Chapter 99: What a man!

Tom froze for half a second when her body went slack in his arms.

"Stella?"

He called out but got no answer.

He shifted his hold at once, lifting her fully against his chest as water continued to stream over both of them. Her head tipped against his shoulder, her lips were slightly parted and her body was too loose to pass for ordinary exhaustion. Panic cut through the leftover heat in his blood.

"Stella." He tapped her cheek with wet fingers. "Hey. Come on."

Still nothing. For some heartbeats, his head went blank then he remembered he had someone or something...

"System," he said under his breath, sharp with urgency. "What’s wrong with her?"

[Exhaustion,] the System replied, irritatingly calm. Tom frowned but before he could demand explanation, the system explained further;

[Host did not exactly handle that last round with restraint. She climaxed hard, barely recovered her breath, and then took a prolonged fucking against a cabinet. The body gave out.]

Tom exhaled hard through his nose and turned off the shower with one hand while still bracing her with the other.

"It’s the pill."

[Among other things, yes.] The System almost sounded amused. [Iron Rod kept Host effective long after ordinary stamina would have failed. Congratulations.]

"Congratulations on standing on the verge of becoming a criminal, right?" Tom groaned.

[Don’t be dramatic, Host. It’s nothing serious.]

Tom shot a glare at the empty air even though that declaration from the system helped calm his mind down a bit. Then he carried Stella out of the shower.

"What do I do?"

[Simple care. Dry her. Lay her down. Cool her skin. Get fluid into her when she can take it. Keep her on her side if she remains unresponsive. Monitor her breathing.] The system explained to Tom.

He nodded then after a pause, the system took a lighter tone;

[There may be no further show tonight. And considering Host is still rock hard, that leaves a rather painful evening ahead unless you deal with it yourself.]

Tom glanced down despite himself. His cock was still rigid, shamelessly unaffected by the fear sitting in his chest. He looked back at Stella’s unconscious face and felt a clean flash of disgust at the timing of his own body.

"That’s not important, I can handle it." he muttered dismissively, even though the thing didn’t look like it wasn’t important.

Tom grabbed a thick towel from the rail and wrapped it around her as best as he could while carrying her into the bedroom. The sheets were cool when he lowered her onto the mattress. He turned her carefully onto her side, pulled the towel open enough to dry her properly, and worked with both hands, along her shoulders, down her back, over her arms and thighs, wiping away water and sweat until her skin no longer shone with it. Another towel went under her head. A lighter sheet was drawn up to her waist.

Only then did he leave her long enough to grab a bottle of water from the kitchen. By the time he returned, her breathing was still steady, which loosened one knot in his chest and left the rest untouched. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

He sat on the edge of the bed, dampened a clean cloth, and passed it over her forehead and neck in slow strokes. When her mouth moved faintly, he slipped a hand behind her shoulders, lifted her just enough, and tipped a little water against her lips. Most of it she took while some of it trailed down the corner of her mouth, and he wiped that away too.

Through all of it, his cock remained hard.

Tom looked at the stubborn line of it with open dislike, then at Stella’s still face, and cursed the Iron Rod Pill under his breath.

"That damned pill..."

Whatever discomfort that left him with could wait. He stayed where he was, cloth in hand, watching the rise and fall of her chest until the sharpest edge of panic finally dulled into exhausted vigilance.

At some point, without meaning to, he slept like that, still seated too close to the edge of the bed with his upper body angled toward her, the towel still loosely caught in his fingers.

~~~~~~~~~

Stella woke to warmth.

For a moment she did not know where she was. The ceiling above her was unfamiliar in the soft light, the air quiet and her body was heavy in that deep post-sex way that made even shifting her legs feel delayed. Then she turned her head and saw Tom.

He had fallen asleep beside the bed’s edge, his upper body leaning in toward her, a towel was half-held in one hand as if he had only meant to rest his eyes for a second. She realized that he was naked, just as she was too.

And even in sleep, his cock remained semi-hard against his thigh, ignored rather than indulged. The sight of of him falling asleep with care still unfinished in his hands instead of handling his own discomfort first, landed quietly and deeply.

"What a man!" She mumbled to herself with a small smile. She appreciated it more than she expected to.

And like that, she found herself staring at him as if there were hidden letters on his face.

After a few seconds, Tom stirred as if the weight of her attention had reached him. His eyes opened, unfocused for half a second, then sharpened the moment they found her awake.

Relief broke across his face so openly he did not even try to hide it. He moved up onto the bed at once and pulled her into his arms, careful but urgent, his palm spreading over her bare back.

"You’re awake, ah, thank God." he said against her hair.

Stella let herself be held, still heavy with residual weakness. "What happened?"

"You just fainted in the shower." His voice was rough with leftover fear. "One moment you were fine, the next you were gone in my arms. Damn, I was so scared." He paused to take a deep breath then his voice became more softer;

"I shouldn’t have gone that hard. I didn’t give you enough time after you came. I’m sorry."

Stella closed her eyes briefly, then drew back just enough to look at him. There was no accusation in her expression. If anything, her mouth softened into a smile.

"Hey, don’t apologize for that. I enjoyed every bit of it. I wouldn’t have preferred it softer." she revealed simply.

Tom frowned, still caught in the earlier panic. "You collapsed..."

"I know." Her fingers brushed lightly against his arm. "And it was still thrilling. One of my wilder fantasies just came true, Tom. Being taken that hard, that thoroughly, until my body couldn’t hold itself up anymore. That’s not something I’m going to complain about." A small, wicked glint entered her tired eyes. "If anything, I might want another version of it someday. Passing out with you still inside me. Or while I’m cumming."

"Hell no. That already gave me a scare." The answer left him immediately.

Stella let out a low, genuinely amused laugh, even though her body remained heavy against the bed. "It was nothing serious. Chill!"

"It didn’t look like nothing from where I was standing." he insisted.

She watched him for a moment, the humor in her face easing into something quieter and more open. Then she leaned in and kissed him. Not hungrily, not as a challenge. It was tenderly, with a softness that felt more dangerous than half the filth they had already done in the kitchen.

When she drew back, her voice was lower.

"I wish you were in my world," she said.

The words settled between them with more weight than volume. Tom saw the System panel open almost in the same breath, in his vision.

```

[RECRUITMENT PROGRESS]

[TARGET: STELLA MARCHETTI]

────────────────────────

Curiosity: 90%

Attraction: 92%

Love: 40% (+20%)

Obsession: 77% (+20%)

────────────────────────

Status: Deeply Destabilizing

Notes: Vulnerability response strong. Emotional attachment accelerating under care and post-intimacy trust.

```

Tom swallowed... That surge in the stat was pleasing.

After the words on the system panel disappeared, Tom’s mind replayed Stella’s last statement and he furrowed his brow.

"What does that mean?" He asked her.