Chapter 143

Chapter 143: Chapter 143

Satou woke to find her still curled against his side, her breathing deep and even, her naked body warm against his beneath the blanket. Early sunlight filtered through the window, casting soft shadows across the small room and illuminating her bare shoulder where it emerged from the covers.

He lay there for a few minutes, just watching her. sleep, Jessica looked utterly content,her face relaxed, peaceful, a small smile playing at her lips. Her dark hair was spread across his chest in wild disarray, and one of her hands rested over his heart, as if even in sleep she wanted to stay connected to him.

Last night had been... extraordinary. What had started as gentle exploration had deepened into something more—tender and passionate in equal measure, both of them learning from each other, discovering what made the other gasp or sigh or moan softly in the darkness.

Satou didn’t want to wake her, but he could already hear the settlement coming to life outside. Voices calling greetings, the sound of work beginning, the normal morning routine that meant responsibilities were waiting.

He carefully extracted himself from Jessica’s embrace, moving slowly to avoid waking her. She mumbled something in her sleep,his name, he thought and reached for where he’d been. When her hand found only empty bed, she made a small sound of protest and pulled his pillow close instead, burying her face in it.

Satou smiled, pulled the blanket up to cover her properly, and quietly began getting dressed.

He’d just finished picking up his clothes when Jessica’s voice, still rough with sleep, came from the bed. "Don’t go..."

Satou turned to see her watching him, her eyes barely open, the blanket clutched to her chest modestly despite their intimacy the night before.

"I’m not leaving," Satou said gently, returning to sit on the edge of the bed. "Just getting ready for the day. You can sleep more if you want."

"No," Jessica said, pushing herself up to sitting, keeping the blanket wrapped around her. Her hair was an absolute disaster, sticking up in several directions, and there was a slight redness on her neck where Satou had kissed perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. "I don’t want to waste our morning sleeping. We don’t get many mornings together."

She reached out and took his hand, lacing their fingers together. "Last night was... perfect. More than perfect. I was so nervous, and you were so patient, and it was everything I’d hoped it would be."

"You were perfect," Satou said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles. "Brave and beautiful and trusting me with something precious."

Jessica’s eyes filled with tears—happy ones, from the smile on her face. "I’m so glad I waited for you. I’m so glad my first time was with someone who loves me."

"I love you," Satou confirmed. "Very much."

"I love you too," Jessica whispered. Then she laughed softly. "I keep saying it, don’t I? Like I’m afraid if I stop, it won’t be real anymore."

"It’s real," Satou assured her. "And you can say it as many times as you want. I’ll never get tired of hearing it."

Jessica smiled and leaned forward to kiss him—a gentle, morning kiss that tasted of sleep and held promise of lazy mornings to come. When she pulled back, she was blushing.

"I should probably get dressed," she said. "Before someone comes looking for us."

She started to get out of bed, then realized she was completely naked under the blanket. Her confidence wavered slightly. "Um... could you... turn around? Just for a moment?"

"Jessica, I literally spent last night exploring every inch of you," Satou pointed out with amusement.

"I know! But that was in the dark, and this is morning light, and it’s different!" Jessica’s blush had spread down her neck. "Please?"

Satou laughed but obliged, turning to face the wall. He heard the rustle of fabric as Jessica scrambled to retrieve her blue dress from where it had ended up on the floor—along with his own clothing, scattered in their haste the night before.

"Okay, you can look now," Jessica said after a moment.

Satou turned to find her in the wrinkled blue dress, trying unsuccessfully to smooth it down. Her hair was still a mess, and she had that thoroughly-loved look that made it very obvious what she’d been doing.

"I look like a disaster," Jessica said, catching sight of herself in his small mirror.

"No you don’t, You look beautiful.." Said Satou

"You’re biased," Jessica said, but she was smiling. "You’re required to think I’m beautiful now."

"I thought you were beautiful before last night too," Satou pointed out. "Last night just gave me the privilege of expressing that opinion more thoroughly."

Jessica laughed, a bright, happy sound. She crossed to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, going up on her tiptoes to kiss him again. "Thank you for last night. For being gentle and patient and making me feel cherished."

"Thank you for trusting me," Satou replied, his arms coming around her waist. "For giving me something so precious."

They stayed like that for a moment, just holding each other, neither wanting to break the peaceful intimacy of the morning.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Satou?" Lyra’s voice, carrying her usual administrator’s briskness but with an underlying note of amusement. "Are you decent? Or should I give you another five minutes?"

Jessica’s eyes went wide, and she immediately tried to step back from Satou, as if being caught embracing was somehow worse than Lyra knowing they’d spent the night together.

"Come in," Satou called, keeping his arm around Jessica’s waist so she couldn’t flee.

Lyra entered, took one look at Jessica in her thoroughly wrinkled dress with her wild hair and obvious love marks on her neck, and a smile spread across her face—knowing, amused, and warm.

"Good morning to both of you," Lyra said pleasantly. "I trust you both slept well? Or... perhaps didn’t sleep much at all?"

Jessica’s face turned so red it was almost glowing. "Lyra!"