This was when he felt safest but was actually most vulnerable. Not just because sleeping with someone else made you more susceptible to them and compromised to all else. It was when other urges most powerfully washed through him; the urge to kiss her, make love to her, tell her things—not just but including I love you. (How could you know a thing like that anyway?) As relaxed as being like this, with her, made him, he had to get himself into the right frame of mind before allowing himself to fall asleep; minimize the likelihood of him losing control of himself, physically or verbally, in his sleep.

Tonight, he couldn't say why he murmured aloud, "Have you ever done this before? With anyone else? Sleep, like this, together?"