Chloe felt a sharp current pass through her body the moment their fingers touched.
To hide it, she lifted the flask and drank too fast. The alcohol hit her throat hard. She coughed, eyes watering, one hand covering her mouth as the burn spread through her chest.
Cough! Cough
Lucas chuckled.
He didn't reach for her. He didn't comment on the cough. He simply leaned back against the cave wall, hands folding behind his head, the mana lamp throwing clean lines of light across his chest and abdomen. The wound on his shoulder had already closed enough to leave only a dark smear of blood. Everything else was bare.
Chloe's eyes betrayed her for half a second.
Then she looked away.
"You… Why are you still undressed? Get dressed."
Lucas's smile deepened, lazy and unbothered.
"My coat is soaked. My shirt is torn. If I put them back on, I'll freeze before the wolves even find us." He tilted his head. "Unless you'd rather I sit here shivering so you can feel safer."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
She opened her mouth, then shut it again. The truth sat too close to the surface. If she spoke carelessly, it would come out whether she wanted it to or not.
Lucas watched her struggle and let the silence work for him.
"You're staring," he said quietly.
"I'm not."
The lie never made it all the way out. Her voice caught on the last word, and both of them heard it.
Chloe's face burned. She shoved the flask back toward him without looking.
"Take it."
Lucas accepted it, their fingers brushing again — slower this time, because he didn't pull away immediately. The contact lasted only a breath longer than necessary. Chloe's shoulders tensed.
Lucas studied her face, then let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
"Why are you acting like a virgin? Don't tell me—"
The words died halfway.
Chloe's face went steam-red. The silence that followed was louder than any confession.
Realization flashed across Lucas's eyes.
"Oh. You've been dating for a while now, haven't you?"
Chloe didn't answer.
She didn't need to. Her silence was all the answer he needed.
Lucas could have pushed. He didn't. Truth be told, he was not that interested in Chloe Bennett. She was Alex's girl. A useful piece. A pretty complication. If she ever came to him on her own, that would be another matter. Until then, there was no reason to force the issue.
Chloe's voice came out low.
"Alex is going to kill you if he finds out we're here like this."
Lucas's eyes gleamed.
"Yeah? We haven't done anything yet."
He reached into his spatial ring and pulled out a compact sleeping bag as if the conversation had already bored him. The magical item expanded the moment it touched the cave floor, filling most of the remaining space. In a cave this small, there was nowhere else to put it except between them.
Lucas tossed it open with one hand.
"I'm going to sleep," he said, already lying down. "If you need anything, wake me up. Don't be shy."
Chloe huffed and curled into her own corner.
What a rude bastard.
Lucas had been playing with her from the moment he saved her. At first she had felt a gratitude she couldn't put into words. She had told herself she would repay that debt once they returned to Earth. Then one incident after another had dragged them here — wet, trapped, and far too close.
And the growing itch between her thighs was becoming difficult to control.
What kind of curse is this?
Her hand moved down without her permission. The moment her fingers pressed against the damp fabric over her folds, her breathing turned ragged. She tried to meditate. She tried to distract herself. Time stretched until every second felt thicker than the last.
She turned toward Lucas.
He already looked asleep. For the first time, she studied his face without him watching her back. She had known from the beginning that he and Alex were related. The features were there. But she didn't want to admit the rest of it.
Lucas had a mature charm Alex didn't have.
After talking to him, that difference felt even sharper.
Alex always walks the straight path. But Lucas…
She bit her lip. Her fingers were already rubbing slowly against her slit before she realized what she was doing.
He doesn't care about anyone. He doesn't even care that I'm his brother's girlfriend. What a bad fellow.
Her eyes lingered on him with a heat she hated.
Then it hit her.
Chloe stiffened and looked down at her own hand, as if it belonged to someone else.
Oh my god. What the hell am I doing?
She pulled her hand back at once. Her eyes snapped toward Lucas, terrified he had seen that shameful act. He was still lying on his side, breathing evenly. Only then did she let out a shaky breath.
And why am I comparing him to Alex?
The thought made her stomach twist.
This is just the drug. It has to be. I'm not actually interested in him.
Her hands curled against her chest. The cold was getting worse by the second. They were Awakeners, but the climate in Pandemonium was nothing like Earth. The damp stone drank the heat from her soaked uniform until her teeth nearly started to chatter.
Time passed.
Chloe kept shivering. Across from her, Lucas slept peacefully on the portable bed. Heating runes glowed faintly along its edges. She could see the warmth rising off it.
Should I just take the corner?
He had told her to help herself. For a moment she fought the idea. Pride. Guilt. The memory of her own hand between her thighs.
Exhaustion won.
She moved slowly onto the bed and pressed herself as far into the corner as the cave allowed. There still wasn't much distance between them. The heat from the runes touched her skin almost immediately.
Chloe turned toward the cave wall, thighs pressed tightly together, and closed her eyes.
She told herself she would not move any closer.
And she failed.
The heating runes helped, but not enough. The damp armor clung to her like ice, and every time she exhaled, the cave air stole the warmth back out of her lungs. The corner she had claimed felt farther from the heat than it should have.
She inched closer.
Just a little.
The difference was immediate. The runes warmed her shoulder. Her breathing slowed. She froze, waiting to see if Lucas would wake.
He didn't.
Minutes passed. Then her body moved again, shorter this time, as if the decision belonged to someone else. Her back brushed the edge of his arm. Heat bled through that single point of contact and spread down her spine.
Chloe bit her lip.
Just until I stop shaking.
She stayed there longer than she meant to. The itch under her skin had not faded. The drug, the cold, the alcohol, and the closeness stacked on top of each other until her thoughts grew thick and slow. Alex's face rose in her mind. She pushed it away. Then it came back. Then Lucas's voice replaced it.
Don't be shy.
Her next shift brought her flush against his side.
Lucas's body was warmer than the runes. Broader. Solid. Chloe's wet hair spilled across his chest, and she felt his breathing rise and fall beneath her cheek before she realized she had turned toward him at all.
Her eyes opened.
She was close enough to see the faint scar near his collarbone. Close enough to smell blood, river water, and the last trace of alcohol on him. Her thighs were still pressed together. That didn't stop the heat gathering there.
Chloe bit her lip as her gaze dropped to his bare abdomen, then lower. The resting bulge beneath the fabric made her face flush. Her nails pressed into her own palm.
The truth was, Chloe had always been the shy type.
She also had a dark secret no one knew.
If Alex ever learned how much porn she watched — and what kind — she wondered how he would look at her. She had hidden that part of herself behind modest smiles and careful distance. Alex treated her like something precious. That should have made her feel safe.
Strangely, she felt safer in Lucas's presence.
She didn't want to admit it. But the more he treated her like a nuisance instead of a treasure, the more comfortable she became.
As the jewel of the Bennett family, Chloe had always been treated like a glass doll — something too precious to be stained by the world. That protection had never quieted her curiosity. She had always wanted to know what the real world felt like.
For the first time, she was away from her family. Away from Alex. Away from every hand that decided things for her. The situation did not favor her. Even so, she liked making her own choices more than she liked being protected.
Now, looking at Lucas's bare chest, she wanted to feel it. Touch it. Whether that want came from the drug or from something she had hidden for years, she didn't know. She only knew she wanted it.
The cave air was cold against her damp uniform, but the heat coming off his skin was different — dry, steady, alive. Her hand rose hesitantly. It hovered over his chest long enough for her to feel the warmth radiating upward before her fingers even made contact. She pulled back at the last second. She couldn't pull away completely.
Just a touch. He won't know.
She glanced at his face again. He still looked asleep. Slowly, she placed her palm against him.
His skin was hotter than she expected. Firm. The muscle beneath didn't give. She could feel the slow, heavy beat of his heart under her hand and the faint stickiness of dried river water along his collarbone.
Umm. How hard.
A small, mischievous smile touched her lips. She tapped his chest, then rubbed her fingers back and forth. The friction left a trail of heat across her fingertips. When she brushed his nipple by accident, the small point stiffened under her touch. She flinched.
Lucas didn't wake. His breathing stayed deep and even, warm against the top of her hair.
Chloe bit her lip and let her hand drift lower. Her fingers traced the lines of his abdomen, following the ridges as they tightened and relaxed with each breath. The skin there was smoother, warmer, still faintly damp. A soft sound almost escaped her throat.
Not bad. Even without proper training, he kept his body well.
That thought made her like him a little more than she wanted to.
Then she saw it.
The fabric over his crotch shifted with a quiet rustle. A thick length rose against his trousers, stretching the material until the outline became unmistakable in the dim blue light. Chloe's eyes widened. Heat flooded her face. Her mouth opened.
"What…?"
She couldn't finish the word. The cave suddenly felt smaller. She could smell blood, river water, alcohol, and the clean heat of his skin all at once. Between her thighs, the leftover itch from the smoke pulsed in time with her heartbeat.
From the shadows, the Imp observed everything with surgical calm. It could not manipulate this woman's mind — her talent sat too firmly in mental capabilities. Even so, it watched the scene unfold with quiet admiration.
I cannot twist her thoughts. But it seems Master does not need me to.
The little devil nodded to itself, loyal and pleased.
Umu. As always… I have so much to learn from my master.
**
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