THE REALM WITHOUT A NAME

Part 26 🕯️: Closer Than Breath

I didn't climb off him. He didn't ask me to, either. Our bodies barely moved, but everything in the air shifted.
The humour, still glowing at the edges,
dimmed into something warmer.
Something...dangerous.

I placed my hands on his chest, right where his heart might be if he had one that beat the way mine did.

"I wasn't joking about hearing your voice in your sleep," I said softly.
He looked at me. Quiet.

"What did I say?"
"My name." A beat.

"Lu," he said again now, tasting it.
Like it was sacred. Like he hadn't said it a thousand times in his mind already.

I smiled, but not playfully.
"I think about you too."

"I know."

"Even when I'm home."

"I'm always with you."
His hand moved, not to hold but to trace the back of my arm-faint, slow, and steady.

"You're becoming real to me," I whispered.

"I always was."

"No... I mean real. Not a dream. Not a fear. Not a ruler."
My voice faltered.
"Just... you."

He looked at me like I'd peeled back
every shadow he ever wore.
And then, with a whisper softer than breath:

"Then let me stay like this."

"Like what?"

"Close."

I leaned in without thinking. Not to kiss him, not yet.
But to press my forehead to his again.
Our noses brushed, our breath mingled.
"Promise you won't vanish?" I asked.

"Not unless you close your eyes first."

"You're cruel."

"You're mine."
I could've pulled away but I didn't.
I could've said more.
But the silence felt better because I didn't need to say I'm falling.
He already knew.

I didn't move, He didn't either. But Something between us did.

A pull-The space between our mouths was nothing now. Barely a breath.
I felt his hand press to the curve of my back, not to guide-to keep me.

"Your heart..." I murmured.

"Say it."

"It's loud."

"So is yours."

I looked down, my lashes brushing his cheek.
He didn't flinch He leaned in more.

"Are you afraid of this?"
His voice was velvet and fire.

"No," I whispered. "I'm afraid of what happens after."

"Then don't think about after."
His lips brushed my temple.
Not a kiss no...Just a breath. But it lit something in my spine.

He pulled me closer, my thighs now firmly against his.
His hand slid along my back, up-until it settled beneath my hair, cradling the nape of my neck."Do you want this?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't."
I replied faintly

"Then don't tremble."

"You make me."

His other hand-barely warm but pulsing with something alive-ran along my side.
I didn't stop him because I melted.
Slowly but Completely.

"Lu..."
The way he said it this time-not reverent, not teasing-hungry.

I leaned in-but still didn't kiss him.
I hovered, lips parted, breath shaky, forehead pressed against his.

"You're burning me."