Present

Alex's hand came up almost involuntarily, fingers gently brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

She stirred at the touch, making a small sound... not quite a sigh, more like a contented hum.

Her fingers flexed against his chest, tracing lazy, unconscious patterns across his skin.

Then her tongue followed.

A slow, deliberate stroke that sent electricity down his enhanced spine.

Alex's breath caught.

Victoria's eyes were closed, her expression still peaceful, but her tongue painted another warm line across his chest with unhurried, drowsy care. Like tasting something delicious. Like savoring him.

Her movements were intimate, utterly unselfconscious, the kind of thing someone only did when they felt completely safe. Completely at home.

She traced another path with her tongue, this one higher, closer to his collarbone, and made that contented sound again.

Alex's heart did something complicated in his chest... a mix of desire and affection so intense it nearly overwhelmed him.

This woman. This incredible, impossible woman who'd carved out space in his life and refused to be dislodged.

Who'd become his anchor without him even realizing it until the weight of everything else threatened to drown him.

His hand slid into her hair, fingers threading through the dark waves with gentle reverence.

"Victoria," he murmured, his voice rough with sleep and something deeper.

Her eyes opened slowly, dark and warm in the hazy evening light, taking a moment to focus before finding his face.

When they did, she smiled... soft, private, meant only for him... and the world narrowed to just this moment.

"Mmhm…" she hummed softly, not answering a question but acknowledging the moment... him, them.

And for reasons he couldn't quite articulate, that single word felt like the most important thing anyone had ever said to him.

Alex's thumb traced her cheekbone slowly, his gaze traveling over her face with an intensity that made her breath hitch slightly.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, the words escaping before he could think them through. Not practiced. Not calculated. Just... true.

Victoria's cheeks flushed slightly... a rare sight that made his chest tighten.

"I look like I've been hit by a truck," she protested softly, though her smile never wavered. "My hair's a disaster, I haven't showered since this morning, and..."

"Perfect," Alex interrupted, his hand sliding from her cheek to tuck a wild strand of hair behind her ear. "You look absolutely perfect."

His enhanced vision caught every detail... the way her dark lashes cast shadows on her flushed cheeks, the slight part of her lips as she breathed, the satisfied glow that radiated from her skin.

But it wasn't the Enhanced Stage perception that made her beautiful. It was something far simpler.

It was her. Just her.

"You always say that," Victoria whispered, but her voice carried no real protest. Just warmth. Affection.

"Because it's always true."

She studied him for a long moment, something shifting in her expression... vulnerability mixing with certainty, need blending with contentment.

"I missed you," she said quietly. "Not just... this." Her hand gestured vaguely between them. "But you. Just... being with you."

Alex felt something settle in his chest, a profound rightness that transcended supernatural power or system rewards.

"I'm right here," he promised, pulling her closer. "And I'm not going anywhere."

Victoria shifted, propping herself up slightly on his chest so she could look at him properly. Her hair fell in a curtain around them, creating a private world that belonged only to the two of them.

She leaned down, pressing her forehead against his, their breaths mingling in the small space between them.

"Then that's enough," she said softly. "Whatever else is happening, as long as you come back to this... to me... that's enough."

Alex's arms tightened around her, holding her like she was the most precious thing in his world.

Because she was.

"Always," he murmured against her skin. "You're my anchor, Victoria. The one thing that keeps me grounded when everything else gets chaotic. I need you to know that."

She pulled back just enough to look at him, and when she smiled this time, it was radiant... unguarded and absolutely genuine.

"Good," she whispered, leaning in to kiss him softly. "Because you're stuck with me now, Alexander Hale. No take-backs."

Alex laughed... a real, genuine sound that came from somewhere deep in his chest.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Victoria settled back against him, tucking her head under his chin with a contented sigh. Her body molded perfectly to his, warm and soft and absolutely right.

"We should probably get up," she murmured after a moment. "It's already evening. We've wasted a lot of time."

"Wasted?" Alex's hand traced lazy patterns along her spine. "I think we spent it exactly right."

She hummed in agreement, though neither of them moved to actually get up.

The hazy evening light continued to filter through the curtains, painting everything in warm golden tones. Outside, the world kept spinning... cars gliding through streets, lights flickering to life, people chasing deadlines and dreams under the indifferent sky.

But in here, in this quiet moment, there was just the two of them.

And that was more than enough.

***

The silence stretched between them, comfortable and easy, until something tugged at the edge of Alex's memory.

Catherine.

The name alone stirred something instinctive in him. Not jealousy… but a quiet, alert tension. The kind that came when something... or someone... brushed too close to what mattered to him.

Catherine Blackwood.

He remembered the time when Victoria had first mentioned Catherine... almost nervously... and they'd both wondered if she already knew about them.

She'd even said Catherine had called her for a meeting, and now, Alex was almost certain… that meeting wasn't about business at all.

It was about this.

Either way, the question had been left unanswered.

And now, in the quiet aftermath, with Victoria warm and content in his arms, Alex found himself needing to know.

"Victoria," he said quietly, his hand stilling on her back.

"Hmm?" She lifted her head slightly, looking at him with those dark eyes.

"Earlier... you were saying something about Catherine Blackwood." His voice was casual, but his enhanced perception caught the way her body tensed just slightly at the name.

"When did you meet her?"

The change was immediate.

Victoria's entire demeanor shifted... not dramatically, but enough. The sleepy contentment faded, replaced by something more guarded. More serious.

She sat up slowly, the sheet pooling around her waist as she moved to sit beside him on the bed.

Her hair fell in waves over her bare shoulders, and her expression had taken on that composed, CEO mask he'd just been admiring the absence of.

"Yes," she said quietly, meeting his eyes directly. "I met Catherine last night."

The words hung in the air between them, heavy with unspoken implications.

Last night.

While he'd been going through his transformation. While Lilith had been revealing the rewards of refusing corruption. While his entire reality had been fundamentally reshaping itself.

Victoria had been meeting Catherine Blackwood.

And from the way she was looking at him now... serious, almost wary... that meeting had been significant.

Alex sat up as well, the sheet falling to his waist, giving her his full attention.

"Last night," he repeated, his enhanced Mind already working through possibilities, implications, connections he couldn't quite see yet.

Victoria nodded, her dark eyes never leaving his face, watching for his reaction with an intensity that told him everything he needed to know.

This wasn't just a casual business meeting.

This was something that mattered.

Something that would change things between them.

She took a breath, and in that moment before she spoke, Alex felt the weight of whatever was coming... the knowledge that the peaceful bubble they'd been existing in was about to burst.

"Yes," Victoria said again, her voice steady despite the tension radiating from her frame. "I met Catherine last night."

And then she stopped, leaving the silence to stretch between them like a chasm waiting to be crossed.

Alex's mind raced through possibilities. Catherine knowing about them. Catherine confronting Victoria. Catherine threatening to expose their relationship.

"And?" he asked, his voice carefully neutral despite the tension coiling in his chest. "What did she want?"

Victoria held his gaze for another long moment, her expression unreadable.

Then her lips twitched.

Just slightly. Almost imperceptibly.

And then she broke.

"Pfftt... " The sound slipped out before she could stop it, followed by laughter that burst free... genuine, unrestrained, utterly delighted... as her entire composure shattered.

She doubled over slightly, one hand pressed to her stomach, shoulders shaking with the force of it.

"Oh my god," she gasped between laughs, "your face. Alex, your face."

Alex stared at her, completely thrown, his strategic analysis crashing into the reality of her shaking shoulders and genuine laughter.

"Wait... what?" he managed, the confusion clear in his voice.

"You looked so... " She broke off, laughing harder. "So serious. So worried. Like I was about to tell you Catherine declared war or something."

The tension that had been coiling in his chest loosened slightly, replaced by confusion and the faint stirring of embarrassment.

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