Chapter 98: Dangerous Bath [Part 3]

Chapter 98. Dangerous Bath [Part 3]

I caught her lips again. I was still hard, still inside her.

Whatever careful, rational part of me had survived two hours of curse torture finally packed its bags and left the building.

Researcher Evan? Gone.

Royal Magus Rey? Questionable.

Husband instinct? Unfortunately operating at maximum capacity.

I kissed Seris harder, one hand sliding around her waist to keep her against me while the other wandered over the warm curves of her body. There was considerably less patience in my touch now. My fingers tightened against her skin, drawing another shiver from her while she answered by wrapping herself around me more firmly.

The water moved restlessly around us.

Or maybe that was us.

Hard to tell.

Probably both.

My lips left hers and found her neck.

Seris immediately tilted her head.

That tiny movement nearly murdered whatever sanity I had left.

I kissed the exposed skin first, slower than she probably expected after everything else. Then my teeth grazed her neck.

She shuddered.

Another kiss.

Another teasing bite.

This time I left a faint mark behind.

Then another.

Seris’s fingers tightened against my shoulders, and somewhere inside my thoroughly corrupted brain, a very possessive part of me looked at those little marks and became absurdly satisfied.

Mine.

Dangerous thought.

Extremely primitive.

Not scientifically defensible.

I approved anyway.

Her wet crimson hair clung to her shoulders and back while droplets traveled down her skin. Her dress had become completely soaked, the fabric heavy with water and pressed against her figure. She looked nothing like the composed Phoenix Princess who had marched into my study earlier prepared to lecture me for abusing my curse.

That woman had apparently drowned.

In her place was my flushed wife, glaring at me whenever I slowed down as though I was somehow inconveniencing her.

Five minutes ago, she’d been confident I could barely stand.

Now she was the one clinging to me.

Justice was beautiful.

I returned to her lips, swallowing another breath from her as my hands explored her waist, her back, the curve of her hips, memorizing the way her body reacted to every touch.

The pleasure between us kept building.

I wanted this.

And, judging from the way Seris kept pulling me back whenever our lips separated, so did she.

My fingers tightened around her waist.

Then an idea entered my head.

[Abyssal Water Manipulation].

The bathwater trembled.

Seris noticed immediately.

Her half-lidded eyes opened farther as dark-blue mana spread underneath the surface.

The amount of water didn’t change.

Neither did its temperature.

Its behavior did.

Water that should have flowed freely suddenly developed controlled currents beneath us. Pressure shifted according to my will, supporting Seris from underneath while another current curled around her back.

I smiled against her lips.

Some ancient magi probably spent decades developing Water Manipulation so humanity could irrigate farmland, extinguish fires, cross rivers, fight sea monsters, and survive natural disasters.

And here I was using an evolved Abyssal variant for something else.

I regretted nothing.

I adjusted the water beneath Seris until it supported more of her weight.

She immediately realized what I was doing.

I shifted our position.

Seris yelped. "Rey!"

I caught one of her legs and lifted it carefully, settling it over my shoulder while the manipulated water supported her back and hips.

This position would give me more access to her.

For one startled second, her body dropped.

Instinctively, her hands grabbed me.

But she never sank.

The water held her.

Her eyes widened.

I stared.

Then made the catastrophic mistake of looking at her leg.

Oh, damn.

I’d always known Seris had beautiful legs.

Obviously.

I possessed functioning eyes.

But having one resting against my shoulder while water glistened across smooth skin presented that information with considerably more persuasive evidence.

Long.

Elegant.

Strong.

Phoenixkin weren’t delicate creatures despite what their beauty suggested. Seris trained. She fought. She flew. Her body carried that subtle strength everywhere, especially through her legs.

My hand moved along her calf before settling behind her knee.

Seris noticed where I was looking. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Her cheeks turned even redder.

That only made it worse.

My gaze traveled slowly upward.

She attempted to give me one of her usual intimidating looks.

It failed spectacularly considering her current position.

I smiled.

The water shifted again as I pushed my hard shaft to the hilt.

"AH!" Seris gasped and clutched my shoulders.

I moved again, rougher and wilder, until the bathwater surged around our bodies, spilling over the rim and splashing across the marble floor.

Her nails dragged across my skin.

Probably scratches.

Fair exchange for the marks I’d left on her neck.

My breathing had grown heavier again.

So had hers.

I leaned over her.

My lips found the hollow beneath her jaw.

Seris arched instinctively, trusting the water and me to support her.

That trust hit differently.

It cut through the hunger for just a second.

She wasn’t afraid.

Not of the position.

Not even of the man everyone else kept insisting was one unfortunate afternoon away from becoming the second Dark Lord.

I kissed her neck again.

Slower this time.

My hand moved over her thigh while the other remained around her waist, holding her despite the water already doing most of the work.

Seris whispered my name.

A warning perhaps.

Or an invitation.

I raised my head.

Our eyes met.

For several seconds neither of us said anything.

There was no need.

Her face was flushed. Her breathing was uneven. Her lips were swollen from kissing, and several little marks decorated her neck now.

My work.

I felt absurdly proud.

She looked at me, then at the smug smile I couldn’t quite hide.

Her eyes narrowed.

Yes.

She knew exactly what I was thinking.

I leaned closer anyway.

The water beneath her shifted with me, keeping her supported as I pressed another kiss against the corner of her mouth.

Then her cheek.

Then her jaw.

My hand tightened against her thigh.

Her nails scratched my shoulder again.

Much harder.

I didn’t mind.

I brought my mouth beside her ear.

She shivered before I’d even spoken.

My hand traveled slowly along her raised leg. I smiled. Then whispered the only appropriate conclusion to this entire disaster.

"I told you this wouldn’t be a simple bath."

Her eyes snapped toward mine.

That gorgeous flush spread all the way to her ears.