44: Don't move!

For a moment, Serena couldn't find any words to refute him.

But thinking that Locke was just resting his hand honestly on her waist without making any further moves, she didn't say anything else to stop him.

"Then you can only keep it on my waist, and you aren't allowed to move around anymore."

"Fine, I'll just stay on your waist and not move."

As Locke said this, he shifted his body closer, pressing his entire frame against Serena from behind.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't move?"

Feeling the elongated Colt pressing against her, Serena's face turned even redder, and she hurriedly squirmed, trying to put some distance between them.

However, every time she moved forward, Locke followed closely, closing the gap and leaving her absolutely no chance to escape.

Back and forth she went, moving from the center of the large bed to the edge, until finally, with nowhere left to run, Serena had no choice but to tacitly accept Locke's closeness.

"You are not allowed to come any closer!"

Serena urged, suppressing the trembling in her heart.

"If I were to move closer... what would you do?"

Locke tilted his head slightly, pressed it against Serena's ear, and whispered, "Are you going to keep moving forward to hide from me?"

The scorching breath hit Serena's earlobe and neck, making her feel ticklish.

Her already heated body became even hotter, and her breathing grew increasingly rapid.

To prevent Locke from pushing his luck any further, she reached out with her slender hands and pressed them against his waist.

"You are not allowed to come any closer, or I will get angry."

Locke could even hear her heavy panting, which he found somewhat amusing while also making his heart race, so he teased her deliberately:

"Alright, stop hiding. If you keep moving away, you're going to fall off the bed."

After saying this, he backed off a few inches and returned to the middle of the large bed. Of course, he couldn't let Serena stay so far away from him; that wasn't something a gentleman would do.

With a pair of long, powerful arms, he gently pulled Serena from the edge of the bed and into his embrace.

Then, he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, rendering her unable to move.

"Hey, you..."

Serena wanted to say something more, but Locke bit down on her earlobe, choking off her refusal in her throat and making it impossible for her to speak.

Seeing that Serena didn't speak, Locke grew bolder, taking her earlobe into his mouth and playing with it.

Following that, his hands, which had been resting on her waist, began to crawl upward restlessly.

This caused Serena, who had been lying there with her eyes closed in silence, to panic. She hurriedly grabbed Locke's large hands to stop him from moving any further.

She said in a firm tone, "No, not now. Wait a little longer."

Although Serena's tone sounded very firm, Locke detected a hint of pleading in it, so he didn't pursue it any further:

"How long do I have to wait?"

Serena was silent for two seconds before giving her answer with a hint of shyness:

"After Kraven's matter is resolved, and after I have exacted my revenge, I will give myself to you completely."

"Alright, then I'll wait for you."

After saying this, Serena turned around, embraced Locke, and buried her head in his chest.

Seeing that Serena had said as much, Locke felt it wouldn't be right to push his luck further. However, because Serena had turned around, his hands, which were originally holding her waist, quietly slid down to her perky buttocks.

This time, however, he didn't dare to move recklessly; he simply let them rest there gently, feeling their soft elasticity.

Since Locke's hands remained still, Serena's agitated mood calmed down. She looked up at him and said:

"Oh, right, what was it you said you wanted to ask me earlier?"

Locke chuckled. "I just wanted to ask when you plan to wake up Elder Victor."

"Are you that eager to see him?"

"Well, he is your godfather, after all. I'm dying to meet him and have a nice chat about family matters."

His words made Serena's heart, which had just calmed down, race even faster.

"Don't worry, it will be soon."

Serena felt a surge of joy. "Barring any accidents, I will wake him from his slumber tomorrow or the day after. I certainly won't give that guy Kraven too much time."

"Then I shall look forward to it." Locke's eyes brightened.

"Don't worry, my godfather is a very good person. He definitely won't make things difficult for you regarding our relationship."

Locke smiled, held her without saying another word, and then the two of them closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.

In the room, only the sound of heavy and light breathing remained.

The next day, early in the morning, Serena ran off to find members of Victor's faction to discuss the awakening process.

Not long after Serena left, Erica sneaked into the room furtively.

Seeing this, Locke hurriedly hugged her from behind. "Thank you for your sacrifice these past few days; you've truly been wronged."

"Hmph, with you saying that, I don't feel wronged at all."

Locke pulled Erica to the sofa to sit down. "Has Kraven done anything unusual lately?"

"Hmm..." Erica rested her chin on her hand in a thoughtful pose, trying to recall the information she had gathered from observing Kraven while Locke was away for those two days:

"Now that you mention it, apart from him trembling with rage on the day you returned, I can't seem to recall any other unusual behavior at the moment."

"But perhaps I missed something; let me think again."

Locke wasn't in a rush; he just sat there quietly.

The reason he asked was mainly because Emilia had obtained that secret codex.

It was obvious that the person from the Secret Cult who sold the secret codex and instructed Emilia was definitely connected to Kraven; otherwise, Kraven would never have been able to know so precisely that Emilia would be weakened after practicing the secret codex.

Of course, he was only suspicious. Collecting information was also to prepare in advance for dealing with Kraven later.

As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

Even for someone like Kraven, who wasn't exactly a major figure, he had to be cautious.

Erica's eyes darted around as she racked her brain, and finally, she slapped her forehead—she had actually discovered some incredible information.

"Right! I happened to see him secretly reading a very thick book these past two days."

Locke caught the key point, turned around immediately, and then, as if by magic, produced the secret codex that Emilia had given him.

"Is it the same as the one in my hand?"

"Yes, that's the one, but his seemed a bit thicker."

Erica compared the cover with the book she had caught a glimpse of inadvertently.

Locke understood immediately. He turned and put the secret codex away. When he first obtained this book, he had vaguely felt that something was wrong.

"No wonder the one Emilia exchanged for had such major side effects; it seems that person deliberately omitted some things."

He had a strong intuition that the one in Kraven's possession was likely complete, or at the very least, it didn't have side effects as severe as the one Emilia received.

"I wonder where that dog Kraven managed to get it from."

Logically speaking, someone at Kraven's level shouldn't be able to access such books; it seemed the entity behind him was likely not simple.

Thinking about it this way, Kraven's current strength shouldn't be weak.

"That's fine, too. I'm sure he'll provide me with quite a few surprises when the time comes."

A mob spawner? Interesting.