his jeans, then climbed into bed.

“Take off your shirt,” Max told him, still humming in the background.

“Perv,” Ben told him fondly.

“You love me,” Max replied confidently.

Ben took off his shirt so he didn’t have to answer. Did Max really like looking at him so much? He really wasn’t anything special in that way. Softer and pudgier than he should have been, even with the T injections.

“Mmmmmm…” Max cut off his quiet singing to make a very different kind of hum.

Ben arched his back and flexed just a little bit.

“Ben, baby, go to sleep,” Max said. But his voice was a little strained and breathy.

Ben grinned as he stretched out, rolling around on the bed and maybe running a hand down his chest.

Max loved him!

But the mattress was so soft, and the pillow was so fluffy. Max’s hums wrapped around him.

“Yeah,” he finally answered, curling into his blankets. Hopefully Max understood what he meant. He was kind of obsessed with Max, too.

“Good night, my love.”

“Night,” he mumbled.

And then he was asleep.

Safe and sound.