Lust Meter System: Conquering Beauties-Chapter 133: Three Steps

They were already eating by the time the silence became noticeable.

Sitting side by side on the small couch, plates balanced on the coffee table in front of them, the smell of butter and garlic and something herbal filling the apartment.

They’d showered separately.

Liam first, standing under the hot water longer than necessary, letting it run over the stitches and bruises. Tasha after, taking her time, the bathroom door closed.

Now Liam was wearing a plain black t-shirt and grey sweatpants.

Tasha had on one of his shirts, navy blue and oversized, hanging down to mid-thigh. Her long black hair was still damp, falling loose around her shoulders. .

No bra underneath. He could tell from the way the fabric sat against her chest, her nipples visible as faint points through the thin material.

She wasn’t wearing anything else either. Just the shirt and black panties underneath.

Above her head.

[60/100]

They ate in silence.

Fork against plate. The occasional scrape of a knife. Nothing else.

’This is so quiet,’ Liam thought, taking another bite without tasting it.

Outside, the city moved the way it always did. Distant traffic. .

Someone’s music from a floor above, muffled and indistinct.

The occasional sound of footsteps in the hallway beyond the door. All of it felt very far away from where they were sitting.

’Why is this so awkward? Is this how it is after you have sex?’ Tasha thought at the exact same moment, her fork pausing halfway to her mouth.

Neither of them spoke.

The quiet stretched between them like something physical, pressing down on the small space.

She stole a glance at him from the corner of her eye. He was eating steadily, his jaw working slowly, his gaze fixed somewhere on the middle distance beyond the coffee table.

He looked calm. Unbothered. Like he did this every day. Like nothing had happened between them at all.

It made her feel strange. A mix of things she didn’t have names for.

Liam set his fork down deliberately. The sound it made against the plate seemed louder than it should have been.

’I should say something.’

"So," he said. "Your first time."

Tasha’s fork stopped moving. "Shut up."

Her voice was flat but her face went red immediately.

’Rude.’

They went back to eating.

But Tasha’s mind was somewhere else entirely.

She could still feel it. The stretch. The way he’d pushed in all at once, too deep, too fast, splitting her open before she was ready. It had hurt. Really hurt. Sharp and burning and too much.

But then it had changed.

The pain had faded into something else. Something hot and tight and overwhelming.

The way he’d filled her completely, every inch of him pressed inside, his cock thick and hard and reaching places she hadn’t known existed.

The way he’d moved. Slow at first, careful, letting her adjust.

Then faster. Harder. The rhythm building until she couldn’t think anymore, couldn’t do anything but feel him driving into her over and over.

The sounds she’d made. God, the sounds. She’d never made sounds like that before. She couldn’t stop them from coming out even when she tried.

And the way she’d come. Twice. Her whole body locking up, clenching around him so tight she thought she’d break, pleasure rolling through her in waves that left her shaking.

’I want to do it again,’ she thought.

The realization hit her clear and immediate and she shoved it down fast.

But her body wasn’t listening.

She could feel it.

The wetness between her legs, warm and slick, soaking into her panties. Some of it was his. Still inside her, leaking out slowly. But most of it was hers. New. Her body responding to the memory alone.

She shifted slightly in her seat, pressing her thighs together.

It didn’t help.

If anything it made it worse, the pressure doing something it shouldn’t have, sending a faint pulse of sensation through her that she had to work very hard not to react to.

She took a careful breath and stabbed a piece of asparagus with her fork.

Above her head

[80/100]

’Stop it,’ she told herself firmly. ’Eat your food.’

Liam noticed the number above her head had changed.

The same way it had with Elena. The same way it had with Miss Kelly.

"No fucking way," he said, before he could stop himself.

"What?" Tasha asked, surprised.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I just wanted to know — what is this?"

She blinked, pulled out of her thoughts. "What?"

He gestured at his plate with his fork. "The food. What is it?"

"Potato gratin," she said. "Salmon. Asparagus."

"Where did you get the ingredients?"

"The market downtown."

Liam nodded slowly, taking another bite.

The potato melted on his tongue, rich and buttery. Layered with cream and something sharp underneath, cheese maybe, cooked until the edges had gone golden and slightly crisp.

’She went all the way downtown for this. Mr. Carson’s store doesn’t carry half of these ingredients. And the market is far as hell. She really put effort into this.’

He looked at her. "It’s really good."

"Thanks," she said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

There was something in the way she said it. Not dismissive.

Not her usual deflection. Just quiet. Like she wasn’t sure what to do with the compliment and had decided the safest thing was to say as little as possible.

"You’re going to have to keep cooking like this," he said. "I could get used to it."

She looked at him then. Held his eyes for a moment, something unreadable passing across her face.

Then she said, "Okay."

He blinked.

’She actually agreed.’

’Damn. I have a feeling I’m going to like this version of Tasha.’

They went back to eating in silence.

But it was a different kind of silence now.

Less heavy. Less like something pressing down and more like something simply present between them. Liam wasn’t sure when exactly the shift had happened.

Somewhere between the first bite and the last, the awkwardness had settled into something closer to comfortable.

He wasn’t sure that was better or worse.

A few minutes later, his phone buzzed on the coffee table.

He picked it up.

**Kelvin:** Dude. What’s up? Did you miss me?

Liam smiled.

**Kelvin:** I’m sorry I wasn’t around. I know I said I’d be your Robin when you’re in need and all that. My bad.

**Liam:** It’s fine, dude. How was the resort with your dad?

**Kelvin:** Same as always. Boring as hell. He made me sit through like five meetings with people I don’t care about. Not going to lie, man — I prefer being in class over that.

**Liam:** You won’t have to miss it for long.

**Kelvin:** I guess. How are you? You okay? Has Tasha’s uncle tried anything yet?

**Liam:** Not yet.

**Kelvin:** That’s weird.

**Liam:** Yeah. I have a theory but I’m not sure. We can talk about it when you’re back.

**Kelvin:** I’m not sure when that’ll be though. My dad still wants me doing something for him even when we get back.

**Liam:** Alright. You know where to find me when you’re free.

**Kelvin:** Alright.

Liam set the phone down on the coffee table, the screen going dark.

"Who was that?" Tasha asked.

"Kelvin."

"Where is he?"

"Business trip with his dad. They’re staying at some resort."

"Oh." She went back to eating.

The quiet settled in again, heavier this time.

They finished their food without much more conversation. Tasha stood first, collecting both plates and carrying them to the sink. The water ran for a moment as she rinsed them, then set them in the drying rack.

She dried her hands on a towel and turned around.

Liam was still sitting on the couch, watching her.

She stood there for a moment. Not moving. Just looking at him.

The lamp on the side table threw warm light across one side of his face, leaving the other half in shadow.

His dark eyes were steady on hers, patient in the way they sometimes were, like he had all the time in the world and wasn’t planning on spending any of it looking somewhere else.

She didn’t know what to do with that look.

Then she shifted her weight, her hand coming up to grip her opposite arm.

She opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

There were things she could have said. Things that were sitting right there, just beneath the surface, pressing up quietly. But none of them made it out.

"Goodnight," she said finally.

Her voice was quieter than usual. Softer.

"Goodnight," Liam said.

---

She turned and walked the few steps to the bed.

The apartment was small, just one room.

The bed sat against the far wall, pushed into the corner with just enough space to walk around it.

The couch where Liam usually slept was directly across, only a few feet separating them.

Tasha climbed onto the bed, pulling the blanket over herself. She settled on her side, facing the wall, her damp hair spilling across the pillow.

She closed her eyes.

Behind her she could hear the small sounds of the apartment.

The distant city noise bleeding through the window. The soft creak of the couch as Liam shifted his weight.

She focused on her breathing. In. Out. Slow and even.

’Go to sleep,’ she told herself.

Her body had other ideas.

She was still warm. Still aware. Still feeling things she had no business feeling at this hour, in this small apartment, lying three feet away from the person responsible for all of it.

She pressed her face slightly into the pillow.

---

Liam sat on the couch for another moment.

He thought for a while about what had just happened, then it hit him.

The way she’d hesitated before saying goodnight. The way her voice had gone soft. The way she’d looked at him just a little too long before she turned away.

Time stopped.

The apartment went completely still. Tasha frozen mid-breath, the blanket half-pulled over her shoulder. The sound of the refrigerator humming cut off mid-note.

The system appeared in his vision.

[Option 1: Sleep to get a needed, good night’s rest | +0 lust points]

[Option 2: Get over there to her, now. | +55 lust points]

Liam stared at the notification for a moment.

’I’m right. She wants me.’

Then time resumed.

He stood up.

His movement was deliberate, unhurried.

Tasha’s shoulders tensed under the blanket.

She’d heard it. The shift of weight. The quiet that followed. A different kind of quiet, alert and waiting.

Liam crossed the small space between the couch and the bed. Three steps. Four.

He reached the edge of the bed and stopped.

Tasha didn’t move. Didn’t turn around. But he could see the way her breathing had changed, the rise and fall of her shoulders faster now. The blanket pulled just slightly tighter in her grip.

He placed one knee on the mattress.

The bed dipped under his weight.

Tasha flinched slightly, her whole body going rigid.

He climbed onto the bed fully, moving slowly, the mattress shifting with each movement. The springs creaked quietly beneath them.

She heard it all. Every sound. Every shift of weight.

Her breath caught.

He settled behind her, the space between them almost nonexistent now.

**[+10 Lust Points → 100/100]**

She could feel the warmth coming off him, close enough that the fine hairs on the back of her neck rose in response.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Her voice wasn’t rude. It was shy. Almost uncertain. She still hadn’t turned around.

Liam didn’t answer right away.

He just reached out and pulled the blanket over both of them.