Ch. 40 – Under The Table

She looked stunning, dressed in a sleek, body-hugging cream sweater and dark jeans that accentuated her perfect curves. But her beautiful face was twisted into a dark, volatile scowl. She looked furious, her pale eyes blazing with an intense, deeply personal anger.

Rhys froze, completely caught off guard. “Ariadne?! What... what are you doing here?” He instinctively glanced over his shoulder toward the hallway before lowering his voice to an urgent, raspy whisper. “Look, if you’re here for... that... you have to leave. You have to come back another day!”

Ariadne didn’t listen to a single word. Ignoring his warning entirely, she stepped forward with absolute entitlement, using her hip to forcefully push past him straight into the foyer.

Rhys was at a total loss. Panic spiking in his chest, he whipped around, keeping his voice hushed. “What do you actually want from me?!”

Ariadne turned to face him, her furious expression suddenly melting into something raw, possessive, and almost hurt. “What do I want?” she hissed, stepping closer. “I’m mad because I haven’t heard a single word from you in days, Rhys! You just completely ignored me after that night!”

Rhys’s jaw clenched. A cold, bitter thought flashed through his mind: That’s not my problem. You’re my former enemy who forced your way into my life. He wanted nothing more than to push her out the front door and lock it forever. But with Lira just forty feet away in the kitchen, he had to keep his cool.

“Look, we can talk about this,” Rhys pleaded in a frantic, hushed breath, raising his hands in a placating gesture. “Just not here. Later, okay? Please.”

Ariadne narrowed her eyes, completely unsatisfied with his response.

Before Rhys could react, the soft sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway. “Rhys? Who was at the door—oh!”

Lira rounded the corner, holding a spatula, her face lighting up in pleasant surprise when she saw their neighbor standing in the foyer. “Ariadne! What a nice surprise! Are you stopping by to visit?”

Rhys felt his heart leap into his throat. He held his breath, waiting for the inevitable disaster.

Ariadne’s dark scowl vanished in a fraction of a second. With terrifying, fluid grace, she feigned complete neighborly innocence, putting on a sweet, bright smile. “Oh, good morning, Astraea!” Ariadne chimed smoothly. “I am so sorry to drop in unannounced! I actually heard a rumor around the neighborhood that your husband Rhys used to run a private catering business, so I just stopped by to see if I could place a... specialized ‘order’ with him.”

With that last word, Ariadne subtly shifted her pale eyes toward Rhys, flashing him a dark, wicked, intensely villainous smile that sent a shiver straight down his spine.

Lira beamed, completely taking the bait. “Oh, that’s so sweet of you! Well, you came at the perfect time. I just finished making a huge breakfast spread! Please, come all the way in and join us!”

Rhys stared in absolute, paralyzing disbelief as Lira ushered Ariadne straight into the dining room. He felt as if he were watching a train wreck in slow motion, powerless to stop it.

They all sat down at the dark mahogany dining table. Lira gracefully set a steaming, delicious plate of scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, and golden hash browns right in front of Rhys.

Wow, Rhys thought numbly to himself, staring down at the incredible food. This morning would be absolute heaven... if it weren’t for one of my old mortal enemies breathing down my neck right now.

“I’ll go grab another plate and make a portion for our guest!” Lira declared happily, spinning on her heel and heading back toward the kitchen.

Rhys picked up his fork, desperately trying to focus on his food and maintain an aura of absolute normalcy. But he couldn’t enjoy a single bite—Ariadne was sitting right across from him, her intense, hungry gaze locked onto him like a predator tracking prey.

Rhys caught her eye and gave a subtle, microscopic shake of his head. “No,” was the clear, silent message he sent across the table.

Ariadne understood the message perfectly. And she ignored it completely.

Without saying a single word, Ariadne offered a tiny, sinister smirk. Then, with quiet, fluid speed, she slid off her chair and disappeared straight beneath the dining table, vanishing under the heavy mahogany surface.

Rhys’s eyes went wide as saucers. He was utterly baffled and horrified.

He leaned forward slightly, looking down into his lap and trying to reason with her in a panicked, desperately hushed breath. “Ariadne, what the hell are you doing?! Get out from under there right now!”

To Rhys’s utter horror, he didn’t get a verbal response. Instead, he felt the sleek, metallic rustling of his sweatpants being unceremoniously pulled down. A second later, a scalding, wet heat enveloped him as Ariadne took his throbbing length straight into her warm, soft mouth.

Rhys lurched in his seat, his entire body going stiff as a board, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the wooden table.

“Ariadne—stop!” Rhys whispered in a frantic, terrifying hiss, his heart pounding violently against his ribs. “Lira is going to walk back into this room at any second! If she sees this, it is over for you!”

Beneath the table, Ariadne paused for a microsecond. She looked up at him through her lashes, her eyes sparkling with dark, thrilling excitement. Hearing the mortal danger of the situation didn’t discourage her—it acted as an intoxicating trigger. She smiled around him, opened her throat, and swallowed him all the way to the base in one smooth, ravenous motion.

Rhys let out a sharp, choked gasp. He braced his arms against the table, his eyes darting frantically toward the kitchen entryway. From his seat, he could see Lira’s silhouette through the semi-translucent kitchen glass—she was still busy humming at the stove, plating a fresh meal for Ariadne.

“You are completely crazy...” Rhys whispered with pure, desperate venom, trying desperately to pull back.

In response, Ariadne went all the way down again. Activating her crimson ring powers beneath the table, she generated a soft, humming band of energy that tightly enclosed around the base of Rhys’s shaft, swirling and massaging him with mind-melting pressure while her tongue worked its magic.

The unbelievable, sudden contrast of intense pleasure ripped through Rhys’s defenses. A soft, involuntary moan escaped his throat. “Ahh...”

From the kitchen, Lira’s voice chimed out cheerfully over the sizzling pan. “What was that, honey?”

Rhys’s eyes snapped wide in sheer panic. He gripped his fork, forced his voice to sound steady, and blurted out awkwardly, “I—I said... ohh man, this is really good bacon!”

Lira let out a sweet laugh from the kitchen. “I’m so glad you like it, sweetie!”

Beneath the table, Ariadne slowly pulled back, letting out a wet, lingering release. She looked up at Rhys’s flushed face, her eyes gleaming with an unhinged, affectionate warmth. “I’ve been waiting for this for days...” she purred softly, her voice filled with a sickeningly loving devotion. “...husband.”

Rhys felt a wave of nausea and fury clash in his stomach. He was disgusted by how genuinely loving she was being—and he was incandescently furious that his old villainous foe, who was now trapped in some bizarre, psychotic delusion that they were somehow happily married, was actively ruining the single, rare day off he had with his actual wife.

“We can find a better time!” Rhys hissed down at her, his voice trembling with anger. “Just stop!”

Ariadne paused, leaning her cheek lovingly against his bare groin, hugging her arms around his thighs like a devoted spouse. “I tried to wait,” Ariadne whispered up at him softly. “But I never heard a single word from Vespera about when we would see you again... so I took matters into my own hands.”

Before Rhys’s brain could even process the news that Vespera was keeping the other women isolated, Ariadne opened her mouth and took him back in greedily.

She escalated her power. The crimson energy rings flared brightly under the table, hovering around his shaft and pulsing in tight, rhythmic waves.

Rhys squeezed his eyes shut, his teeth grinding together as he tried with every ounce of his willpower to deny how mind-numbingly amazing it felt. He forced his eyes open, constantly checking the kitchen doorway to make sure Lira was still occupied. Realizing he had no choice if he wanted to survive this without destroying his life, Rhys picked up his fork with a trembling hand and forced himself to act normal, taking a bite of his scrambled eggs while Ariadne’s head bobbed smoothly down below.

Then, Ariadne pushed him over the absolute edge.

Using her crimson rings, she began rotating the energy bands in a fast, counter-clockwise motion, completely opposing the rapid up-and-down movement of her head and tongue.

The dual, conflicting sensations reeled through Rhys’s brain like a physical shockwave. A loud, helpless moan tore from his lips before he could stop it. “Nnn-ahh...”

“My goodness, Rhys!” Lira chimed merrily from the kitchen, setting a spatula down. “You sound like you really missed my cooking!”

Under the table, Ariadne looked up at his tortured, euphoric expression and let out a soft, muffled laugh against his skin. A sharp sting of profound guilt stabbed Rhys directly in the chest. He was sitting at his own dining table, eating his loving wife’s breakfast, while an evil villainess was bringing him to his knees right beneath her feet.

Ariadne sped up her pace to a frantic, blinding blur. The wet, rhythmic sounds began to echo softly against the underside of the wooden table.

Rhys pulled back slightly, his hands gripping his knees under the table as he tried to push her away. “Quiet down... stop...” he gasped in a frantic whisper.

But Ariadne was completely unrelenting. She went deeper, taking every single inch into her throat, her entire body trembling beneath the table as her intense devotion brought her to a sudden, gasping climax of her own. Her internal excitement rippled through her energy rings, tightening the suction around Rhys to an impossible degree.

Rhys couldn’t hold on any longer. His stamina broke like thin glass.

At that exact, horrifying fraction of a second, the kitchen door swung open.

Lira stepped back into the dining room, holding a freshly made, beautiful breakfast plate for their neighbor. She looked around the empty room, her brow furrowing in deep puzzle.

“Wait... where did Ariadne go?” Lira asked, looking at Rhys. “Did she go to the restroom?”

Rhys’s head was a chaotic, roaring storm of pure adrenaline, panic, and overwhelming sensation. His mind short-circuited entirely. Somehow, through sheer, miracle survival instinct, he managed to blurt out a lie.

“S-She... she had to leave!” Rhys hitched violently, clutching his stomach as he felt Ariadne’s throat clamp down on him below. “She said... she suddenly remembered she was busy! But... but she said thank you for the breakfast!”

Lira blinked, looking disappointed. “Oh... oh dear. Well, I wish she had said goodbye.” She sighed softly, turning back toward the kitchen. “I’ll just put this plate in the fridge for later, then.”

Rhys was mortified, his chest heaving as he realized how dangerously close he had just come to total ruin.

Beneath the table, Ariadne didn’t give him a single second to recover. Feeling him right on the razor’s edge, she bobbed her head with sudden, frantic speed, her crimson rings pulsing in rapid-fire succession.

There’s no way... was the only coherent thought left in Rhys’s shattered mind.

With a muffled groan, Rhys finished hard deep down her throat.

Ariadne gladly, triumphantly took every single drop. She gulped greedily for several agonizing seconds, her rings working in flawless harmony to wring out every last remnant, ensuring that nothing was wasted and not a single drop touched the floor.

When it was finally over, Rhys slumped back in his chair, completely spent, his vision swimming in a daze.

Ariadne slowly crawled out from beneath the mahogany table. Her hair was slightly mussed, her cheeks flushed, and her pale eyes glowing with absolute, victorious satisfaction. She straightened her sleek sweater, stepped up right beside Rhys’s chair, and looked down at his spent form.

“Thank you for that, hero,” Ariadne whispered sweetly, leaning down. “That is all I need for now... husband.”

Rhys couldn’t even bring himself to look at her. He pulled his sweatpants back up with a trembling hand, staring straight ahead at his cold breakfast plate. “Get out,” he rasped coldly.

Ariadne merely offered a beautiful, triumphant smile. She leaned in and pressed a warm, lingering kiss to his flushed cheek. Turning gracefully, she began making her way toward the front door.

Unfortunately, at that exact, terrible millisecond, Lira walked right back into the dining room—carrying her own personal breakfast plate to finally sit down and join her husband.