He fell asleep on me again.
Curled up with his cheek against my shoulder, lashes brushing skin, the softest exhale warming the hollow of my throat. The meeting had long since ended, the reports I'd barely read still fanned out across the desk in front of us. Somewhere in the background, the lights of the Supreme Leader's—my—office dimmed on their own, like even the building knew to quiet down.
Nine's body relaxed in that boneless way only sleep can grant. His fingers slipped from mine one at a time, and I was careful not to move too quickly, to disturb that fragile peace settling over him like a blanket.
Nyx didn't speak. She was quieter lately when he was near. Not because she was retreating, but because even she, feral as she was, knew not to break this kind of silence.
He's trusting you again.
I let that thought settle like a stone in a still lake.
Gently, I slid my arms under his knees and shoulders and lifted him. He didn't weigh much. Not really. His limbs fell against me, loose and pliant, his head lolling slightly until it tucked beneath my chin. He made a soft sound but didn't wake.
"I've got you," I whispered, more to myself than him.
I carried him through the halls. No one stopped me. No one dared. The facility was quiet now, as if it knew something had shifted, and it was holding its breath to see what I'd do next.
Back in our quarters—ours now, not just mine—I nudged the door open with a foot and carried him straight to the bed.
The covers were cool from the empty space, but I didn't let go of him right away. I sat first, still holding him against me, rocking him a little just because I could. Just because he let me.
And then, as I eased him down onto the bed, his fingers curled lightly into my sleeve.
He blinked up at me—barely awake, gaze hazy with sleep and vulnerability and something achingly tender. The kind of look that cracked me open from the inside.
"I love you," he murmured.
It was slurred, barely audible.
But I heard it. I felt it ripple through the bond.
My throat went tight. I hadn't asked for it. I hadn't needed it. But gods, it still hit like gravity reversing and dragging me up and out of myself.
"I love you too," I whispered.
I leaned down and kissed his forehead.
His hand twitched, reaching vaguely toward me as he shifted under the covers. Like his body didn't want me to go far.
I didn't.
I slid in beside him, letting him curl instinctively around me. He pressed his forehead to my neck again, right against the bite mark. It pulsed faintly between us, glowing softly under his skin.
I brushed my fingers through his hair.
He was already asleep again.
"Mine," Nyx purred in the back of my mind, her satisfaction low and soothing.
Yes, I answered. But not in the way they meant it. Not like them.
He was his own. Always.
He just happened to choose me.
I held him a little closer and let myself breathe for the first time in what felt like days.