Lewd System: Every Scream and Moan is EXP

Chapter 296: Chapter 296 : Perfect Pair

Astrid walked toward the bed where Jax was propped up against the pillows. He saw her coming and leaned back instinctively. The posture of a man who already knew what was about to hit him.

"You fool." Her voice came out sharp enough to cut through his remaining bandages. "What the hell were you thinking back in that arena? Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Jax bowed his head. "I am sorry."

"You were out there enjoying yourself while destroying your own body. And I was sitting in the stands feeling every hit. Do you know how hard it was to hold back from running in there and taking matters into my own hands?"

"I am sorry."

She scanned his body. Bandages wrapped around almost every visible surface. Bruises layered on bruises. Healing runes glowing faintly across his torso. He looked like a man who had been fed through a meat grinder and then bandaged by someone who had never seen a human body before.

"Gosh. You are so reckless. A complete moron who only knows how to give me trouble." She crossed her arms. "How should I punish you this time?"

"I am sorry."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I am sorry."

Anger consumed her completely knowing he wasn’t paying attention. She stepped closer until her face was inches from his. Grabbed a fistful of his hair and gently tilted his head up to look at her. "You bastard, stop messing around. This is really serious and you have no idea how—"

Jax shut her up with a kiss.

His lips found hers mid-sentence and swallowed whatever was coming next. Astrid’s brain short-circuited for a full second. The blush hit her like a tidal wave.

Then she realized. This bastard was using the same weapon again to slip out of the situation. The kiss card. His emergency exit every time accountability came knocking.

So she climbed onto the bed. Swung her leg over. And pinned Jax down by planting her sandal directly on his bandaged chest.

"I will kill you right here."

Before the next curse could leave her mouth, the door opened.

Two figures stepped into view. Jax spotted them through the gap between Astrid’s legs. One was the healer assigned to his recovery. The other wore the uniform of Astrid’s army and he was the one who spoke first.

"Princess, I sincerely apologize for the interruption. But this healer insisted on checking the professor’s condition. He said it was serious, so I—"

Then both men registered the full picture in front of them. Astrid standing on top of Jax. Sandal on his chest. Patient pinned beneath her like a prisoner of war.

The knight composed himself immediately. His heart was slamming against his ribs because he knew his master well enough to understand that interrupting her in any situation could earn him a one-way ticket to the afterlife.

He turned to the healer and patted his shoulder. "But it looks like the professor is doing perfectly fine. Wouldn’t you agree?"

The healer nodded in absolute terror. His patient was clearly being murdered in his own ward and there was nothing he could do about it. He recognized the troublemaker heiress. And the fury in her eyes was telling him he would be the next body occupying this bed if he lingered.

So he said with a voice that was barely holding itself together. "Of course he’s fine! Excellent condition! I will write a discharge report immediately. You can take him whenever and wherever you wish!"

The knight grabbed the healer by the collar and dragged him out. The door closed behind them with a click that sounded a lot like a prayer.

Astrid cursed both of them under her breath and turned back to Jax. Then with a grin she pressed her sandal down on his chest and started rubbing it across the bandages.

Jax coughed hard. The kind of cough that came from deep inside a body that had been beaten past every reasonable limit today. Genuine pain shot through his chest and his face twisted from the impact.

Astrid froze and her grin vanished. She pulled her leg back instantly and worry flooded her face as she leaned over him doing everything at once. Hands rubbing his chest gently. Grabbing a glass of water and pressing it to his lips. Voice shifting from tyrant to nurse in under a second.

"Here, drink this. Should I call the healer back? I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean to—"

And while she was panicking, while her guard was completely down and her body was leaning over him in concern, Jax’s arms sneaked around her. Wrapping her in a loose hug that she walked right into.

She froze. Looked at his face. And saw that goddamn smile which told how she fell on his fake act.

Her fist connected with his chest. This time with real force. Real intent. And real pain followed as Jax clutched his ribs and wheezed.

Astrid rolled off the bed, landed on her feet, and marched toward the door. "You devil! I swear I will have my revenge for every single trick you’ve pulled!"

And then she was gone.

Echidna spoke up in the silence that followed. "She is one heck of a piece. And I can see a twisted kind of care behind those violent as well as loving eyes of hers. So you really weren’t joking about her being your girl."

Jax said. "I never lie."

Their conversation was interrupted by two of Astrid’s knights walking in carrying a single-seater sofa between them. They placed it in the room without saying a word. Bowed. And left.

Moments later Astrid walked back in. Sat on the sofa. Crossed her legs. Opened a book. And without looking at Jax said. "I will be spending the night here."

She caught her own words and immediately added. "Don’t get me wrong, you pervert. I’m here because I know that bitch Sianna could go dirty and try to murder you. Knowing she is now bound to be your slave, she has every reason to end you before your order activate. And I won’t allow that to happen to my man."

Beat.

"I mean my manservant."

Jax said. "But I can see there are already many guards from your army stationed around the infirmary. So why are you—"

She cut him off fast enough to avoid anymore allegation while her face disappeared behind her book. "I don’t trust them. That’s it. Now shut your mouth before it becomes the reason for your demise."

Jax followed the order. Closed his eyes. And spent the next hour thinking about the future. About his points. About how to use them. His mind worked through calculations and strategies and contingencies until exhaustion started pulling him under.

Then he heard a sandal drop beside his bed. He didn’t open his eyes.

He felt movement on the mattress. Then a familiar scent entered his system as her hair came close enough to his nose for him to identify every product she had used in it today.

Astrid must have thought he was asleep.

She moved closer. And closer. Until their chests were touching. Her arms wrapped around him carefully. Gently. As if she was handling something she was terrified of breaking.

And then her lips touched his. Soft. Brief. The kind of kiss a child gives to something precious before going to sleep.

She pulled back and murmured against his skin. "Please never leave me."

Jax, who had been suppressing his laughter so hard his ribs were screaming, decided to lighten the mood by mumbling as if talking in his sleep.

"Nerith... your lips taste like strawberry..."

The silence that followed lasted exactly one second before a sharp pinch found his nipple and twisted with the fury of a woman scorned.

Jax shot upright in pain. Then looked at Astrid with a devilish grin that told her he had been awake the entire time and she had walked right into it.

"You know, if I reversed the roles and did the exact same thing to you, I’d be locked behind bars and labeled a monster." He rubbed his abused nipple. "I demand equal rights. Or at the very least, a warning before you decide to violently assault a recovering patient trying hard to sleep. But sure. Men are fine."

Astrid’s face froze into a perfect O shape. The expression of a cat that had just been caught doing something it absolutely knew it shouldn’t have been doing. Her ears turned so red they could have been mistaken for emergency beacons.

And then she let out the most undignified sound that had ever escaped her mouth.

"HYAAAAAH—!"

-x-X-x-

[A/N: Shoutouts will be in the next Chapter]