Ch. 112 – That’s How She Always Escaped

Rhys froze, his breath catching sharply in his throat as Rhea’s hand settled onto his shoulder.

His hips instantly hitched to a dead halt, his mind desperately scrambling to regain control of his body before the situation exploded right in front of the bar. Beneath the counter, Dione felt him abruptly stop and let out a soft, low moan of protest, her lusher lips pouting in the dim shadows.

Ariadne, kneeling right beside her, caught the sudden pause as well. The red-haired fox looked up at Rhys, her crimson eyes gleaming with playful mischief. "Aww... no fun, Husband," she teased in a quiet, sultry whisper, her lips curving into a wicked smirk. "Why stop now?"

Rhys pointedly ignored her, forcing a rigid, public-facing smile onto his face as he looked past the heavily slurring tiefling resting on the counter. "Hey! How... how are you doing tonight, Rhea?" he shouted over the bass-heavy beat vibrating through the room, trying to sound as casual as humanly possible.

He knew there was no stopping her from walking up now, so he figured he might as well try to get ahead of the conversation. But as if catching onto his frantic attempt to play it cool, Dione backed her voluptuous, pearlescent rear right back into his groin, intentionally tightening her inner muscles around him. A violent shudder ripped straight down Rhys’s spine.

"Are... are you enjoying the event so far?" he managed to struggle out, his knuckles turning white against the polished wood.

Only then did Rhys catch sight of the broad, stout figure trailing directly behind the tall Earth Genasi. It was Durin, her dwarf husband. Didn’t even see him behind Rhea... but honestly, can you really blame me? Rhys thought with a flash of dark sarcasm.

"It’s going just splendidly, Rhys!" Rhea beamed at him, her golden skin practically glowing under the venue’s shimmering light show. "Not only is the food absolutely amazing, but the DJ and this incredible light show as well! You really outdid yourself for this grand opening."

The way she said it was anything but polite small talk; her warm, possessive tone sounded far more like a proud, gloating lover staking her claim.

Ging blinked heavily, finally noticing Rhea standing there, and abruptly stopped his drunken rambling. Blushing with embarrassment, he tried to recover his composure. "I know, right?! This is turning into a real party now, huh? The name is Ging!"

However, his alcohol-soaked tongue completely betrayed him, tumbling out of his mouth as: "I know—party real right?! The Ging name's!"

"That’s very nice for you, dear," Rhea replied with patronizing, motherly grace, casually stepping forward to leave just enough space for Durin to squeeze in between her and the embarrassed tiefling.

Rhys would have involuntarily burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all if Dione hadn't resumed bucking her hips against him beneath the bar. She accelerated her tempo, clapping one hand firmly over her own mouth to smother the desperate moans threatening to spill out. Ariadne watched the goddess work with a mix of excited fascination and sharp jealousy, keeping her twirling, crimson magic rings in full effect around Rhys’s core to amplify every movement.

"You know, Husband... I always used to keep a clever little trick up my sleeve for special occasions, right?" Ariadne teased quietly from below, her voice laced with nostalgic arrogance.

Instantly, Rhys suffered a sudden barrage of mental flashbacks—remembering all the infuriating times he had cornered her during his old hero days as Omen, only for her to pull off some impossible, slippery move and vanish right through his fingers. He had spent years obsessing over how she kept pulling off those ridiculous escapes.

"I don't want to talk about that! It was terrible for me!" Rhys spat out loud, his annoyance flaring before his brain could filter the outburst.

"Oh... my fault then, Rhys!" a booming, stout dwarf voice chimed in over the music. "I was just trying to make a little small talk! I actually thought the food setup was pretty good!"

"Wh-what was that?" Rhys stammered, frantically trying to hold onto his fading sanity while Dione kept riding his hips below.

Right as Durin spoke, a bizarre, intensely familiar sensation began pulsing in bursts against Rhys's lower half, matching the exact rhythm of Dione’s frantic thrusts. It felt like he was being taken in by two completely different people at once, yet he could only see Dione moving in front of him.

I can't even look down right now! Rhys screamed internally, his mind spinning into overdrive. I don't even know if my brain could handle whatever the hell is happening under this counter!

"I was just saying... the appetizers were so incredible that I’m really excited to see what’s on the menu next," Durin continued warmly, entirely oblivious to the chaotic warfare taking place inches away.

Rhys actually forced his eyes to lock onto the dwarf then, noticing Durin looked genuinely happy and content to be there. "Oh... my bad, Durin! My mind was... somewhere else," Rhys managed to choke out.

It truly was. Beneath the bar, Dione was bucking frantically, her divine energy humming through the wood. Ariadne's glowing red rings were twisting around his core in a tight union, and on top of that, this mysterious third sensation was sending his thoughts into complete backflips. Then, a wet, unmistakable slurping sound began echoing softly from below.

Now THAT doesn't sound right... Rhys thought, sweating profusely. I still don't want to look down! It would really help if that shadowy phantom was here to take a look for once!

He cast his eyes around the room, but Omen was nowhere to be found, completely abandoned to the party.

"I think Rhys just has his hands full, Durin, so don't take it too hard," Rhea chimed in smoothly, a dangerous, knowing glint dancing in her eyes as she subtly picked up on the rhythmic vibrations beneath the bar. "He clearly has a lot to... 'handle' right now."

She leaned forward over the counter, her tongue lightly tracing her upper lip. "Matter of fact... I would be more than happy to come back there and help him 'finish.'"

"I don't think—AHHH!" Rhys gasped, his back bending forward over the bar.

Dione, hearing every single word of the conversation above, realized another woman was trying to crash their space. Driven by a competitive surge, she picked up her pace to a frantic, merciless speed, bucking fully into him. She was going to force Rhys over the edge before Rhea could even step behind the partition. At the exact same second, a loud, wet gagging sound rose up right beside Dione's hips.

Had to be Ariadne... Rhys thought absently, his senses completely overwhelmed.

"Yeah, you see... Rhys has been having these issues with his... 'heart' recently!" Ging piped up to Rhea and Durin, trying his best to act like a helpful wingman. "He's been powering through it all night!"

Good save, I guess, Ging... you really have no idea, Rhys thought grimly. At least you kept my power issues a secret, even though it's totally unnecessary for these two.

"Even more reason why I should go back there and help dear Rhys out," Rhea insisted, putting on a sweet, terribly worried expression.

Durin scratched his thick beard, frowning slightly as he looked at his wife. "I don't know, nugget... I think it might be more of a hindrance if you go barging into a professional kitchen right now. I don't know if that's the best idea."

For the first time all night, Rhys watched Rhea’s warm expression go entirely cold—as cold and hard as a slab of solid gold.

"I don't think he was asking for your opinion, DEAR," Rhea snapped, her voice dropping into an icy, terrifying register as she turned her head toward her husband. "I am more than capable of handling ANY kitchen. Besides... I helped him come up with the idea for the dessert tonight!"

I... I don't remember ever telling her that! Rhys panicked internally. Then it hit him—he had put apple pie on the menu, subconsciously thinking of the fresh pie Rhea had brought him the very day he started his affair with her, an affair heavily orchestrated by Vespera behind the scenes.

Durin visibly deflated, putting his hands up defensively. "I... I guess you're right, nugget. Go ahead and help Rhys out then."

Rhys opened his mouth to scream a protest, but the dual assault beneath the bar reached such an agonizing, overwhelming crescendo that his willpower finally snapped. He couldn't take the mystery anymore. Driven completely insane by the mix of Dione’s frantic thrusts, the strange phantom sensation, and the wet slurping noises, Rhys forced his gaze straight down beneath the counter divider.

The sight nearly blew his fried mind to absolute dust.

Dione was bucking her hips against him with wild abandon, divine ripples of pearlescent light running across her soft skin while she buried her face in her hand to stifle her moans. That part made total sense.

But right beside her was Ariadne—and what she was doing defied all physical logic.

Ariadne was kneeling on the floor with her mouth stretched wide open, her red eyes looking directly up at Rhys. One of her glowing crimson magic rings was hovering directly over her lips. But her mouth wasn't empty—she was using her magic to transform her twirling rings into literal, spatial portals. The portal over her lips was connected directly to the second crimson ring constricting around Rhys’s groin, allowing her to take him deep into her mouth from a distance between rhythmic bursts of phasing through space.

In an instant, the scattered dust of Rhys's brain reformed, finally piecing together the centuries-old puzzle.

That's... that's how she always escaped! Rhys realized in absolute shock. She had hidden this precise, spatial-teleportation aspect of her magic, saving it exclusively for extreme emergencies. The moment Omen would take his eyes off her for even a fraction of a second, she would drop a microscopic ring portal beneath her feet and slip away right under his nose.

And now, she was revealing her greatest secret to him—using her legendary escape technique just to give him pleasure beneath a catering bar.

Ariadne’s eyes crinkled into a brilliant, devoted smile as she gulped around the ring portal, instantly reading the revelation on his face and knowing he had finally solved her secret.

Suddenly, a warm, solid hand rested lightly on Rhys’s shoulder—not from below, but from behind the bar partition.

Rhys snapped his head up in a total stupor, finding himself staring face-to-face with a smirking, golden-skinned Rhea, who had smoothly bypassed the counter while he was distracted.

Leaning down, she pressed her lips right against his ear, her warm breath making him shiver.

"Ohhhh, myyyy..." Rhea whispered, her eyes dropping down to witness the impossible, divine spectacle taking place beneath the bar. "I see you really did have a lot to 'handle' back here..."