Page 18 of In the Light of the Moon

“Sorry,” I muttered between us while we caught our breath. His hand was still on my back, mine on his chest, but maybe he didn’t want this? I mean, up until now, I thought he’d hated me. Maybe for seeing him in such a vulnerable position the first time we met. Or at the very least, I had been certain he saw me as an annoyance. Someone he’d rather he didn’t encounter.

His pale brow furrowed, “Why?” And I felt held by him again.

I swallowed, and another wave of his taste and smoke hit my tongue, “I just—I didn’t know if you wanted that. For me to do that, I mean.”

I cringed at the breathless, stammering way I spoke, but then he brought his nose to mine and brushed it from side to side. His breath skated over my cheek, “I wanted you to.”

“Ah, okay,” I took a big inhale, “I mean, good.” I cringed again. He’d reduced me to a state where I had no adequate words to say. Nothing to truly convey how much that kiss had affected me. It was almost electrifying, and I was trying really, really hard to not focus on the hard press of him against my lower belly. But my own answering flutter there was becoming harder to ignore.

“Sylvie,” his voice was low, probably inaudible to those chatting away around us, but I heard the grumble, the growl in it, and sucked in a quick breath. “I want to…” he pulled back, and I immediately missed the feeling of his face nuzzling mine. I watched his eyes track down my face, then neck, and down my body.

While Orion was warm and comforting, that kiss and the cool night left my nipples sharp against the fabric of my dress. And I knew that they were visible when his gaze seemed to stop there, then on the slight curves of my stomach and thighs before coming back up again to meet my face. He smoothed his thumb along the corner of my jaw and cleared his throat, “Can I… see you? Sometime?”

I’d been chewing on my bottom lip while I waited for him to speak, but I released it quickly, voice incredulous, “Are you asking me on a date?”

“Yes.” When I would have usually had the urge to question this, the way he said it brooked no confusion. The steadiness of the way he was looking at me.

But I had to get him a little. With a lopsided smile, I said, “Thought I just got on your nerves more than anything.”

He didn’t laugh like I’d thought he would. His chuckles and smirks had been flowing consistently throughout the course of the night, but now, the corners of his mouth turned downward. I saw his jaw clench, but before I could apologize again, he exhaled, “I’m sorry. That I made you feel that way.”

“Oh, uh, thanks. What would you like to go do?”

His eyes widened for a moment, “You still—” he closed them and shook his head before seeming to gather himself “—um, dinner? I can take you out for dinner.”

I tilted my head, hair rasping against the brick, and grinned, “You can?”

Orion nodded a few times, then gave me a knee-buckling kiss before letting his hands fall. “If you’d let me.” Headlights swung around and shone from behind his back when a car pulled up to the curb.

Just then, my phone dinged with a notification. I unclenched my fingers from his shirt, smile softening, “That sounds nice. Sure.” He was still watching me as I pulled my phone from my bag.

When I told him that my ride was here, the car idling just behind him set to take me home, he walked me over to it and opened the door for me. My eyes shot to my hairline when he asked the driver who they were here to pick up. They seemed barely out of high school, but when they looked at their phone clipped to the dash and said my name, Orion’s relaxed a fraction.

I handed my phone to him before stepping into the back seat, “Here, give me your number, and I’ll text you.” He grunted in acknowledgement and quickly inputted his number before handing it back.

“Night, Sylvie,” and I felt heat flood my cheeks when he dropped a warm kiss onto my cheekbone just before I sat. Heeyed the driver with a hard look for so long they began to squirm. After an awkward clearing of my throat, he closed the door for me, and I didn’t even attempt to keep my head forward as we pulled away. I sat twisted, watching Orion while the car merged onto the main street. And he was watching me, too, unmoving and with his hands in his pockets until I was out of sight.

CHAPTER NINE

Sylvie

What are the main branches of the United States Government?How many state senators are allotted to each state?I rolled my eyes and clicked through the exemption study quiz. Though I could somewhat understand why such courses were graduation requirements, I was irritated for having to waste my time when I had papers to write.

I leaned my head into my hand, clicking and scrolling, clicking and scrolling while barely reading the questions. There was no way in hell I was going to take the actual course that was required, but studying for the exemption test also felt like torture.

The little bell above the coffee shop’s door was giving a steady jingling with people coming and going, and my foot tapped absently to the old rock song playing quietly from the speakers overhead. I took a sip of my caramel latte, gone lukewarm now with how long I’d been sitting.

Seventy-five percent correct, the results flashed across my screen, and I groaned aloud, collapsing my arms on the tableand burying my head atop them. I needed an eighty-percent or higher to exempt the class and finally graduate. There was a graduate program application I had to finish, papers I needed to write, and I couldnotafford to be bested by a freshmen-level course that I should have been able to pass in my sleep.

“Bit early to start the finals-time despair, I think.” My heart immediately started to pick up at the sound of that low, steady voice.

I rotated my head, peeking one eye out to look at Orion. He held his own to-go cup, satchel slung on his other shoulder. What kind of coffee did he drink? I’d bet it was black drip or a triple espresso or something.

“Not finals. Civics exemption,” I grumbled dramatically and hid my face once again.

His huffing chuckle made my stomach tighten, and we lapsed into another silence with the ambient sounds of the coffee shop filled the space between us. Eventually, Orion cleared his throat, “Ah. Do you mind if I sit?”

My head flew up, and I quickly blinked to adjust to the light around me. I smoothed my hand over my head to attempt to tame the flyaways and situate my frizzy ponytail. Somehow that night and that kiss seemed far away and just an hour ago at the same time.

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