*An Unwelcome Interruption*

The mineral-rich waters cradled Cassia, steam rising in lazy tendrils toward the vaulted stone ceiling. She had chosen her spot carefully, a corner where the geothermal spring's flow at its strongest, heat seeping into her aching muscles and dissolving all of her accumulated tension.

Her head rested against the edge of the pool, eyes closed, her breathing slow and even. For the first time in a while, she felt something close to peace.

The water lapped gently against her chest. Cassia felt the constant thrum of arousal that had become her baseline since her primacy lessen. Not eliminate it, never that, but softening it, making it more manageable.

Cassia sighed, sinking deeper.

Other students occupied the vast chamber, their voices a low buzz of conversation punctuated by occasional laughter. Through her closed eyelids, she sensed movement, bodies gliding through the water, naked and unashamed. A splash somewhere to her left. A moan from the massage alcove where some lucky alpha was receiving their beta’s focused attention.

None of it touched her. She had claimed her corner, and her corner had claimed her.

Finally, I have a moment to myself, she thought.

The water rippled beside her.

"Mmmm, that looks cozy Princess. Mind if I join?"

Cassia's eyes snapped open.

Mira, her roommate, stood at the edge of the pool, wearing only that infuriating smile of hers. Her petite body was glistening, her generous breasts jiggling as she lowered herself into the water across from Cassia.

"You're joining me whether I mind or not," Cassia said flatly, closing her eyes again. "Clearly."

"Perceptive as always." Mira settled into the water with a satisfied sigh, stretching her arms along the pool's edge, her legs spreading wide beneath the surface. "I saw you over here, all alone and I thought to myself, 'Mira, what kind of roommate would you be if you didn’t go over and join her?'"

"The kind I would actually respect."

Mira laughed, that bright, unselfconscious sound that echoed off the stone walls. "Oh, you wound me. Truly."

Cassia kept her eyes closed. She focused on the heat, on the water, on the beat of her heart. She refused to let Mira ruin this. She would not.

For a long moment, Mira was silent. The water lapped, a geothermal vent hissed it’s steam, and somewhere across the pool, a futa cried out in pleasure. Cassia felt Mira's gaze on her face, on her chest, on the outline of her cock beneath the water.

"You know," Mira said eventually, her voice casual, almost conversational, "I've been thinking about the other day. When I walked in on you."

Cassia's jaw tightened, but she didn't open her eyes. "I've been trying not to."

"I bet you have." There was amusement in Mira's voice, low and knowing. "But I haven't. I've been thinking about it quite a lot, actually. The way you looked. The way you didn't stop. The way you just... kept going." She paused, and Cassia heard her shift in the water, felt the displacement as Mira moved closer. "You surprised me, Princess. I didn't think you had it in you."

"I have many things in me," Cassia said coolly. "Patience for your nonsense is not one of them."

Mira ignored the jab. "You were so confident. So in control." Her voice dropped, became something softer, more intimate. "I've thought about what it would be like to see that again. To watch you touch yourself without shame. Without hiding."

Cassia opened her eyes.

Mira had moved closer indeed, close enough that their knees nearly touched beneath the water. Her green eyes were bright, her pink lips slightly parted, her chest rising and falling with quickened breath. The steam curled around her face, softening her features, making her look almost ****.

Almost.

"Is there a point to this?" Cassia asked. "Or are you just practicing your monologue for a theatre troupe?"

Mira's smile widened. "The point, Princess, is that I'm bored. And you're here. And this water is very warm, and very relaxing, and I find myself wondering..." She reached out, trailing one finger along the surface of the water, drawing lazy circles that sent ripples toward Cassia's chest. "...what it would take to make you lose that composure of yours again."

"You've been trying for a while now," Cassia said. "How is that working out for you?"

"I'd say I'm making progress." Mira's finger continued its circles, closer now. "You're less quick to throw things at me. You don't flinch when I touch myself at night. You held my gaze the entire time you were pleasuring yourself." She leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping to a whisper. "That's not the behavior of someone unaffected, Cassia. That's the behavior of someone who's interested."

Cassia's heart beat faster. She could feel the warmth spreading through her body, and not all of it was from the spring. The water seemed heavier somehow, more intimate, pressing against her skin.

"You mistake tolerance for interest," she said, proud of how steady her voice remained. "I've simply learned to ignore you."

"No, you haven't." Mira's finger stopped its circling. "You watch me when you think I'm not looking. I've seen you. At night, when you think I'm asleep. In the mornings, when you think I'm not paying attention." She tilted her head, and water droplets fell from her pink hair, landing on her shoulder, sliding down her breasts. "You want me, Cassia. You just hate that you do."

My will. My body. My choice.

The mantra rose automatically, a shield against Mira's words, against the heat building between Cassia's legs.

"You're projecting," Cassia said.

"Am I?" Mira's hand moved again, this time beneath the water. Cassia couldn't quite see what she was doing, but she could guess. The expression on Mira's face shifted, her eyes growing heavy-lidded, her lips parting. "I'll admit, I do want you. I've made no secret of that. You're pretty, and proud, and stubborn, and every time I push, you push back harder." She bit her lower lip, and a soft sound escaped her throat. "It's infuriating. And I love it."

Cassia watched Mira's hand move beneath the water, watched her roommate's body respond to whatever she was doing to herself. The pink-haired girl's breasts rose and fell more rapidly, her hips beginning to shift in small, **** circles.

"Are you touching yourself right now?" Cassia asked, incredulous.

Mira's eyes met hers, unashamed. "Maybe."

"We’re in the bathhouse. People can see us."

"I told you when we first met, Princess. There's no privacy in Proximity Hall." Mira's hand moved faster beneath the water, and her breath hitched. "And I'm bored. And you're right there. And you're not stopping me."

Cassia should look away. She should close her eyes, turn her head, refuse to participate in whatever game Mira was playing. She should rise from the water, wrap herself in a towel, and leave this bathhouse behind.

She did none of those things.

Instead, she watched.

She watched Mira's face twitch with pleasure, watched as Mira's hand disturbed the water, her silhouetted thighs pressing together, her chest flushing.

"You like watching me don’t you Princess," Mira breathed, and there was no mockery in her voice now, only wonder, only heat. "You really like watching."

Cassia didn't answer. Couldn't answer. Her own body had betrayed her, her cock rising beneath the water, her pussy sympathetically tingling with each soft sound Mira made. She could feel her own arousal building, a mirror to Mira's, a response she couldn't control and couldn't hide.

My will. My body. My-

Mira moaned, and her mantra evaporated.

"That's it," Mira whispered, her hand moving faster, her hips bucking against nothing. "Just watch, Princess. Just watch me. Let yourself feel it. Let yourself want."

Cassia's hand drifted beneath the water, unbidden, and found her own cock. She wrapped her fingers around the base and stroked once, twice, and the sensation was so sharp, so sudden, that she gasped.

Mira's eyes flew to Cassia's hand, to the movement beneath the water, and her smile returned, triumphant and knowing.

"There you are," she purred. "There's my Princess."

"Shut up," Cassia said, but there was no venom in it. Only breathlessness. Only need.

Mira laughed, soft and low. "Make me."

The challenge hung between them, electric. The water churned around their moving hands, each stroke sending ripples that intersected, intertwined. Cassia watched Mira's face, and Mira watched Cassia's hand, and neither of them looked away.

Cassia stroked faster, her pre-cum mixing with the mineral water. Her neglected pussy ached to be filled, and so with her free hand, she pressed two fingers inside of herself, a soft moan escaping her lips.

Mira's breath caught. "Fuck, Princess..."

"Stop calling me that," Cassia gasped. "I am not your beta."

"Not yet." Mira grinned, her hand also moving faster.

Cassia was lost in a moan as she found the perfect rhythm, her fingers pumping inside her cunt, her hand stroking her cock, while her whole body burned toward release. She was close. So close. Just a little more, just a little-

Mira suddenly stopped moving.

Cassia's eyes flew open. Mira had pulled her hand from beneath the water, pressing it flat against the pool's edge, breathing hard but no longer touching herself. Her face was flushed, her pupils dilated.

"What are you doing?" Cassia demanded, her own hands still moving, still ****.

Mira smiled, slow and devastating. "I'm leaving."

"You're what?"

"I'm leaving," Mira repeated, rising from the water in a single fluid motion. Water cascaded down her body, over her breasts, down her stomach, between her thighs. She stood at the edge of the pool, naked and glistening, her futa cock jutting out proudly from between her legs, her pussy fully visible beneath. “I think I’ve bathed long enough. You don’t want me to prune, do you?”

"You can't just-" Cassia's hands had stopped, her body screaming in protest, her orgasm retreating like a wave pulled back from shore. "You can't just start something like that and then leave." She whined indignantly.

Mira turned, looking down at Cassia with those green eyes, that infuriating smile. "Can’t I?"

"But-"

"I’ll be up in our room.” Mira reached for a towel, drying herself with maddening slowness, her cock still erect, still dripping. "If you want to keep going, that is."

Cassia stared at Mira, her hands trembling with unfulfilled need. Her cock and pussy ached. Her whole body was a furnace of desire, and Mira knew it. Mira had stoked it.

"Fuck." Cassia groaned in frustration.

Mira smiled innocently, like she didn’t know exactly what she was doing to Cassia. "Consider this a little payback for what you did to me last time.” She winked before wrapping the towel around herself and walking toward the bathhouse exit, her bare feet slapping against the wet stone, hips sashaying side-to-side almost hypnotically.

Cassia was left sat in the water, alone once again. Around her, the bathhouse continued its usual rhythms, students chatting, bodies moving, the low buzz of casual intimacy. But Cassia heard none of it. Felt none of it.

All she felt was her own arousal.

Cassia sank beneath the water, letting it cover her, letting the heat consume her. When she emerged, gasping, she was still aroused. Still frustrated. Still needy.

Cassia wrapped her hand around her cock again, furious at herself, furious at Mira, furious at the need that wouldn't fade. She stroked fast and hard, no finesse, no patience, just raw, angry desperation.

She came within seconds, her release spilling into the water, her body shuddering with the **** of it. But even as the waves of pleasure crashed over her, she knew it wasn't enough. It wasn't what she wanted. What she wanted was-

Mira.

Cassia pressed her palms to her face.

What is happening to me?