Chapter 227: 227 | Cavities and Chaos Agents
I held her close, my arms wrapped around her waist. My mind was already doing math I didn’t want it to do. We’d burned maybe ninety minutes in here. The sanctum could hold for forty-five, which meant this was real time in a real hotel room, which meant we’d definitely disturbed the neighbors.
Worth it.
Naomi pulled back to look at me, her pink eyes soft and satisfied. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For making me feel like this matters." She touched my face, her thumb brushing my cheekbone. "Like I matter."
My chest did something uncomfortable. I kissed her instead of trying to find words for whatever the hell was happening in my rib cage.
Belle stood on shaky legs and headed toward the bathroom. "I’m showering. You two can keep being disgustingly sweet, but do it quietly. Some of us need to recover."
The bathroom door closed behind her, and I heard the shower start running. Naomi settled more comfortably against me, her body warm and relaxed.
"We should probably clean up too," she said, but made no move to leave my lap.
"Probably."
Neither of us moved. We just sat there in the aftermath, her heartbeat gradually slowing against my chest. Through the thin hotel walls, I heard a toilet flush from the room next door, someone’s TV playing quietly, normal people doing normal things while I held a girl who’d just come screaming on my cock in a hotel room paid for with monster cores.
My life was insane. Genuinely, absolutely batshit.
I sat there with Naomi’s warmth pressed to my chest, Belle’s off-key singing echoing from the bathroom, Jordan drunk and unconscious in the next room over, Misato likely holed up in her single reviewing gate footage and plotting our next training session. Strange as it was, I didn’t want it any different.
"Naomi?"
"Mm?"
"You matter." The words came out quieter than I’d planned. "Just so we’re clear on that."
She shifted back enough to look at me, her gaze moving over my face like she was searching for something specific. When she found it, her expression softened into a smile that hit harder than it should have.
"You matter too," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.
The shower shut off, and Belle emerged wrapped in a white hotel towel, her blue hair dripping water onto the carpet. She took one look at us still tangled together on the bed and rolled her eyes.
"You two are going to give me cavities. Move over, I’m getting on the left side"
Naomi shifted to make room, and Belle wedged herself next to me, somehow managing to take up more space than her actual body occupied. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, flipping through channels until she found some late-night cooking show.
"This is nice," Belle said, settling in. "Weird, but nice."
Naomi hummed in agreement, her head on my shoulder and her hand resting on my chest.
I stared at the ceiling, feeling the weight of both of them against me, and let myself have this. Just for tonight, I wasn’t the milk vampire or the lottery kid who’d beaten impossible odds or the guy with a death timer counting down in the corner of his vision.
I was just Jace, lying in a shitty hotel room with two girls who knew exactly what I was and chose to stay anyway.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. Belle grabbed it before I could move.
"It’s Aurora," she announced, reading the screen. "She says congrats on first place and she wants details about the celebration."
"Tell her we’re keeping it PG," I said.
Belle snorted. "I’m telling her the truth. She’ll find out anyway when Naomi can’t walk tomorrow."
"I can walk fine," Naomi protested.
"You’re literally lying on top of him like a starfish. You’re not walking anywhere."
I grabbed the phone from Belle and typed out a response to Aurora, keeping it vague enough to be safe. Celebrated with the team. Everyone’s alive. See you tomorrow.
Aurora’s reply came immediately. Everyone includes both of them? You’re greedy.
You literally told me you wanted to watch me struggle with all three of you at dinner next week.
Fair point. Have fun. Use protection. I’m not ready to be an aunt.
Belle read the message over my shoulder and cackled. "I like her."
"Of course you do," I muttered. "You’re both chaos agents."
"Takes one to know one, milk vampire."
Naomi stirred against me, her eyes already half-closed. "Can we sleep? I’m so tired."
"Yeah," I said, reaching over to turn off the lamp. "We should probably get actual rest. Bus leaves at ten."
Belle made a disgusted sound. "Why did we agree to that? We should’ve demanded noon at minimum."
"Because Misato scares you," Naomi mumbled, already drifting off.
"She does not."
"She absolutely does," I confirmed.
Belle elbowed me in the ribs, but there was no heat behind it. She grabbed the TV remote and turned the volume down before settling back against me.
I lay there in the dark, sandwiched between two women who’d just wrung me out like a wet rag, and checked my System one last time.
Lifespan: 12D 4H
Points: 1,180
Level: 6 (50/6,000 XP)
I’d gained the points from watching them come earlier, from touching them, from the intimacy itself. The System rewarded connection, not just extraction. Every session added to my reserves, every relationship built brought me closer to sustainability.
My stats had ticked up too. Technique was at B-rank, 9/10 now, almost capping out. Charisma had hit C-rank, 9/10. Even my physical stats were climbing from the sexual training multiplier, Endurance at the very edge of breaking into C-rank.
I was getting stronger. Faster. Better.
And somewhere in the middle of all the optimization and strategy and survival calculus, I’d accidentally stumbled into something that felt suspiciously like genuine connection.
The System pinged one last time before I went under.
Achievement Unlocked: First Place - Obsidian House
Reward: +500 Points, +1 Day Lifespan
