Chapter 1095: He Cares

Chapter 1095 – He Cares

Lux appeared in his room again.

The dark-gold shimmer of teleportation folded away from his shoulders, leaving him standing beside the bed in nothing but a loose night robe tied carelessly at the waist.

For a moment, he did not move.

The room still smelled like heat, skin, and sweet sin layered beneath the faint softness of Lullaby’s Sloth aura. The sheets were a complete battlefield. Pillows had died with honor. One blanket had fallen halfway off the bed as if it had attempted escape and failed.

Lullaby slept near the center of the bed, naked beneath a loose sheet that covered her just enough to preserve the illusion of decency. Lux’s kisses marked her pale skin in faint red traces, scattered like lazy evidence of a crime neither of them regretted. Her hair spilled over the pillow, mouth slightly open, one hand still clutching the fabric with sleepy possessiveness.

Gula lay not far from her, on her back, breathing slowly.

Also naked beneath the sheet.

Also very awake.

A Greed sigil glowed faintly on her shoulder.

It pulsed once.

Twice.

Then slowly faded beneath her skin like molten coin sinking into water.

A sign.

A contract.

Not ownership in the ugly way.

A bond.

A claim accepted.

A promise answered.

Gula touched the place with her fingertips as it disappeared, her cheeks warm despite everything that had already happened. She had accepted Lux. Truly accepted him. His danger, his hunger, his restraint, his ridiculous confidence, his soft hands when no one expected softness from a greed prince.

And now he had left briefly because of the guest.

Runa.

Lux thought he was subtle because he wore control like a tailored suit. But concern had a smell too.

Gula turned her head toward him. "I never thought you had this soft side."

Lux looked at the source of the voice.

His gaze moved over her, and even after everything, Gula felt that gaze like warm fingers over her skin.

"You’re awake," he said.

Gula smiled faintly. "You left."

"I paused. Briefly."

"To check on her."

Lux walked closer to the bed, robe shifting with each step. "She is a guest. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Gula rolled onto her side, propping her cheek on one hand.

The sheet slid slightly along her shoulder.

Lux’s eyes flicked there once.

Then back to her face.

Gula’s smile widened. "You said you didn’t care. But look." Her voice softened. "You care."

Lux sighed through his nose. "I do not know why everyone in this house thinks noticing danger counts as emotional exposure."

"You tucked her in, didn’t you?"

Lux paused. "She was sleeping in the bathtub."

Gula blinked. "Why?"

"Cat logic."

"Ah."

Lux rubbed his temple. "Also, apparently, my pheromones were tormenting her. So yes, I moved her back to bed and used a scented candle."

Gula sat up a little more, eyes sharp with playful accusation. "You even used that pheromone-canceling perfume thing."

Lux’s mouth twitched. "It was in my inventory. I just remembered it."

"Lies."

Lux looked at her.

Gula pointed at him with the solemn authority of someone who had eaten three desserts and now understood truth.

"You remembered you had it because you cared."

"I remembered because I have excellent inventory management."

"You cared."

Lux stared at her.

Gula stared back.

Lullaby mumbled in sleep, "He cared..."

Lux looked at the sleeping Sloth girl. "She is not even awake."

Gula giggled softly.

Lux’s gaze returned to her, darker now, amused despite himself. Then he lifted his hands to the robe’s tie.

Gula’s breath caught.

He opened the robe and threw it aside.

He was naked underneath.

The gesture was casual.

Too casual.

Like royalty discarding a formal complaint.

The dim light caught along his body, tracing the hard lines of his chest, the elegant strength of his waist, the dangerous heat still held in him. Gula’s mouth went dry despite already knowing him now. Maybe because knowing did not make him less overwhelming. It made him worse.

He was Lux. The man who could make her feel full and hungry at the same time.

She slipped from the bed, dragging the sheet with her for one second before letting it fall. Her body was still sensitive, still heavy from afterglow, but desire stirred again when his scent thickened in the room. Not as wild as before. More controlled now. More intimate.

She approached him.

Lux watched her without moving.

Gula stepped into his arms and hugged him.

Her cheek pressed against his chest. His skin was warm. The steady beat beneath it made her eyes soften. "You keep giving me surprises, Lux," she whispered.

His hand settled at the back of her head. "Good ones?"

"Dangerous ones."

"Same category?"

"For you, yes."

She tilted her face up. "Show me more."

Lux’s eyes narrowed faintly, that slow dark amusement returning. "I just played with your body until you looked like you forgot every language except my name."

Her face turned hot.

He leaned closer. "And you were embarrassed just now."

"I was."

"Now you seduce me again?"

Gula’s lips curved. "I was embarrassed." She pressed closer, feeling the warmth of him against her. "But I also found it entertaining."

Lux raised a brow. "Entertaining?"

Gula nodded, shy and bold at once. "More than food."

That made him still.

For Gula, that was not a small sentence.

More than food meant more than comfort. More than instinct. More than the thing everyone knew her for. It meant he had reached something beneath appetite and taught it a new flavor.

She lifted her hand and placed it against his chest. "Make me feel that way more, Lux."

His gaze darkened.

Gula swallowed, but did not look away. "Make me obey your words. Make me forget myself."

The room went quiet.

Even the sleeping Lullaby seemed to sink deeper into the pillow, as if Sloth itself knew when to stop interrupting.

Lux’s hand slid from Gula’s hair to the side of her neck, thumb resting just below her jaw.