Love???

~ Dante's POV ~

I watched Liam fall asleep slowly, the rise and fall of his chest moving slow and steady beneath the covers. He had finally drifted off minutes after I finished cleaning him. I stood up, moving silently to the shelf to grab a small jar of soothing ointment. The skin on his back, where the flogger had struck, was bruised and red, leaving patterns against his pale skin. There were several bite marks too so I needed to take care of those as well.

As I carefully dabbed the ointment onto the red skin, Liam shifted slightly, his body instinctively seeking warmth. He snuggled closer to my arm, burying his face into the side of the pillow.

A gentle smile spread across my face. It was a strange reaction I hadn’t produced since... well, possibly never. I found him unbearably adorable. It was a feeling so weird, so impossible….so soft, that it felt like a glitch in my brain.

I moved the damp strands of hair from his forehead, then leaned down to press a kiss there. "I think I'm