Alfred smiled — not his typical wide grin, because the moment didn’t allow for that, but something more muted and gentle. He moved his hand to her cheek and used his thumb to brush away the hints of tears left there, then leaned down to kiss her as deeply and fully as their positioning on the bed would allow. After a moment he shifted, to be able to hold her closer and more naturally, and kept kissing her. One of the problems with kissing her was that he never found himself wanting to stop, and while usually there were no shortage of things to make them stop, at the moment they were alone.

“I don’t want to go back out there,” he admitted when he finally pulled away. Obviously that was a stupid thing to say, and a bad idea, but he said it all the same. “I just want to hold you all night. If we don’t fall asleep, Miss Urquart wouldn’t ever know,” he added, with a teasing smile.