Octavius

viii

"Is that my favorite girl I see this morning?" My stepfather Riley exclaimed as I dashed through the stairs in a hurry to meet a pair of dark amber eyes.

I laughed, throwing a piece of toast into my mouth. "Sh, don't let the others hear."

        "It's nothing but the truth, sweetheart." He told me with a shrug of his shoulders.

        Stumbling into a wall, I huffed under my breath before recovering and headed towards the door. Inept.

I heard a deep rumble of laughter. "Be careful with those walls out there. Have a good day, Bambi," Riley yelled with a wave of his fingers as I scrambled to sneak on my regal blue Air Jordan 1. I made sure to give Riley an extra-sweet smile, promising that I would bring home a muffin for him today from Silas bakery before bolting out the door, unable to stop jumping with excitement. Octavius was at my house. Ack!

Almost stumbling down the stairs, I squealed when large, firmly protective hands shot out to grab my waist, and held me steady in case I would attempt another surprise attack. I glanced heavenward and asked for help to stop acting like a complete idiot around Octavius. Dark, intense amber eyes met mine, almost mocking me, judging by the slight crease in his stern brows.

My gaze flickered down to his outfit, butterflies in my stomach quadrupling as my wandering gaze examined him. Lustrous, perfectly jet black strands of hair like pools of the purest inky fine strands cascading down his delicate skin covered with intricate calligraphy designs to contrast with his vivid dark amber eyes.

Every few seconds his long, elegant fingers would lift to shove dark tendrils past his face. As usual, Octavius was dressed elegantly in his dark, professional style. His expensive full-length, grey overcoat was draped around his shoulders, and beneath Octavius wore a dark snug, fitting turtleneck.

The wooly turtleneck clung to the widely shaped muscles of his chest and arms like it loved him and didn't want to leave him, his sleeves stretched tightly over his shoulders and flexed around his huge, bulging biceps. My eyes swept over his black pants that effortlessly hugged his lower body, revealing his lean ripped torso, narrow hips and thick, muscular legs beneath the outline of his clothes.

        Hubba hubba.

As he towered over me, a silver chained necklace fell from his turtleneck, reflecting in the golden sunlight and flashed past my eyes. Octavius kept one hand inside his pocket, while another tatted hand held my hips, and stared at me absently.

"Hi! Good morning!" I greeted happily, bouncing with excitement. Even though, I was absolutely not a morning person, the thought and presence of Octavius being at my house this morning replaced my usual dose of caffeine and left me jittery. The warmth of his body, the smell of his cologne and the feel of his muscular back drew me closer to him, and I relaxed against his cold touch.

        He muttered lowly. "Your shoelaces." In my rush to meet Octavius, I hadn't tied my shoelaces and had almost tripped on them. Octavius let out a low uneasy groan before he bent down slightly, crouching down on a knee and grabbed my right foot, tying the shoelace in a perfect loop.

He looked up at me through his dark fringe of lashes and directed a cold, dark glare at me.

The expression on his face melted me completely. The widest, goofiest grin plastered on my lips, and I didn't care.