My Beloved Has Risen from Death’s Embrace

With a loud “thwack,” the cue stick missed its mark, and the billiard ball stayed put, not moving an inch. The awkward moment caught the daydreaming Xanthea by surprise. She was about to point out the miss when she saw Orion set down his cue and head toward

the restroom.

“Hey!”

Xanthea wanted to call him back but caught a glimpse of his face contorting slightly, and the reddish tint at the edges of his eyes.

“What’s up with him?”

Was teaching her how to play pool that distressing?

“It’s nothing, Uncle Orion’s just got a bit of a germ thing. He just hugged you, so he’s definitely going to wash his hands!”

Sebastian scampered over with his legs, and Xanthea’s mouth twitched, “Thanks for the truth bomb, kid. Wish I hadn’t asked.”

But she sensed there was more to it. Right before that failed shot, she’d felt something intensely hot bounce off her, but before she could react, the sound came.

“Though you’re even slower at learning than me! I picked up the game faster than you!”

“Are you kidding?” Xanthea chuckled at him. “I just learned from your uncle and I’ve already got it. Just wait, I’ll show you how it’s done!”

“I got it in one go too, but Uncle Orion didn’t look as scary teaching me as he did teaching. you.”

Xanthea frowned, “He looked scary?”

“Yeah!” Sebastian nodded vigorously. “Super scary, like a fierce big bad wolf, like he wanted to gobble you up!”

Xanthea was speechless.

Seems like she really did tick him off earlier, using reverse psychology to get him to tea her.

But no worries, she’d get him even more riled up soon enough, especially after he’d made fun of her earlier in the study.

“Enough talk, let’s see who wins a couple of games!”

Sebastian said, “Alright!”

When Orion came out of the restroom, he saw Xanthea and Sebastian squished together,

both energetically bantering and playing pool.

“Hey, I won again! How cool is that!”

Sebastian jumped up and down on a stool joyfully. Seeing Orion, he ran down to boast, “Uncle Orion, I’ve beaten her over ten times. She’s just no good!”

That little rascal!

Xanthea, with her hands on the cue stick resting under her chin, protested, “I’m only this bad because your uncle messed up his first teaching shot.”

She looked over at the man, catching his amused glance, “Right.”

What the hell?

What was he doing in the restroom just now?

He had entered with an air of barely suppressed irritability but emerged looking utterly satisfied, especially those narrow eyes shimmering faintly pink, now twinkling with amusement. Was it even legal for a man to be this enticing?

Could any woman really handle being his wife?

Swallowing hard, Xanthea quickly changed the subject to hide her flustered thoughts, “Anyway, I practiced a bit on my own and think I’m getting the hang of it. How about the three of us play a round?”

“HAHAHA!” Sebastian burst out laughing. “You can’t even beat me, and you want to play against Uncle Orion? He’s a pool wizard; you’ll lose so badly!”

Listening to his unabashed ridicule, Xanthea narrowed her eyes, “Is that so? Well then, I definitely need to see this. Great Orion, shall we?”

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