"Femi," Heated lips whispered my name as hot arms enclosed around me. "Burn with me."
It was a command I couldn't disobey. Not like I had a choice, but I did burn. Gods, I burned with him.
The fire took us; skin and bone but it was different now. W...
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The moment I break away from the group and start down the path towards the lake, Paul follows as if he were waiting for me to make the first move.
I stop at the start of the boardwalk and lift my head to the sky, loving how the overcast skies made the place seem dark even though it was daybreak.
Paul stops beside me staring out at the lake. He doesn't speak, sensing I need a moment. I did but it wasn't for the reason he was thinking.
"Tell me about the rest of your dream." Turning to face him, I lean against the wooden railing and look at him. He'd put on his service hat, the front of it falling over his forehead and covering his eyes just slightly, his hands clasped behind him like the perfect soldier.
"Duncan was there. He stood with you in the desert, with the Fremen," His eyes drop from mine. "Then I saw him dead; slain in battle."
Duncan Idaho is not only another father figure to Paul, but he's a close friend to me. Aside from Paul, he was the first of few who befriended me when I first arrived on Caladan and started combat lessons with me out of pure boredom, or so he claims.
Nonetheless, he is the reason why there's always a blade strapped to my left thigh; said blade was gifted by him on my eleventh birthday.
"Where was I?"
He shakes his head slightly still not looking at me, "I don't know. It was all in pieces and it's already fading."
I stare at him, eyes narrowing. I could tell he was lying and he knows I know. Paul didn't forget his dreams and he couldn't even if he tried, so the only reason I could come up with was that he was being untrue because I still haven't been truthful.
"Take off your hat,"
Finally, he met my eyes and tilted his head in a manner that meant he was going to be stubborn just for the fun of it. "Why?"
"It hides your eyes,"
He blinked but didn't move. "Remove your veil,"
"No."
His lips curl slightly up one side and my heart starts to race as he steps up invading my personal space. Being a foot taller than me, meant my line of vision stopped right at his throat. I have to lift my head back to meet his gaze under his hat.
His hands came up, pinching the sheer material on either side of my face, pushing it back off my head first then lowering it below my chin, his finger brushing against my jaw as he let the fabric fall to my shoulders.
"See?" He breathes. "So simple."
My gaze falls below his eyes just as he licks his lips and swallows again. His left hand still hanging in the air, ghosting over the side of my neck before he cups it firmly, his thumb sweeping the column of my neck, up and down.
I swallow, my skin tingling as my stomach sinks like it would at the sudden drop in a starship.
Awareness seeps in along with common sense and my eyes drift over his shoulder. Jessica, Gurney and Duke Leto along with some of the lingering officers were watching us. Some averted their eyes when they saw I was looking, some didn't.
