Emrys smiled at her stay with me tonight, but inside his mind was whirring. Two weeks ago, she wouldn't have needed to even say it; it was more common for them to stay the night when they visited each other than to not. The fact that she had to ask meant that she was less comfortable, and they were only pretending that nothing had changed. It also might hint that she had some plans for the evening if he stayed that she was feeling particularly nervous about. Of course his mind went to serious conversations she might be planning to try and force the pair of them to have, since he'd been dreading the idea of it ever since their last interaction. He hated that he was even thinking about things this way, but he couldn't stop himself. A night spent with her ought to have been something to look forward to, every minute filled with passion. Instead, he'd be on edge the whole time, wondering if she was just about to spring a trap on him.

He wavered for a moment before replying. His instinct was to keep going with the charade for as long as he could, because if he was going to lose her, he at least didn't want to be the one to back out first — to have given up. On the other hand, if the next few hours were going to have him constantly anxious about what might happen next... mightn't it be easier to make a quick escape?

Emrys leaned down to kiss her neck, mostly to avoid her looking at his face while he schooled his expression. "I'll stay," he announced.

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