touchnovel Chapter 152 - 153 | Revenge for Academia
Chapter 152 - 153 | Revenge for Academia
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 hummed 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 somewhere 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 me what her thermal manipulation could do in creative contexts.
The screen lit up my face.
Mera: did u survive
Mera: panda wants 2 know if ur dead
Mera: also ur lab professor gives 2 much homework so make sure she cant walk tm
Mera: thats an order btw
I scrolled up through the previous messages. Nothing from me. I’d completely forgotten to text them last night. My stomach twisted with something 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.
Rome: alive
Rome: forgot to text
Rome: my bad
The response came immediately.
Mera: figures
Mera: hows the professor
Rome: sleeping
Mera: did u do what i said
Rome: what did you say again
Mera: MAKE HER UNABLE TO WALK
Mera: she assigns 3 essays a week
Mera: 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 memory seeking warmth.
Rome: I’ll handle it
Mera: video evidence or it didnt happen
Rome: absolutely not
Mera: coward
Rome: practical
Rome: see you later
Mera: panda says dont get arrested
I set the phone down and turned to actually look at the professor sleeping beside me.
Jesus.
The sheets had slipped down to her waist at some 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 me 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 something."
"Interesting side effect."
"Mm." She turned into me, 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 warmed 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 some 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 contentment. "You realize I need to maintain some professional credibility."
"You realize you’re naked in bed with your student."
"Former 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 hammered 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 parameters for—"
I kissed her before she could finish planning a research methodology for morning sex.
She melted into it immediately, all clinical detachment 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 me consciously triggering it.
Her Essentia flooded through. Cinnamon and steel and caramel 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 me in warm waves that tasted like honey and smoke.
"Rome," she said against my lips, her voice breaking on the syllable.
"Yeah?"
"Stop teasing."