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Nidev glanced back at her, getting hit with another assault. He’d forgotten how beautiful she was. Her attire was always respectful, but that definition, filtered through the lust, took a very nasty turn. Fitted blue jeans hugged her voluptuous shape and that tucked in black satin blouse was just loose enough to showcase more voluptuous perfection. The black heeled boots made this more than just a mistake, it was a fatal error.

He shoved these burning revelations into the mental cage he’d built for public warfare. All the lusty offspring his monster produced were put there with the promise of dealing with them later. He wasn’t sure yet if this appeasement was also feeding them—that remained to be learned.

“Long time no see! You look great as usual, but don’t you always?”

“It’s good to see you too,” he said, as she launched into her usual updates while his lust filter dissected and translated at a frenzied pace. Nidev realized that by allowing this odd filter to operate, he could use it as an informant. Not for the females but for his enemy. By allowing it to have its way on a leash, he gained insight into said ways. As she went on in great exuberance, the filter broke off into layers. Her smell. The silky sounds in her voice. The taste of her words. The meaning of her body language. And a final filter for her gift.

“And that’s about it.” She clasped her perfectly manicured hands before her, capping her month-long dissertation with one of her signature smiles. The one she poured all her heart and soul into. He’d always liked it but now he was officially fighting a hostile obsession with it.

“And what have you been up to?” she asked. “Working on your moon tanning? I can see you’re still working out.”

Nidev rose from the couch, needing to put distance between them when the filters compiled and gave him a final read out on his star student. Her lust levels were maxed out. All filters read her at one hundred percent aroused and turned on. “Would you care for something to drink?” he asked at the fridge, certain that read out was wrong.

“Sure, I’ll take a water.”

He grabbed two and made his way back, handing her one. As far as he could remember, Lyric was just being Lyric. But then… how would he know if he’d deliberately kept all such signs tuned out so as not to be distracted. And if she’d always behaved this way, what did that mean? She’d been lusting for him for over four years?

Fucking nonsense.

This was her natural exuberance, her passion for life and joy. Which meant the filter was counting all forms of lust, including the one for living.

He needed to somehow test that.

“So, seriously, how are you?” she demanded again, digging through her leather satchel, and whipping out a paper. “There’s a lot of rumors going round,” she sang, eyeing him with a smile that got labeled as seductive. No, he countered. Sweet.

She crossed the distance and handed it to him. “Guess who drew that?”

His gaze quickly gulped down the tanned silk peeking through the top of her black satin blouse before he looked at the penciled drawing. “Uhhh, a resurrected Picasso?”

“Right?” she giggled. “Julian did it. He wanted you to have it. I may brag about you,” she whispered, the scent of her perfume coupled with her whisper feeding every demon inside him.

She laughed as she returned to the chair, too far away and not far enough. She’d mentioned rumors. It was another reason for the meeting. The students weren’t stupid and he needed to know exactly what they knew or thought they knew.

But first he wanted to address what she hid in her soft mocha eyes. His gifts were all over it. “Maybe tell me about the shadows you’re hiding behind that blinding light in your eyes.”

She went suddenly serious then covered her face and flopped back onto the chair. The little sound of defeat in her throat brought a celebration to his cock, as if it counted it as a point. If this lust got off to these kinds of victories, he’d be in a real fix since conquering all challenges was his prime passion.

“It’s about Julian.”

A spark of concern entered the playing field. “Is he okay?”

“I’m just worried about him.” She looked down at her hands as the terrors of their reality bled through her words. “They closed all the schools and Bob lost his job.”

He sensed she had a question. “Ask me what you need from me. You know I will always help you if it’s in my power to.”

She slowly leaned forward, face cast down as she offered him a tiny smile. “Thank you, Mr. Nidev, for always caring about me. Not one single nice thing you’ve done for me has ever gone unnoticed and unappreciated. And I would be so thrilled to take on extra work during these crazy times—”

“Ask me, Lyric.”

She paused and released a breath. “What are the odds that we could bring my brother here to live with me? I have savings—”

“Yes. We can and will get your brother. Are your parents okay with this?”

She nodded, making her shiny black curls bounce while more shadows loomed. “I told them that I would send them money and like I said, I have savings I’ll use, and you know I’m a hard worker, I’m happy to take extra—”

Her words froze when he silenced her with a hand. “You are still a student at this academy and my responsibility.”

Her face softened as she pled, “With all due respect Mr. Nidev, I’m twenty-five years old. I can be an asset to the academy.”

“Age is irrelevant, you know this. And you already are a great asset to this institution.”

She stared at him, her eyes softening more with a small smile. “Alright, Mr. Nidev. You’re the boss. Whatever you decide, I will happily respect.”

“We will ensure your parents are taken care of as long as it’s within our power to do that. Anything else you fear bringing to me?”

Again, she covered her face, but this time with a laugh before lowering them. “What I would give to have your gifts.”

“You do have a great deal of my gifts with your voice.”

She gave a small shrug of her shoulder. “Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have no voice at all.” Her wide-eyed confession caught him off guard.

“Why?” It was the standard mentor thing to ask but he genuinely wanted to hear her speak the answer.

She watched herself lace and unlace her fingers. “It gets tiring.”

The new, vulnerable emotion interested him. “How so?”

“Maybe…” She looked off to the right. “I don’t like always causing things in people.” She brought a sweet smile back to him. “Maybe I wonder if I would just… stop existing in people’s minds if I didn’t have that stupid power.”

He highly doubted that. “Then learn how not to use it.”

She stilled in utter surprise before the hint of a smile threatened. “Mr. Lore would have your head on a platter if he heard you say that.”

He allowed a grin. “That’s why I’m your mentor and not your teacher. I’m here to help you solve real world problems.”

She gave a snort and eye roll. “It’s not exactly real -world problems.”

“They are your problems, and they are real, and you are in the world, and you are important. Real important world problems.”

She sobered and lowered her gaze when tears filled them. “Sorry, I…” She wiped them quickly and the sight of her in weakness became an instant turn on. “I never cry!” Her tears continued and he watched in aroused fascination as she attempted to gather herself and fail. “My God what is wrong with me, I’m so sorry,” she gasped, a sob escaping.

Nidev struggled between the right thing to say and studying the affects her odd behavior had on this lust disease. “Crying is healthy,” he defaulted. “And a sign of inner strength.”

“Oh really,” she doubted. “You cry?”

“No,” he said, smiling at the laugh she belted out.

“That’s what I thought.”

“For a woman it’s…” Hmmm. Normal was no longer accurate. More like… “Beautiful.”

Again, she froze, her glittery shocked eyes aimed at him before she filled the air with another laugh. “If that came from any other mouth, it wouldn’t be so dang funny,” she said, those earlier lingering shadows returning.

“You still have things to say to me.”

She shot off the chair and paced before it. He felt like he was watching porn as his gaze followed every curve, stamping each angle with a bold Perfection.

“It’s Zack,” she finally said.

His eyes rose at hearing the problem weighing. “What about Zack?”

She stopped pacing and faced him with both hands up, fingers spread wide as she seemed to hold her breath. “He has a crush on me,” she gushed. “I see it and I think he thinks I don’t see it and… I don’t know how to handle it and need your help.” She quickly sat now, holding his gaze.

Zack having a crush on her was not a shock. What was more interesting was why that was hard for her to tell him. “Are you sure it’s a crush?”

She nodded a lot. “I have experience with them. I know what they look like.”

Interesting. How did she have experience? “Why was that so hard for you to tell me?” he decided to ask first.

“Because I think he needs another mentor, and I don’t want you to think I’m just quitting something.”

He threw out the necessary, “And why do you think this?”

“Because it’s only going to get worse. The more kind I am to him, the more he’ll fall in love and the harder it’ll be for him. I just don’t want to hurt him, he was one of my first friends when I got here and I found out he was hurt he wasn’t picked for my prodigy pairing,” she added with a wide-eyed nod.

He was stuck on her knowing so well how those things worked. “What sort of experience do you have with this?”

Her brows furrowed with a weird smile as she wagged him off. “Just… normal schoolgirl crush stuff.”

Had she liked Lore? “This school?” he asked, realizing it could have been prior.

She smacked her hands in her lap, chastising him with her gaze. “It’s irrelevant. Besides, every girl in this school has crushes on all of the Kings.”

Which King? And why was this information life and death to him suddenly? “I’m entirely unfamiliar with this concept.”

“You’re unfamiliar with the concept of a crush ,” she clearly highly doubted.

“Not the term, just the experience.”

She nodded. “That makes sense. You have that hard-ass shield blocking such nonsense from the earliest of ages.”

“Really,” he said, mildly surprised. “And how do you know this?”

The sly smile she gave wrapped itself around his cock. “Because I did a report on you. We had to pick a King and since you were my Mentor, I picked you. Two birds with one stone.”

A report on him. “How did you come by your information?” he asked, ready to have a discussion with whoever gave it.

“Several of the Kings were happy to help.”

“I’m sure,” he said, already guessing exactly which ones.

“But it was just basic information. Backstory type stuff. Place of birth, family, major life events, standard stuff. I know you trained your ass off and earned every single thing you’ve accomplished. Hence, you’re my hero.”

Cute. But what was this strained nonchalance she displayed trying to tell him? Why did she really pick him? Now he also wanted to know why she’d picked him for her Mentor. They weren’t permitted to ask but he was permitted to obtain information in other ways. “So, you picked the boring King for a quick assignment.”

This time when she laughed, it brought a new label. Lust with a heat signature. And what did that mean? He couldn’t find out fast enough. “There is nothing boring about you Mr. Nidev. And I never pick easy assignments. I found you to be the most interesting.”

“And that alone is interesting.”

Another heat signature laugh. “You’re the quietest. And mysterious. I guess call me nosy.”

She was withholding so much it was nearly lying. “Sorry to disappoint,” he murmured, opening his water, and taking a swig.

“ That you did not do. You didn’t know I did a report?” she asked, surprised. Fishing.

“I did not,” he said, closing his water.

“You want to know what I loved most about my findings?”

Loved. He very much did but he took a moment to consider. “Seems I actually do.”

Another seductively hot laugh. “The way you lost your hair and why you got that tattoo. I think it’s the most badass thing I’ve ever heard. And I know you’re not allowed to ask about why students pick Mentors but, I picked you because you represented everything I wanted to be. Strong. Fearless. Sharp. Merciless in perfection. I needed that. And you did not disappoint.”

He angled his head, trying to decipher the thing she kept leaving out. He did disappoint her, but not about that. Did it have to do with the prodigy academy? “What about with the prodigy academy? How’d I do there?”

The wreck of emotions on her lovely face was captivating.

“Really,” he said in mild surprise at the display, getting more of it with a vigorous nod.

“You sucked. George was the worst person. For me,” she corrected. “Whatever algorithm or fancy formula you all used for that, glitched on us.”

He recalled her reasons for asking to cancel the contract. “I believe you said he was too weak for father material on the dissolution form.”

“Among other things,” she barely said.

“I don’t recall more.”

“Because I didn’t put it,” she confessed with a mix of frustration and guilt. “Look… George was nice enough,” she said. “A real go-getter. He tried very hard to make that arrangement work and so did I, but in the end it wasn’t enough. And honestly, I didn’t realize entirely why at the time.”

That brought a dozen need to know answers. “George ticked off all the boxes that made him a thousand percent husband and father material.”

“And I’m not saying he isn’t going to make a great father and husband, just not to me. And I’m willing to say that I was the wrong pick for him. ”

He was only puzzled more. “What did you mean when you said he was too weak for father material?”

More guilt came as her gaze meandered. “Mr. Nidev, I didn’t even know at the time how to put it into words. Writing isn’t my strong suit and I sure as hell wasn’t going to voice it.”

His cock was officially fascinated. “Everything that’s said here, stays here. Legally,” he reminded, ready for every detail.

The worry on her face wavered a little. “You can’t ever tell him I said this.”

He acknowledged with a single nod, and she took a deep breath.

“I realize now that poor George was doomed from the start with the way the whole class was set up to disregard women’s feelings and needs. The ones that go beyond being a prodigy factory.”

The crude yet accurate description of timeless hours and planning for that promising empire stung.

“I literally was not allowed to want more than what I was told I should so that’s one reason you never heard a word about it. For the first half of our relationship, I strived to be what the curriculum outlined a wife was to be. And when needs arose that didn’t line up with the curriculum, I mostly kept it to myself.”

“Mostly?”

“I made the mistake of telling George and of course he saw me as flawed but also wanted to help me because he’s really a sweet man and… wanted to succeed like I did.”

“So, he helped meet this… mysterious need?”

Head shake. “If he had, I might still be with him. He tried to help me get rid of the need since it was deemed by the curriculum to be secondary which amounted to unnecessary.”

What the hell was she referring to? “Exactly what is this need?” he gently asked.

She was suddenly at the edge of some cliff, and he’d just asked her to jump.

“You don’t have to answer,” he reminded.

“Pleasure,” she forced out. “I wanted pleasure in prodigy production.”

He took that hit directly in his cock. “Coitus is pleasurable for male and female.”

Shame flashed over her face before she lowered it. “Which meant something was wrong with me and I didn’t want that getting out either. So, I just… pretended I enjoyed it for as long as I could, until I couldn’t.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he assured, despising his stupidity more than ever. “The program was faulty. If anybody was flawed it was the Kings. We know this now.”

She aimed sympathetic dark eyes at him. “We can all claim ignorance in that regard. I for one had no idea that every woman has different needs and different ways of getting them met. I especially didn’t know that if these needs aren’t met in a woman, she dies inside and yet goes on living.”

“Have you spoken to the Belle Eveque?”

She gave a slow nod. “I did. She helped me understand so much . And you’re right, there’s nothing at all wrong with me, I’m completely normal and it’s okay to want pleasure and there are so many other ways of getting it besides coitus.”

This news dumped a barrage of images involving masturbation and deliciously prolonged, borderline sadistic foreplay.

“I know that the Kings all meant well with the prodigy program Mr. Nidev, please don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“You do know me well,” he said, oddly not bothered as the war raged in his mind and body.

“And I’m so happy you’re all letting Belle Eveque help with it. How could you possibly know something you have no experience in?” she reminded, her coddling only arousing him more. And why was he aroused? He’d forgotten to keep track of his little demons.

“Soooo, what about you?” she suddenly said, officially disarming him.

“Me?”

She nodded with a wince. “ Everybody’s talking about the… bat bite.”

Fuck. “And what did you hear?”

This wince came with a layer of embarrassment. “Just that it uh… had an… effect on all the celibate Kings.”

Holier fuck. “It’s been quite the interesting project,” he said casually.

Her brows rose with her constant little nods. “I bet. How are you holding up? Was thinking you might cancel our meeting. Not that you’d be tempted by me but because you wouldn’t want me to worry. Which I wouldn’t,” she assured, making her curls dance with the shake of her head. The onslaught of delectable cues she gave off put a steady hum in his cock.

“Glad to know that.”

“Which part?” she wondered, chewing on her lower lip, and waving her hand. “Never mind.”

“That you trust me,” he said, not wanting her to think he couldn’t lust after her. He surely could and surely was.

“I just heard you seemed to be steering clear of people. I’m glad you don’t feel the need to do that with me.”

“I feel the need to fight through whatever problems I encounter and do my job,” he said.

“Absolutely,” she agreed, appearing half worried, but about what, he wasn’t sure. “So is it like… something you can’t control or… we’re all curious about what actually is happening. Unless you can’t say,” she hurried with both hands up.

By the time he finished explaining how the bite works, her eyes were huge. “So, all your gifts are… tripled?”

He chuckled, eyeing her as he took another swig of water. “Why would this worry you? Unless you’re hiding things from me.”

Adamant head shake as she stared at him wide-eyed. Fuck, she was beautiful. And he wanted to know what those silky curls would feel like in his fists.

“Are you sure about that?” he gently pressed, wishing she’d confess whatever she was still hiding.

Her hands flew up and covered her face. “It was you I had a crush on! I’m sorry, I was young, and I got over it, but I don’t want you to see it in my head somehow and think I still have it.” Her hands fell away, and her wide eyes were back on him. “I don’t have it still. I mean I care about you, and I like you as a person but that’s it,” she swiped the air sharply. “You taught me how to overcome and master my emotions and I did. And I must’ve done well, or you would’ve known all this,” she realized.

He put an arm on the back of the couch and his ankle on his knee to hide what her confession did to him. “I’m not bothered by a student’s crush, Lyric. It’s not that I couldn’t see them, I chose not to see them. That’s what my job requires.”

Had she always been this sexy and adorable? Those expressive eyes were busy connecting dots before she lowered them to her clasped hands in her lap. “Okay,” she said, the word breathless. “Good.”

“And I’m still not bothered by crushes from my students. If anything, I have more ability to ignore them.” Apparently, he could lie three times better as well.

She flashed him the fakest smile. “Glad I’m easy to deal with. That’s what I’ve been working on being.”

He lowered his eyes when her truthful lies boiled his blood and brought his lust to a new abominable low. Or was it a high? Either meant dangerous. He felt everything shifting inside him and waited eagerly to see where it ended up. There was no place it could settle he wouldn’t want. Right now, he wanted to talk more about this crush. “But I am honored to have been crushed on by you.”

“Ah,” she said, nodding, still breathless and wanting to hide. “It can be a compliment.”

“How is your boyfriend situation?”

Brief confusion then, “Oh. Non-existent still.”

“So, Patrick didn’t work out?”

“Pffft, God no. He was way too slow for me.”

“And what do you want him hurrying with?”

“Anything! He’s sweet as can be but I knew when he was content to spend two whole hours creating shapes out of the clouds that it wasn’t going to work.”

Nidev had to chuckle. “That’s surely a five-minute task.”

“Is it even a task?” she laughed. “It was torture. And he stayed like five feet from me. I don’t think he even knows what bases are with girls.”

“So, you have a game plan for that?”

She regarded him. “For what?”

“Bases. What’s the perfect play a guy can make? Holding hands, base one. Kissing base two? What’s a home run for you? Or a foul ball?”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Are you mocking me? I can’t tell.”

“No, I’m genuinely curious and ignorant on these matters as you now know.”

Her exuberant laugh cleared the way. “Holding hands, yes, first base. Second base, a kiss. Third base…” she squinted up. “A confession.”

“A confession?”

Slow, steady nod. “Declaring his intention.”

“And then?”

“And then…” She threw up her hands. “No clue! Haven’t made it to that. Obviously, I’m not a virgin but I’ve never done the whole date scene.”

His demons exploded out of their cage and gnawed on the head of his dick at that announcement. Thankfully, the propped position of his leg hid his massive hard on. “Well, don’t brag, I haven’t been to any bases,” he said, bringing her beautiful laugh.

“Awww, you’re so innocent,” she teased. “Probably why I felt safe to have a crush on you. That whole celibacy thing made me brave I think.”

“I’m surprised the rumor about the Kings marrying hasn’t circulated yet.”

He watched her shock like a pervert watching sick porn. “You’re getting married?”

Getting singled out felt like his favorite candy. “That’s the plan.”

Her mouth remained in that oval as he mentally licked and sucked every inch of it. “The Kings agreed to this?”

“Rukem has already taken a wife. Vex is currently taking one. Lore is a day away from taking one.”

“King Lore?” she gasped. “ My teacher?”

“Yes. Did you have a crush on him too?”

The snap of her brows together brought his grin that he held back. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Imply I’m a slut,” she snipped. “You’re the only King I had a crush on. I learned my lesson with you very well.”

“Did you,” he mildly said, putting both arms on the back of the couch. Her gaze lowered to his chest, and he suddenly wished it was bare to receive such a look.

“And what about you? When are you marrying?”

“When I find a wife. My perfect match.”

She gave a rude snort. “I highly doubt she exists.”

He chuckled, pinching the bridge of his nose as he watched her. “Ouch, I guess.”

She leaned back and crossed her legs, and his mind got busy mapping out the shape of her ass where it met the leather. He was suddenly in a memory at the pool, with her storming off after he’d reprimanded her for something. He’d intentionally removed his eyes from her furious exit, but that one-piece swimsuit buried between her ass cheeks was clear as day in that second. As he allowed himself to stare at it in the memory, he realized. She had the most voluptuous ass.

“It really kind of irks me,” she decided, crossing her arms over her chest, oblivious to the jut she forced on the satin mounds. “How are you supposed to marry a woman with your level of dick-tation to your job? No woman will put up with that.”

“Dictation?”

“Dick slash tation. Your commitment to being Captain Hard ass about everything you put your mind to.”

“You think I can’t be dedicated to my job and obsessed over my wife at the same time?”

Mmm, he loved knocking her on her knees. She finally rolled her eyes, throwing an arm at him. “I guess you could, anal as you are. Which is one of the strengths I borrowed from you to get over that silly crush and squash all the emotions wanting to define my every step. And once I was free of that, I was able to become. Do you have prospects for a wife? Or are you using your standard tried and truly dumb methods. Orrrrrr, did you and the Kings build some kind of something to locate her.”

“One of the Marsh Kings is working with King Thakx on a program that would allow us to find a perfect match,” he said, grinning at how much her feisty side aroused him.

She gave him a ‘ These dumb ass fools’ head shake. “Y’all just don’t learn.”

“I’m trying to marry last,” he said, giving her a little more rope to play with.

“You don’t want to marry?” She seemed to forget he was reading her every expression three dimensionally, thankfully. Right now, she’d just told him exactly what he wanted to know. She wanted time. Hopefully, time to seduce him.

“Not at all,” he said.

“Then why are you?” she demanded incredulous.

“Because I agreed and I’m the leader.”

She leaned her body to the right now with more head shaking, like her brain didn’t know how to unpack this level of stupidity. “Well, I can tell you that love doesn’t like to be strategized,” she informed with a quick finger point. “It doesn’t want to be penned into the calendar or entered into an equation.” A second finger joined the first. “And nobody wants a man that needs reminders, they want a man that can’t forget,” she finished with a third finger.

He didn’t hold back his smile. “Duly noted, Miss Lyric.”

“Duly noted,” she muttered. “Have you ever even been on a single date?”

“Maybe I have other plans in mind.”

She quirked her brow, managing to be both curious and accusing. “Like?”

“Well, these marriages are supposed to be unlocking my gifts. But this bat bite has already done that. What exactly will this marriage be for besides adding more casualties for the war coming?”

“But you agreed to marry you said.”

“Not everybody defines marriage the same.”

She stared at him, confused. “Wait… if marriage is supposed to unlock your gifts, how exactly did this bat bite manage it?”

That was the question of the hour, wasn’t it? “I’m not really sure,” he half lied.

“Well, if there’s a way to know, I would find it,” she advised.

“The bite unlocks lust,” he confessed, lowering his gaze for that one. “Apparently cognitive gifts don’t distinguish between that and marriage or it was the lust that did it all along.”

Her troubled look was layered with things that demanded he dissect each slowly. “Or maybe love and lust are so integral, it assumes both. Like… healthy food and junk food. Food is food but the quality defines the integrity of the power it produces.”

Fuck, she blew his mind and his cock. “I like your answer best,” he said, enticing more of her advice.

“So, what will you do?” she wondered, leaning forward with her forearms on her legs, back to his concerned helper.

“About what?”

“About… getting out of marrying? About figuring out the integrity of your… upgrade? And will this last if it’s not done right? Will the carriage turn back into a pumpkin and you lose it?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “That’s a very strange expression.”

“Cinderella!” she cried. “The… never mind. What if you lose the abilities you’ve gained, then what?”

He considered that, then looked at her. “I’m hungry, would you care to stay for dinner?”

The question threw her, and she looked at her watch. “You’re eating late.”

He stood and went to the kitchen. “It’s been a crazy couple of weeks.”

“Sure, if you want me to.”

“I do,” he said, opening the fridge. “I’m afraid I need your help.”

“With what?” she asked, entering the kitchen and sitting at the small island.

“With this dilemma. How about a fried egg sandwich?”

“Oh. Yum. Sure.”

“You mind if I take a five-minute shower first?”

“Not at all. In fact, I can make the sandwiches while you do that. You got me hungry.”

“Perfect,” he said, setting everything on the counter for her. “You know where everything is.”

“Yes, go. My kitchen is nearly identical to yours.”

“Thank you. See you in five.”

Nidev hurried to the shower and turned it on to steaming hot as he ripped off his clothes. He entered and set the water flow to hammer and unhooked the shower head, sitting with it. He moved to the edge of the seat and opened his legs, aiming the thumping water at the head of his cock and balls while stroking himself and finally unleashing some of the fantasies burning him alive. “Oh fuck,” he gushed, rolling his hips nice and slow just like he’d done in his mind while fucking her mouth. His heightened gifts allowed him to nearly feel her throat pushing on the head of his cock.

So. Fucking. Good.

And so. Fucking. Bad.

He’d never allowed himself this far into the flames. But he needed to know what waited down at the bottom of it. He needed its very worst. Craved the hottest part. There was no denying that or finding a way to have it. As long as it was this. Him in his shower fantasizing things he had no business fantasizing. With her. Yes, her .

That fucking glorious bite . It turned him inside out. He didn’t know this person he was. What if she was right? What if it passed and he’d be back to needing to do it correctly.

Fun sick fact: He didn’t care about losing the gifts, he cared about losing the lust .

They needed to fix this. Living as this psychotic human wasn’t possible.

No, he just needed to survive the ride. Because he was surely going to ride it. Every day, every night, just like this. He’d come in that shower and relive every sadistic wrong fantasy he’d have about her. And only her. This thing was laser focused in every respect. It didn’t want to spread everywhere, it wanted to find a singular thing to ruin.

And she was officially that thing.

He braced a foot on the tiled wall, opening his legs more as he strangled the shower head like he did the fist of hair in his fantasy. Fuck it was like silk. And she loved it like he did. He was going insane. Nobody could fucking know what was going through his head. Especially her. And yet, already, strategic obsession coursed through his veins. He knew it too well not to recognize it. This lust was now a battlefield. And she would serve as his opponent. It wanted to stalk her. Hunt her. Prey on her.

She’d had a crush on him.

She had pleasure needs.

And as soon as he was done, he’d go out there in only his flannels and find those details out. To help George of course. While creating more wicked fantasies right in front of her pretty face.

His orgasm surged with the idea and detonated like a dirty bomb, splintering his mind in a million burning pieces. Fuck yes, he would surely do it.