CHAPTER 47: THE SCUMBAG’S ORIGIN STORY (FOR HER EYES ONLY)

The counter shook with the force of my thrusts, items rattling on the surface. A jar of utensils toppled over, spoons and spatulas clattering to the floor. Neither of us cared.

"Look at you," I said, my free hand reaching around to pinch her nipple. "The mighty telekinetic prodigy, reduced to a moaning mess on a kitchen counter."

"Shut up," she gasped, but there was no heat in her words. Her body betrayed her, pushing back against me, seeking more friction, more depth.

I felt my second climax approaching and increased my pace, the sound of flesh on flesh growing louder. With a final thrust, I buried myself deep inside her and came, filling her with my seed. She collapsed forward onto the counter, her body trembling with aftershocks.

When she tried to stand, her legs buckled. I caught her before she could fall, scooping her into my arms.

"Bathroom," she mumbled against my chest. "I need to clean up."

I carried her to the bathroom, setting her gently on her feet while I turned on the shower. Steam quickly filled the glass enclosure. I guided her inside, supporting her weight as she leaned heavily against me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, genuinely concerned at her sudden limpness.

She nodded, her eyes closed as the hot water cascaded over her body. "Just... never felt like this before."

I grabbed a bottle of her expensive body wash and poured some into my palm. Starting with her shoulders, I worked the soap into a lather, my hands moving in slow, gentle circles across her skin. I paid special attention to the marks I’d left—the finger-shaped bruises on her hips, the love bites on her neck and breasts.

"You’re going to have to wear a turtleneck to the gala," I observed, thumbing a particularly dark hickey just above her collarbone.

She smiled lazily, her eyes still closed. "Worth it."

When my hands dipped between her legs, she hissed, sensitive from our earlier activities. I cleaned her gently, washing away the evidence of our passion.

"I can’t believe we did that," she murmured, finally opening her eyes to look at me. "On the couch... the kitchen... if my father knew..."

I silenced her with a kiss, softer than the ones we’d shared before. She melted against me, her arms wrapping around my neck. The hot water continued to pour over us as the kiss deepened, slow and languid, a stark contrast to the frantic coupling of earlier.

"Again?" she whispered against my lips, feeling my erection pressing against her stomach.

"If you want," I replied, giving her the choice.

She nodded, turning to face the tiled wall. I pressed up behind her, one hand braced on the wall, the other guiding myself to her entrance. I entered her slowly this time, a gentle slide that had us both sighing with pleasure.

Our movements were synchronized, unhurried, almost reverent. Her head fell back against my shoulder, her eyes closed, mouth slightly open as small sounds of pleasure escaped her lips. The steam swirled around us, creating a private world of heat and sensation.

I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her tight against me as we moved together. My lips found her neck, trailing kisses along the damp skin. She reached back, her hand tangling in my hair, holding me there.

"Satori," she breathed, her inner walls beginning to pulse around me. "I’m close."

"Let go," I murmured against her ear. "I’ve got you."

Her orgasm washed over her like a gentle wave, her body shuddering in my arms. The feeling of her clenching around me triggered my own release, and I came with a low groan, my face buried in the crook of her neck.

We stayed like that for a moment, connected, the water washing over our joined bodies, before finally separating. I washed her hair, massaging her scalp with firm fingers, then let her do the same for me. It was strangely intimate, this mundane act of bathing together.

After drying off, we retreated to my bedroom, collapsing onto the sheets in a tangle of limbs. The afternoon sun streamed through the blinds, casting warm stripes across our bodies. Natalia’s head rested on my chest, her finger idly tracing patterns on my skin.

"Satori," she said after a long silence, her voice serious.

"Hmm?"

She propped herself up on an elbow, looking down at me with those penetrating violet eyes. "What are you?"

I stiffened beneath her. "What do you mean?"

Her finger traced a slow circle around my nipple. "You know what I mean. This," she gestured vaguely at my body, "isn’t normal. The way you changed. Your fire. Your ice. The things you know." Her violet eyes locked with mine. "No one just wakes up at eighteen with an Aspect."

Shit. I’d been dreading this moment. The "late bloomer" excuse had worked when we were just step-siblings who tolerated each other. It was flimsy then, but it had served its purpose. Now, after what we’d shared, after I’d been inside her, after she’d screamed my name... that excuse was as worthless as a condom with a hole in it.

She deserved a better lie. A bigger lie. A lie so grand she’d want to believe it.

The System was a broadcast for the gods, and my power grew with every woman I brought into the story. But Natalia... she couldn’t just be another conquest, another brick in the wall. If I told her that, she’d turn my bones to dust. She needed to feel essential. The keystone. The very first pillar upon which everything else would be built.

It was perfect. Grand enough to explain my powers, flattering enough to—

"Satori?"

I blinked, realizing I’d been silent for too long. Natalia pushed herself up, crossing her arms over her bare breasts in a hilariously ineffective gesture of modesty. Her lower lip jutted out in that adorable pout I was coming to know well.

"You’re quiet," she said, her voice small. She pulled away just enough to look at me, her confidence wavering. "Was I... not what you expected?"

"Never that, Princess," I murmured against her lips. "I was just figuring out how to tell you the truth without sounding insane."

As I held her, something shifted inside me. The lie I’d crafted wasn’t just a manipulation anymore. It felt like truth. I wasn’t just a survivor playing a game. I was a sovereign building a kingdom.

I deserved the power. I deserved the women.

I deserved it all.