Caspian half expected to see Asher when he walked in but the bedroom was just as empty as when he left it.
"Do you need me to help unpack these?" The maid asked generously.
"I’ll deal with those later, right now, I need to get ready for a function." Caspian dismissed her.
He really didn’t need her help, he just needed to get dressed before Asher got there.
His phone rang just as he had that thought, and he nearly dropped it trying to pick up, worrying that Asher had shown up.
"Are you here yet?" He blurted out just as the call connected, thinking about locking Asher out just so he could get dressed.
There was a short pause on the line, "Am I forgetting something?" Asher asked and he could hear the frown in the Alpha’s voice.
"You’re not, I’m just not ready for the function yet."
"Oh," Asher replied with palpable relief, "It’s fine if we’re late."
"I know," Caspian calmly said to hide his panic, "But are you home?" He enunciated.
"I can come home if you want," Asher was quick to say.
"No! I... I mean, you can take your time," Caspian stumbled over his words, regretting the call already because he knew that it would just bring Asher back much faster.
He gave up on trying to deescalate the situation and just hung up, going to get ready.
Caspian snagged up one of the shopping bags and went to the closet to get dressed. He had already tried on the clothes at the store so getting them on again was easy.
Caspian locked the closet door, so he wasn’t surprised to hear a knock a while into dressing up.
He was leaning close to his dresser mirror to get a better look at what he was doing while he applied a dark red shade of lip tint when the knock came.
He was more or less completely dressed at that point, so he got to his feet to unlock the door.
Asher needed to change as well, and he hadn’t exactly gone through all the trouble he did today for the Alpha.
So, he didn’t mind if Asher saw before he was all done getting ready, opening the door with an exasperated expression.
"I told you not to hurry back,"’ He lightly scolded, turning around to return to the dresser.
It wasn’t until he sat on the padded stool that he noticed that Asher hadn’t moved a muscle.
He spun around on the padded stool to better look at the Alpha, concern on his face as he slowly got to his feet again.
"Asher? What’s wrong?" He asked as he slowly walked back to the open door on socked feet.
Asher blinked as he caught a hold of himself, his expression shuttered. "I should be asking you that, are you alright?" He took a step forward.
Caspian lithely slipped out of Asher’s hold when the Alpha tried to catch him, he had put in too much work to have the Alpha muss it up.
"I’m dandy," He tossed over a shoulder, walking back with relief.
He had been genuinely worried for a split second, and if he wasn’t too busy trying to make sure he looked perfect, he would have looked deeper into Asher’s odd behavior.
And if he looked behind him, he would notice that Asher had frozen up again, the Alpha’s hazel eyes focused on him.
Asher was going through a crisis while Caspian swung his socked feet happily, excited that the vision he and Marge had created was coming together nicely.
Asher had suggested this because he wanted to show off Caspian, and it was a harmless function where he wouldn’t bump into dangerous figures.
But now he was starting to rethink everything...
Was this a case of being blind to beauty because he saw the Omega every day?
His expression darkened as he stared a hole right through Caspian’s bare back, he didn’t want anyone else seeing this...
"Aren’t you getting changed?" Caspian turned around with a powder puff in his hand.
Asher was about to respond but he got distracted again by Caspian’s sharp nails, his train of thoughts taking a sharp turn.
Those sharp red nails clawing down his back... wrapped around his dick...
He forced himself to refocus at that, "Hmm?"
Caspian dropped the powder puff, worried now. "I asked if you’re going to get changed... are you alright? You’ve been acting odd since you came back."
Asher swallowed heavily, determined to keep a tight leash on his self-control.
"Just a little distracted," He muttered, forcing himself to turn away.
"We can skip the function if you’re tired," Caspian was quick to offer.
...and fuck him because he was so close to accepting.
"I already promised I’d go," He said instead with great difficulty, walking off to get changed.
Caspian’s look of concern changed to an upset pout, reminded of Isabella Blackburn.
He had gone through a lot of trouble to get ready, but he would rather not go at all, than be reminded that Asher had made a promise to the heiress.
Out of spite he added another layer of lip tint, making sure the dusting of red on his eyes was very visible.
He put on his glossy black dress shoes and got up to study his reflection.
The silk shirt he had on looked better every time he looked at it, it had a deep V neck and was backless save for the thin gold chains that connected the outfit from end to end.
Done in a deep red maroon, the fabric flowed sinfully down his slender body.
Two long strips of silk held the lower part of the outfit together, the sleeves long.
His bottoms were simple, plain black and high-waisted because the top ended on the dip of his waist.
The pants also had no pockets, which meant that he needed something else to hold his effects.
He frowned as he went bag searching, all the bags and purses he had better matched dresses and he considered just giving up on it entirely.