NOT have sex with her...

It took some effort, but not a lot, to push Astrid away from you. Your cock deflated, and your heart steadied. You stared into her eyes and frowned slightly; you weren’t feeling it this time. In more ways than one, it felt like ending it with sex would have tainted this moment with her. Astrid grinned and then went to blow a stray strand of hair from her face. “Well,” she started. “It looks like I might not know you as well as I thought. I thought you wanted to end it like we usually do.”

You took her in. Her body; went with water. Her skin; warm to the touch. Her eyes; were more perfect than anything else you’ve ever seen. This wasn’t a girl to be used. This was someone to spend an eternity with. Simply said, sex wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t ever be. Love might’ve been a verb, but a single exercise didn’t express it. You shared her grin and pulled her into a hug.

“I don’t want this to end,” you explain. “I don’t want to wake up. I don’t want to stop looking at you or talking, either. So let’s not waste our time. Let’s swim. Let’s walk. Let’s explore. And then we’re done with that… we’ll go to bed and fall asleep in each other arms talking. How does that sound?”

Astrid eyes don’t gloss over, but her cheeks become red with apparent signs of embarrassment. “How did you make me look like the pervert and you the romantic one?” She giggled, her ponytail swaying with life behind her head. You worried briefly and started to wonder if you had offended her as you focused on her red cheeks, but before you could voice your concern, she nodded with her laughs. “Yes! Yes! That sound like a good way to spend our time together. Let’s do that.”

You straightened your back and looked at her again. She wasn’t quite real to everyone, but she was real to you, and you would be a fool to waste such beauty on one thing. She was everything material. Best friend. Girlfriend. Wife– not a whore, not a toy. She was an angel; you couldn’t use her like the other mortals you knew in your earth-host-body.

...

...

The next morning, you felt wired for the day. You could focus on the details of your breakfast and the flavor of your coffee much more clearly. Flora’s tension was handled, and Amara’s usual cockiness looked more **** than you last remembered. You picked up on minor, near-insignificant signs of body language from Kenji. You realized he looked more awkward than comfortable. As far as Alexandra was, well, you didn’t need your heightened senses to know she was in pain– more pain than she had felt the day before.

When breakfast was over, you tapped on the table like a drum and sighed. “I think I’m going to take Flora out for a bit.”

Flora blinks and glares at you, but she doesn’t put her voice out to confront you. Amara, however, lazily looks at you as she downs the rest of her coffee. “Are you going to do anything?”

You shake your head. “I’d be a fool to try anything,” you say without a smirk, and you show very little emotion. Alexandra adjusts herself in her seat with a twisted expression, she’s about to say something, but you cut in. “I know you have people in town, so I figure you’d have my head on a pike if I made a move.”

Amara paused for a second before swallowing. You couldn’t see her eyes but pretended to be dull and let her process your words. Finally, she placed her mug down and nodded. “Congratulations, Warren, you remembered I own this place and have people everywhere.”

Kenji sneezed. Alexandra tried to open her mouth to say something. Still, Amara’s tongue was quicker as she shot a single dagger from her eyes at you. There was no hiding the terror in her gaze. “I have people everywhere.”

“I know,” you say, catching the tiny twinkle of annoyance in her eyes. “I’ll discard the uniform this time too. I know you want to keep a low profile out since that caravan rolled in.”

“Good boy,” she smirks. “Now, get out here before I change my mind about you leaving with my girl.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Alexandra finally manages to get her concern out. “Warren, you know, the guy that–”

“We don’t need to worry, Alex.” Amara sounded so sure of herself you wondered how much you actually DID need to worry. And without her looking at you, you couldn’t tell if she was lying. She narrows her gaze as she shifts her attention to you, however. “I’ll know what happens.”

…

…

Flora isn’t happy with the show you put on at the breakfast table, and she makes this clear as soon as you are out of listening distance of the house. She smacks your arm and pushes you. “That was really smart, Warren. Why don’t you tell them we fucked each other yesterday, too, while you’re at it?”

“I would have loved to just to see your face get all pink, princess,” you spit back.

Flora, despite starting the fight, does become red. “Yeah, well, it seems like you’ve fucked everyone. M-maybe they would have made them jealous.”

You soften your voice and approach her. “Let’s just walk briefly and find out what we can do, OK? I had to get you out of that house. I love you, you know?”

Flora’s face becomes redder, so she covers it. “You’re annoying.”

“Whatever,” you smile. “Where do you want to go since we’re out?”

She lets out a loud scoff. “Oh, so this is a date?”

“I wasn’t going to tell them that, but yes. I wanted this to be a date.”

“Oh,” she deflates in less than a second. “Well, since you’ve brought it up.”