Chapter 331: Everyone Wants a Fix
Jacob practically sprinted for the door, clutching his datapad like a lifeline. "I’ll have additional intel compiled by morning! Environntal analysis! Historical clear rates! Optimal pathing algorithms!"
He vanished into the hallway before anyone could respond.
Monica rose from the desk with deliberate movents. She paused at Bartholow’s terrarium, giving the snail one last gentle touch on his shell before turning to leave.
"Thank you for the opportunity." She bowed to . Formal. Proper. The noble upbringing showing through. "I won’t disappoint you."
"I know you won’t."
She left.
Emi bounced to her feet, shoving her notebook into her bag with the enthusiasm of soone who’d been holding back energy for the entire eting. She launched herself at , wrapping her arms around my torso in a hug that made my healing ribs protest.
"Goodnight, Captain! I’ll have my d kit ready by morning! And I made protein bars for everyone! Well, I tried to make protein bars. They’re kind of... crunchy? But in a good way! Probably!"
"Emi."
"Yes?"
"Breathing is nice."
"Oh!" She released , blushing furiously. "Sorry! I forgot about the ribs! Are you okay? Should I check? I can do a quick diagnostic scan. It’ll only take a second..."
"I’m fine. Go sleep."
She hesitated, her sapphire eyes searching my face for any sign that I was lying. Finding nothing, she finally relented with a small nod.
"Okay. But if you need anything, I’m just down the hall. You can knock anyti. Or text. Or use the ergency buzzer. I installed an ergency buzzer in your room yesterday. It’s under the desk. Don’t tell Natalia."
She fled before I could ask why Natalia couldn’t know about the ergency buzzer.
Three down.
Two to go.
Natalia hadn’t moved from the bed. She sat there like a purple-haired empress awaiting tribute, her eyes fixed on
with an intensity that made the temperature in the room spike by several degrees.
"Dismissed, Captain?" Her voice dripped with honeyed sarcasm. "Is that how we’re doing this now?"
"For tonight? Yes."
"I could stay."
The words hung in the air between us. An offer. A challenge. A promise wrapped in silk and barbed wire.
I shook my head slightly. "Not tonight, Nat. I need to ditate on the build."
A lie. I just needed space to think without her presence scrambling my brain into horny static.
She knew it was a lie.
I knew she knew.
But she accepted it anyway, rising from the bed with the grace of a predator choosing not to pounce. She crossed the distance between us in three steps and grabbed my collar, pulling
down to her level.
The kiss was hard. Possessive. Her tongue invaded my mouth with the territorial aggression of soone planting a flag on conquered land. The Nectar humd between us, and I felt her shudder against
before pulling back.
"Don’t stay up too late." She ran her thumb across my lower lip, saring the moisture there. "You need your rest, Captain."
She walked out.
The door closed behind her.
One more.
Skylar pushed off the wall, unfolding from the shadows like smoke given form. Her violet eyes caught the dim light of my room, reflecting it back with an alien luminescence.
"Try not to dream about , Stray Dog."
She walked to the door. Her fingers touched the handle.
She stepped into the hallway.
The door closed.
Silence.
I released a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
Finally. Peace. Quiet. A chance to process the absolute circus that my life had beco without seventeen different people demanding pieces of my attention.
I crossed to my desk, avoiding Bartholow’s terrarium. My water bottle sat where I’d left it that morning. I reached for it.
Click.
The lock on my bedroom door engaged.
I froze.
I hadn’t locked it. The chanism required physical manipulation from the inside. Nobody else had access.
I turned around.
Skylar leaned against my locked door, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised in silent challenge.
The "Skylar" that had walked out into the hallway?
Gone. Smoke and mirrors. A perfect illusion maintained long enough to fool everyone, including Natalia’s paranoid surveillance.
"That was a neat trick." I kept my voice level despite my pulse jumping. "How long can you hold a solid illusion?"
"Long enough to fool the Queen."
She pushed off the door and walked toward . No hesitation. No uncertainty. Her violet eyes weren’t bored anymore. They were dark. Dilated. The pupils blown wide enough to swallow the iris.
She looked hungry.
The Nectar. The addiction I’d accidentally created when I kissed her on that balcony. It had been days since then. Days of watching
with other won. Days of feeling the phantom high fade while everyone else got their fix.
"You said we had unfinished business." She stopped inches from . Close enough that I could sll her. Clove cigarettes. Expensive soap. Sothing darker underneath that made my mouth water. "You said you had things to work out."
"I did say that."
"Everyone is gone, Satori."
She pushed
backward. My legs hit the bed. I sat down hard.
She followed, leaning over , her hair falling forward to curtain both our faces.
"Work it out."
She didn’t wait for permission.
Her lips crashed into mine with none of the soft uncertainty from the balcony. This was a demand. A challenge. A declaration of war wrapped in the taste of nicotine and want. Her tongue pushed past my defenses without asking, claiming territory, mapping the inside of my mouth like she was morizing it for later.
The Nectar flooded through both of us.
I heard her moan against my lips. Felt her entire body shudder as the divine drug hit her system for the first ti in days. Her fingers dug into my shoulders hard enough to hurt, nails biting through my shirt into the flesh underneath.
She pulled back just enough to breathe. Her chest heaved. Her eyes had gone glassy with the high.
"I’m tired of waiting in line." Her voice was raw. Broken. Beautiful. "I’m tired of watching her touch you. I’m tired of Emi’s pathetic puppy eyes. I’m tired of pretending I don’t want this."
She kissed
again.
Harder this ti. More desperate.
Her hands found the hem of my shirt and pulled.
Reviews
All reviews (0)