Page 96 of Us Defiant Few

He wore black sweats and a sleeveless tunic that highlighted every indent of muscle in his arms. He gently shut the door behind him, filling the space, sucking the air around him.

Or maybe it was just her oxygen he captured.

“How did you know?”

“I just felt it.” Takeshi put his back against the wooden door and slid down to the floor. “What’s wrong?”

“Can’t stop thinking.” She fiddled with her fingers. “What’s your excuse?”

“I don’t like to sleep.”

“What? Why?”

“I have these…dreams at night,” he said in a low voice. “They give me headaches. Memories that aren’t mine and don’t make any sense.”

His tone hardened, but he didn’t look like the dangerous man who wanted to kill her. He sat with his elbows resting on his knees, like he just needed someone to talk to.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s not your fault.”

He said the words like he truly believed them, and it healed something inside her.

“Do you ever see me in these dreams?”

“I don’t know. Everything’s blurry and I can’t tell what I see anymore.” Takeshi’s knuckles clenched, placing his head back against the wood like he wanted to scream, but he just breathed deeply through his nose, keeping all the pain tucked in.

Khalani pulled her knees closer to her chest, recognizing that he was just as lost as she was.

“I wish I could turn it all off too,” she whispered.

“What?”

“My mind. The world. Just…everything.”

“And what would you do with all that freedom?”

Her eyes lifted to the white ceiling, the answer painting itself on the walls, existing on the edge of her dreams.

“I’d build a garden. Plant every flower imaginable. And make it all my own.”

His smoldering gaze met hers, his thoughts still a complete mystery to her. But his shoulders gradually released their tension.

Like her dream gave him peace too.

“Do you see me in this vision?”

Khalani startled as he threw her earlier question back at her. “Do you want to be there?”

Takeshi shrugged, his expression shrouded in darkness. But she could’ve sworn a coy smile played on his full lips. Takeshi let the silence expand, refusing to answer.

She decided to go along with it.

“You would be in another room. Your painting studio.”

The words came to her without having to think.

The scene in her head transformed into a vision of Takeshi wrapping his arms around her as she worked in her garden, kissing her cheek as he showed her a new painting.