Chapter 155 - 156 | Two to Go
Chapter 155 - 156 | Two to Go
The combination of my fingers and the drain and the relentless rhythm pushed her over. She came with a strangled cry, her inner muscles clenching around me in waves. The drain exploded open, her Essentia flooding through in a surge that tasted like everything good and dangerous about her.
I followed immediately, the feedback from her orgasm triggering mine. My vision whited out as I emptied inside her, the healing ability activating automatically and pouring into her along with everything else.
For several heartbeats we just breathed, tangled together and glowing faintly from the residual energy still cycling between us.
"Well," she said eventually. "That was conclusive."
I laughed, still inside her, feeling her body pulse around me with aftershocks. "Conclusive about what?"
"Your refractory period claim." She clenched deliberately, making me groan. "And the healing properties of your... various fluids."
"Feeling the stat boost?"
"I feel like I could run a marathon." Her pathways dimmed slowly, returning to their resting luminosity. "Or spar with Solana and actually win."
"How long does it last?"
"Unknown." She pushed at my chest until I rolled off her, both of us breathing hard. "That’s why we need more trials. Establish a baseline duration. Test variables."
"Variables like what?"
"Position. Intensity. Whether the boost scales with volume or simply presence of the fluid." Her scientific curiosity was genuinely aroused now, which was almost as attractive as everything else about her. "This could revolutionize support-type hero partnerships."
I turned my head to look at her, this woman who’d been a four-star hero and walked away from it because she got bored. "Is that what we are? A hero partnership?"
She met my eyes, her expression unreadable. "We’re an arrangement. You need someone who understands what you are and won’t report you. I need data on the most fascinating Essentia I’ve encountered in decades."
"Just data?"
"Primarily." Her hand found mine between us, fingers interlacing. "Though I’ll admit the fringe benefits exceed expectations."
My phone buzzed again. I ignored it.
"You should probably answer," she said. "Before your girlfriends stage an intervention."
"They’re fine."
"They’re worried." She squeezed my hand. "Text them. I need to shower anyway."
She stood, completely unselfconscious about her nakedness, and stretched with her arms above her head. Every line and curve and glowing pathway on display. I watched appreciatively until she caught me staring and smirked.
"Shower," she repeated. "Unless you’d like to join me and fall further behind schedule?"
I considered it seriously. The drain pulsed warm between us even with ten feet of distance. My body was already interested in round three despite having just finished round two.
But Cheon would actually kill me if I stayed away all day without proper warning.
"Rain check," I said, sitting up. My ribs felt perfect. The ankle that had been fractured yesterday moved without pain. The healing from sex was becoming my favorite ability.
Laurana disappeared into the bathroom, and I heard water start running. I grabbed my phone and opened the group chat properly.
Rome: coming home soon
Rome: couple hours max
Cheon: define soon
Rome: before dinner
Mera: shes making a spreadsheet
Mera: i can see her doing it
Cheon: organization prevents problems
Rome: I’ll text when I leave
Rome: promise
Cheon: you better
Mera: bring food
Mera: and make sure u can walk
Mera: unlike the professor
I grinned and set the phone down, listening to the shower run. Laurana was singing something in the bathroom. Off-key and completely unaware she was doing it.
The image didn’t fit with the terrifying professor who assigned three essays a week and scared students into dropping her advanced seminars.
I liked the contradiction.
I found my clothes scattered across the bedroom floor and started getting dressed. My shirt had scorch marks from yesterday’s fire usage. The pants were mostly intact. Good enough.
The shower shut off and Laurana emerged wrapped in a towel, her wet hair darker and clinging to her shoulders. She saw me dressed and paused.
"Leaving already?"
"Girlfriends," I reminded her. "Calculus review. The usual domestic nonsense."
"Mm." She moved to her closet and dropped the towel without ceremony, pulling out clothes while I tried and failed not to stare. "When can I see you again?"
"For research purposes?"
"Obviously." She glanced back over her shoulder, catching me looking. "What else would it be?"
"Right. Science."
She pulled on underwear and a simple black dress, transforming from naked professor to professional woman in under a minute. "Wednesday evening. Same time. I’ll have preliminary analysis of yesterday’s data ready for review."
"Looking forward to it."
She walked me to the door, her hand on my lower back. At the threshold, she turned me to face her and kissed me properly. The drain opened automatically, cycling between us for a few warm seconds before she pulled back.
"You’re going to ruin me," she said quietly.
"You started it."
"I did." Her smile held acknowledgment of that truth. "Now I get to finish it."
I left her apartment with that promise hanging between us, taking the elevator down while my phone continued buzzing with notifications I’d address later. The morning air felt cool after hours wrapped in Laurana’s heat.
Marco waited at the curb with the Mercedes, not a single question on his professional face about where I’d been all night.
"Home," I said, sliding into the back seat.
He pulled into traffic smoothly. "The young ladies inquired about your estimated arrival time."
"Did they."
"Miss Cross was quite insistent." His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. "Miss Cheon was... organized in her concerns."
That tracked.
I checked my status screen while Marco drove, pulling up the information only I could see. My protagonist percentage had climbed to seven point six percent. Still pathetic compared to Nolan’s decades of accumulated heroism, but progress was progress.
The Harem Lord quest showed new information. Laurana Reeves had entered the roster as Heroine Number Five, her affection level sitting at forty-two percent and climbing. Her status marked her as "Active - Research Partnership" with compatibility ratings in the high eighties.
Five down. Two to go.
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