His Muse

είκοσι ένα | ortu actio

21 | rising action
A/N - this chapter was hard to write, not for any particular reason, I just faced writer's block at every paragraph. But it's all building up and I can't wait.

I could feel his eyes looking down at me and I looked up instantly.

"What" I asked, smiling slowly.

"Nothing" he replied, still looking at me with a twinkle in his eye, our soft expression reflecting the warm ambience of the slipping night. I flushed, unaware of how his intense, complete concentration on me could make me feel so giddy and glanced back at the screen as my throat dried.

It was easy to let my irrational thoughts run wild around Theo, the thoughts that race through your mind as you sit on the bus, and you blush in an attempt to hide the embarrassment of its inappropriate timing. He was charming and handsome but his intelligence left you craving more conversations. Intimate conversations.

"This is the first time since we have met that we have been truly alone" he stated, as he stroked my forearm.

"The kitchen moment in Magda's house?"

He looked up at the ceiling and smiled fondly, "we can barely call that a moment"

"I was so pissed about that for days" I confessed, shaking my head.

"I went home that day and stared at a wall for hours" he confessed too, rubbing his stubble, "I couldn't believe it and so it rendered me speechless, it was exactly the way the Moon Goddess had described it".

"Exactly? Including the scowl and smashed wall" I retorted, tickling him.

He jolted and grabbed my wrists instinctively, "oh! so we're doing that now" he exclaimed with a childish grin and grabbed my waist quickly.

"No!" I burst out laughing, writhing around uncomfortably as I tried to pull Theo's hands away.

"It doesn't feel good does it?" he asked, still tickling me as we now tumbled unto the floor.

"No!" I shouted, "please just stop" I pleaded, my stomach hurting from laughing so much.

He raised his hands up and surrendered, "that I can do" he replied, as he now sat on his knees staring at me as I lay, sprawled out on the floor with red cheeks and rumpled clothes.

I cleared the stray hairs from my view and gazed up at him. His gentle expression unmasking his innate longing for an intimacy he had not known for a while, if ever. Theo always reminded me to remain in the moment, regardless of how it made me feel because he was so intensely present. This approach to life might have been spurred on by his parents' death or his role as an Alpha? The question did not matter. The light had honeyed his skin to an even richer olive tone, and his hazel eyes buried atop his carved out cheekbones, resembled a still body of water on a quiet evening. Though his eyes were unguarded, his body was tense as though it was fighting itself. In spite of that, he looked august, and spirited with his broad shoulders hidden in his white shirt and his large hands spread on his knee.

"Ivory" he said, as I stared at his pink, plump lips, unable to divert my attention.

He leant forward again, his arms on either side of my face. Though, our voices had ceased to reverberate through the room, our unspoken desires had and so when his eyes fell to my lips and he leaned in closer, I reached out and stroked his jaw.

"Yes" I asked, tearing my gaze away from his lips to his eyes.

I sat up on my elbows, my hair swaying as I did and waited apprehensively for his statement. I was afraid to rush the moment but I was also afraid of missing this rare moment and so I sat up on my knees too. I leaned in close, noting his beauty marks and fading creases from where he last smiled.