A small part of him railed against this treatment, but most of him was too tired and sluggish to do much but capitulate.

Could he trust him? Maybe. It was difficult to trust but he wanted to. He wanted to relax for once. To just be. He reached up and took hold of Anthony's sleeve.

"I can wait. Get some sleep..." He swallowed and added: "When you're rested, come read to me..." Alec had read frequently to Anthony when they were boys on rainy summer days with nothing to do. And he'd always gotten lost in those other places. Those better places with heroes and legends and happy endings.

The real world was more complicated than that but--

He wouldn't mind just one more fairy story...