Liria was lying right where he left her on the large bed.
She had curled herself into a tight ball on her side, completely swallowed up by his oversized grey hoodie. The hem rode up around her waist, exposing her bare, toned thighs and her sticky underwear.
She wasn't sleeping. Her pale green eyes were wide open, tracking Alex the second he stepped out of the bathroom.
Due to the Desire Mark secretly binding her emotional state to him and the heavy dose of pheromones she absorbed, her face was flushed a deep, feverish pink.
There was no trace of the cocky arrogance of someone who tried to kidnap him an hour ago.
She looked at him with a strange, helpless mix of lingering sexual hunger, fear, and absolute submission.
Alex walked over to the side of the mattress and looked down at her.
His short, wet hair framed a sharp, expressionless face as his sharp aura naturally leaked into the room, making the air feel cold and heavy.
"Alright, blondie," Alex said calmly, pulling up a wooden chair and sitting down right in front of the bed.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "We're completely alone, and nobody followed us here. It's time to start talking."
He fixed his dark, liquid eyes directly onto hers, letting a subtle wisp of his Silent Whisper talent thread into his voice. The hypnotic voice vibrated through the quiet room.
"Tell me everything you know about the coliseum, its underground network, and how to enter it without alerting others." He paused, letting his gaze drop briefly to the shivering curves of her legs before meeting her eyes again. "If you want your sister to come out alive, you better be honest. As you can see, only I can break the curse mark on your bodies."
Hearing his questions, Liria felt complicated emotions surging up in her heart. She wanted to resist, but her body felt weak, still aching for his touch.
She slowly moved her body to lean against the headboard, the grey hoodie slipping slightly over one shoulder, and opened her dry lips to speak.
Knock. Knock.
Just then they heard a knock on the door.
Alex didn't think much and stepped forward to open the door, only to find it was the receptionist from the front desk, with two sets of clean folded clothes in his hands.
Alex was slightly annoyed and spoke, his voice carrying that natural, sultry undertone. "What is it? I didn't call for any room service?"
The young receptionist opened his mouth, eager to offer those clothes he brought just as an excuse to get another look at the two beauties in Room 104.
But the moment his eyes landed on Alex, the words died completely in his throat.
Alex completely forgotten one crucial detail when he tossed Liria's small sports bra into the trash can.
He was wearing a thin, white cotton t-shirt directly over his bare skin.
Without a towel around his shoulders, the dripping water from his damp, silky black hair soaked right through the fabric.
The wet cotton clung tightly to his chest like a second skin, turning completely transparent under the bright hallway lights.
It left nothing to the imagination.
The shirt traced the soft, heavy curves of his newly developed breasts, now swelling just shy of a full B-cup and clearly highlighted his stiff, sensitive peaks pushing visibly against the wet fabric.
The round, plump curves sat proudly against the wet fabric, and right at the center, his stiff, sensitive dark pink nipples were pushing visibly against the thin cotton, outlined in absolute, undeniable detail.
To make matters worse, Alex's natural flawless skin and the faint pheromones were still drifting off his warm skin, filling the doorway with an intoxicating, sweet scent.
The receptionist's eyes bulged out of his head, the sight was pure, unfiltered erotica .
His gaze locked onto Alex's jiggling, exposed breasts, his jaw practically dropping to the floor.
His heart hammered furiously against his ribs, and a violent rush of blood shot straight to his brain.
"I.. I brought….you..a..new.." he stammered, his face turning the color of a ripe tomato.
Before he could even finish his sentence, the overwhelming visual and the heavy dose of pheromones proved way too much for his brain to handle.
Splat.
Without any warning, two thick streams of bright red blood suddenly erupted from his nostrils.
"What the..!!" Alex gasped, taking a half-step back.
But he wasn't fast enough.
A warm, wet splash of the receptionist's nosebleed dripped right off the man's chin and splattered directly onto the front of Alex's clean white t-shirt, staining the fabric right across the slope of his left breast.
For a second, there was dead silence in the doorway.
Alex froze. He looked down at the bloodstains on his shirt, then realized exactly why the fabric was so wet, and exactly what the pervert was staring at so greedily.
The cold hallway air brushed against his bare, wet skin, sending a shiver right through his sensitive nipples.
A sudden, burning wave of heat rushed up Alex's neck, turning his pale face and ears a bright, furious red.
Deep, agonizing embarrassment flooded his system as he realized he had just casually answered the door practically topless.
"You… What the fuck are you staring at, you perverted little shit?!" Alex yelled, his voice cracking slightly with a feminine sharpness as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest, cupping his hands over his breasts to hide the soft mounds from view.
The physical sensation of his own warm hands pressing against his sensitive chest only made the embarrassment tenfold.
That intense humiliation instantly twisted into pure, explosive anger.
"You perverted piece of shit! Close your damn eyes!" Alex cursed furiously.
Without even thinking, and running entirely on raw instinct and embarrassment, Alex pivoted on his heel and launched a lightning-fast kick straight between the receptionist's legs.
Smack!
The man's eyes rolled back into his head as all the air left his lungs in a silent, choked squeak.
The sheer kinetic force of the kick lifted him entirely off his feet and launched him backward down the hallway.
He flew through the air for several meters before crashing violently onto the carpeted floor, sending clean clothes and robes scattering everywhere around him.
The receptionist curled into a tight, trembling fetal position on the hallway floor, clutching his groin with both hands, groaning in pure agony while blood continued to leak from his nose.
Alex stood in the doorway, breathing heavily, his face still burning bright red as his arms remained locked tightly around his wet breasts, "If I see your fucking face anywhere near this door again, I'll snap your neck!"
He glared down at the groaning man, let out a frustrated growl, trying to calm his racing heartbeat and cooling his burning cheeks, a familiar, sultry laughter echoed directly inside his mind.
"My, my, what a splendid reaction," the Empress purred, her voice filled with dark amusement. "Look at you, covering your chest and screaming like a wronged little girl."
"Your instincts are adapting to your new body much faster than your stubborn male ego is."
"Shut up," Alex muttered under his breath, glaring down at the red bloodstains ruining his shirt. "The bastard was staring right at them. And this damn shirt becomes practically see-through when it's wet."
"He was merely admiring a masterpiece in progress, little serpent," the Empress teased playfully, her tone echoing with a lazy, sensual rhythm. "Your body is entering the peak of the second Ecdysis phase."
"What can you expect? Your skin is softer, your scent is intoxicating, and those lovely mounds on your chest are demanding attention whether you wear an undergarment or not."
She paused, letting a wicked giggle slide through his thoughts. "Hehehe... What a poor little thing. Why don't I let him join you both?"
"Madly in love with each other… Wouldn't that be a great show to watch?"