Kael had jumped at first, startled by the sudden cry.
But as he saw Mira frozen, wide-eyed, red-faced, and a rat scurrying up the wall like a furry nightmare, realization hit him like a slap of cold water.
Of course. It was just a rat.
And Mira, the tough-talking, too-cool-to-care Mira, had just screamed like a terrified noble's daughter.
He let out a laugh, low and warm.
Mira's expression darkened a little as she shot him daggers.
"What's going on in there? Is everything alright?" Syvia called from her room, concern threading through her voice.
"Yes! Everything's fine. It was just… a rat," Mira replied, her voice climbing awkwardly as the words left her mouth.
She looked utterly mortified, clutching her sandal in a desperate attempt to strike the rat, as if it had insulted her bloodline.
But it was already gone.
Kael tried—really tried not to laugh. But the memory of her sitting so comfortably one moment, then leaping into chaos the next, arms flailing like a startled noblewoman in a tragedy… It was too much.
The chuckle slipped out—soft at first, then stronger, shaking his shoulders as he failed miserably to stifle it.
"All that for a harmless little rat," he muttered, eyes gleaming.
Mira shot him an annoyed glare. Her lips twitched.
"Oh, shut up!"
"Poor Syvia," Mira muttered, still flustered. "She can't even sleep in peace because I'm in here screaming over a rodent."
That set Kael off once more, and this time she turned to him, her eyes narrowing in mock offense before she reached across and gave him a light punch to the chest. "Hey, stop it."
"Hey, no need to be violent," Kael said, grinning.
But then before he could say anything else, Mira abruptly climbed into his lap. Her movements were nonchalant, almost as if she was settling into a normal seat, and his body was the seat.
She perched sideways, her legs draping across him, curling slightly like a cat settling into warmth.
Kael blinked, momentarily disarmed. Where did that come from? Why was she sitting on his lap?
Mira's cheeks were still tinged with the remnants of the scare, but she didn't budge. "I'm not touching the floor until I'm absolutely certain that thing is gone," she said, lifting her legs higher, balancing delicately on him. "Besides, I nearly died of a heart attack. I deserve a throne, and you'll make a good seat."
The heat of her body pressed against his, the unexpected closeness drawing a quiet hitch in his breath.
Kael let her. He felt the soft, warm curve of her ass pressing down through the thin barrier of fabric, hers and his. It rested directly over the growing hardness between his legs, making restraint nearly impossible.
His hands hovered near her waist, hesitant, as if unsure whether this was real or if she'd dart away at the slightest shift.
Kael tilted his head, lips quirking. "And my lap is the throne of choice?" He asked. But deep down he did not mind this.
"Yeah?" She answered, meeting his gaze, not smiling, not smirking just watching him, eyes unreadable for a beat too long. "Don't act like you don't like me sitting on your lap," she teaed him, her voice softer now.
Then she shifted her weight, swaying her hips as she adjusted her position on him. Her movement wasn't deliberate, or maybe it was, but the effect was immediate.
Her ass pressed directly against the growing hardness beneath his trousers, brushing him just enough to steal the breath from his lungs.
"Mira, what are you doing?" Kael asked, wondering if she was doing it on purpose. "Can you stop?"
Mira finally settled. "I'm trying to make myself comfortable?" she answered, not realising what she had just done, or did she?
Mira's eyes shot up slightly, her lips parting slightly as she felt his hardness pushing against his pants too. That undeniable shape of something beneath her. 'My, he is turned on.' Her cheeks flushed, but she didn't retreat.
If anything, her body settled more firmly against him, turning the tension between them into something sharper, hotter.
Fearing that if this continued he might get fully erect, Kael had to get her off her him. But he wanted to do it subtly so she wouldn't realise how hard she made him.
In his attempts to do so, his hands finally settled on her waist, fingers splayed with gentle confidence. "Guess I better make it comfortable, then," he murmured, voice dipped in quiet amusement.
He moved his other hand lower, almost touching her ass.
By doing that, Kael half expected her to pull away from him. She would probably swat his hands or glare at him like she used to.
Mira had never entertained his flirting in the past, her responses were always curt, edged with cold annoyance. It was their dance: he teased, she deflected.
And yet, this time… she didn't move.
Something about the air between them had shifted lately, quietly, almost imperceptibly, like a breeze changing direction.
Kael had started to notice little things: the way Mira's gaze lingered longer than before, the subtle softness that crept into her voice when she spoke to him.
But something inside him had shifted too.
He found himself drawn to Mira more than ever… yet it wasn't her who haunted his thoughts most.
It was Sylvia.
That made it worse somehow. Messier.
Wrong. However the fact that it was wrong, made him even more attracted to them.
He really was not right in the head, and he knew it.
Kael sat there, trying to think where all these desires came from.
His body had grown, his instincts sharpened, and somewhere along the way, he'd started feeling… drawn to her. To both MIra and Syvia, in ways he didn't think was healthy.
And although they both didn't want to show it, there was a lot of tension between them all the time.
Flirting with Mira had always been a game. A harmless back-and-forth that let him feel in control of feelings he wasn't ready to name. But now, with her in his lap, not pulling away, her warmth settled against him like she belonged there.
Now it didn't feel like a game anymore.
They sat there like that for a few seconds. Kael was lost in thought, more like he was trying to be lost in thought so that Mira sitting on him wouldn't bring up something to rise in his pants.
Truth be told, it was already hard enough not to, with her dressing as revealingly as she has been dressing lately, and now this?
Kael couldn't help but feel that he was not the only one who had weird feelings for the other. He avoided confronting her earlier, but he understood that Mira was jealous when she learned about Vivian and him almost having sex.
'Should I ask her about it? No, that will upset her. ' Kael thought.
His eyes drifted to the soft curve of her side, catching a partial glimpse of her breast. She was sitting sideways, close, but not fully turned toward him. Still, the view was distracting.
His hand moved lower, brushing her thigh.
She didn't react.
Mira caught him staring at her breasts. "You seem to like them a lot," she murmured, voice low and smoky. "Not that I'm surprised. I've seen the way you sneak glances at Syvia's tits too."
Kael's eyes snapped away,
"What do you mean?" he said, his denial flimsy at best.
Mira didn't let up. She shifted in his lap, slow and deliberate, turning until she straddled him fully. Her thighs locked around his, her hips settling over the growing hardness between his legs. The pressure was maddening. Her full weight, the warmth of her core pressing right there, it made him dizzy.
Kael's breath hitched. His hands hovered, unsure where to land, her waist, her hips, anywhere that didn't feel like surrendering completely.
She leaned in closer, her breath brushing against his lips, her eyes dark with heat. "I don't mind," she said, her voice silk and sin. "I like it, Kael. I like when you look."
"We really need to talk about this, what is going on." Kael said.
It was still unbelievable that not long ago they were speaking normally, it felt like now all of a sudden she was sitting on him in a sexual way.
"Talk about what?" Mira asked, tilting her head slightly. "I think we both know what's going on here." She paused, her fingers brushing his cheek."Maybe we've been pretending we don't want this." she answered and before he could speak, before he could even think, she kissed him.
She suckled on his lips hard and hungrily. No teasing this time. No flirty back-and-forth. Just raw, unspoken desire that finally spilled free.
Kael didn't care, and he didn't hold back either. He kissed her back like he'd been waiting forever. His hands gripped her waist, fingers digging into her soft flesh, pulling her tighter against him. She moaned into his mouth, rolling her hips just enough to make him groan low in his throat.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, one hand threading into his hair as she deepened the kiss, devouring him with a hunger that had nothing to do with restraint.
And everything to do with need.
Pulling away, Kael was still reeling from the suddenness of it all.
"I've always wanted this Kael," Mira said, before he could even ask questions and then she kissed him again, this time harder.
Kael's mind was a whirlwind, but his body responded without hesitation.
He had been a passenger in this sudden, intense storm of desire, swept along by Mira's unexpected boldness.
But as her lips pressed against his again, hot and hungry, a different kind of impulse surged through him.
Not just reaction, but a fierce, undeniable need to claim this moment, to make it his own.
He didn't just kiss her back; he devoured her, pulling her deeper into his embrace. His grip on her waist tightened, no longer gentle, but possessive, crushing her against his hardening arousal.
A breathless gasp escaped Mira's lips. Her hands, still tangled in his hair, clutched him tighter, her nails digging lightly into his scalp as she responded to his new intensity.
Kael broke the kiss, pulling back just enough to look into her, heavy-lidded eyes.
His breath was ragged, his voice a low growl that surprised even himself. "You wanted this?" he murmured, his thumb brushing her flushed cheekbone. "Then let me show you how much I want it."
Without another word, he shifted, lifting her slightly, adjusting their position so she was perfectly aligned, fully straddling him. He leaned back against the kitchen chair, pulling her forward until their chests were pressed together and her full breasts were pushing against him.
The thin fabric of their clothes was the only barrier. His eyes never left hers, challenging her, demanding her full attention. This was no longer just Mira's bold game; Kael was now setting the rules.
Mira's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, a flicker of surprise, quickly replaced by raw passion. A low moan escaped her lips as she leaned in, no longer the aggressor, but yielding to his sudden, powerful control.
She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, her body molding against his, a silent invitation for him to deepen his claim.
Kael tilted her chin up, demanding her mouth again. The kiss was ravenous now, a desperate plunge into forbidden pleasure. He felt her hips grind against his, a silent conversation of escalating desire.
His hands, no longer hovering, slipped lower, cupping the soft curve of her buttocks, pulling her even tighter, eliminating any space between them. Mira arched into him, her moans muffled by his mouth as she devoured him with equal fervor.
Just then, the soft creak of the kitchen door opening went completely unnoticed. Sylvia stood frozen in the doorway, her eyes wide, unblinking. She had come to check on Kael and Mira.
Instead, she found them – Kael leaning back in the chair, Mira straddling him, lost in a kiss that was anything but sibling-like.
She shook her head in slight disbelief.
They were so engrossed, so utterly consumed by each other, that the world outside their embrace seemed to have ceased to exist.
Sylvia watched. Her mind struggled to comprehend what her eyes were seeing.
"Ahem."
Damnit, they were caught. What now?