Chapter 126: Later

Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Later

Sebastian made it through the bedroom door with enough dignity to remove his jacket.

That was apparently the limit.

He crossed the remaining distance to the bed, dropped the garment over the nearest chair without checking whether it landed properly, and fell face-first onto the mattress.

The impact sent a dull ache through his lower back.

His thighs joined in a second later.

Then his ass reminded him, with considerably more enthusiasm, that the painkillers Roberta had given him several hours earlier were beginning to lose their argument with reality.

Sebastian groaned into the duvet.

Behind him, the bedroom door closed.

Nero said nothing.

That was suspicious.

Sebastian turned his head enough to breathe properly and found Nero standing several meters away, removing his watch while studying him.

"Whatever you are thinking," Sebastian muttered, "the answer is no."

Nero placed the watch on the dresser.

"I haven’t asked anything."

"Your face has."

"My face is innocent."

Sebastian closed his eyes again.

"Your face spent half the meeting threatening civil servants."

"They survived."

"Barely."

Nero approached the bed, footsteps quiet against the carpet. Sebastian felt the mattress dip beside his hip, followed by the careful touch of a hand against the center of his back.

The pressure was light.

Almost annoyingly considerate.

"How bad?"

Sebastian considered lying.

Then remembered both his promise and the fact that Nero had watched him walk increasingly stiffly through the final hour of negotiations.

"My back is tolerable."

Nero’s hand moved lower.

Sebastian caught his wrist before it reached dangerous territory.

"And the rest?"

Sebastian opened one eye.

"You know perfectly well what the rest is."

Nero’s mouth twitched.

"My thighs?"

"No."

"My shoulders?"

"No."

"My devastating constitutional burden?"

Nero laughed softly.

Sebastian released his wrist and buried his face back into the bed.

"My ass hurts."

There.

He had said it.

Nero’s laughter became considerably less subtle.

Sebastian raised one hand without lifting his head and extended a single finger in Nero’s general direction.

"You did this."

"You participated enthusiastically."

"I was experiencing temporary poor judgment."

"You told me you loved me."

"That was before you damaged my ability to sit."

Nero’s hand returned to his back and began working slowly along the tight muscle beside his spine.

Sebastian’s irritation weakened almost immediately.

"That feels good."

"I know."

"Do not become pleased with yourself."

"I am already pleased with myself."

Sebastian lacked the energy to fight him.

He shifted his face toward the pillow and let the mattress take his weight while Nero continued the slow pressure along his back, deliberately avoiding the areas that would earn him violence.

For several minutes, neither of them spoke.

The palace had gone quieter since they returned from the meeting. Evening light stretched pale gold across the bedroom floor, catching against the glass balcony doors and the silver hardware on the wardrobes. Sebastian could hear faint movement somewhere in the private corridor beyond the suite, distant enough that it blended into the general hush.

His body was finally beginning to loosen.

That was when Nero ruined it.

"Which version of me cut his hair?"

Sebastian opened his eyes.

Nero’s hand stopped against his back.

Sebastian turned his head very slowly.

"How do you know about that?"

Nero frowned.

"You woke up one morning, looked at my hair, and told me not to cut it as though it were a condition of our engagement."

Sebastian stared at him.

Nero’s expression sharpened with recognition.

"That was after one of the dreams."

Sebastian said nothing.

"You were barely awake," Nero continued. "You grabbed my hair and told me I was forbidden from cutting it short."

"I did not say forbidden."

"You said, ’If you ever cut this, we are reconsidering the wedding.’"

Sebastian closed his eyes.

Apparently, half-conscious Sebastian had been considerably less subtle than expected.

Nero shifted closer on the mattress.

"So one of them had short hair."

Sebastian opened his eyes again.

"No."

"That was not a question."

"It was the beginning of twenty questions disguised as an observation."

Nero’s mouth twitched.

Sebastian pointed toward him, although the movement pulled unpleasantly through his shoulder.

"Stop."

Nero immediately caught his hand and lowered it back onto the bed.

"You are going to hurt yourself threatening me."

"You are the reason threatening you currently hurts."

"That remains debatable."

"It absolutely does not."

Nero’s thumb moved over Sebastian’s knuckles, but the curiosity in his eyes had not disappeared.

"How short?"

Sebastian gave him a flat look.

Nero sighed.

"I had to try."

"You promised to wait until I was ready."

"I did."

"You lasted approximately four minutes."

"I lasted several days."

"Do you want congratulations?"

"Yes."

Sebastian almost laughed despite himself.

Instead, he shifted farther into the pillow and winced when the movement pulled through his hips.

That immediately wiped the amusement from Nero’s face.

"Still bad?"

"The painkillers are wearing off."

"I’ll call Roberta."

"You will do no such thing. She already lectured us once today."

"She lectured me more."

"You deserved more."

Nero seemed willing to accept that.

For a moment, his fingers simply remained around Sebastian’s hand.

Then, quieter, "Was he happy?"

Sebastian looked at him.

There was no teasing left now. No smugness. Just that same impossible curiosity tangled with something Sebastian had begun recognizing as jealousy, although Nero would probably rather declare war than admit he was jealous of alternate versions of himself.

Sebastian sighed.

"Love."

Nero’s eyes lifted.

"I am tired. My back hurts, my thighs hurt, my ass definitely hurts, and I would very much like to sleep before my body remembers another muscle you abused."

Nero’s mouth curved faintly.

Sebastian squeezed his hand before he could say anything.

"You can ask me another day."

Nero watched him for several seconds before he nodded.

"Another day."

"When I decide."

"When you decide."

"And preferably when I can walk without reconsidering every choice that led me to that window."

That finally made Nero smile.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes.

"Do not look pleased."

"I am not."

"You are."

Nero leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"That version of me still had worse hair."

Sebastian stared at him.

"Nero."

"I’m done."

"You know nothing about the haircut."

"I know you threatened our wedding over it."

Sebastian dragged the pillow over his face.

Behind it, he heard Nero laugh.