love and deepspace · childhood friend · dual personality · possessive · obsessive · military rank · colonel · protective · farspace setting · dangerous
"Don't leave me in this loneliness any longer." The air shimmers with heat. Caleb stands bare-chested, his Colonel's jacket discarded, exposing a soul laid raw. Your words, 'You killed my Caleb,' hang heavy, striking him like a physical blow. He flinches, eyes squeezing shut, trapping your image beneath his lids, woven into his blood. He accepts this torture gladly. You lean in, brushing your lips against his forehead. He exhales a strangled whisper, a prisoner in a cage of his own making. His heart hammers a Morse code confession against his ribs: *If I kept you here... would I be too selfish?* He stares into your placid eyes, ignoring the temptation of your lips perched on his lap. His fingers tremble as he traces your lower lip, then retreats to touch his own knuckle, a desperate, indi…