"I love you, baby."

"I don't ever want to let you go."

Those were the last few words Alex heard before she fell asleep in Nile's arms. When she woke up to see his magnified face so close to hers, she felt conflicted because as stated before, due to their long years together he was the last person she wanted to lead on.

But sex with him feels so great!

She didn't want to part with it at all!

His last sentence sounded as if he were begging her, but of what, she did not know.

Alex quietly observed Nile's sleeping face, his rough figures softened considerably as his thick and shapely eyebrows were more relaxed than normal and his eyelids hid those cold icy orbs of his. Suddenly having the impulse to touch his face, she didn't hold herself back as she brought her thumb to his brow, lightly tracing it before lowering it to the corner of his eye and further down his defined cheekbone, sliding it to his lips that were also swollen like her own.

She was so engrossed in her own exploration and lost in her thoughts as to what to do about Nile's ever-growing feelings for her that she didn't notice the eyes that were observing her gently in silence.

Without thinking, she slipped the tip of her thumb between his lips and into his mouth as she pursed her own lips in deep thought. Alex didn't hate Nile. In fact, she didn't know what she felt for him at all.

"What does it mean, to love someone?" She couldn't help voicing out softly.

Suddenly, Nile nibbled on her finger before licking it faintly like a dragonfly grazing across a river. Surprised by his awakening, Alex attempted to pull away her thumb from his lips, but he brought a hand up to secure her wrist to keep her hand from moving away from his face as he held it up to his cheek.

A pair of pale blue eyes met with an unfathomable pair of darker blue eyes.

"All I know," Nile began, his gaze earnest and deep morning voice full of seriousness, "Is that I want you, every time of the day. To be with you, to hold you in my arms, and for you to want me back."

Alex gulped silently, trying to register his explanation in her head.

"Isn't that just lust?" She questioned, curiosity fully conveyed in her gesture of blinking at him.

Nile chuckled, letting her thin wrist go as he rubbed her messy red hair with his coarse palm, "That's a big part of it, I won't lie to you about that. But," he paused as he enunciated every single word that followed, "I want more than that, I want to occupy your entire heart, mind, and soul. Not just the sex, but my entire being. In return, you will be my everything. Is that not love? Am I being greedy?"

Lying in the warm embrace of Nile's other arm under the heavy blanket, Alex pursed her lips in deep thought before snuggling her head in his broad chest. His heart was beating calmly as his nervousness from last night seemed to have gone off somewhere in the face of the morning, thankfully for Nile. He didn't want his girl to see his weak side. At least, he wasn't ready yet.

"You know," she hesitated, her lips could be felt moving against his pecs, "Nothing has ever occupied my heart, mind, and soul for very long. I'm sure it's the same for you. Are you sure it isn't just a temporar--"

"It isn't," Nile interrupted her as his hold on her head tightened, pulling her closer to himself so that she was practically glued onto his body, "I know, precisely because I've never felt this way before. Towards anyone."

Unconvinced, Alex pressed on, "But if you've never felt this way before, how do you know it will last forever? That once you get bored, you won't just up and leave like always?"

"Are you scared I will leave you?" He asked her, probingly.

Everyone else has, Alex thought to herself. Maybe it was because she knew that nothing would last forever, so she never grew attached to anyone--not even her own parents. It was engraved into her very soul that she was born alone, thus she would naturally die alone. Why bother cutting out one's heart for someone who wouldn't even stay with them forever?

Taking her silence as a "yes," he felt a sense of happiness that she felt insecure because of him, like how she made him feel insecure because of her.

"I don't know about how long forever is," Nile caressed her hair as he softly reassured, "But I won't ever leave you until you, yourself, forcefully push me away--but even then, I will follow you until these thousand years are over and I can never see you again."

Noticing that some things didn't quite add up, Alex tried to lift her head to question him, but her head was held flushed against his chest as Nile refused to let her observe his current expression, which was actually full of regret. If only he could win once again, then he could wish for everlasting life with his beloved so that he could wholeheartedly promise her forever, but he had already selfishly sacrificed the right to win. He was confident that he could win first place again, especially for her sake, but he, himself, had cut off that route when he made his wish.

Knowing that he didn't want her to see him at the moment, Alex stilled, letting him compose himself. As for her pushing him away as he'd said, she didn't really have any reason to.

"You'd fall in love with someone you know would leave you after the competition is over?" Are you an idiot?

Nile smiled bitterly, "Would you leave me after the competition is over?"

Pausing slightly, Alex took a bit of time to think before answering, "Well, isn't that what would happen? We'd no longer have anything to do with each other."

"What if you win? What will you wish for?" Nile had always been curious about what Alex would wish for if she won the competition. She didn't seem to want anything in particular. If she fell for him, was he being selfish in asking for her to wish for them to be together forever?

Alex didn't need much time to figure out what she wanted since she really didn't want anything at all, but she suddenly remembered how she died in her original world. Happy that she finally found something she could wish for if she won, she couldn't help sharing it.

"You know, I had this really nice dream before I was brought here," she only hesitated for a split second before deciding that it was okay to tell him about it, "You were in this dream. Or, at least, the you in the first world. He looked exactly like you!"

Pleased that his wife had wet dreams about him even before they had met, Nile couldn't hold back the smug smile creeping upon his lips, "And?"

Alex's hands crept up Nile's muscular back enticingly, "I wouldn't mind being with you forever, I guess. I can give you a chance to occupy my everything for the next one thousand years. If you fail, though, you don't get my wish. Best of luck!"

She kissed his pecs, and when she thought about all the marks on her own body, she couldn't help wanting to retaliate. So, she bit down on him, leaving a glaring bite mark on his chest.

As if he just got a new lease on life, the excited and newly-invigorated Nile tightly hugged the girl in his arms in bliss. Now that she'd formally given him a chance to woo her, he would definitely make her fall for him!

And thus, the morning started out with a creaky bed and sensuous moans before directing the active play to the shower.

Meanwhile, Lily had already become the target of some of Team Protagonist's sympathy.

A fully cleaned and neatly dressed Nile and Alex headed out to the commons area.

Everyone was gathered and were either eating or messing around in their own little groups. Some of the men and women also competed in exercising.

Duke blushed at the sight of Alex, whose combat suit barely covered the marks on her neck. He also worried about her waist. Thankfully, Nile was carrying her, so she didn't have to strain it.

He was extra attentive to his friend's wife, not caring about Lily too much as he valued his best friend's happiness much more, and he already knew that Nile never liked Lily and had always intended to break the engagement. He was the only one the original Nile told of his plans as someone he trusted even more than his illegitimate older brother. (A/N: He totally should have told Tyler, though. Probably wouldn't have taken yo girl if ya did, bro.)

When the three were in the meeting earlier before they arrived at the starship, Nile had already made his stance on the matter clear when he told her that he had no plan to take her in as his wife.

Thus, Duke knew all too well what Lily was trying to do when she put up her pitiful appearance and was disappointed because he thought she was better than that. She had given him the impression of being an understanding woman and he respected her for not being a typical sheltered lady when she had embarked on the mission with them.

But now that she was sowing dissension among the troops he could only sigh in regret.

In fact, earlier in the morning, he had caught her turning white into black as she whispered lies into some of the soldiers' ears. He warned her that this mission was not a game, and that if she didn't stop messing around she would be demoted under his orders and put under house arrest. This was not the proper time to be fighting over a man, and most certainly not an occasion she could use the team to be her arms and legs in her little fight. They had more important things to do, which was to subdue the alien forces on the starship and to bring them home.

Unfortunately, by then she had already affected some of the soldiers' morale.

They looked at how pitiful she was and how indifferent Nile was to her. Then, they saw how he treated Alex so lovingly, making her sit in his lap while they ate a luxurious meal he had pulled out from his space ring. His arms were wrapped around her waist possessively, glaring at anyone whose eyes lingered for a second too long.

They felt that Lily didn't deserve such horrible treatment! She was strong and beautiful, a valiant beauty. Even more endearing to them was that she was silently suffering without complaining!

They would have gone up to reprimand the other party if he wasn't their big boss. Also, they couldn't even hope to get near Alex because if she wasn't being held by their boss, she was surrounded by Tyler or Faust who were just as intimidating as two of the strongest men after Nile and Duke.

Duke seemed to side with them as well, though not as openly as the other three men.

Even though it may have sounded like a lot of people were indignant on Lily's behalf, that wasn't the case at all. There were only a handful of people--less than twenty--who were all men aside from Taina, who was Lily's best friend.

The rest of the twenty or so soldiers acted as if they saw nothing. It wasn't their place to interfere. They were all chosen to embark on the mission for a reason, and it wasn't because they were easy to manipulate. They knew what Lily was trying to do, and even if she didn't do it intentionally they were more scared of Nile and Duke as their direct superiors. They only looked at Lily's blind fanboys in disdain as they silently lit candles for them if they ever overstepped their boundaries.

Taina was especially mad that her friend was forced to suffer in silence and that her brother did nothing. He even threatened her to stay quiet!

As opposed to the calm and composed Lily, Taina was hot-headed and extremely passionate. They were like ice and fire, but as best friends they got along perfectly fine like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

While Duke gave off the impression of a heavenly being with his short and fluffy blonde hair complimented by sky-blue eyes that were magnified by his pair of glasses, Taina's short bob and orbs were slightly darker than her big brother's angelic look.

No, the author was not getting less and less creative with eye colors. It was just that blue eyes in this fictional time was a thing common in the nobility. Lily was simply an anomaly as the female protagonist, who always had to be unique in one way or another. Tyler was an illegitimate son, while Faust was an unfavored distant cousin to the Fomalhaut siblings.

Speaking of the Fomalhaut family, due to his strength, Faust was well-known within the large family, but not favored due to his temperament that others often took as snobby and "I'm too good for you, stay away."

Taina never liked that quiet cousin of hers because unlike Lily's temperament that, although similar to his, allowed her to reply when spoken to, Faust ignored her almost 100% of the time! On the other hand, because of their lack of interaction, Duke neither had good nor bad feelings toward Faust. He simply respected him for his strength and wit.

Everyone spoke of Faust's strength, even though he was appointed into the logistics team which was known for their weak physical capabilities. Faust was different in that he was simply smarter than he was strong. Basically, a perfect man!

But we digressed.

Since Lily couldn't find justice for herself, Taina decided she would do it in her place!

So, Taina went up to the duo.

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Duke Fomalhaut

Taina Fomalhaut

I'm sorry if I screwed up in conveying this part of the story. It's really hard for me to get feelings and the like across...but no, TX has not fallen for GY. She just decided to consider a future with him.