"Y-you don't have to say something you don't like. You should be yours—eeekk!"
Lily's words cut off in a squeal.
Because Alex finally struck.
Let's be honest, he wasn't here for jewellery sales or for daddy's rent collection.
After laying eyes on this stacked little shopkeeper with the apron straining against her bust and the skirt barely containing her dumb trucks, the only thing cooking in his brain was her body.
He'd teased her, leaned in close, whispered nonsense, made her relax, made her think he was just some cocky rich brat… and then, just when she dared to breathe easy—bam.
A handful. A glorious, sinful, cheek-sinking handful.
Not the cheeks on her face. The other ones. The big, soft, apron-clad mountains that were supposed to be untouchable.
Lily froze like a rabbit caught under torchlight, her lips parting, eyes wide, while Cassandra the elf was too busy covering her own red face in the mirror to notice anything.
Alex smiled like it was perfectly normal, fingers buried deep, testing the softness like a baker kneading fresh dough.
'Holy mother of jiggly heaven… this is it… this is the promised land.'
He gave a tiny squeeze, enough to make Lily's knees buckle.
"Y-you were saying?"
Cassandra tilted her head, blinking, since Lily's words had been chopped in half like a carrot under a cleaver.
"Yeah, right, what were you saying, Lily? You were telling her she should practice with me, right? Right?"
Alex's grin was wicked, sharp, and infuriating.
Lily's face was a furnace. She knew she couldn't go against him right now—not with that hand glued to her like a criminal caught red-handed with stolen treasure.
Her nails dug into her palm, her body rigid, and then… she surrendered. Just a tiny nod. Just enough to sell the act.
"Y-yes… P-p-practice makes… perfection."
Her lips twitched, trying to curl into a smile, but it looked more like a pained grimace. She just wanted the elf gone. Gone, so she could breathe again, so she could peel his hand off her like gum stuck under a chair.
The elf didn't notice. Too lost in her own head, already picturing herself dolled up in sparkling necklaces and earrings, winning hearts and turning heads.
Meanwhile, Alex leaned on the counter like the most casual bastard in existence, one hand supporting his weight… the other sinking deep into forbidden territory.
Grope~ Squeeze~
Each shameless motion made her hips twitch. Lily bit her tongue so hard she tasted copper, eyes downcast so Cassandra wouldn't catch a glimpse of her trembling expression. Her chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, fighting not to let the sound escape.
Her thighs pressed together instinctively.
'If he doesn't stop, I'm gonna… I'm seriously gonna…'
"Now then, Cassie, dating is an art. You don't just show up and hope the man falls for you. You have to build tension. Make him lean closer. Make him think he's the lucky one."
Cassandra leaned in a little, eyes shining with nervous curiosity.
"H-how do you do that?"
Alex smiled.
"For starters, posture. You don't sit stiff like a soldier. You lean forward, shoulders relaxed, eyes soft. Like this."
He demonstrated, leaning forward just enough that his presence was overwhelming, and Cassandra immediately mirrored him, her cheeks tinting pink.
"Good. Now, you let your words trail. Don't dump everything out at once. Make him chase the thought."
Cassandra bit her lip, nodding like a schoolgirl who just got told the answer to the hardest exam of her life.
"S-so… like, 'I… was thinking… maybe we could…'"
"Exactly. You let the silence choke them. Let the pause crawl up their spine. It does the heavy lifting for you."
His words were smooth as wine, but his hands were anything but gentlemanly.
One had already crept higher, slow as a snake slithering through tall grass, until his fingers brushed against the band of her skirt.
Lily's eyes flew open, her breath hitching in her throat. By the time she registered what was happening, his hand had already breached the perimeter.
'Oh no. Oh hell no. Oh, I'm screwed.'
Her back stiffened like a bowstring, fingers digging into the counter so hard her knuckles turned white. She shot him a desperate glare, begging silently for mercy. Alex didn't even grace her with a look. His eyes were locked on Cassandra, his mouth still spouting that honeyed poison.
"And eye contact, Cassandra. Not the casual kind. The dangerous kind. The kind that says I'm here now, but I could vanish like smoke if you don't clutch me tighter."
'How can he say this with a straight face. He's not even blinking. This bastard's insane.'
Meanwhile, his fingers were busy staging their own coup, sliding deeper with every syllable. A cruel squeeze captured both cheeks at once, pulling a gasp out of her chest before she smothered it with her teeth.
Her head dropped, hair curtaining her flushed face.
'Thank god I'm wearing panties… wait, fuck, that is not the point… get this man away from me!'
But it was already too late. His touch slid lower, tracing the forbidden line, his fingertips teasing the slope between her cheeks, inching closer and closer toward her most guarded treasure.
Her whole body screamed red alert, but her legs stayed locked, frozen like prey under a predator's paw.
'If he dares… if he even thinks about it… I swear I'll—'
Grope~ Stroke~
A deliberate, taunting glide.
?!
'Shit!'
Lily just bite down on her own lips.
"By the way, if you nail it on the first try, then you can have that man crawling after you, begging like a mutt in heat for more."
His fingers paused, then landed exactly where they shouldn't have. Jackpot. Her hidden treasure. Warm. Soft. Already marked with a damp little confession.
A grin spread across his face as he looked at her.
"Are you thirsty, Lily?"
The words hit her like a slap. She shot him a glare so sharp it could cut glass, but her glare was betrayed by the traitorous heat pooling between her thighs.
She herself had only just realized it. She was wet. Dripping with shame, arousal, or both, she didn't know.
"N-no."
Her voice cracked like a broken flute.
"No? Good. That's good. Means I can keep talking."
He leaned back casually, like he wasn't committing unspeakable sins under the cover of the counter, and shifted his focus right back to Cassandra, who was hanging on his every word like a lovesick student.
"Now, Cassie, you want to know how to make a man go feral for you."
"H-how?"
"Simple. After the first date, act like it never happened. Like you forgot his name, like you barely remember his face. Nothing hooks a man harder than thinking he failed to leave an impression."
At that exact moment, his fingers dragged over Lily's soaked patch, pressing, rubbing, making her whole body stiffen like a bowstring ready to snap.
She bit down on her own hand, hard, muffling the sound that threatened to tear out of her throat. Her legs squeezed shut, but it was useless. He was relentless.