Chapter 107: Make Believe...
Nyx narrowed her eyes and gave a suspicious look. "So, who exactly am I supposed to be letting in?" she asked.
"Tell Lyra," Zen breathed heavily, gripping the edge of the obsidian table. "Tell her it is time to pay the toll."
Nyx nodded, fading perfectly into the shadows without another word.
Zen turned his attention back to Maya. She was exhausted, practically falling asleep into her teacup. He gently took the cup from her hands.
With a soft pulse of his mana against her temple, he guided her into a deep, dreamless sleep. He laid her down on a small cot in the corner of the tent and pulled a heavy blanket over her.
She needed to be completely out of the way for this.
A moment later, the tent flap opened.
Lyra stepped inside, her star-woven cloak drifting silently behind her.
Without wasting any time, she immediately raised her hand and cast a shimmering purple gravity ward that locked the tent down from the inside.
"Aurelia believes we are reviewing topographical maps," Lyra said smoothly. She walked up to the obsidian table. "Valeria is pacing a hole in the mud outside, but she won’t cross my Aether barrier."
"Good," Zen said. He leaned heavily against the table as another wave of fiery pain ripped through his chest.
Lyra’s violet eyes narrowed as she quickly scanned him. Her analytical mind easily picked up on his physical breakdown. "You absorbed ten unrefined A-Rank cores in less than three minutes. Your pathways are tearing themselves apart from the inside. You need the stability of your original soul."
"That’s exactly why you are here," Zen replied. He unbuckled his heavy Imperial tunic, letting it drop to the floor. "Pay the toll, Lyra."
A slow, thrilling smile spread across her face.
She had spent five centuries as the continent’s supreme architect. She was the one who actually wrote the magical laws of the world, pulling the strings from a safe, untouchable distance.
But this? This was a dangerous, physical game of cosmic chess. And she was entirely desperate to play her part.
She turned her head slightly toward the corner of the tent where Maya slept. With a flick of her wrist, a dense, localised gravity sphere enveloped her cot.
"An absolute void," Lyra murmured, her voice dropping into a husky, intoxicating register as she turned back to Zen. "She will not hear or feel a single thing. We are completely isolated."
She stepped directly into his space and pushed a pale hand flat against his bare, burning chest. The contrast hit them both hard.
Her freezing Aether mana met his raging internal heat and sent violent shivers racing down their spines. His skin felt like living flame under her palm, and her cool touch made his muscles twitch in response.
With a sudden, confident shove, Lyra pushed him backward until his hips hit the edge of the obsidian table.
Zen raised an eyebrow but didn’t resist; he simply let her guide him.
Lyra stood tall for a moment. Then, with a subtle pulse of her magic, her heavy star-woven cloak and silk dress slipped effortlessly from her body.
They pooled around her ankles in a soft whisper of fabric. She stepped out of them and stood before him completely bare.
Her breasts were full and pale, tipped with tight, rosy nipples that had already hardened from the cool air and the electric tension between them. The curve of her waist flared gently into soft hips. A faint flush coloured her skin. Zen’s gaze traced every inch of her, but he stayed perfectly still.
He watched as she reached up and pulled the pin from her hair. Her long silver strands cascaded down her bare shoulders like liquid moonlight, framing her naked body beautifully.
She stepped closer and slid herself right between his legs. The heat radiating from his body wrapped around her like a promise.
"To siphon a divine fragment, our mana pathways must align perfectly," Lyra whispered, looking up at him through her thick lashes. "It is a two-way street, Emperor. Total synchronization."
Before Zen could reach for her waist, the gravity in the room suddenly shifted.
Lyra’s eyes flashed with violet light, and two invisible, crushing bands of gravitational force wrapped tightly around Zen’s wrists. In a split second, they forcefully pinned his arms down against the hard surface of the table.
Zen didn’t struggle. He just looked at his trapped hands, then back at her. "What is this, Lyra?" he asked. His voice was low and perfectly calm.
"Insurance," she breathed, a triumphant smirk curving her lips.
She climbed onto the table, straddling his lap perfectly. The moment her bare thighs settled over him, she felt the thick, hard length of his cock pressing up against her.
Only the thin fabric of his pants separated them, and she could feel him throbbing.
She rested her hands on his chest, feeling the wild, dangerous thumping of his heart. Her breasts brushed against him with every breath. Her sensitive nipples dragged over his burning skin and tightened even more.
"My fragment is made of pure logic, Zen. Your mind is terrifying, and I cannot let you overwhelm me," she explained softly. "I need to guide the flow. I need to be the one extracting the pieceand feeding it to you."
She leaned down, hovering her lips just a fraction of an inch above his. Her silver hair fell around them like a curtain.
"Let me take care of you, Emperor," she whispered.
Then, she kissed him.
It started deep and hungry. Lyra poured her cool Aether mana directly into his mouth, sliding her tongue against his and setting a demanding rhythm.
She sucked gently on his tongue, then licked deeper, tasting the fire inside him. Their mouths moved together in wet, heated strokes. Soft, needy sounds slipped from her throat.
She began to move her hips in slow, deliberate circles. At first the friction was simply warm. But the longer she rocked against the rigid length of his cock, the more her body responded.
Heat pooled low in her belly. Her pussy grew slick and sensitive with every pass. Soon her wet folds were gliding along that throbbing ridge, spreading her growing arousal over the thin fabric.
The sensation made her tremble. Each roll of her hips dragged her swollen clit against his hardness and sent sparks of pleasure racing through her. A shaky moan escaped her lips.
Lyra broke the kiss only to trail her mouth along his jaw. She pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses down the side of his neck.
When she reached the burning core in his chest, she licked and sucked at the heated skin there. Her breasts pressed fully against him now. Her hard nipples dragged back and forth with every movement and sent little jolts straight to her core.
She gripped his pinned shoulders tightly. Her hips kept grinding, faster now. The wet slide of her pussy against his cock grew louder in the quiet tent. She was soaking through the fabric. Her thighs trembled around his hips as pleasure built inside her.
Zen simply sat back and let her play.
He didn’t fight the gravity pinning his wrist; instead, he matched the rhythm of her kisses perfectly, absorbing every demanding stroke of her tongue.
His cock twitched and throbbed under her, rock-hard and leaking with need. But his breathing stayed steady.
He watched her dilated, thrilled eyes as she arched against him. He saw the flush spreading across her chest and the way her nipples had turned a deeper pink from all the friction.
He felt how wet she had become, how desperately her body moved against him. The fiery pain in his chest still burned, but it didn’t matter.
He knew he could shatter her gravity restraints with a single flex of his aura. He knew he could flip her onto her back in less than a second.
But for now, he let the Goddess of the Aether Domain believe she was the one pulling the strings. He let her lose herself in the pleasure of dominating him. He let her ride that high, hips grinding, breasts pressed tight to his chest, soft moans spilling from her lips as her slick heat rubbed against the thin fabric separating his throbbing cock from her.
He knew it would only make her inevitable surrender that much sweeter.