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Waking up felt different for Elise, her mind already knowing that today would be the day her boyfriend and his friends would be fighting a fight they may not come home from. It made her sick to her stomach, one hand reaching out to pull her lover in closer in his sleep.
Burying her face into his bare chest, memorizing the beat of his heart, the way he smelled and how safe she felt encased in his arms. "Are you okay?" Paul's rough morning voice broke the silence upon hearing her increased heart rate, squeezing her in closer to him.
"Shh," Elise rested one hand on the side of his face, eyes closed and brows furrowed in deep thought. "I'm praying over you."
A small smile grew on Paul's face, never once knowing what it felt like to be loved so much that they took time to ask a higher power to protect him when she couldn't. It made him feel prideful in a way, that with his girls prayers whispered into his skin he was untouchable. "I love you."
Big blue eyes fluttered open, dark lashes popping against the color. Her hands gently caressed his russet skin, appreciating it all before it was emerged into battle. "τα πάντα μου, the feelings I have for you surpass words. You are my home and I will always love you."
"I'm going to marry you, one day. I'm going to put a ring on your finger and make you my wife."
Elise beamed up at him, the smile that spread across her face making her eyes scrunch, basking in the feeling of Paul's praises. It made her warm, like the sun reaching out and touching her skin. "You want me to be your wife." She repeated, it was more of a statement of confirmation than anything else. A sworn oath that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and only her.
He nods, fingers tracing over her lips, his brown eyes focused solely on the plump, rosebud curve of her mouth. "After our honeymoon, or, maybe even during, I want to see you swollen with my babies." Lifting her up, he furthered his point by rubbing large hands over the soft expanse of her stomach.
"You see that with me?" Soft baby blues kissed warm copper brown, the soft gaze they held with one another unwavering, fingers grazing the exposed skin of her legs. "A wedding and children, a family. You see all of that with me?"
"I don't want that with anyone else." Brushing the messy strands of tawny hair from her bare face, Paul pulled her in closer, capturing her lips with a kiss softer than a flower petal. It wasn't rushed or filled with lust, rather, spoken promises of the future—she was his life now and she always would be. "Are you scared?"
Humming lightly, she nods, words escaping her while the pads of his fingers massaged her scalp. Cheek pressed to his broad chest, her eyes fluttered closed, not quite sleeping but not quite awake. Her voice was thick when she spoke, "I am not fearful that you won't come home to me, I know you will. I just don't like the thought of me being here while you're out there possibly hurt or worse and I'm not there to help."
