Render Me Starless

♛ | Chapter 16 - "in my pants"

"Dress casual, but nice."

I blink up at the man. "What?" I was currently in bed, sitting up with the silk sheets crumpled at my waist. My mate stands before me, besides the bed in black jeans and a dark blue button down shirt. I squint my eyes slightly. The shirt was blue, not purple. What a pleasant surprise.

"Dress casual, but nice," Orion repeats, not fazed by my scattered mind. I groan and decide to lay back down, draping the sheets back over me. "You were actually serious about the whole going out thing?" I ask, referring to last night and closing my eyes. The sheets then proceed to be ripped off me and I huff out a breath, trying to cling to the soft material. Of course I lose the battle of tug of war considering my opponent was a mage, a mage prince at that too. I tear my eyes open, meeting the unimpressed ones of Orion's.

"Fine, fine. I'm up," I sit back up, frowning when I feel the cold breeze. I look over to the balcony doors. Damn, I need to close these doors before I sleep next time. "What time is it anyway?" I ask, rubbing my arms. "Quarter past two," he answers curtly. I nod before getting out of bed. "Where are we going?" I yawn.
"We leave in an hour," is all he says before he gives me one last onceover and turns around, walking silently out.

I roll my eyes, not surprised by his lack of answer. "The stick must be extra further up today," I murmur to myself once he's out of the bedroom. "I heard that," his cold voice drawls. I jump at his voice, darting looks around the room. Orion sounded like he was right next to me. He wasn't here though. I go to check if he's in the living room. He's not.

I scoff to myself. Stupid mage.

Exactly an hour later, there's a knock on the door. Because it was two knocks, I knew it was Orion. I glance at my wet hair in the mirror before shouting, "come in." I didn't have to worry about him not hearing me because I knew he would. Mage hearing. And I'm right because barely a second later, shadows appear in my room. The inky air swirls dramatically before completely vanishing, revealing my mate. "You could have just used the door, you know," I quip.

"Where's the fun in that?" he mutters, eyeing my wet hair. I grab the blow dryer out. "Just give me ten minutes," I say, sheepishly smiling at him through the mirror. My shower had taken a bit too long. "We don't have time," Orion scowls and beckons me towards him. I narrow my eyes at him but put the dryer down nonetheless, turning to him. "I'll dry it for you," he offers, his scowl never leaving as he flexes his hand slightly. "With your magic?" I ask, my eyes widening at the prospect of watching his magic work. So far I have only seen him use it to transport places. He gives me a single nod and I move closer.

Orion brings his hands to my shoulders and at the contact, the liquid stars come alive like it had hours ago. His touch was a light caress but I could feel the cold emitting from him, even through the thick material of my dress.
I had never liked the cold but with Orion, I only ever wanted to shiver.
He turns me around so I see us in the mirror. I meet his eyes again through the reflection but this time, it seems much more intimate. His eyes flash gold for a millisecond but I catch it.

My heart dances with the erratic stars, never once ceasing their movements to stop their euphoria.

Orion is the first to tear his eyes away and I force myself to clear my throat, instead opting to just check out my mate. His hair was untamed, it's curls unruly and without restraint. It only made me want to run my fingers through them. His jaw was as perfect as I remembered but I didn't want to look at it. I wanted to smother it with the purple and blue that only my lips could give.

Before I can stare at his perfect lips, his hands come up to my wet hair and Orion entangles his fingers into it. At first, I didn't see it. It took me a good second to separate his shadows to my dark hair. But they were definitely there. My eyes were wide and yet, I didn't find myself wanting to run away. Instead, I found myself inching closer.
It was enticing, the shadows.