Catherine closed the door of her study and walked through the dim hallway, making her way toward the bedroom.
She had been working late, going through stacks of documents, and these days she couldn't help but find the paperwork tedious.
'I'd much rather sit around lazily and read some novels,' she thought, yet she kept walking.
On the way, she loosened the back laces of her dress to feel more air against her skin. She was wearing one of her usual dresses of a deep, dark blue.
The clothes she typically wore were modest and conservative—she preferred that —but after a long day's work, they simply felt too tight and stuffy.
On the other hand, the suggestive and revealing clothes she wore specifically for Jace were much better in this aspect.
She secretly liked wearing them; they made her feel undeniably attractive.
She understood now why some women favored such styles, but being a prim and proper lady at heart, she still favored her conservative style.
She smiled to herself. She would wear those revealing clothes only for her young 'boy toy.' She liked the way his eyes lingered on her when she wore them.
As she reached her bedroom door, her eyes narrowed in caution. She slowed her pace, sensing a presence inside.
As she drew closer, she raised an eyebrow, recognizing the familiar presence. It was her lover, Jace.
'Does the boy need something tonight?' she wondered.
It was an unspoken agreement between them that they would meet once a week, and their last encounter had only been a few days ago.
When Catherine entered the bedroom, she found the atmosphere had shifted. She turned her head toward the balcony, and there he was.
The white, transparent curtains around the balcony fluttered in a slight breeze.
Perched on the white railing was Jace, wearing only a crisp white shirt and black pants. He sat with one leg hanging over the edge and the other pulled up onto the railing, leaning back with his right hand supporting his weight.
The light of the crimson moon, which was unusually bright and bloody today, fell through him, casting a long, dramatic shadow across the floorboards.
His left hand was elegantly outstretched, and a spectral butterfly sat upon his finger, slowly rhythmic in its wingbeats.
To Catherine, the scene looked as if it were plucked straight out of an oil painting, or perhaps one of the romance novels she had read as a girl.
While the sight was beautiful, she only smiled in amusement. As a mid-sequence Beyonder, it was obvious to her that Jace had used illusions to make the environment seem surreal, artificially enhancing the colors of the space around them.
This only made her more curious about Jace's Sequence 7 abilities; he had never fully explained them to her, even when she was particularly persuasive in bed.
Jace turned his head toward Catherine. "Oh, you're here," he said.
The butterfly on his finger, startled by the vibration of his voice, dissolved into light and flew away. It was a mere illusion of his creation, so he didn't mind.
Catherine smiled at him warmly. "I'm here," she said softly as he hopped down from the railing.
"Did you wait too long?" she asked.
"No, just a few minutes," Jace replied, walking slowly toward her with a small, confident smile.
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "And what brings you here tonight?" she asked, watching his approach.
In an instant, Catherine saw him disappear from right in front of her eyes!
Before she could react, she felt Jace's arms wrap firmly around her waist from behind, his body flush against her back.
Jace had flame-jumped; he had flicked a match there moments before, and now he had ignited it to reappear behind her.
As he "teleported," he used his illusion powers to suppress the crackle and flash of the flames. By doing this all simultaneously, he achieved a perfectly silent teleportation, very much like the 'Blink' ability of the Apprentice pathway.
Jace did this all to amaze her, using her as his audience to further his acting method.
As he held Catherine from behind, he whispered into her ear, "Perhaps I missed you." He tightened his hold, dragging his lips gently across the nape of her fair neck.
Catherine's breath turned heavy and her face flushed as she felt Jace's growing excitement against her.
However, she didn't want to yield just yet. While she loved the intimacy, she preferred being the one in control rather than letting Jace take charge so easily.
Catherine firmly removed his hands from her waist and spun him around to face her. Jace had a confused expression, but Catherine didn't give him time to think. She pushed him back onto the bed.
He landed abruptly, leaning back on his elbows.
Catherine walked up to him slowly, placing one knee between Jace's legs on the mattress.
She leaned forward and kissed him deeply, pushing him flat onto the bed while pinning him beneath her.
Catherine broke the kiss and trailed her lips down to his neck.
Between soft kisses, she whispered, "Now that you are here... chu~... be a... good boy... chu~... and satisfy mommy~... chu~..."
——
"Haa... haa... ha—"
After a few intense rounds, Jace lay beside Catherine, breathing heavily.
Catherine was breathing hard as well, but Jace knew she was far from exhausted. As a Sequence 5 of the Arbiter pathway, she possessed incredible physical strength and stamina.
Jace, on the other hand, had no passive physical buffs to rely on.
After recovering his breath, he looked at the beautiful woman beside him. Her hair was a messy halo, with damp strands clinging to her forehead, and her bare skin glowed in the moonlight. It was a stunning sight.
"Do you want more?" he asked.
Catherine looked at him and smiled teasingly. "Can you even handle more?" she asked in amusement.
Jace smiled back and slipped off the bed, searching for his pants.
Catherine sat upright, her bare, big breasts exposed as she watched him.
She thought he was going to take some sort of performance-enhancing medicine; if he was, she intended to stop him, as she genuinely enjoyed his natural performance.
But instead, he pulled out a Black Glove.
Climbing back onto the bed, he sat before Catherine, took her hand, and slid the glove onto her fingers.
Then, he laid his head back down on her bare lap. He placed her gloved hand on his chest and told her to activate it.
It took her a moment to figure out how to use the artifact. Jace assured her the side effects were harmless, and she trusted him.
The glove began to glow with a faint, eerie light.
As she used the glove, she felt a warm, wet sensation on her left breast. She looked down only to find Jace playfully sucking on her.
She smiled, leaning down to accommodate him better. It wasn't the first time he had nursed in her, and she found the sensation quite pleasant.
After about twenty minutes, when Jace had fully recovered his stamina, Catherine removed the glove and tossed it onto the nightstand.
Jace stopped sucking her breasts and sat up, preparing for the next round.
Catherine's excitement flared again, but then she froze.
She realized her body had instantly become highly sensitive—far beyond the usual.
She looked up sharply. "Jace," she said firmly.
Jace smiled at her, matching her tone. "Catherine."
She realized the trick. The side effects of the Black Glove weren't harmful, but they drastically heightened the wearer's physical sensitivity.
She had been played.
Jace immediately pounced on her with renewed vigor.
Every touch and every movement made her moan out loud like never before.
The night had only just started for Jace.
He spared a brief thought for how Catherine might "punish" him in the morning, but for now, he was lost in the pleasure and lust