Chapter 38: July 4th

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: July 4th

Melinda moaned as she rode the man beneath her, rocking back and forth like a boat on a rough sea, with undaunted desire.

She flung her head back, her hair spraying, and bit her lower lip in a useless attempt to swallow her hiss of pleasure.

She went on and on without pause, sweat trickling down her naked body, her hips rising and falling on the hard cock sliding in and out of her pussy.

The man groaned alongside her, straining to hold himself back under Melinda’s wild assault. Their mingled sounds were the only ones echoing through the pink-hazed room filled with aphrodisiac.

Their flesh kept slapping together so fast and hard that it was the only sound louder than their moans.

But for all the pleasure she was feeling at that moment, Melinda was still not satisfied.

Her mind inevitably drifted towards Mars. And every time she thought about him, her desire surged like a tidal wave on a stormy night, as if her insides were smouldering with fire.

She wanted him.

She wanted him so badly that she was ready to do anything to get him, even if she had to destroy his whole life, so that she would become his only life.

’Ahh, Mars. I love you. I’ve loved you since I first saw you in that poor restaurant.’ Her face split into a grin, and her movements unconsciously sped up. ’I will have you. I swear it on the bloody fang of Karos. How could I let such a pretty face slip away? I simply can’t. And once I have you, no one will touch you, or even see you. You will—!’

BAAAMMM!

Melinda’s lustful thoughts stopped instantly as the door of her sex room burst open.

She snapped her head towards it, about to scream at whoever had dared, and saw Harow, naked, hurriedly pulling on his pants.

"Get the fuck up, Melinda! Get the fuck up, and fast!" he shouted.

"Wait, what? What’s going on?" Melinda asked, but she was already climbing off the man, her whole body sweaty.

Her pussy dripped, but she paid it no attention as she rapidly searched for her clothes, sprawled across the floor.

"The Protectors are here," Harow said, his face cold. "And not just any Protector, I tell you. The Captain herself is here. That bitch Snow! And she’s destroying every fucking thing! Someone must have told her about our business here. We have to move fast and tell Jackal everything!"

"What?" Melinda froze. "Who did you say is here?"

BAM! BAM!

Distant explosions echoed, making both Melinda and Harow realize they didn’t have any time to talk about it.

Hell, she didn’t even have time to put on proper clothes.

So she simply pulled on her underwear and a long shirt belonging to the nameless gigolo she had been fucking. A gigolo Harow then killed with a ball of fire, without a second thought.

"Faster, goddamn it. Those poor bastards won’t last against Snow! Let’s take the secret passage." Harow grabbed Melinda and rushed down an empty hallway of the brothel without a care.

Their hearts went cold at the sound of destruction and the cries and wails of the whores and gigolos they had worked so hard to gather.

Without any doubt, they had lost a lot of money that day.

And without a doubt, Jackal wouldn’t like his business being so heavily fucked up by the Protectors, and would vent his anger on the two of them.

"Karos’s Fang! Who snitched on us?!" Harow bellowed in anger as he and Melinda slipped through a narrow window, escaping just before Captain Snow destroyed the whole brothel in her icy tyranny.

...

With no one the wiser, not even Mars himself, the Wilted Gang lost one of their biggest businesses to the Protectors.

That loss gave their rivals the opportunity they needed, and they circled them like sharks eyeing free food.

All this time, Mars was training with his wives, and spending time with them too.

He trained extensively with Solaris, learning the art of hand-to-hand combat. Solaris was absolutely shocked by how fast Mars learned. It felt like he had been born to master hand-to-hand combat.

Solaris wasn’t the only one to realize it. Even Moon and Willow, who came to watch Mars train for whatever reason, were pleasantly surprised to see his real talent in the field.

Slowly but steadily, they were beginning to see past the image of the poor waiter they had of Mars. Now, he was becoming someone the wives could actually see surviving alongside them for a long time.

And that thought pleased them more than they had imagined it would.

Besides training, Mars had also taught his wives how to clean and cook, allowing him to clear the Quest and obtain the rewards: a massage oil, and an upgrade to his massage talent.

The wives had been demanding their massages ever since. Even Alice wanted one now, but Mars kept delaying the inevitable, making excuses.

It was the same with the cinema. All three had now received their tickets and were eager to go.

Solaris didn’t like the fact that Willow and Moon also had one, but she ended up accepting it.

Speaking of Alice, she was the one who took the money they had stolen from Loris and bought multiple batches of the ingredients they needed for the Food Serum.

Since she was a Protector and an official Hunter holding a C-rank License, she had access to many sites and places that Mars and the women didn’t.

For once, Solaris, Moon and Willow began to see Alice’s usefulness. They began to hate her less, and curse her even less.

Though Solaris was still cursing without care.

She was a lost cause. Mars had long given up on correcting her foul mouth.

Mars didn’t forget Aunt Mari and Hope either. Letting them stay in his old apartment was far too dangerous. So he moved them into the apartment the Protectors had given him for now.

He would have liked to bring them to his house, but honestly, Mars wasn’t sure it was a good idea.

His house was very chaotic.

Still, thanks to Alice’s connections, Aunt Mari managed to find a job as a caretaker for kids at an elementary school.

It was a job she could do very well, being a mother herself. It didn’t pay much either, but it paid enough for her to buy some clothes for Hope and some food.

Besides, Mars sent them money whenever they needed it.

They were safe now.

Aunt Mari was eternally grateful.

So grateful, in fact, that when she finally got the opportunity to have an identity card made for her daughter, she named her Hope Fox Thompson.

In honor of the young man who had helped her even before Hope herself was born.

Mars didn’t even know what to feel about that. Having his name carried by another person was something he hadn’t expected.

He was a waiter, after all. A commoner and a plebeian. The son of a whore, as many said.

Never had he thought someone would want to carry his last name. A name created by his mother.

Yet he had to admit it felt good, knowing he had helped Aunt Mari and her daughter finally be safe.

The streets of New Paris were never safe for women, let alone young ones.

All of this happened in only three days. And on the third day, Mars Fox woke up in his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Today was Thursday, July 4th.

Today was the day he would go to the Sun God’s Church for the Holy Water and finally create their Serum.

Today was the day his mother had died, officially making him an orphan.

Today was the day he had been left alone in this world.

And just like every year, he would wake up, go to work, and at the end of his shift, go to the graveyard to lay down a flower.

All alone.

Well, not this time, it seemed.

"What are all of you doing here?" Mars asked as he sat up in bed, looking at his three wives and Alice standing at the door of his room.

"What else?" Solaris said, crossing her arms. "I’m here to see if you’re being a crybaby again."

"I’m here to look at your handsome face, sweetheart. Can I kiss you?"

"Good morning, Mars."

"Well, dearest. Many things have changed, but Veronica still told me to be the mother you lost," Alice said, then, with a bright smile, "Do you mind if I accompany you today, Mars dear?"

Her smile broadened.

"It just so happens I need to pray to the Sun God for the death of my family."