…I was one hundred percent sure this was the System's fault.
"Why," I said, "was that too much for you?"
I'd not been expecting this development, but… now I wanted to goad him into taking my clothes off.
"Besides, you said that. I never agreed to it."
Llewellyn's hand went under my shirt. He brushed his lips over my jaw, mouthed lower, and bit down on my throat.
"Maybe I should teach you a lesson myself, then," he said.
Uh.
Damn, how was he so smooth?
He licked at my throat, sliding a hand into my trousers, and I yanked him into a kiss. A moment later we were tearing at each other's clothes, frantically.
"System," Llewellyn said, once we were both shirtless. "Can you keep Penguin and Lumos away from this area?"
The System chimed.
[Request acknowledged. Area secured.]
Llewellyn spun me around, pressing my face against the books, and unbuttoned my trousers, pulling them down.
"Take off your shoes," he said. "Take everything off."
Yes. Perfect.
Llewellyn tugged at my clothes until I was completely naked, and pushed me back against the shelf, face first.
"Will you let me fuck your mouth?" he asked in my ear.
...Well, fuck.
"You don't need to ask," I said.
Llewellyn let out a breath. He spun me around again and kissed me hard, pressing close and stroking me until I was about to come. Then he stopped and gently pushed me down.
I let out a noise and tipped forward to press my forehead on his groin, shaking a bit, fitting my cheek there.
Llewellyn's fingers cupped the back of my head. "Too much?" he asked.
Ha. After all we'd done?! As if.
I kissed him through his trousers.
"You just have an uncanny ability to stop at the worst moment."
Llewellyn laughed, looking happy, and I reached for the button.
"We have to be quick today," he said.
"I know." I dragged the zip down and looked up at him. "Go for it," I said and pulled him close by the back of his thigh until he was sliding into my open mouth.
I let out a noise, and Llewellyn's grip tightened in my hair.
I let him do just as he pleased.
He thrust forward, keeping himself deep for a second, then pulled back slowly. When I moaned around him, his hips jerked forward involuntarily.
"Fuck," Llewellyn breathed, fingers clenching tighter.
When I relaxed my throat and took him deeper, he made a choked sound.
I pulled back to breathe, and he drew me back immediately.
"..."
That shouldn't have been so hot, but it was. I took him in again, sucking hard.
Llewellyn cursed and his hips jerked forward.
Perfect. I wanted to see him lose it completely.
"Wait—" he said, breathing hard and pulling back a bit.
I licked my lips, looking up. His jaw was clenched, his chest rising and falling fast.
"What?" I asked.
Llewellyn stared down at me. His face was flushed.
"Just trying not to finish too fast."
I leaned in and licked him.
"Don't hold back on my account," I said. "You can do it harder."
Llewellyn made a noise and tugged my head forward again.
This time, he didn't restrain himself. His grip tightened and his rhythm picked up. I tried to keep up with the pace he set and choked slightly when he went deeper—but... not too much. Looked like he remembered what I'd told him last time.
"Good?" he asked, voice rough.
I moaned around him.
Llewellyn cursed again. He pulled my head back briefly, just to look at me—before pushing back in with a groan.
"You—" he started, but didn't finish.
I dug my fingers into his thighs, trying to pull him even closer, and flattened my back against the shelf, handing over control completely.
His breathing had gone ragged. I could feel him getting close—his rhythm faltering slightly.
I doubled down, swallowing around him.
"Fuck—" Llewellyn gasped. "I'm—"
He tried to pull back, but I stopped him.
He came with a shudder, hands clenched tight in my hair, hips bucking involuntarily. I swallowed everything, then licked him clean while he panted above me.
When I finally pulled back, wiping my mouth, Llewellyn hauled me up and kissed me hard.
"Your turn," he said, tugging me toward a wide window seat with cushions. "Lie down."
And he went down on me.
***
After we were both sated and collapsed side by side, Llewellyn asked, "Break? It's lunchtime already."
Uh, he had a point.
I went to retrieve my clothes and followed him outside on unsteady legs, feeling very unwilling to keep any distance between us. The more I looked at him, the more I wanted to slide under his coat or something.
I'd never felt that before, it was a bit startling.
We collected Lumos and Penguin and headed toward a street full of restaurants.
"Any preferences?" Llewellyn asked.
"Something with stats bonuses," I said. "We might as well make the break useful."
Llewellyn led us to a place called The Philosopher's Table, with a sign written in elegant script, and through the windows I could see white tablecloths, crystal glassware, and absolutely no one inside.
We pushed through the door and the interior was exactly as fancy as it looked from outside.
"The food is good," Llewellyn said, already heading for a table by the window.
We sat down. Menus materialized in front of us—actual physical menus, leather-bound with gold lettering.
I opened mine and immediately understood why he'd chosen this place.
Every dish had stats listed beneath the description. +15% Focus for 4 hours. +10% Memory Retention. +8% Processing Speed.
"The salmon has the best combination for learning," Llewellyn said, scanning his own menu.
"Salmon it is."
A moment after we decided, plates floated out from the kitchen on their own. They drifted gracefully through the air, setting themselves down in front of us.
Llewellyn was right, the food was incredible. Tender, perfectly seasoned… Even Penguin had no complaints.
[System Notification: Stat boost applied! +15% Focus, +10% Memory Retention for 4 hours.]
Lumos sat beside us, tail wagging.
"There should be something for them too," Llewellyn said.
A moment later, two smaller plates floated toward them. Lumos was on his immediately.
"What did you find in the books?" Llewellyn asked.
We chatted easily as we finished eating, then we made our way back to the library.
We spent the rest of the day lounging around and reading more about Destabilized Artifacts. We had a quick dinner at The Philosopher's Table again, then went for a walk down the beach to wait until 11 PM before teleporting into my Core Partition for the final sprint.
"What do you think we should focus on?" I asked, while I put Penguin and Lumos on the bed so they could get comfortable. "If we really can use two hours like this, we can aim for four books."
I'd already selected Glyphs of Power: Basics, Living Forms, Modular Breakthroughs. As much as I'd read about the topic today, memorizing the actual glyphs this way would be easier and I'd be less likely to make mistakes, especially since the stroke order seemed to be important and some were really complex.
Llewellyn picked a book on Geometric Casting.
"I know you don't plan on using it," he said. "But if you can follow what I'm doing, we'll be able to work together better. Besides, I could never memorize the more advanced sequences so I want to use this opportunity."
Fair enough.
"You pick the other two books," I said. "I can't even think properly anymore."
Llewellyn nodded.
While he browsed the shelves, I opened Global Magic Monitoring, but I couldn't see anything around Hyunshore Hotel. If the auction was tomorrow morning, it was unlikely they hadn't moved the artifacts there yet, so it looked like the place was indeed shielded at a level not even my Core Partition could see through. I tried to zoom in from different sides, as if that'd help, but nothing changed.
Llewellyn came back with a couple of books.
"One on Advanced Qi Techniques," he said, "and one on Direct Path Magic."
Uh. I'd completely forgotten about those.
I looked at the titles: Sleeping Dragon Style: Advanced Qi Techniques for Sword Users, and Protective Direct Path Magic During Blood Loss.
My head snapped up.
Was this a coincidence? Did he know I'd been—?
Llewellyn looked at me.
"If you're planning to do anything stupid," Llewellyn said. "Don't."
I closed my mouth, avoiding his eyes.
This complicated things.
Still. This sounded like a good book.
"Let's do it," I said.
We both kicked off our shoes and slid under the covers.
"System," I said. "We need to learn four books. Can you please wake us up when most appropriate to make this happen?"
The System chimed.
[Affirmative. Optimal wake-up time will be calculated.]
"We'll need to be at the auction by 10 tomorrow," Llewellyn said. "But we'll need to have a final call with TAPESTRY first. Please wake us up at 7 AM."
The System confirmed again.
That somehow made it feel very real. My adrenaline spiked up and I swallowed.
Damn it. Hopefully I was going to be able to fall asleep. I needed to learn these books.
Llewellyn pulled me into a kiss and we both drifted off.
I hoped Tiernan and the others were ready too.