The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

Chapter 823: AS CRAZY ABOUT HIM

WULFRIC looked down at Aster and saw his shoulders shaking. The soft laugh turned into something louder, then into full-blown laughter. Aster turned his body sideways so his face pressed against Wulfric’s chest, his whole frame trembling with each laugh. Wulfric stared at him, confused, and reached over to close the movie without looking at the screen. The sound cut off, and the room went quiet except for Aster still laughing.

He was still confused until his brain finally caught up and he understood Aster was laughing at him. At his reaction. He narrowed his eyes at the other.

”Did you do that on purpose?”

Aster lifted his head and looked at him, his dark eyes blinking with practiced innocence. ”Do what?”

Seeing the overly innocent act, Wulfric finally understood something. Aster had obviously planned this whole thing. He had pretended the movie was normal, just watching and snacking like nothing was wrong, while Wulfric sat there questioning his own sanity. It was evil. It was brilliant. And honestly, a little impressive.

If only it had not been done at his own expense.

He could not help it. He raised both hands and pinched Aster’s cheeks. ”Making me watch that ridiculous porn and pretending you were seeing something completely different the whole time.”

Aster just grinned at him and pinched his cheeks right back. ”But it’s fun. Admit it.”

Wulfric let out a snort. ”Yeah, for you. For me? It was traumatizing. I feel like I need to bleach my eyes after all the visual assault I just sat through.”

”Okay, now you’re just exaggerating,” Aster said, rolling his eyes. He shifted his body, turning around until he was facing Wulfric, his knees pressing into the cushion on either side of Wulfric’s thighs. He was straddling him now, close enough that their chests were almost touching. ”Tell me honestly. Did you not enjoy watching such a pretty pair of peaches?”

Wulfric did not answer right away. He let himself enjoy the feeling of Aster’s body pressed against his, but somehow it still felt like not enough. So he pulled him in closer, his hands settling on Aster’s soft butt cheeks.

”The only peaches I will ever appreciate in this life are these two right here,” he said, giving a firm squeeze to prove his point.

Aster let out a low, throaty laugh and stared down at him. If this were real life, Wulfric was sure Aster’s dark eyes would be growing darker with emotion right now. Aster looped his arms around Wulfric’s shoulders. ”Is that so?”

He leaned in until their noses brushed against each other. ”Yes.”

Wulfric didn’t know who moved first, but their lips just crashed. The kiss was messy and urgent, like neither of them could get close enough fast enough. Their mouths pressed hard together, then parted, then pressed again. Tongues slid against each other without grace, just need. Aster bit down on Wulfric’s lower lip, and Wulfric groaned into his mouth.

Aster’s fingers curled into Wulfric’s hair, pulling gently at the strands as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. Wulfric’s hands roamed up and down Aster’s back, gripping and releasing like he could not decide where to hold on. Their breathing turned ragged between kisses, but neither pulled away for more than a second. They stayed locked together, lips and tongues moving in a heated rhythm, lost in each other.

Wulfric could hear an alarm blaring somewhere in his head, along with a robotic voice repeating something he could not understand. But he ignored it and kept kissing Aster. Then Aster shifted and sat down on his lap, grinding against him. The alarm got louder, and the system’s voice became clearer.

[WARNING: USER’S HEART RATE CRITICAL. FORCED LOGOUT INITIATED IN 3... 2... 1...]

When he opened his eyes, he was back inside his virtual pod.

”Fuck.” He let out a breath. ”Shit.”

~~~

Astrid blinked when Wulfric suddenly vanished, and he fell forward onto the sofa bed. A strange sense of déjà vu hit him. This had happened before, the first time they met here. They had been in the middle of kissing when Wulfric disappeared out of nowhere. He never got to ask why because of everything that happened with the Emperor afterward. But maybe this time, he could finally get an answer.

He knew Wulfric would be back soon enough, so he sat comfortably on the sofa bed and picked up a piece of cake from the snack table. As he ate, he thought back to Wulfric’s reaction during the movie earlier — the wide eyes, the confused frown, and the way he had covered Astrid’s eyes as if protecting him from something dangerous. It had been amusing, and utterly adorable.

Astrid knew he might have gone a little too far with the prank. But he could not exactly scold Wulfric for using his soldiers to get extra photo cards without revealing that he knew about it. So this was the only punishment he could think of.

He didn’t regret it though. He was just glad Wulfric had shown no interest in the actor playing the clumsy guy. If Wulfric had so much as looked interested, the night might have gone very differently. Which was hypocritical of him, since he had been the one to start this whole thing. Even so, sometimes he could be unreasonable as well. He could not always be logical. Especially when it came to his relationship with Wulfric.

But this was Wulfric they were talking about. Of course he would not show interest in anyone else. Astrid had a feeling that even if the most beautiful person in the galaxy stripped down in front of Wulfric, he would not even blink. That was how badly he had it for Astrid.

He was not being arrogant. Well, maybe a little. Wulfric’s feelings for him were just a really good boost to his ego. It made him feel like he was Wulfric’s entire world. Even if Astrid was not the type to crave that kind of attention, it still gave him a strange kind of confidence.

And even though he did not show it as openly as Wulfric, he was probably just as crazy about him.