"How much further?"
"Extensive." Her pathways glowed brighter against my chest. "I’m nothing if not thorough."
My phone buzzed again. Multiple tis. Soone was calling instead of texting, which ant either an ergency or Vivian being Vivian.
Laurana glanced at the nightstand. "Popular this morning."
"It’s probably my sister." I reached for the phone and checked the screen. Unknown number. That ant reporters. "Or the dia circus."
"The convenience store footage?" She settled beside , apparently unconcerned about her nakedness. "I saw the broadcast. Sloppy work, using three distinct abilities in front of caras."
"Saved lives."
"Saved yourself from boredom more likely." She traced one finger down my chest. "You’re not the hero type."
"And you are?"
"Was." Her expression flickered with sothing complicated. "Past tense. Present tense I’m a researcher with a very interesting subject."
My phone started buzzing again. Different number. I declined the call and opened my ssages properly.
Seventeen new notifications.
Cheon: are you alive
Cheon: Ro I swear to god
Cheon: if you don’t answer I’m calling campus security
ra: shes been like this for an hour
ra: just text her before she has an aneurysm
Cheon: I CAN SEE THESE RA
ra: good
ra: relax panda
ra: hes with the professor
ra: probably getting extra credit
Cheon: that is not funny
ra: its a little funny
I grinned and typed back.
Ro: alive
Ro: phone died
Three dots appeared imdiately under Cheon’s na. Then disappeared. Then appeared again.
Cheon: you forgot to text us
Cheon: all night
Cheon: we were worried
Ro: sorry
Ro: lost track of ti
ra: was the research productive
Ro: very
ra: did she give u howork
Ro: reviewing the syllabus now
Cheon: stop being cryptic and co ho
Cheon: we have calculus review at noon
Ro: can’t
Ro: running more tests with the professor
Ro: all day
ra: LMAO
ra: get it
Cheon: this is inappropriate
Cheon: on multiple levels
Ro: you’re literally sleeping in my bed
Cheon: that’s different
ra: is it tho
Cheon: YES
Laurana read over my shoulder, her chin resting against my arm. "Your girlfriends seem... spirited."
"That’s one word for it."
"They know you’re here?"
"They know I had a eting." I set the phone face down on the nightstand. "What they suspect is their business."
"Interesting dynamic." She shifted closer, her breast pressing against my side. "Most n would be more discreet."
"Most n aren’t dating two girls simultaneously who already know about each other and signed contracts agreeing to the arrangent."
Her eyebrows climbed. "Contracts?"
"Long story."
"I have ti." Her fingers walked down my stomach. "And I did say I wanted to understand how your drain functions in different contexts."
My dick apparently decided research sounded great, because it was getting hard again despite the thorough attention it had received approximately eight hours ago.
Laurana noticed. Of course she noticed. Her hand wrapped around , stroking slowly. "Already? Your recovery ti is remarkable."
"Healing ability." I turned onto my side to face her properly, my hand finding her hip. "Has so interesting side effects."
"Such as?"
"Zero refractory period." I pulled her closer, feeling her warmth against my chest. "I can go again imdiately."
Her eyes glead with scientific interest and sothing considerably less scientific. "That seems like a claim requiring verification."
"You want to verify it?"
"I’m a scientist." She kissed my jaw, my neck, working her way down my chest. "Verification is fundantal to the process."
I rolled her beneath , settling between her legs. She was already wet again, her body responding to the drain that pulsed between us in steady rhythm. I pressed against her entrance, not entering yet, just letting her feel what was coming.
"Tell about Drain-types," I said, rembering our deal. "The real information. Not the official NEA propaganda."
She laughed breathlessly, her hips rolling forward in an attempt to take inside. "Negotiating now?"
"Always." I pushed in just an inch, enough to make her gasp. "You promised answers."
"Fine." Her nails dug into my shoulders. "The official story says they’re extinct. That the last docunted case died in 2106 during a failed drain on an incompatible Essentia signature."
I pushed deeper, watching her face as I filled her slowly. "And unofficially?"
"Unofficially—" She broke off as I bottod out, her back arching. "Fuck. Unofficially there are rumors."
"What kind of rumors?" I started moving, establishing a rhythm that made her breath catch with each thrust.
"Classified cases." Her hands slid down my back, gripping my ass to pull deeper. "Drain-types kept in containnt for study. Testing facilities that don’t officially exist."
That was concerning. I’d process it later when blood was actually reaching my brain.
"How many?" I angled my hips differently, hitting the spot that made her moan.
"Unknown." Her voice ca out strangled. "The NEA doesn’t publish those statistics. But the research suggests—oh god, right there—suggests that compatible Drain-types are exponentially more dangerous than incompatible ones."
"Why?" I kept the angle perfect, watching her lose the thread of academic discussion as pleasure built.
"Because compatible drains create—" She gasped as I thrust harder. "Create feedback loops that amplify both parties. Traditional understanding says Drain-types weaken their targets. But compatible pairs make each other stronger."
The drain between us widened in response to her words, as if it recognized itself in her explanation. Her Essentia poured into and mine poured back into her, the circuit cycling faster with each movent of our bodies.
"That’s what we are," I said, not quite a question.
"Yes." Her eyes locked on mine, glowing faintly red from her thermal ability. "Which makes you incredibly valuable. Or incredibly dangerous. Depends on perspective."
"Yours?"
"Both." She pulled down into a kiss that tasted like fire and honesty. "You’re the most interesting thing I’ve encountered in years. And I’m not letting the NEA lock you in a testing facility before I’ve finished my research."
Sothing warm blood in my chest that had nothing to do with the drain. I kissed her harder, my hips moving faster as the pleasure built toward its inevitable conclusion.
Her pathways blazed bright, heat pouring off her skin in waves that made sweat bead across my shoulders. The sheets beneath us were definitely smoking now. I didn’t care.
"Close," she gasped against my mouth. "I’m so close—"
"Co for ," I said, my hand sliding between us to find her clit. "Let feel it."
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