However, Anubis hadn't counted on threatening to fire the guy in order to make him play the role with the emotion required. Star had so much potential and it angered Anubis that he seemed afraid to tap into the rage needed for the role.
“Mother, did you think I wouldn't find out!”
Anubis was pulled back to his senses by Star's yell. His skin prickled as he watched Star's beautiful face slowly shift from sweet and calm to scowling as his fury built. The two parties were sitting in the dining room across from each other. With the way the camera was angled, there was no way to miss their facial reactions. The audience would be able to see every detail.
“I don't know what you mean, Son.”
Star huffed. “Am I really your son, or is that a word you use when you want to control me?”
“I should know you're my child. I gave birth to you.”
Anubis watched the two actors play a game of cat and mouse with each other. One the manipulator, the other the former naive child.
“Did you start sleeping with John before or after you killed Father?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don't lie to me, Mother. Did you think I wouldn't notice the way he looks at you? I don't care who you fuck...”
“Don't you dare speak to me like that! I am your mother,” the actress shouted.
“Mother! A mother is a person who cares for and nurtures their young. They don’t try to kill them!” Star pulled his shirt down, revealing a knife scar that stretched from ear to ear. The actress turned her head, not wanting to see it. “Look at me,” Star growled. “This is what you have done to me, and I can only guess what you did to my father before you killed him.”
“I don't have to sit here and take this,” the actress said and stood.
“Sit down!”
The mother didn’t listen, and Star grabbed her with a hand around the neck before she could take a step away from her chair. Anubis could see the shock on both the actors' faces. He sighed in relief because Star would always freeze at this part. He smiled, waiting in anticipation for the next part, and he was not disappointed when the scene took on a whole new meaning.
Good boy.
Although Anubis watched the scene as the director, he paid closer attention to Star as a dom, even when he had no right to. He couldn't take his eyes off the boy's every move throughout the day. Since their night together, Anubis had been unable to get Star out of his mind and wanted him more than ever. It was an unfamiliar feeling for him to be so captivated by someone without knowing they felt the same way. Despite his feelings, he could not stop himself from wanting to pursue the sub romantically.
His moral compass about not mixing business with pleasure went out the window the night they slept together. And for whatever odd reason, he couldn't seem to walk away, even if he wanted to. The thought that Star was his forever one kept playing in his mind like a broken record, and even though he was a god, he had difficulty coming to grips with the idea. However, his plan to approach Star as a potential mate must be at the right moment. Star was an inexperienced actor, he could see the hunger for fame in the boy's eyes, so Anubis knew it would be prudent not to distract him with a passionate and demanding lover like himself, but he still yearned to be near the other man. This was why he accepted this job and all his other duties.
"Can you sense that?" Anubis heard a hushed voice coming from his left.
"He's really good. I'm getting goosebumps just watching him! I'm really curious why he didn't want to do the scene," the person responded.
The tension in the air was palpable as Star violently pushed his mother and unleashed his pent-up rage with each bitter word. Anubis could feel the emotion radiating from the scene. And for a moment, he thought Star was no longer acting; when Star reached for the knife and fatally slashed his mother, the intensity of the climax took the entire set aback.
“Cut, and that's a wrap!” Anubis yelled the second Star dropped the knife and backed away, cowering in a corner. As the actress rose from her position on the floor, she grinned, and a few of the actors came over to congratulate her on a job well done. Anubis, however, moved past her without a second glance. He strode forward and gently lifted Star off the ground. He spoke softly, offering comfort and reassurance, as he carried Star back to his trailer. “It's all right,” Anubis murmured, “you're safe now.”
Chapter Twelve
ANUBIS
Anubis's brows furrowed, wondering what Star may have experienced in his life, making him lose himself in the scene. Anubis knew very little about Star's backstory. He had lost his parents at different times when he was a child and had been sent to live with family members. After graduating high school, Star worked hard to attend a few drama classes when he could afford them, working part-time and getting a few modeling gigs here and there. But to Anubis, it wasn’t anything out of the norm for most struggling actors who were hoping and praying for their big Hollywood break. So it didn’t explain what could have caused him to forget himself.
He sat in the dark, holding Star close to his chest, for mighty Ra knew how long, until he realized Star had fallen asleep. Anubis stared down at the boy's sleeping face and noticed how tight his brows were. Star whimpered and nuzzled into his chest. His fingers grabbed tightly to Anubis's shirt. He was shivering, as if having a nightmare, making Anubis worry even more that he was the cause of Star's pain.
I should have held off and listened to his reasons for not wanting to do the scene or why he had trouble with it.
Anubis had never been one to doubt his own actions, but he realized he’d been doing a lot of that lately. Burying his face in Star’s soft red curls, Anubis sent some more calming energy into him when Star whimpered as if in pain. As a god, he could enter Star's consciousness to see what he was dreaming about, but he had a thing about invading others' privacy. The only thing he could do now was comfort him. Raising a hand, he stroked a finger on his eyebrows, hoping to soothe him.
He softly murmured a charm, wishing to make the nightmare Star was experiencing vanish or drift away. Star's furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and his breathing became deep and steady. His alluring lips parted invitingly, and Anubis felt a powerful urge to kiss them; however, he restrained himself since Star was not formally his yet. With a contented smile, Anubis sat with Star in his embrace for a few more moments before carefully rising to his feet without waking him. The lad felt incredibly comfortable in his arms. Yet, Anubis was worried since Star seemed to be quite thin.
Is he eating properly? I'll fatten him up once he becomes mine.
