Celestial Fragments

Soft touch

As the room fell once again silent, Azrael was the first one to cut the strange, unusual tension, by trying to step between Aellioah and Angelique.

"It's alright." Muttered Aellioah, stopping him with a simple gesture of his hand. His hand lingered a few more moments on her face before he slowly dropped it, his worry vanishing, turning to disappointment.

Aellioah sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose, walking past Angelique, towards Kephry.

Angelique came face to face with Azrael who seemed to be utterly annoyed and angry with her, but little did she care right now. His icy cold eyes held nothing above and against her. She squared her shoulders and hissed under her breath.

"Got a problem pretty boy?" she hissed at him, but before she could jump into a fight she definitely couldn't win, Kephry wrapped her hands around her upperarms and picked her up as if she was a toddler, walking away immediately.

Completely baffled by what had just happened, Angelique remained motionless for a few moments, before she started to struggle."Put me down!" she whined, but Kephry did not seem bothered by it.

As soon as they were out the door, Kephry set Angelique down, looking at her with narrowed eyes.

"You are-" Kephry sighed in frustration, tossing all her arms in the air. "Don't you ever disrespect him like that!" she added with a low growl in her voice, leaning down to her, her frustration turning into a big smirk. "-without telling me first so I can get it on video." she giggled, in a hushed voice.

Angelique rolled her eyes and walked past her.

"Come. You were provided with some proper food. Let's put some meat on your bones!" Kephry cheered, leading Angelique down the hallways.

***

"Might have been the best nuggets I have ever had!" Angelique moaned, falling on the couch, while Kephry sat beside her, still unsure what a nugget was.

"Glad you're finally eating." She murmured, leaning back, looking around the room, a little uneasy.

"I think I'm growing fond of being pampered..." Angelique murmured, stretching slowly and getting up, walking to the bathroom, leaving the door open as she started the water to fill the tub.

"Glad to hear that, I guess." Kephry hummed, getting up too and starting the fire.

"What is it? What's troubling you?" Angelique peeked from the bathroom.

"You were really bad ass when you stood up to Aellioah, but-" she sighed and turned to look at her. "I really hope this won't affect your life here. You really need to put it through that pretty head of yours that he's a king. Despite what quarrels you two have here-" she gestured around the room. "-out there, he's a damn King, who just got slapped by a human. a lower life species..." she murmured her last words, hoping that Anqelique would not find offense in them.

For a moment, Angelique remained speechless, staring at her from the doorframe of the bathroom. She bit her inner cheek and sighed softly.

"It was a mistake. I'm not entirely sure what got over me. I couldn't really stop myself from doing it." she turned around and walked back inside the bathroom, unpinning her hair and putting it up into a messy bun.

"Do your best to control your impulses, before anyone else takes action." Kephry advised, making sure Angelique heard her.

A few minutes of silence passed, and Kephry announced her departure, while Angelique still waited for the tub to fill with water.

Why couldn't I stop? The moment he entered, this sudden urge just- she felt a shiver go down her back and settle at the base of her spine, as if she avoided the answer altogether.

She sighed and pushed the thought away, peeling off her clothes and stepping into the tub. The hot water relaxed her muscles and pushed away any uncomfortable stray thought that might have arrived after that.

Minutes passed, minutes of silence spent just scrubbing absently at the skin and watching the multiple petals float in the water, before the front door opened.

Aellioah entered the room in a rush, looking around searching for Angelique. When he didn't find her there, he headed straight for the bathroom, opening the door with force and stepping inside, pulling Angelique out of her day dreams. He walked straight towards her, his hand grabbing her face and forcing her to look up at him. He was angry. Was he angry? His hold was tight as he stared into her eyes, searching for something. Something what ? After a few moments, he sighed deeply and let go of her face harshly.

"What the hell?" Angelique muttered, rubbing her cheeks slowly, narrowing her eyes on him.

Aellioah simply turned around and started to undress.

"What are you doing?!" Angelique immediately panicked, covering herself and scurrying back.

But before she could get out or do anything to stop him, Aellioah was already in his underwear.

With his skin now bare, Angelique could finally see what those clothes hid all along. The sharp tattoo lines from his face continued all across his body, down his neck, to his chest, where they separated in more strange patterns and symbols, going down his abdomen and back. His body seemed to be pure muscle, even with his lean completion, he looked like he worked out daily. his skin was as pale and flawless as she thought it was, save for a few scars on his back, legs and arms.

With a skilled move, he pinned his hair in a bun and before turning around, he pulled off his underwear too, making Angelique look down immediately, but not before catching a glimpse of his round and firm ass. Without a warning, Aellioah got into the tub, at the other end of the tub, across from her. The water level rose so fast it spilled some on the floor and took Aneglique by surprise. She sat up immediately and got ready to get out, but Aellioah reached for her, grabbing her wrist and stopping her.

She looked at his hand, jaw tensing and then at his face, with clear tension.

"Stay." he demanded and, for the first time, she actually felt like it was an order.

"What if I don't want to?" she countered with fake confidence.

"You can't run away from me. Especially not here." his face was rather hard to read, but he clearly was not angry now. "I'm not going to hurt you. Even if you were told otherwise. I am not a tyrant who tortures women for fun." he insisted, tugging at her arm to bring her closer.

With a hesitant sigh, she gave in, slowly sitting back down, letting the water cover most of her body. Aellioah's grip eased on her wrist, but did not leave her arm. He insisted once again on bringing her closer, and Angelique gave in, moving closer to him, but far enough to not have him touch her too much.

"What if I am the one who wants to hurt you?" Angelique proposed with innocence.

"Why would you want to hurt me?" there was a hint of amusement in his voice, as well as a soft smile spread across his face.

A contagious smile, because as soon as he smiled, Angelique's lips curled into a smile too.

"Because you're frustrating. And annoying. And hurtful. And you kidnaped me." she enumerated, as his hand slowly let go of her arm, moving to rest on the edge of the tub while he leaned back against it's wall.

"I am some of those things." he nodded his head in agreement, his smile still on, turning into a cheeky and playful one.

"And many more..." she turned to look at his hand, reaching hers slowly to his, her fingers tracing the line of the tendons on the back of his palm.

"And so many more things," he agreed again, falling silent, his eyes following the movement of her fingers on his skin.

His skin felt like suede in the strangest way. It was warm, it was very much like skin, but with such a velvety touch to it, it made it addictive to just touch. Like deer skin.... just like deer skin.

As she caught herself comparing his skin to the hide of a deer, she huffed, amused and pulled her hand back slowly. Aellioah did not have it. He reached for her hand and slowly took it in his, lacing their fingers together slowly, watching her face for her reaction. Angelique's cheeks tinted a soft red, as she watched the motion of the fingers entangling together, and despite the size difference, it surprised her how comfortable it actually was.

"Kephry told me you enjoyed your dinner." he spoke, his voice low, his eyes fixed on her face.

"I did! Who knew you could find chicken on this planet!" she chuckled, amused and shook her head. "It's surprising i haven't seen anyone else eat it..." her words trailed off as she noticed the expression change on his face. "What?" she murmured, feeling like a fool again.

"There's no chicken on this planet." he admitted with a side smile.

"Then what did I eat?!" Angelique spoke revolted, her posture changing immediately.

"Chicken." he comforted her, leaning closer, and bringing her hand up to his face, pressing a soft kiss on her palm.

Confusion took over any other thought that crossed her mind, but Aellioah did not bother to clear it up for her.

"I'm glad you got some food to eat. You've been terribly pale these days..." he muttered against her palm, pressing another kiss there, before leaning back and slowly guiding her to sit on his legs, just above his knees.

A little bit more comfortable, she sat there in silence trying to process what was happening. Under her bottom, she could feel the same texture of his skin, soft and inviting. One of her hands started to absently draw patterns on his leg as she lost herself to her mind. Aellioah leaned back and took in a deep breath, watching her.

"I apologize for today. It was extremely rude for me to just-" she started without looking at him.

"It's alright. I understand where you came from. You were a little harsh, but it's-" he sucked in a breath as Angelique's fingers trailed on his inner thighs. "Alright..." he finished his sentence.

Was it that easy to mess with him? A playful smile crossed her lips as a very specific thought sprung into her mind.