Cherished by The King |BxB|

Chapter 24

↑ Celian ↑

Celian's POV

"A-Are you sure this looks good?" I asked nervously, twiddling with the helm of the cropped tank top I was wearing. It made me very uncertain of myself; even more so as I didn't process the image of my exterior in my mind like you were supposed to.

I saw myself as a tall, muscular man, but all my proportions felt incorrect.

Ugly.

And the more skin I showed, the more I thought like that. I had always hated dressing up for events as a Royal, and all my casual clothing consisted of oversized, unfit sweats and hoodies. Outfits like these made me insecure.

Although, go ahead and try to tell that to the excited little girl in front of me. Or the steamy-eyed vampire that sat on the bed that kept drooling over me.

"You look amazing, Darl–"

"Are you kidding me! You look like a hot, spellbinding rock star!" Dana squealed, her short hair bouncing in the air as she looked at me with sparkling eyes.

It had been a long time ago since I had seen her.

We had only met once, right before I and Lynx had left to visit the elves' Kingdom. What I remembered about her, was that she was rather enthusiastic and energetic. And I feel like that was an understatement.

"Everyone's gonna have their eyes glued into you! They're gonna be so jealous!" she giggled, forcing my gaze back to the mirror on the wall.

The pants I had on were tight around my thighs and narrow hips, the hems widening towards my ankles. They were so black that you could submerge into them like they were the space above our heads, beautiful and elegant swirls of gold swimming through the fabric. The crop top reached my abdomen, showing off every single pec of my stomach. It was loose and very revealing, and Dana had even given me golden earrings to match the outfit.

They were like metallic feathers, almost stabbing my shoulders because of their length.

I was looking... weird.

Good.

But was it too much?

"Thank you, Dana. I think we would like some time alone," I heard my mate murmur quietly, the bright smile on the girl's face immediately dimming down.

She had waited for an eternity to meet me again, and I couldn't say that I didn't like her myself either. She was fun and super kind.

"Ugh– fine!" the tiny vampire rolled her eyes, throwing herself into my embrace before leaving through the door. She squeezed me so tightly I was afraid my intestines were going to blow out; no doubt she had zero understanding of personal space.

And even when it made me uncomfortable, it didn't feel as bad as usual. If she had done that when I first arrived here, I would've probably had a panic attack. But Lynx had taught me what platonic contact was, and I had learned that I kind of liked it.

Of course, in small amounts, and not by strangers.

"You will come to see me some other time, right Celian?" Dana asked right as she danced her way to the door, going through it and peeking her head out right as I had thought she had disappeared for good.

I could feel how my cheeks heated from the attention, my nervous eyes glancing at her while I wrapped my arms around myself to hide my bare stomach, "S-Sure..."

"Great! That's a date– don't forget me!" her red eyes winked at me, the ball of pure glee vanishing from behind the doorframe.

I felt like I would finally catch my breath, exhausted after her containing laughter and bliss. Though I didn't get even a minute of cool air as I felt Lynx's muscular arms being wrapped around me, his fingers gracing my bare stomach from the start. They followed the lines and bumps of my pecs, clearly fascinated by them.