Chapter 102: The Cost of Keeping a Genius (R-18)
Pulling his drenched finger free and finally lifting his mouth away from her folds, Max broke into a wide, satisfied smile.
He’d stopped.
’...Why did he stop?’
The thought surfaced immediately, catching Zerena by surprise.
And, rather annoyingly, there was something else buried underneath it.
Disappointment.
Her entire body had grown frustratingly sensitive after everything he’d been doing. It felt as though the irritation and restless tension that had been building inside her was finally about to leave.
Then it didn’t.
Still, she didn’t dwell on it for long.
She opened her eyes just enough to see what Max was doing.
He pulled his penis out.
’Finally...’
The thought came with almost embarrassing relief.
’Let’s get this over with...
Cum...
Cum...’
She repeated it quietly inside her head, not because she was looking forward to any of this, but because once he finished, she could finally go to sleep.
Before the next moment, however, that quiet excitement dissolved into immediate panic.
Max’s hard penis, already glistening with precum, emerged from between his legs.
Instead of doing what she’d expected—
He simply rested it against the thick bush above her crotch.
"..."
Then he slowly slid it downward, letting the warm head glide between her folds.
’...What is he doing?’
The thought barely had time to form.
"...Ngh..."
A startled moan escaped her as he suddenly gave her clit a light slap with it.
Her thighs instinctively tried to snap shut.
Unfortunately for her, Max was still kneeling between them, leaving the effort about as successful as trying to close a door with someone standing in the doorway.
Before she could recover—
Slap.
He did it again.
Another twitch ran through her body.
Then, as though completely satisfied with whatever ridiculous experiment his brain had committed itself to, he resumed lazily rubbing the head of his penis between her folds.
’...What the hell is he doing now?’
Before long, her breathing grew noticeably heavier.
Her stomach tightened as the head of his penis continued gliding between her folds, the steady friction making her body respond in ways she found increasingly irritating.
It almost felt as though her body had already made up its mind.
She certainly hadn’t.
Still...
She wasn’t stopping him either.
Not because she’d accepted it.
Mostly because she was hoping Max would remain exactly what she’d always believed him to be.
A coward.
’...He won’t dare.’
The thought carried considerably more confidence than she actually felt.
’He won’t be stupid enough to actually put it in.’
She repeated it like someone trying very hard to convince herself rather than reality.
Anger slowly bubbled beneath her growing unease.
’Just try it...’
’See what happens.’
She was already preparing to open her eyes.
Then—
Max stopped.
The slow strokes of his penis between her folds suddenly came to an end.
Instead, Max reached down and gently pushed her thighs together.
Then he lifted both of her legs slightly, keeping them squeezed tightly by the knees before guiding his penis back between them.
The warmth returned immediately.
His shaft slid smoothly along the narrow gap between her thighs, each slow stroke brushing just close enough to leave Zerena increasingly aware of what wasn’t happening.
Her breathing gradually steadied again.
Somewhere, buried beneath the irritation...
There was also a faint sense of disappointment.
A very unwelcome one.
She found herself absurdly wishing he’d move just a little lower.
Only a little.
Right along her folds.
The realization annoyed her enough that she immediately blamed Max for it.
Meanwhile, Max had already accomplished everything he’d actually wanted.
Now he simply wanted to finish.
The little stunt from earlier?
That hadn’t been random.
He’d once read about something similar in one of those incredibly questionable hentai comics and perverted smut books he’d definitely only opened out of "curiosity."
Apparently, if you edged someone long enough, they’d eventually become so frustrated they’d throw themselves at you.
Whether the anonymous internet sages behind those stories had been experienced lovers or basement philosophers with dangerously active imaginations...
Max honestly had no idea.
Still...
Scientific curiosity demanded experimentation.
Besides—
Why would he willingly miss the opportunity to, as his wonderfully unbiased inner narrator put it...
"Fuck her for real."
As far as Max could tell...
She still wasn’t stopping him.
If he really wanted to, he probably could’ve pushed forward.
But even with every terrible idea currently taking turns inside his head, one stubborn rule refused to disappear.
For his first time...
He wanted her permission.
"...Sorry, Auntie," he said with an entirely unapologetic grin.
"I can’t help it. You’ve got such fuckable thighs." He gave an almost admiring shake of his head. "Seriously... I could spend all day fucking these and still complain there wasn’t enough time."
With that completely unnecessary confession out of the way, he pushed his hips forward again.
His crotch pressed firmly against the back of her thighs before he resumed stroking his penis through the tight gap he’d made by squeezing her legs together.
Honestly...
The setup was suspiciously effective.
Her thighs were soft, thick, and warm, and with both of his hands holding them tightly together, they wrapped around him far better than Max’s previous training equipment.
Zerena was genuinely caught off guard.
Max almost never talked like that.
The crude language sounded so out of place coming from someone who usually stumbled over the word breasts like it required government approval.
Then again...
He also believed she was asleep.
That explained a lot.
If he’d looked her in the eyes and called her thighs "fuckable" while she was awake...
He would’ve been introduced to the educational value of an open palm.
Possibly several.
She made a quiet mental note to correct that particular habit in the morning.
His cheeks clearly hadn’t been slapped enough lately.
Still...
That wasn’t what occupied most of her increasingly scattered thoughts.
What she couldn’t understand was something else entirely.
Why had he rubbed his penis against her like that...
Only to stop?
He’d dragged it between her folds, tested every ounce of her rapidly disappearing patience, then calmly retreated to her thighs as though he’d suddenly remembered an appointment somewhere else.
It didn’t make sense.
She hadn’t stopped him.
She hadn’t pushed him away.
Hell, she’d practically been lying there pretending to be asleep the entire time.
So why?
’...Is he actually scared?’
The thought felt strangely absurd.
This was the same idiot who treated personal boundaries like optional side quests whenever that ridiculous system got involved.
Yet now, of all times...
He’d suddenly developed standards.
Or maybe...
His courage had simply run out right before the finish line.
Of course...
That didn’t mean she had wanted him to.
Not even close.
But still...
Why hadn’t he?
The question lingered just long enough for the corner of her lips to threaten the faintest smile.
’...So he really does care about whether I agree.’
That was... useful.
Far more useful than she’d expected.
Keeping Max around suddenly didn’t seem nearly as difficult as it had a few hours ago.
She already knew exactly what he wanted.
Her.
Or more specifically...
Her body.
She’d resisted admitting it for a while, telling herself it was only because of those ridiculous system quests.
Now?
She wasn’t so convinced anymore.
The quests might have started it, but somewhere along the way Max had developed what could only be described as a deeply concerning level of enthusiasm.
The sort usually reserved for starving dogs discovering an unattended butcher shop.
It was ridiculous.
Convenient.
And, from her perspective...
Profitable.
If his attraction made him easier to keep close, then she’d use it exactly the same way she’d use any other resource.
There was no point pretending otherwise.
Meanwhile, the steady rhythm of skin striking skin continued filling the room as he picked up speed between her thighs.
Under normal circumstances, she would’ve found the sound unbearably vulgar.
Tonight...
Her mind barely registered it.
The knot that had been tightening inside her ever since the A-grade potions had disappeared finally began to loosen.
For the first time since discovering what Max was capable of, she no longer felt as though she were standing one bad decision away from losing him.
Strangely enough...
Somewhere along the way, she’d stopped thinking of him as her step grandson.
Without realizing it, Zerena’s thighs tightened on their own, squeezing around him as the steady pressure between them continued.
Her attention, however, had already drifted somewhere else entirely.
To the future.
There was certainly a great deal of Max’s semen caught between her thighs.
But there was something else she saw there too.
Money.
An absurd amount of it.
Enough to reclaim the control over her own life she’d lost years ago.
Enough that she’d never have to bow her head to anyone again.
Enough to decide the direction of other people’s lives instead of constantly worrying about her own.
And money wasn’t even the most valuable part anymore.
Max himself had become something far rarer.
Power.
Not because he was strong.
Not because he could fight.
But because people like him simply didn’t exist.
A ridiculous genius.
Armed with a miraculous system that granted him points capable of making almost anything possible.
Where else was she ever going to find someone like him?
So why would she care if a little cum ended up on her thighs...
Or anywhere else, for that matter?
Hell...
As Max’s pace quickened, she found herself growing excited too.
’Yeah... cum...’
’Cum over me...’