Your Girlfriend Calls Me Daddy

Chapter 178: 179 | Almost Human

The drain cycled between us as we moved together, her Essentia flowing into me like warm honey while mine fed back through the connection in waves. The mutual exchange had become easier with practice. Less overwhelming. More controlled.

Her hands worked at my belt. Mine found the waistband of her shorts. Clothes disappeared into the darkness until there was nothing between us but skin and heat and the electric hum of shared power.

"Wait," she said suddenly.

I froze. "What?"

"Nothing’s wrong." She shifted beneath me, adjusting our angle. "I just wanted to see your face."

"Why?"

"Because you look different when you’re like this. Less guarded. Almost human."

"I am human."

"Debatable." She wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me closer. "But I like you anyway."

The first time we’d done this, it had been fast and desperate and driven by the system’s requirements. The second time had been slower. More intentional. By now we’d found a rhythm that worked for both of us.

I entered her slowly, giving her time to adjust. Her breath caught. Her nails scraped down my back. The drain surged open between us, flooding my senses with her Essentia in waves that tasted like amber and spice and something uniquely Mera.

"Move," she demanded.

"Patient as always."

"Patience is overrated."

I started to move. She matched my rhythm immediately, her hips rising to meet mine with an urgency that sent sparks through my nervous system. The drain amplified everything. Every touch. Every sensation. Every sound she made in the darkness. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

"Faster."

I obliged.

Her back arched off the mattress. Her horns pressed into the pillow. The red lines of her skin seemed to glow brighter in the dim light, or maybe that was just my imagination playing tricks.

"Rome."

"Yeah?"

"Stop thinking. Just feel."

She reached up and pulled my mouth down to hers. The kiss was messy and desperate and perfect. I let myself fall into it, let the drain carry us both toward something that felt less like obligation and more like choice.

Her climax hit first. I felt it through the connection before I heard it, a cascade of sensation that crashed through the drain and into my own body like a shockwave. She cried out against my mouth, her whole body tensing beneath me.

I followed seconds later. The release was overwhelming, amplified by her Essentia still flooding through my system. For a moment that seemed to stretch forever, there was nothing but pleasure and warmth and the impossible intimacy of two people sharing something that shouldn’t be sharable.

Then reality slowly reasserted itself.

We lay tangled together in the aftermath, breathing hard. Her skin was slick with sweat. Mine probably was too. The drain had settled into a low simmer, still cycling energy between us but gentler now. Softer.

"Good?" she asked eventually.

"Understatement."

"I’ll take it."

She rolled onto her side and tucked herself against me, her head finding the hollow of my shoulder like it belonged there. Her tail curled around my leg in a lazy coil.

"You should sleep," she said.

"So should you."

"I will. In a minute."

We lay in comfortable silence. The city hummed outside the windows. Somewhere in the penthouse, Cheon was probably still reviewing academic papers or optimizing spreadsheets or whatever she did when she wasn’t wrangling us into some semblance of responsible behavior.

"Rome?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever happens with the sister tomorrow. Whatever she tells you." Mera’s voice was quieter now. More serious. "Don’t forget that you have people on your side. Real people who actually care about you."

"I know."

"Good." She pressed a kiss to my collarbone. "Now sleep. You have training in five hours."

"Four and a half."

"Even worse."

I closed my eyes and let exhaustion pull me under. The last thing I felt before sleep claimed me was Mera’s warmth against my side and the steady pulse of her Essentia through the drain, a constant reminder that I wasn’t alone anymore.

Whatever tomorrow brought, I’d face it.

But tonight, I’d rest.

The alarm screamed at five-thirty and I wanted to commit murder.

Mera was gone. Her side of the bed was cold, which meant she’d slipped out sometime in the last hour without waking me. Considerate or strategic. Probably both.

I dragged myself into the shower and let hot water pound the lingering exhaustion out of my muscles. SPECIMEN kept my body at peak performance, but my brain still operated on human software. Four hours of sleep wasn’t enough. It was never enough.

By the time I dressed and made it to the kitchen, Cheon was already there with coffee and a disapproving expression.

"You look terrible."

"Thanks."

"Mera told me you were awake until two."

"Did she also tell you why?"

"She implied." Cheon pushed a mug across the counter. "Drink. You have twenty minutes before Marco arrives."

The coffee was strong enough to strip paint. Exactly what I needed.

"Where’s Mera?"

"Left early. Something about avoiding campus security before first bell." Cheon’s lips twitched. "Apparently her casual disregard for dress code violations is catching up with her."

"Color me shocked."

"You don’t sound shocked."

"I’m too tired to sound anything."

I drained the coffee and grabbed a protein bar from the cabinet. Breakfast of champions. Or at least breakfast of idiots who stayed up too late doing things they definitely shouldn’t have done the night before a six AM training session.

"Rome."

"Yeah?"

Cheon hesitated. Unusual for her. She was usually the most decisive person I knew.

"Be careful today. With Noel. With the training."

"Why?"

"Because you’re running on fumes. And because you slept with her yesterday. And because you kissed Aurora last night. And because you’re meeting your potentially unstable sister tonight." She crossed her arms. "That’s a lot of variables to manage, even for you."

"I’ll be fine." freёwebnovel.com

"You always say that."

"And I’m always right."

"You’re almost never right. You just survive anyway through sheer stubbornness and an unreasonable amount of luck."

"Is there a compliment in there somewhere?"

"Maybe." She walked around the counter and straightened my collar. The gesture had become familiar over the past week. Domestic. Almost tender. "Come home in one piece."

"Planning on it."

"Good."

She kissed me once. Quick and efficient. Then pushed me toward the door before I could respond.

"Go. You’ll be late."