“I’m going to touch you, Morgan,” she said, her voice calm enough to counter the storm in my veins. “Slowly. But if at any moment something doesn’t feel right, or the stimuli is too much, you tell me to stop, and I’ll stop. Okay?”
I could only nod, swallowing the lump in my throat. Not only did she remember, but she actually cared – and even if she didn’t, I could turn off Bluetooth, take out the lenses and run to the shower to wash off the slime. I didn’t have to babble excuses and flee the apartment like I had with human partners. The thought eased my anxiety, finally leaving a safe space for the ache that had been simmering under my skin for a while.
“I’m going to take my time with you.”
Fingertips trailed up my arms. Featherlight. Barely there. My breath came out in ragged gasps as I closed my eyes and focused on feeling, not thinking. Feel how the liquid pulsed with the illusion of fingertips tracing my skin. How the static warned me of every touch before it came, making it safe and thrilling at the same time. How the buzz got worse the closer she got to my head, but I still didn’t want her to stop, even as a low throb rose in the back of my head.
“I will give you less than you want, always.” Her shaky breath, right next to my ear. Desire pooled between my legs.
“I won’t overwhelm you, darling.” Her voice was soft. Commanding. “I’ll make you crave more.” Fingers brushing up my throat, so light, so gentle, so controlled, goosebumps erupted all over my skin. “I’ll starve you until you’re begging me to satisfy you.” Her hand lifted to cup my cheek.
I froze slightly. She stilled.
“I—I don’t really like when people touch my face.” I said it hesitantly, almost apologetically. I never had, but the radiation made it worse. Like every touch sent microfibers through my skin.
“No problem.” Zafyra softly sighed into my ear, and I could feel she smiled as she released her hand. The air was comfortably cold as the vibration lifted from my skin.
The same hand wrapped around my throat instead. She squeezed lightly, sending a low buzz through my throat. I could tell she was fighting the urge to squeeze harder, but we both knew it would make the illusion of touch dissolve in the blink of an eye. I sensed the pressure of her fingers withoutfeelingit, like the inside of my throat was numb to a sensation only my skin registered on the outside.
I gasped at the sharp sensation of teeth grazing my earlobe, followed by a sharp buzz.
“I want to choke you for real,” she murmured, darkness seeping through her silk voice. “Make you feel you’re mine.”
I pressed my thighs together. I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately trying not to move like she told me to, because suddenly I wanted her to choke me so, so badly, even if the headache was bad enough to make me pass out.
“Zafyra—” I whimpered.
“Too much?” She chuckled. Another wave of electricity crashed through my body, and I could no longer tell if it was the radiation or her.
“Not enough,” I gasped, my eyes tightly squeezed shut. My hand shot up to grab her arm, trying to steady myself withsomething, but I stopped myself just in time before the illusion could shatter in my grip. “Please—just—just don’t stop.”
Her hands moved lower, tracing along the curve of my breasts before cupping them. The buzz became almost unbearable, but so was her grip – delicate yet firm. Her hands twitched as if she were trying to stop herself from squeezing harder. She wanted to bite me, mark me,possess me – but we both knew the SmartGel couldn’t simulate sensations past surface-level touch.
“So sensitive,” she murmured. “I like it.”
My eyes flew open. I released a shaky breath. “You do?”
“Hmm. Yes. It’s fucking hot, knowing I have this effect on you.”
My breath hitched. I’d never thought of my sensitivity as anything other than a burden, to myself and to most people that tried to touch me.
Her hands trailed lower, over my sides, fingers barely brushing the skin – just enough to send a trail of goosebumps in their wake. The buzz decreased, but the headache remained, a low throb in the back of my head, the price of being close to her.
“Spread your legs,” she whispered.
I bit my lips so hard a metallic taste spread through my mouth. My hand shot out to grab the back of the nearest chair as I shifted on my legs, allowing her fingers to slip between them.
She sucked in a sharp breath as her fingers brushed over the inside of my thigh. Her touch was so light now, it was barely a tickle – and it vibrated through every cell of my body. I felt it in the growing headache, the low vibration in my bones, the throb between my legs. Radiation all around me with her arms wrapped around me from behind, but even as my brain wanted the buzz to stop, my body still begged for more.
She let out a pleased hum when her fingers brushed my soaked panties, making me moan quietly. “My, my,” she murmured. “You’re dripping, my dear, and I haven’t even touched you properly.”
“You do that to me,” I forced out, my voice nothing but a hoarse whisper. “With just your words.”
She smirked against my ear, simultaneously sending pleasant shivers and sharp stings through my head. “With only my words? Pathetic,” she whispered.
Her degrading words sent a jolt of electricity through me, more violent than the SmartGel. My legs nearly collapsed underneath me. Shame blurred into desire, and yet, beneath the heat, a strange feeling of peace rose in the back of my head. I didn’t have to pretend with her. She could see all of me and still want me, not despite my desperation, but because of it – as if she built her altar on the power she held over me.
“Zafyra,” I whimpered again. “I need—”
