Alex stood in front of the steamy mirror for another minute, afraid to step out.
He towel-dried his hair, and even that felt different.
His hair was usually coarse and oily, but now it felt like wet silk slipping through his fingers.
As he dried his body, the towel felt incredibly rough against his skin.
"Ouch," he hissed, dabbing at his chest.
His nipples were the worst part.
They were slightly swollen, standing at attention, and a deep, rosy pink.
The friction of the towel sent a jolt of electric sensation straight to his groin.
It wasn't just pain; it was a weird, confusing pleasure that made his breath hitch.
"Sensitive, aren't you?" the Empress giggled in his head. "As an Enchantress, your body is preparing for touch. It wants to be handled."
"Shut up," Alex muttered, grabbing his old, worn-out grey t-shirt.
He pulled it on, but immediately regretted it.
The cheap cotton felt like sandpaper.
It clung to his chest, rubbing against his stiff nipples with every breath.
He could feel the fabric sliding over his stomach, which felt softer, less defined than yesterday.
He swallowed hard, unlocked the door, and stepped out into the hallway.
He didn't make it two steps before he ran into a wall. Or rather, a person.
"Whoa, watch it," a sharp voice snapped.
It was Elena.
Alex froze. His cousin Elena was twenty-one, a C-rank Gene Warrior with a "Wind Blade" talent.
She was tall, lean, and had a resting face that looked like she was judging your soul. Usually, she just ignored Alex or scolded him for being lazy… or teased him a little bit for being short and slim.
But today, she didn't step back.
She stood there, wearing a tight black tank top and workout shorts, sweating from her morning training.
But instead of pushing past him, she stopped. Her nose twitched.
"Alex?" she asked, her voice sounding confused.
"Uh, hey Elena. I gotta go help Uncle John." Alex tried to squeeze past her, terrified she'd notice the tattoo or the weird bump in his pants that wouldn't go away.
"Stop," she commanded, her hand shooting out to grab his arm.
Her grip was strong, but the moment her skin touched his, Alex gasped. Her hand felt incredibly hot.
Elena's eyes widened. She didn't let go. Instead, she pulled him closer, pinning him against the wall of the narrow hallway.
"What is that smell?" she whispered, leaning in and sniffed his body like a dog.
"I... I just showered," Alex stammered, his heart hammering against his ribs.
He could feel her breasts pressing lightly against his arm, and the heat radiating from her body was making him dizzy as he suddenly remembered the scene from the night at the shrine.
"No," Elena murmured, her eyes losing their usual sharpness, becoming slightly glazed. "It's not soap. You smell… different."
She leaned her face into the crook of his neck, inhaling deeply.
Her hot breath washed over his sensitive skin, making the fine hairs on his neck stand up, returning his focus back.
"Look at her," at the same time the Empress whispered again, her voice dripping with lust.
"She wants to bite you. She wants to taste you. The pheromones you are realising started driving her wild. This is the power of the Naagin."
Elena's hand slid up his arm, her fingers tracing the smooth, hairless skin of his inner forearm.
She looked down at his arm, then up at his face.
"And your skin..." she murmured, reaching up with her other hand to cup his cheek.
Her thumb brushed over his lips, which were fuller and redder than usual. "Since when do you have skin like porcelain? You don't have a single pore. You're… basically glowing."
Alex felt his face flush hot…
Being this close to Elena, feeling her strong body pressing him against the wall, was overwhelming.
He looked down and saw her chest heaving slightly. The way she was looking at him... it wasn't how a cousin looked at a cousin.
It was how a predator looked at a meal.
"Elena, you're too close," Alex whispered, though he didn't push her away. He couldn't. His body was betraying him, leaning into her touch.
"Am I?" she teased back, her voice husky.
She dragged her thumb down his jawline, then lower, grazing his neck.
Her eyes dropped to his chest.
Through the thin, worn-out t-shirt, his hard nipples were clearly visible, poking against the fabric.
Elena's gaze locked onto them. She licked her lips subconsciously.
"You've, what happened to your chest? Why do your nipples look bigger?" she questioned, her voice dropping to a low purr.
She pressed her thigh between his legs, her knee brushing dangerously close to his crotch. "You look... pretty. Too pretty for a boy."
She leaned in until her lips were almost brushing his ear.
"Tell me, Alex," she whispered, her hand sliding down his chest, her fingers grazing his sensitive nipple through the shirt, making him let out a broken moan. "Did you find a girlfriend? Or are you trying to seduce someone?"
Alex's mind was spinning.
The sensation of her finger teasing his nipple was sending waves of pleasure straight to his stomach.
He felt incredibly submissive, like he wanted to slide down the wall and let her do whatever she wanted.
"Don't just stand there trembling," the Empress hissed. "Use it. Touch her back."
"Get off me!" Alex snapped as soon as he heard the Empress words, his voice cracking mid-shout.
He tried to shove Elena away, planting his hands against her shoulders.
But it was like pushing against a brick wall.
She didn't budge an inch.
In fact, his palms felt ridiculously soft against her hard, gym-toned deltoids.
The contrast made his mind filled with humiliation.
He had always been the runt of the family… short, lean, the "office worker" soul in a weak cultivator's body.
But this? This was different.
His fingers looked delicate on her damp workout figure. His wrists, trapped in her grip, felt fragile.
"Pathetic," he thought, a surge of self-loathing mixing with the confusing heat pooling in his groin. 'I'm barely five-seven, and now my muscles are dissolving into... into this soft dough? I'm turning into a girl, and I can't even push my own cousin off me.'
Elena laughed, a low, husky sound that vibrated against his ear.
She didn't let go.
Instead, unknowingly she pressed her hips harder against him, trapping his erection between her thigh and his own stomach.
"Why are you so angry, little cousin?" Elena teased, her eyes gleaming with a strange hunger.
She released one of his wrists to trail her hand down his side, squeezing his waist. "You're softer than I remember. Have you been skipping training to exfoliate? You feel like... very good."