Chapter 236. After Massaging Lia... Time For Catherine To Receive It As Well
She shifted, turning her head toward him. Her eyes were red-rimmed, reflecting the moonlight.
"You came back," she breathed, the words almost lost to the silence.
"I had to." William sat on the edge of the mattress, the weight of his body causing her to roll slightly toward him. "I’m sorry. About... everything."
"The lying, especially the way I just handled it... I didn’t mean to put you in that position with Catherine."
Lia let out a breath that was a mix of laughter and sobbing. "No, don’t apologize for that..."
"I should be the one apologizing." She reached out, her fingers brushing the edge of the blanket. "We both got... lost."
"I lost control, and you just kept pushing until there was nothing left... We both let the lust take over completely."
The admission hung between them, heavy and honest. The fantasy of their connection had been momentarily punctured by the harsh reality of the outside world.
Yet, as Lia shifted to sit up slightly, she didn’t look angry. A strange, serene smile touched her lips.
"But honestly, Instructor Wade...?" she said, her voice gaining a note of genuine wonder. "Thank you... for the massage."
"Even if it was... well, you know." She gestured vaguely to the sheets. "My body feels incredible."
"I feel fresh, like I’ve been washed clean from the inside out... I’ve never felt this light before."
William watched her, surprised by her resilience. "I’m glad... I really am."
"I’m going to try to sleep now," she continued, settling back down, though she kept her eyes on him. "I need to try and pretend I’m actually unconscious before she comes looking for you again."
William nodded slowly, feeling the strange dissonance of the moment. "Okay... Sleep well."
He moved to stand, but the motion felt clumsy, the space between them suddenly charged with an uncomfortable, unspoken awareness. The intimacy they had shared was now wrapped in deception, making every second of silence feel like an accusation.
They were two people who had shared something profound and terrible, now forced to pretend they were nothing more than roommates passing in a hallway.
The awkwardness stretched, thick as honey, until Lia finally broke it. She propped herself up on one elbow, pushing a damp strand of hair from her face, her expression shifting from vulnerability to a practical, almost pointed seriousness.
"Go," she said, her voice firm despite its huskiness. "Go meet your girlfriend..."
"Don’t keep her waiting, and don’t let her suspect anything else..."
"You owe her that much after the ’oil massage’ performance."
William opened his mouth to protest, to perhaps offer more comfort, but the look in Lia’s eyes told him she needed the distance. "Right. Yeah... I’m going."
He turned to leave, his heart heavy with the unfinished business between them, knowing that while he was walking toward Catherine to play the role of the doting boyfriend, the ghost of Lia’s climax would be clinging to his skin like a secret he couldn’t wash away.
...
William walked upstairs, each step feeling heavier than the last. His mind was a chaotic battlefield: part of him was still reeling from the raw, unfiltered intensity of Lia’s surrender, while another part was bracing for the performance he had to give for Catherine.
He needed to shed the guilt, to reassemble the mask of the devoted partner, but the phantom sensation of Lia’s wetness on his hands seemed to burn against his skin despite his attempts to wipe it away.
When he reached their bedroom door, he paused, taking one last deep breath to steady his pulse. He pushed the door open quietly, expecting to find Catherine perhaps already under the covers or sitting at her vanity.
Instead, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Catherine was standing in the center of the room, bathed in the soft glow of the bedside lamp. She wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing.
Her pale skin seemed to catch every stray beam of light, tracing the elegant curves of her hips and the soft swell of her breasts. There was no flinch of modesty, no quick grab for a robe; she simply stood there, arms relaxed at her sides, looking at him with an expectant, weary smile.
This was their normal, the comfortable, unguarded intimacy of two people who had shared a bed for a long time.
"You took your time," she said softly, her voice carrying a playful lilt.
The sight of her so vulnerable yet so utterly confident hit William like a physical wave. His body, which had only moments ago been calming down from the frantic energy of the guest room, betrayed him instantly.
The residual arousal from Lia combined with the sudden, visual shock of Catherine’s nakedness acted like fuel on an ember. He felt a familiar, insistent heat flooding his groin, and before he could suppress it, he felt his jeans grow uncomfortably tight as his cock began to stir and harden against the denim.
Catherine’s eyes wandered downward. She wasn’t oblivious; she noticed the immediate change in his posture, the way his breathing hitched, and the unmistakable bulge forming in his lap.
Rather than being startled, her smile deepened into something more predatory, more hungry.
"Oh?" she purred, stepping closer to him, her hips swaying with deliberate provocation. "Is the massage therapist already getting worked up?"
She began to move around him in a slow, deliberate circle, like a cat circling prey. She posed, arching her back to emphasize the dip of her waist and the roundness of her ass, turning her head to glance at him over her shoulder.
"I hope you’re prepared, William... I’m not going to make this easy for you because... my muscles are really knotted up."
She stopped directly in front of him, close enough that he could smell the faint lavender of her shampoo mixed with the natural musk of her skin. She reached out, her fingertips tracing idle patterns across his chest, deliberately stopping just above the waistband of his pants.
"I’ve been thinking about that massage all evening," she whispered, tilting her head back to meet his gaze.
Her eyes were dark with a different kind of exhaustion now, not the tiredness of paperwork but the hunger of a woman who wanted to be touched. "I want you to start with my shoulders, but I can’t promise I won’t make you work harder than you planned."
William’s throat felt dry. The guilt he had felt earlier was being systematically overwritten by a new, more dangerous hunger.
The contrast between the two women, Lia’s desperate, uncontrolled release and Catherine’s poised, demanding seduction, created a volatile cocktail in his blood.
"I think I can handle whatever you throw at me, Vice Headmaster," he rasped, his voice thick with the returning lust.
Catherine gave him one last teasing glance before turning toward the bed. With the practiced grace of someone comfortable in her own skin, she climbed onto the mattress and settled onto her stomach, stretching her arms out in front of her.
Her breasts pressed against the soft sheets, and the curve of her spine created a tantalizing valley that beckoned him forward.
"Alright, Mr. Therapist," she murmured into the pillow, her voice muffled but warm. "I’m ready."
William moved to the nightstand where a bottle of scented oil sat. His hands were steadier now, though his pulse still throbbed in his ears.
He poured a generous amount into his palm, the liquid warm between his fingers. The golden oil glistened under the lamplight as he rubbed his hands together to distribute the heat.
"Alright then," he said softly, trying to maintain his professional composure despite the way his eyes traced the smooth expanse of her bare back. "I’m going to start applying the oil now..."
"Just try to relax."
He leaned over her, the heat from his body mingling with hers. As his oil-slicked palms made their first contact with the small of her back, he applied a firm, kneading pressure, working his way up toward her shoulder blades.
The reaction was instantaneous and overwhelming.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH~! MMMMMMMM! OH GOD! "
Catherine let out a sound that was half scream, half shuddering moan. It wasn’t a scream of pain, but something far more primal, a vocal release of pent-up tension that tore through the quiet bedroom like lightning.
Her entire body arched involuntarily at his touch, her hips lifting slightly off the bed as the first wave of sensation hit her nervous system.
William flinched, nearly losing his grip on the oil. His heart hammered against his ribs as he stared down at her, his own arousal surging violently at the sheer raw honesty of that sound.
’Fuck,’ he thought, his mind racing as he watched her tremble. ’That is the most erotic voice I have ever heard. It sounds like she’s being undone...’
Catherine didn’t seem to notice his internal struggle. To her, this was simply the overwhelming relief of a body finally being tended to by the person she trusted most.
She rolled her head to the side, exposing the column of her throat, her eyes half-lidded and hazy.
"Ahaaaah~ ahh~ hmmmmm..." she whined softly, the sounds dissolving into satisfied hums. "Ohhh, William... mmm... this feels so good~!"
"I can’t believe you actually know how to do this properly... I might have to make this a daily requirement."
William took a steadying breath, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand rather than the way her moans made his cock throb painfully against his zipper. As he worked his thumbs in circular motions along her vertebrae, he noticed something immediately.
"Catherine," he said, his voice rougher than intended. "Your muscles are incredibly tight..."