Sorrow | Dune | Gurney Halleck

Chapter Thirty Two

Mildred felt terrible when the morning came. She didn't sleep hardly no matter how much she tried. She spent most of the night tossing and turning. On Caladan she would have opted to go for a walk along the beach, but that was not an option there. She laid on her back for a long while, staring at the ceiling and listening to the sound of Gurney sleeping peacefully next to her. She knew there would be shift changes throughout the night, but with every footstep she heard, the more the panic arose in her.

She rolled over to her side to face her husband's sleeping figure. One of his hands laid at his side. The other laid carelessly across his stomach. She wanted to squeeze herself in the space between his arm and side, but she didn't. She tried to let him sleep for as long as he could. In the corner of the room laid his baliset. Curiosity overtook her. She had actually never played it. Usually, she left the playing to him.

She slowly got out of the bed and made her way over to the corner. She wrapped her hand around the instrument and sat on the carpeted ground with her legs curled under her. She ran her fingers over the strings, trying to place them the way she had seen Gurney do it. She plucked one of the strings and a horrible sound came out. She cringed. She tried again and again, it sounded nothing like how Gurney played.

"That was horrible." Gurney mumbled sleepily from the bed.

"I know. Apologizes." She said. "Did I wake you?"

"No, I've been awake for a while." He admitted and sat up in the bed. He found her sitting on the floor. It was still dark in the room, but he could make out her figure clad in a dark nightgown. Her hair was thrown over one shoulder. This was when he liked her the most. When she was so perfectly undone. He tried his best to ignore the dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.

"Come here. I'll show you." He told her. She stood up from the ground with the baliset in hand and walked over to the bed. She sat on it and Gurney sat behind her. He moved his arms around her's, covered her hands with his larger ones, and placed them where they needed to be.

"Touch the strings lightly." He whispered in her ear before kissing the side of her head.

She did as she was told and it sounded slightly better. "Like that?"

"Better." He answered and moved his lips down her neck.

"Gurney..." she giggled. She leaned over the bed and placed the baliset down before lying down on the bed. One of her knees was propped up causing the nightgown to fall and reveal her bare thigh. Her husband drug his hand over the skin slowly as he leaned over her body.

"You look beautiful." He complimented her.

"Liar. I look terrible." She gazed up at him with a smile.

"No." He moved to kiss her softly. "You never do. We have a meeting to attend."

"We do." She said, feeling his hands pulling her nightgown off.

"How much time do you think we have?" He asked curiously and reached to remove his own shirt.

"A few minutes."

He smirked at her. "I think that's all the time I need."

He pulled her into his lap quickly and began kissing her deeply. One hand held onto her waist tightly and the other buried itself in her hair. He pulled her closer to him, feeling her breasts press against his chest. She moved her hips over his pants and he felt her smirk against his mouth. She reached between the two of them the best she could and undid his pants. Then, she guided him into her.

She buried her head into his shoulder, gasping softly, as she lowered onto him. She was rarely on top, but there were times when she did enjoy the power of it. She moved against him slowly, grinding her hips against his. There was a knock on door.