“Yeah,” Declan answered, then nodded toward the floor. “You might be Ellie’s favorite human. I couldn’t bear to see her sad.”
Alexandria laughed as she petted Ellie, who was curled up at her feet. “Okay, fair enough. And thanks for looking after Seb.”
Declan nodded, satisfied he was holding his own in the conversation. “Don’t worry about it,” he said, then took another drink from the beer.
“You know, he sometimes gets lost in his work. It’s good if there’s someone to come along and pull him out every now and then.”
Declan nodded, glad for the advice. “Sure,” he said. “I’ve noticed that.”
Alexandria stared at him expectantly. Declan got the idea he was supposed to do something, although he had no idea what, outside of reading those papers she was distracting him from.
“What?” he finally asked, barking the question.
She sighed, then started speaking to him like he was a child. “Go check on Seb, Declan. He probably doesn’t want to be alone right now.”
Declan blinked a couple of times, then nodded. It did seem kind of obvious, now that she mentioned it, even if his training taught him to focus on work first. “Sure,” he finally said, glad for the excuse to do what he wanted to do anyway. “You got everything you need?”
“Nighty night,” she replied instead of answering his question, then offered him an air kiss.
When Declan got to Seb’s room, Seb was curled up in bed with his back to the door. The moonlight was silver through the window, and Declan watched from the doorway for a moment while Seb’s chest rose and fell beneath the blanket.
His head was still spinning with all the new information, but as he matched Seb’s breathing, he came to settle down again, letting the quiet of the room do something to him.
Seb shifted, then raised his arm in the air, lifting the blanket. “I’m not sleeping,” he said softly. “Come lie down.”
“Sure,” Declan replied. He stepped to the windows, glancing out and then back to the bed. He left his clothes on and climbed straight under the covers, then tucked his arm around Seb and against his bare chest, smooth and firm.
They kept breathing together and settling into the warmth. Declan knew he’d have to pull himself away eventually and that his mind wouldn’t settle until he did another security check. But until then, he was more than happy to stay right there.
“Good,” Seb whispered. “Now I can sleep.”
Declan curled up close, grateful to have one thing he could do, one small way to make things better.
“Night, Seb,” he whispered.
“Good night, Declan.”
