Chapter 99: Dangerous Bath [Part 4]

Chapter 99. Dangerous Bath [Part 4]

She tried to give me a glare.

The result?

She looked more embarrassed than threatening.

I wanted to laugh.

Instead, I caught her lips in a soft kiss.

Then another.

Then a third. ℯℯ𝘭.

I did it without stopping my movement. My hips kept thrusting, my body pressing deeper into her with every motion. She was so tight, so warm, the water around us swirling in chaos. I felt like I almost reached my limit, but I didn’t stop. I needed more. I wanted to go deeper, faster. I wanted her to cry my name.

But Seris looked almost reaching her limit. Her hands had lost most of their strength, the fire in her eyes dimmed, and her breath came in ragged gasps.

"Come with me," I whispered. "Seris."

Her eyes fluttered shut. "Rey... NHG...!"

I felt her climax.

She wasn’t the only one.

My control finally snapped, my hips jerking uncontrollably as I thrust into her, the last traces of my self-restraint dissolving.

My breathing hitched.

My body tensed.

My head spun.

I kissed her again and again, swallowing her moans while my fingers tightened around her leg.

Then my release hit.

My vision blanked, pleasure overtaking my mind as I emptied myself into her.

Seris gasped as she felt me fill her.

And I gave her a reward. I shamelessly showed my expression, my satisfaction, what she did to me, what she made me feel, and that I could give her the same.

She gave a tiny, breathless cry of satisfaction.

The bathwater gradually calmed, and only after several seconds did I become aware that the bath was overflowing.

I didn’t move. I stayed there for several seconds, enjoying her warmth, the feel of her body against mine, the water around us, the sound of her breathing.

A naughty smirk curled across my lips as I leaned closer, letting my breath brush against her ear.

"So, how was my performance? Satisfied?" I murmured, shamelessly enjoying the flushed look on her face. "Have I sufficiently proven that this supposedly dying husband of yours can still be dangerous?"

Seris stared at me, breathless.

My smirk widened. "Because fifteen minutes ago, someone was very confident that I could barely stand."

I kissed the corner of her lips.

"Want to reconsider that assessment, Princess?"

Seris stared at me for several seconds, still flushed and breathing a little too quickly for someone who had been so confident earlier.

"You..." Her eyes narrowed. "You really are shameless."

"I am."

Absolutely no defense.

Why would I defend myself against an objectively accurate statement?

I leaned back against the tub with the deeply satisfied expression of a villain who had just won an argument through highly questionable methods.

"But maybe next time, we’ll use the bed."

Seris froze.

Her cheeks somehow became redder.

I hadn’t known Phoenixkin came with multiple stages of overheating.

"To be honest, doing it in the tub was a little restrictive." I glanced around critically, switching into the tone I normally used when evaluating laboratory equipment. "This tub was designed for one person."

Seris stared at me in growing disbelief.

I gestured toward the water.

"Even with my manipulation keeping everything under control, we’ve lost nearly half the water."

Her gaze slowly followed mine.

The evidence was everywhere.

Water coated the marble around the tub, several puddles reflecting the morning light coming through the windows. Towels were soaked. The previously respectable bathroom looked as though a small localized flood had occurred.

I nodded thoughtfully. "So, yes. Not an ideal location. I couldn’t even go all out."

That did it.

Her face turned almost the same shade as her hair.

Seris opened her mouth.

Closed it.

Opened it again.

Apparently I had finally discovered a spell more effective than Eclipse Collapse.

Embarrassment.

"I need to change my clothes," she said.

My smirk widened as Seris climbed out of the bath, her dignity desperately attempting to recover from the morning’s catastrophic losses.

"The others must already be waiting for us," she added quickly.

Seris was about to stand up.

"Wait." I caught her wrist.

Seris stopped and looked back suspiciously. "What?"

"I need to handle that first."

I pointed solemnly toward the floor.

Seris followed my finger.

There were puddles everywhere.

Her eyebrows pulled together. "The water?"

"Yes."

I stared at it.

The unassuming liquid assassin responsible for ending Evan Veyr’s glorious twenty-eight-year career.

Seris looked between me and the puddle. "It is water, Rey."

"Exactly. Dangerous stuff." I nodded gravely. "I once saw a brilliant man die because he slipped on one."

Technically, I hadn’t seen him die.

I had been him.

Minor distinction.

Seris’s expression became bizarrely concerned. "You watched someone die from slipping on water?"

"Very closely."

Extremely closely. First-person perspective, even.

"He was young. Brilliant. Handsome."

That last part was debatable, but the deceased was unavailable for comment.

"Possibly the greatest magical researcher of his generation."

She stared at me.

I stared back with the solemnity this subject deserved.

Eventually, Seris pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I will clean them for you." I raised one hand.

[Abyssal Water Manipulation].

Every puddle trembled.

Water lifted from the marble in dozens of glistening streams, curling through the air like transparent ribbons. Droplets pulled themselves from the walls, towels, and edges of the tub before joining the floating mass.

The marble became perfectly dry.

I directed the collected water toward the drain and released the spell.

Gone.

Civilization had been preserved.

Satisfied, I smiled at Seris. "Done."

She stared at me.

I climbed out of the tub, and Seris immediately turned her face away, cheeks burning red again.

Seriously?

After everything we’d just done?

Apparently now she remembered embarrassment.

I grabbed a clean cloth and tied it securely around my hips before taking another from the rack. Then I turned back toward her.

Seris was still sitting in the tub, stubbornly looking anywhere except directly at me.

A smirk threatened my lips.

I extended one hand toward her while holding the cloth open with the other. "Come on, Princess."

Her eyes finally returned to mine.

"I promise I’ll behave."

Probably.