Meet Me At Midnight

It seemed like it was almost close to midnight when he woke up from his light slumber to Hilise wriggling in his arms -inching more closer to him than he would have liked- with every shift of her body, seeking out a better position to settle in for the night.

Adjusting his eyes to the darkness, he could make out the silhouette of Hilise clinging to his body, searching for warmth. Her quilt was thrown lazily to the side and their legs had entangled together at some point during the night. Her strawberry auburn hair was scattered across the pillow like freshly picked roses and her long, fairy-like eyelashes fluttered lightly with each breath she took.

She suddenly wrapped her arms around his back and leaned closer, caging him in her arms with no escape. He could have probably disentangled himself if wanted to but it wasn't anyone else but Hilise. And because it was her, some part of him still craved her touch no matter how difficult it might be for him to keep his sanity in check.

Her head rested on his chest and his body hardened as soon as the rest of her soft figure came into contact with his. It was getting harder for him to breathe now -with her being at such a close proximity- for fear that if he inhaled her scent he would not be able to control himself.

It took all of his willpower to keep his hands where they were and not just grab her and keep her locked in the cage of his arms forever.

"Hilise..." he whispered painstakingly, every cell of his body screaming at him to take her right then and there.

"This close..., um, could you..., I'm a bit-" he never got to finish that sentence because she suddenly buried her face deeper into his chest as if she didn't want to hear more.

He stiffened even more, if that was possible. She let out a soft breath of satisfaction from her lips, being buried in his arms so tightly and snugly.

Axion groaned low, fearing she might hear and wake up. He didn't know whether this was sweet hell or painful paradise.

He resigned himself to this excruciatingly dilemma that he would have gladly given all his money for on any other day. He stretched his arms to the side, as gently as possible without waking her up to where the crumbled quilt lay beside Hilise. He cover her with the coverlet so as to not let her catch a cold from these harsh winter nights.

Him on the other hand, he didn't require a blanket. His body still hadn't cooled down yet from having Hilise so close to him and clinging to him no less.

A few moments later, Axion buried his face into her hair and breathed in her sweet scent hoping to calm down his fast-beating heart but to no avail. It showed no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

He begrudgingly gave up and released a low sigh. It seemed like it would be impossible to even get a wink of sleep tonight so tried to settle in as comfortably as he could, for this was going to be a very long night indeed.

★★★

"Hmmm," she yawned contently and stretched to the side recalling the pleasant dream she had last night and those warm strong arms that had embraced her like it was never going to let go. It was refreshing to wake up like this and she wouldn't might if it was like this everyday. She could get used to this.

That is, until she encountered someone's hot breath near the tips of her ears. That's when she noticed the large warm body that was behind her and the strong arm that was draped across her stomach. She stiffened. Horror and shame painted across her face recalling her vivid dream last night. She dared not turn around.