Chapter 32: Natural Reactions

We had been walking for about five minutes when a sudden sound vibrated through the stone walls.

"What is that?" Suzy asked, stopping in her tracks.

Before I could answer, a massive wave of rushing water came tearing around the corner of the pipe ahead of us. The water level didn’t just rise a little bit—it surged up instantly, hitting our knees and then rushing up to our waists in a split second. The current was incredibly strong, nearly knocking my legs off the slick stone floor.

"The fountains!" Suzy gasped, her hands flying out to grab the wall as the water pushed against her. "They must have turned on the main garden valves from the palace! Barry, the tunnel is filling up!"

The space inside the pipe was disappearing fast. The rushing water was already hitting our chests, forcing us to move right against the top curve of the stone ceiling just to keep our noses above the flow.

I didn’t think twice. I reached out, grabbed Suzy by her waist, and pulled her body flat against mine, pinning our backs against the rough stone wall of the pipe to keep the current from dragging her away down the dark tunnel.

The position was incredibly tight. Because the pipe was so narrow and the water was forcing us together, our bodies were completely pressed against each other from chest to toe. Her face was jammed right into the center of my neck, her warm breath hitting my skin in short, panicked gasps. The clothes she gave me were completely soaked now, sticking to my chest and thighs like a second skin, letting me feel every single curve and beating of her heart right against my body.

The darkness of the pipe made the whole moment feel completely intense. Suzy froze completely in my arms, She looked entirely flustered, she held onto my shoulders to keep from drowning.

"Barry..." she whispered, her voice incredibly soft, trembling as the cold water rushed past our hips. "This is... you’re holding me too close."

"If I let go, you’re going to slide right back to the village, manager," I replied. "Just hold on tight. The valve burst should slow down in a minute."

Suzy blinked, her fingers tightening around the fabric of my wet shirt as she hid her face against my shoulder, completely unable to handle the intense closeness. For two long minutes, we stood there in the dark, pressed together in the middle of the rushing water, waiting for the corporate floodgates to close.

The roaring water finally began to slow down. The rush inside the tunnel turned into a quiet trickle, dropping all the way back down to our ankles. The pressure holding us against the wall disappeared, but neither of us let go right away.

In the sudden quiet of the dark pipe, the reality of our position hit us completely.

Because we were pressed so tightly together, I could feel everything. The thin silk clothes she gave me were soaked through, sticking completely to my skin. Suzy was in the exact same state. Her shirt was totally wet, clinging to her body and showing every single curve underneath. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly against my own chest as she panted for air, completely breathless from the near-drowning experience. From this distance, she looked absolutely sexy and stunning, the wet clothes outlining her figure in the dim light of the exit. But then, a very specific physical reality made itself known.

My body was running on pure Ascendant energy, and standing that close to a beautiful woman caused a completely involuntary, natural reaction. Down between my legs, a massive shape pressed directly forward, bumping straight into her thigh through our wet clothes.

Suzy stiffened up instantly. A sudden current passing through her entire body suddenly, She felt the exact shape and size of the object touching her body—and it was the exact same massive python shape she had accidentally seen back in the penthouse bedroom.

"Barry..." Suzy gasped, her face turning red as she forcefully shoved her hands against my shoulders, pushing herself away from me until her back hit the opposite wall of the pipe. "You... you absolute pervert! What do you think you are doing?!"

I stood my ground, coughing slightly to hide my own embarrassment, but I kept my voice calm and completely direct. "Relax, manager. It’s a basic biological function. When a guy stands this close to an incredibly beautiful woman who is completely soaked, his body runs an automatic diagnostic test. It is a totally normal human reaction. If I didn’t react, doesn’t it mean my system is broken?."

"Normal?!" Suzy yelled in a furious voice, her hands shaking as she tried to pull her wet shirt away from her skin so it wouldn’t look so clingy. Her eyes kept throwing panicked darts down toward my lap before snapping back to my face. "You are a literal menace! We are currently going to attack a prince, and you are having a personal crisis in a water pipe!"

[System: Total system alert! Host’s lower asset has successfully breached the director’s defensive line! Affection rating is fluctuating wildly between pure rage and extreme attraction! Excellent negotiation strategy, you stupid boy!]

’Shut your nonsense, System,’ I snapped mentally, my skin—warming up. ’I am trying to keep the situation normal here .’

Suzy was completely flustered. She turned her face away, walking past me toward the exit of the pipe while her neck remained completely red. As she took her steps, her mind was completely racing, flashing straight back to the memory in her bedroom when the dust cleared and she saw Barry entire six-foot body naked. She had pretended not to look, but she remembered every single detail of how large and imposing he was. Touching it just now made her heart thump so hard it felt like it was going to pop out.

"Just... just turn back into a snake before we step out," Suzy muttered, her back still turned to me as she reached the edge of the opening. "I can’t deal with your human settings right now."

"Fine, fine," I said.

With a quick thought, my body dissolved into a thin line of cool air, and I shrunk right back down into my completely invisible form. I glided up her leg and coiled myself back under her hair.

Suzy let out a long, shaky breath, her face finally returning to its normal color as she peeked through the final gap of the pipe.

Outside, the tunnel opened up right into the center of the Prince’s private inner garden. The area was beautiful, filled with green hedges and white stone paths, but right in the middle of the lawn, twelve elite royal guards were sitting on wooden benches, their long spears resting against the walls as they dozed off in the warm morning sun.