Orion slapped a hand over my mouth to silence me, finishing his burrito as his eyes narrowed on me. He sighed long and wearily, slowly removing his hand from my mouth.
“I am only going to offer this once, and only because Darcy would ask me to if she could.”
“What?” I breathed.
“You may come to my room and have one small, short-lasting hug,” he offered and I gasped, throwing myself at him in excitement as I bounced up and down, knowing my tail would be wagging a mile a minute if I was in my shifted form.
He shoved me off of him with a growl.
“What did I just say?” he snapped.
“One hug. Got it.” I backed up, practically bursting with the need to be held as he released another long sigh and started walking away into the dark.
I followed him all the way back to our room and Orion locked the door firmly behind me like he was afraid someone might walk in on this moment. I reached for my waistband, about to drop my pants when he pointed at me and barked, “No. Clothes on, Capella. Let’s not make this weirder than it already is.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “Where do you want me? Big spoon position or little spoon? Or we could do topsy-downsies? Or upsy-topsies? Ooh, what about the double-inward spoon with a little leg hitch action?” I got onto the bed, patting the sheets beside me in encouragement and Orion remained by the door, looking like he was questioning his life choices.
“I will lie there.” He pointed to the empty space beside me. “And you may put one arm around me.”
“Can I hitch a leg?” I asked pleadingly.
“No.”
“Not even one tiny little thirty second leg hitch?” I begged and he ran a hand down his face, but I could see him resigning himself to this.
“Fine,” he gave in, moving to the bed and I hurried to switch off the light before diving back onto the mattress and putting the lamp on instead.
“Why did you do that?” he growled.
“Mood lighting,” I said. “Every hug has its own mood, Lance. By the stars, does Darcy get moodless hugs from you? I really need to give you my hug manifesto. It’ll change your life.”
He laid down on the bed, his head propped up on the pillow and I crawled towards him as he eyed me like a piranha on its way to bite his dick off.
“Relax,” I growled, pressing his shoulders down into the pillow and massaging them. “I can’t hug you like this. Stop tensing.”
He ground his jaw then his body went more slack and I smiled, taking hold of his right arm and drawing it out to the side before I started crawling around in circles in the space his arm marked out.
“What the fuck are you doing now?” he asked irritably as I scratched at the sheets, moving around and around in a ring.
“Checking for snakes, Lance. By the stars, this is snuggle safety one-oh-one.” Finally satisfied, I laid down in the space beside him, resting my head on his shoulder, laying one arm over his body and hitching my leg up over his thigh.
“Now close your right arm around me,” I whispered and his lips twitched in resistance before he did as I said, holding me against him and I finally relaxed, shutting my eyes as my thrashing heart finally started to slow.
I lay there, drinking in the feeling of being cuddled while my Order instincts settled down and were finally sated.
“So are you going to tell me why you were crying?” he muttered.
“Whimpering,” I corrected, keeping my eyes shut as my chest pinched with pain again, remembering Caleb’s bitter rejection and feeling that hurt wash through me in wave after wave. “Oh Lance, I’ve done something so fucking stupid.”
“What?” he grunted and I took a shaky breath.
“I gave Cal a Tiberian tip swirler,” I admitted.
“A what?”
“A Likranian lip dipping dong dancer,” I explained better.
“In a language I can fucking understand?” he demanded and I huffed heavily.
“A blowjob, Lance. A fucking blowjob.”
“Right, okay. And why has that left you devastated beyond all reason?” he asked in confusion and I howled long and low right in his ear, making him wince away, but I held on tight.
“Because he didn’t want my blowjob,” I admitted on a whimper. “The look he gave me, Lance, it was like -like – the apocalypse had befallen his cock. Oh my stars, I’m the acockalypse,” I said in horrified realisation.
I hugged him tighter, hitching my leg higher and nuzzling his shoulder as I stole the comfort I needed and Orion’s chest heaved up and down, his jaw ticking away like a tiny little clock in his face. “I can normally read people so well. I swear I thought he gave me the green light. He kissed me. He kissed me, Lance! With tongue and everything. Then he gave me the BJ eyes – I’m always so good at spotting the BJ eyes.”