I woke up to warm skin pressed against my chest and scarlet hair tickling my nose.
Right.
Professor Reeves.
The laboratory.
The examination table.
The... everything else that happened after the examination table.
Morning light filtered through the massive windows, painting the bedroom in shades of gold and grey. The city humd forty stories below, already alive and moving while I lay tangled up with a woman who could probably vaporize a city block if she got bored enough.
My phone buzzed sowhere on the nightstand.
I reached for it carefully, trying not to wake Laurana. She made a small sound of protest, her body shifting closer like she was chasing heat even in sleep. Made sense. She’d spent half the night showing what her thermal manipulation could do in creative contexts.
The screen lit up my face.
ra: did u survive
ra: panda wants 2 know if ur dead
ra: also ur lab professor gives 2 much howork so make sure she cant walk tm
ra: thats an order btw
I scrolled up through the previous ssages. Nothing from . I’d completely forgotten to text them last night. My stomach twisted with sothing that might have been guilt if I wasn’t currently lying naked next to a different woman who tasted like expensive Scotch and ambition.
The healing ability had handled most of the damage from the match. My ribs felt solid again. The burns on my forearms were gone. Even the missing tooth had grown back while I slept, which was deeply weird but convenient.
I typed back with one thumb.
Ro: alive
Ro: forgot to text
Ro: my bad
The response ca imdiately.
ra: figures
ra: hows the professor
Ro: sleeping
ra: did u do what i said
Ro: what did you say again
ra: MAKE HER UNABLE TO WALK
ra: she assigns 3 essays a week
ra: this is revenge for academia
I chuckled quietly, the sound rumbling through my chest. Laurana stirred, her hand moving across my stomach in what might have been conscious or might have been muscle mory seeking warmth.
Ro: I’ll handle it
ra: video evidence or it didnt happen
Ro: absolutely not
ra: coward
Ro: practical
Ro: see you later
ra: panda says dont get arrested
I set the phone down and turned to actually look at the professor sleeping beside .
Jesus.
The sheets had slipped down to her waist at so point, revealing the pale expanse of her back covered in those red pathways that glowed faintly even in sleep. Her scarlet hair spread across the pillow like spilled wine. The line of her spine drew my eyes downward to where the sheets barely covered her ass.
That perfect, round ass that had been driving insane through her pencil skirts and bodysuits.
I shifted slightly to get a better view.
Laurana made a small sound of complaint, her body tensing as cool air hit her skin where my warmth had been. She rolled onto her back without opening her eyes, one arm stretching above her head in a way that displayed her breasts and the luminous circuitry tracing between them.
"You’re staring," she murmured, her voice rough with sleep. "I can feel it."
"Can you?" I moved back against her side, my hand finding her waist.
Her eyes opened halfway, those ruby irises still unfocused. "Your Essentia gets... sharper when you’re focused on sothing."
"Interesting side effect."
"Mm." She turned into , her face pressing against my shoulder. "Stop moving. It’s cold."
I wrapped my arm around her properly, pulling her closer. Her leg slid between mine automatically, and suddenly my dick was sandwiched right between her thighs, pressed against soft skin that ward with each breath she took.
My body responded predictably.
Laurana felt it. Her mouth curved against my collarbone. "Good morning to you too."
"Morning." I kissed the top of her head, breathing in so floral shampoo that cost more than most people’s rent. My hand moved from her waist to her chest, cupping her breast and feeling her nipple stiffen against my palm.
She sighed, a sound of pure contentnt. "You realize I need to maintain so professional credibility."
"You realize you’re naked in bed with your student."
"Forr student, technically. Now, my personal assistant."
"That’s a stretch."
"I specialize in stretching definitions." Her hand slid down my stomach. "Among other things."
I squeezed her breast gently, my thumb circling her nipple the way she’d liked last night when her pathways had been bright enough to light the room. "What happened to needing rest?"
"I said you needed rest." She bit my shoulder, not hard enough to break skin but hard enough to make a point. "I’m perfectly fine."
My dick twitched between her thighs, calling bullshit on that claim. She felt it and laughed, the sound vibrating through both our bodies. Her thigh muscles squeezed deliberately, creating friction that made my breath catch.
I moved my mouth to her neck, finding the spot just below her ear where her pulse hamred against pale skin. My tongue traced the red pathway that ran down from her jaw to her collarbone, and she moaned softly.
"That’s cheating," she breathed.
"This isn’t a test." I nipped at the junction of her neck and shoulder. "No rules."
My hand slid down from her breast to her stomach, feeling the pathways glow brighter beneath my palm as her body temperature rose. She was getting hotter. Literally. The thermal manipulation activated automatically when she got aroused.
"Actually..." Her voice dropped into that professor register she couldn’t quite turn off. "We should establish paraters for—"
I kissed her before she could finish planning a research thodology for morning sex.
She lted into it imdiately, all clinical detachnt evaporating like water on hot stone. Her mouth opened under mine and her tongue tangled with mine and suddenly the drain opened between us without consciously triggering it.
Her Essentia flooded through. Cinnamon and steel and caral and ash. The complex layers I’d tasted last night, except softer now. Less guarded. Like she’d left her armor in the laboratory along with her lab coat.
My hand reached the apex of her thighs and found her already wet.
She gasped into my mouth, her hips rolling forward against my fingers. I circled her slowly, feeling her get wetter with each pass. The drain pulsed in rhythm with her breathing, pulling her energy into in warm waves that tasted like honey and smoke.
"Ro," she said against my lips, her voice breaking on the syllable.
"Yeah?"
"Stop teasing."
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