Here's chapter two ! IIt's a lot shorter and it's the last chapter for this story, but if you'd like me to write more on this pairing, just send your prompts, I'll think about them ! Hope you'll like this chapter and, as usual, let me a small word in the review section ! Anyway, if you review or not, thanks for reading this story !

Yours,

AO.

Stilgar woke up when he heard the bathroom door close. With a jerk, he was sitting in the bed, looking all around him.

It took him a minute but he finally recognised the cabin. He groaned a bit : he didn't have enough sleep but he was really really hungry.

Wait a sec.

Where was Irulan ? She wasn't in the bed next to him. He stood up and went to the bed. The covers were still warm. She couldn't have gone far…

Then he remembered. The bathroom door. He stroked his face, still half-asleep. He went for the door and opened it :

"Hey, Irulan, are you alright in… "

He didn't finish his sentence. Irulan was wearing nothing but her gold necklace. She was turning her back at him and was starting to jump in what remained of the shower. She paused when she heard him and looked at him without turning back :

"Couldn't you knock ?"

"I'm… I'm sorry… I was just worried… Are you feeling better ?"

"Well, yes, I am" Irulan replied, irritation creeping in her voice. She refused to be ashamed of her body. There was nothing to be ashamed of. Yet, she felt herself tense.

"Do you… work out ?" Stilgar suddenly wondered.

"Why ?"

"I took you for some bookworm but you're quite fit. And I don't think you have a job that is very demanding physically."

"You'd be surprised how much it costs your body to stay up all night. But yes, I do work out. Now, I'm fine and I work out, is there anything else I can answer and can't wait until I take my shower ?"

"You're quite beautiful, Irulan." Stilgar said, burying his hands in his pockets.

He was starting to turn back, the image of Irulan's nacked back engraved in his eyelids when her laugh stopped him :

"Says Mister-you-can't-look-at-more-than-one-second-without-going-back-to-the-tenth-grade-level" Irulan replied with an obvious glance at his muscles.

"I sincerely doubt that you were the kind to be enamoured in tenth grade."

"Oh, a smart word." Irulan mocked.

Stilgar rubbed his neck, looking at the floor for a second :

"Listen, Irulan, you're not speaking to Paul here. I mean… I'm not as intelligent as he is. I need to know, in plain words if possible, what you want from me…. I mean, when we first met, I quite understand you weren't really… inclined to know me better but… hell… what a first time, you know ! We ate pizza in a flat that wasn't ours and we got high on spice and we shared a couch… And then, the day after, I'm back to being the scum of the earth… And for weeks, I'm not even the scum of the earth, I'm nothing. And now, we are having a discussion at… eight a.m about how beautiful we think the other is… It's quite confusing…"

Then something unexpected happened. Irulan looked down and looked confused. Stilgar couldn't help but think he went too far that time. He didn't know how to treat her, what to say, what not to say…

"I like you" Irulan answered. "But that doesn't mean that I like the fact that I like you."

It hurt a bit. Stilgar just got dumped by his girlfriend and Irulan just told him she didn't respect him enough to like him.

"Yeah, right" Stilgar answered bitterly, "What kind of girl would want a man like me ?"

He heard a sigh and lowered his eyes when he saw Irulan move. He caught her in an awkward moment, he didn't want to make her uneasy by staring at her.

So, what was his surprise when he felt her hands on him. She was very hesitant, as if she never touched anyone this way but she put her hands on his forearms, using them as leverage as she stood on tip toe to reach for his mouth.

She kissed him. He didn't force anything on her : he was too stunned to even answer to the kiss ! She put her lips against his very chastely and he felt the strange feeling in his chest with an unexpected magnitude.

She ended the kiss and took a step back, looking at him as if he turned into a giant five-headed dragon :

"Is there something wrong ?" She asked.

"You just kissed me." Stilgar said, in disbelief.

"Yes, I did. That's what people do with people they like…" She felt the need to explain, as if to justify herself.

"Well… I thought…"

"I like you, Stilgar. The problem is not you or who you are… People might question my taste after Feyd and Paul but… that's not like I liked them in the first place… I thought I understood you liked me too… "

Stilgar knew words would fail them again. They were really awkward and that whole situation… He'd better do what he was best at : the unexpected.

He took a step forward, giving Irulan plenty of time to take a step back if she was uncomfortable and bent down to kiss her.

He started by gently kissing her closed lips. Then, when he felt her relax, he allowed himself to put his hand on either side of her face, guiding her so he could deepen the kiss. She let him, following him, carefully imitating him as if she was learning. She was still very hesitant, which was quite unexpected for someone like her. He wondered if she had ever kissed someone like this.

Well, now wasn't exactly the time for exes, he thought. He felt his entire body responding all too well to the kiss. His movements became a bit more passionate and Irulan had to grip his forearms again to support herself. He felt her literally fall in his arms and gathered her, craving for more contact.

But he didn't have time to flush her lithe body against his. Irulan broke the kiss and shook her head. He immediately let go of her. A kiss was a kiss. It didn't mean that she was ready…

"You slept in the bed with those" she said, looking at his jeans. "You're not touching me while they are still on."

Stilgar couldn't help but laugh. She surprised him. That was so… Irulan. She smacked her arm with a false look of contrition and turned around to climb in the shower. She turned the faucets and was soon soaked in cold water. She jumped a little and her intake of breath decided Stilgar. He took his trousers off with his t-shirt and his boxers and dropped them carelessly on the floor.

Irulan jumped a little when she felt Stilgar climbing up behind her. The shower wasn't very large, so he was very, very close. She felt goose bumps all over her skin when she felt his warmth against her. One of his arms circled her to turn the 'Hot' faucet as far as it would go. It was a strange feeling : being in someone's arms. She felt oddly safe and protected but not as imprisoned as when Feyd embraced her. Stilgar was something else… The embrace wouldn't be the same if it wasn't him. She felt… free with him. She could touch him in any way she wanted and not feel out of place. It was quite liberating actually. She traced a tattoo on his forearm with the tips of her fingers.

The water warmed up a bit and she stepped into the spray, letting it soak her.

"Could you pass me the shampoo, please ?"

The question startled Stilgar out of his thoughts. Her touch was electric. She probably didn't even realise it but her fingertips where extremely arousing and he felt his breath deepen in a matter of seconds.

"The… Oh ? Yes, sure… "

He turned around to look at all the bottles carefully laid in line. They looked so foreign…

"Which one is it ?"

"The tall pink one with 'Shampoo' written on it…"

He put the bottle in her hand and she started pouring some in her hand when, suddenly, he stopped her.

"Can I… I mean… If you wouldn't mind… "

The smile she gave him was dashing. It was so weird to say it but it… lit her face up. She nodded and handed him the bottle.

How they didn't slipped and died or they could have fought for the first time of their relationship about how to apply shampoo or how nobody would smell Stilgar's hair close enough to know she washed his hair with rose petals shampoo will remain a mystery.

But in the end, they both stood safely in the bathroom and were entirely washed. Stilgar smelt rose everywhere (the entire armada Irulan carried with her under the shower either smelt like roses or like mint and there was no in between…) It was intoxicating. He had trouble keeping his hands to himself. Irulan's body felt so good and so soft under his rough palms. He had dared steal a few kisses then and there but he knew how risky shower sex could get and Irulan hadn't made any indications about her wanting to.

But now he stood behind her, wrapping her towel around her. He was already half hard and tried his best not to show it when, at the same time, he was constantly trying to get closer to Irulan.

He understood how wrong he was when Irulan rested her head on his shoulder, offering him a sublime view of her barely covered body and he noticed she was also slightly out of breath.

She wanted it too.

The realisation electrified him and he wrapped his arms around her, caressing her on top of the towel before going down very slowly, giving her time to stop him if she wished.

She didn't. She closed her eyes and let him. Swallowing felt hard all of a sudden. Everything was so very new. Her hot breath against his neck aroused him to no end. His hand met the flesh of her thigh. She was so very soft. Along with her shower gel, she had used a scrubby thing she called 'gommage' in French. It felt divine. He tried to make his voice steady to ask her :

"Do you really want it ? We don't have to, you know ?"

"Yes, by all the gods I can think of, will you, please, touch me ?"

That was unexpected but not unpleasant. Stilgar couldn't help but smile. He will remind her how sweetly she begged. Very carefully, he slid his hand between her legs and found her very ready. He was quite experienced with that kind of pleasure and lost no time exploring her and what really pleased her.

She was struggling to stand up and he gathered her in his arms to help her without stopping. Her nails bit his skin and each time she wriggled against him, arousal shot through him with unexpected force. Sometimes, he couldn't help but seek friction against her too. Her breath itched every time he did it.

Meanwhile, he couldn't keep quiet :

"Do you do that to yourself, sometimes ?" he asked.

"Sometimes." She replied slightly out of breath.

"How often ?"

"Once every week, when I remember to do it… Everyday since I met you."

That strange feeling was back in his chest. He turned her over so she could face him. They looked at each other with fierce intensity, looking for something, anything, on the other's face. He kissed her again and felt her teeth on his lip. It was messy, all tongues and teeth… Irulan let go of her towel, throwing it so it could land near the sink. Stilgar's breath hitched when his hands automatically went to explore the newly exposed skin. Irulan finally leant against him and if he didn't have her very very soon, he was sure he might come untouched like a pathethic teenager.

When the kiss ended, his mouth found its way to her ear in which he whispered :

"Can I take you to bed, Irulan ?"

She only nodded, her lips very red and parted, looking for breath. He smiled and decided that this memory would stay in his mind for as long as he lived. He flexed his knees to lift her up and she automatically wrapped her legs and her arms around him. He nearly fell once before landing on the bed. Irulan took a second to check it was her bed and they weren't touching the outer covers on which she sat on in her day jeans.

Stilgar laid down, helping her straddle his hips. Then, he took a moment to watch her, waiting for any sign of fear or reluctance. Yet, here she was, a goddess with her hair slowly drying and cascading down her back, her eyes nearly black with lust and her chest rising and falling heavily. He took her hands in his, kissed both her palms and rose from the bed :

"What are you doing ?" Irulan nearly shouted at him.

"Protection" he chuckled at seeing her so panicked he might leave her.

He took the condom he always kept safe in his wallet and went back to bed.

Discovering Irulan was so strange. It was like having access to files with red 'Top Secret' on top. Even Paul didn't know that, how she bit her lips not to moan, how she arched her back to demand more, how she threw her head back when she finally shook with release. Making her feel good made him feel very good too.

Soon, they were laying entangled on the bed, trying to find their breath. Irulan's head was on his chest and she was tracing his tattoos with her fingertips again. He was playing with her hair, nearly dry now. They didn't say a word for a few minutes, listening to the camp coming back to life.

"Was it your first time ?" Stilgar asked suddenly.

"Yes." Irulan replied. "Was I that bad ?"

"Couldn't you hear how good you were ?" Stilgar mocked.

"You begged at the end." She mocked too.

"Yeah, but you were the first to beg, if I remember correctly."

"Hm." She barely replied.

He laughed and she felt it in his chest. She snuggled closer and he wrapped his arm tighter around him. She lowered her eyes for a second, looking at him, at the marvel that was his body, even with the various ugly scars then and there and that atrocious tattoo of a mythical sandworm on his hip. She bit her lips, tasting him on them and took a deep breath before saying :

"I like you, Stilgar. I like being with you. You… You know what I need. I think we want the same things despite how different we are. When I'm with you, it feels like the world is far, far away and, at the same time, very present."

He chuckled again and his hand took her chin so their eyes could meet again :

"I like being with you too, Irulan."

She smiled and bit her lips. He noticed she did that a lot when she felt sexy. He likes that.

When Stilgar heard his stomach rumble, he went to look for some food, letting Irulan getting ready to appear like a princess in the camping. When he returned with some fruits for her and some eggs for him, she was waiting for him outside, with a summer dress that barely covered her knees, sunglasses and her hair in a loose braid. She smiled at him and he kissed her in front of everybody.

In the afternoon, they walked in the dunes and sat here while Stilgar told her the story behind every tattoo he had. He promised he would tattoo her on him one day before laughing at her because she had freckles on her back.

When they came back to the camping to pack, Paul looked at them with a wide smile and Stilgar couldn't meet his eye. But he didn't let go of Irulan's hand.