Chapter 43: The Ghost and the Grope

Ren stared at Syris’ waist.

Specifically, she stared at the knot of the sheer black silk sash that held his modesty—and the Jade Key—in place.

The key was right there. A smooth, green stone disk carved with a coiling serpent, dangling tantalizingly against his pale hip bone. It clinked softly every time he shifted on the furs.

’It’s so close,’ Ren thought, clenching her hands in her lap. ’I could just grab it. Snatch and run.’

But Syris was awake. He was sitting cross-legged on the bed, watching her with the intensity of a hawk eyeing a particularly nervous field mouse.

“You are staring at my midsection,” Syris noted. “Is the grief located in your eyes?”

Ren blinked, snapping her gaze up to his face. “Yes. I mean, no. I was just… thinking about how… sturdy you look. Unlike… sniff… unlike poor, sinkable Kael.”

Syris puffed out his chest slightly. “I am very sturdy. I am pure muscle. And I float.”

“Right. You float.” Ren scooted closer on the bed. “It’s very cold in here tonight, Syris. My heart is freezing.”

Syris frowned.

“I offered to warm you,” he reminded her. “But you said the Ghost Tiger would urinate on my pillows if we touched. I have just cleaned these linens, Ren. I do not want tiger-scent on my silk.”

Ren mentally cursed her own improvisational skills. ’Why did I say pee? Why couldn’t I say he would haunt the curtains?’

“Well,” Ren hedged, inching closer until her knee brushed his thigh. “The Ghost is… sleeping right now. Spirits nap. It’s a known fact.”

“Is it?” Syris looked skeptical. He glanced around the room as if expecting a spectral tiger to jump out of the shadows with a full bladder.

“Yes. Absolutely.” Ren reached out and placed her hand on his chest. His skin was cool, smooth, and hard as marble. “Just a little cuddle won’t wake him up. I need… body heat. For survival.”

Syris hesitated. He looked at her hand on his chest. He looked at her lips. Then he looked at his pillows.

“Just heat transfer?” Syris clarified. “No… friction?”

“Just heat,” Ren lied.

Syris sighed, opening his arms. “Very well. Come here. But if I smell wet cat, I am pushing you off.”

Ren scrambled into his lap. She straddled him, burying her face in his neck to hide her expression of pure, calculated larceny.

She wrapped her arms around his waist.

’Okay. Hand is in position. Key is on the left hip.’

She slid her left hand down his back, tracing his spine. Syris hummed, his eyes fluttering shut.

“Mmm,” he vibrated. “Your hands are warm. It feels… good.”

“I’m just… checking your alignment,” Ren murmured, moving her hand lower. She reached the silk sash. She felt the knot. It was tight.

She tugged at it gently with her thumb.

Syris’ eyes snapped open.

“What are you doing?”

Ren froze. Her hand was hovering dangerously close to his rear. “I… found a knot. In your muscle. I’m massaging it out.”

“That is my sash,” Syris stated. “And that is my buttock.”

“They are connected,” Ren improvised wildly. “The hip bone’s connected to the… thigh bone. It’s medical science.”

Syris narrowed his eyes. “You are acting strange.”

“I’m restless with grief!” Ren wailed softly, burying her face in his shoulder again so he wouldn’t see her panic. She took a risk. She ground her hips against his.

Syris gasped. His hands gripped her waist instantly.

“Ren,” he warned, his voice dropping an octave. “The ghost.”

“Screw the ghost,” Ren whispered, nibbling on his earlobe. “I’m cold, Syris. Make me warm.”

[System Comment: Host is utilizing ’Honey Trap’. Effectiveness: High. Dignity: Low.]

Syris groaned. His logic was warring with his biology. Biology was winning.

“If the ghost watches,” Syris growled, his hands sliding up to cup her breasts through the blue silk robe, “then let him watch. I am the King here.”

He kissed her.

It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It was hungry. He devoured her mouth, his forked tongue sweeping in to taste her.

Ren kissed him back with everything she had, using the distraction to move her hand back to his waist.

She found the knot again. She used her other hand to stabilize it.

Kiss. Tug. Kiss. Tug.

“You taste… frantic,” Syris murmured against her lips, his hips bucking up to meet hers. He was hard. Very hard. And the “double” situation was becoming exceedingly obvious against her thighs.

“I need you,” Ren panted, putting every ounce of acting skill into her voice. “I need you to… relax.”

She gave the sash a sharp yank.

The knot came loose.

The sheer black silk loosened. The Jade Key slid free, dangling on a single thread.

’Gotcha.’

Ren grabbed the cool stone disk in her fist.

But she had made a miscalculation.

With the sash loosened, the silk wrap fell open.

Syris was now completely naked. And completely aroused.

He pulled back from the kiss, looking down at his exposed state, then at Ren. His amethyst eyes flared with neon violet light.

“The barrier is gone,” Syris noted, sounding delighted. “The sash fell. It is a sign.”

“A sign?” Ren squeaked, clutching the key in her sweaty palm behind his back.

“A sign from the ghost,” Syris decided. “He approves. He wants you to move on.”

He grabbed Ren’s hips and flipped her.

In one smooth motion, Ren was on her back on the furs, and Syris was looming over her, a magnificent, naked, glowing deity of lust.

“No!” Ren yelped, realizing she had succeeded too well. “Wait! I heard a roar! Did you hear a roar?”

“I hear only your heartbeat,” Syris purred, lowering himself between her legs. “And it is racing.”

He pinned her wrists to the bed—forcing her to keep her fist closed around the stolen key.

“Syris, stop!” Ren panicked. “I… I have a cramp! A grief cramp! It’s in my leg!”

She kicked him in the shin. Hard.

“Ow!” Syris hissed, recoiling. “Why are you violent?”

“It’s the grief!” Ren shouted, scrambling out from under him. She rolled off the bed, clutching the key to her chest, her blue robe in disarray. “It comes in waves! Violent, cramping waves! I need to walk it off!”

Syris sat on the bed, naked, confused, and sporting a red mark on his shin. He looked at his “Double Trouble,” which was currently flagging in disappointment.

“You are a very difficult female,” Syris grumbled, pulling the furs over his lap. “First you grind, then you kick. Is this mammal courting?”

“Yes,” Ren lied, backing toward the door. “It’s called ’Playing Hard to Get’. It builds character.”

“I have enough character,” Syris snapped. “I want release.”

“Later!” Ren promised. “I need to… go to the bathroom. To cry. And handle the cramp.”

She didn’t wait for permission. She bolted for the door.

The Hallway

Ren slumped against the cold stone wall outside the Nest, her heart hammering against her ribs like a jackhammer.

She opened her fist.

Resting in her palm was the Jade Key.

“I did it,” she breathed. “I actually did it. I groped a King and robbed him.”

[System Notification: Task 2 Complete – X Marks the Spot.][Reward: Swamp Navigator Map (Currently in Vault).][Next Step: Raid the Vault before the King realizes his pants are untied.]

Ren shoved the key into the deep pocket of her robe.

“Okay,” she whispered, checking the empty corridor. “Vault time. Then drugs. Then… freedom.”

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