Less than a minute later, Lauren moved.

The mattress shifted as she rolled toward him. Her breasts slid across her chest with the motion, pulling against the thin gown while one hand searched over the blanket.

This time, her fingers found Luke’s arm.

She curled both hands around it and pulled, dragging him directly into her cleavage. Warm softness swallowed his forearm, and Luke stared at the ceiling with wide eyes.

Holy shit.

A pleased murmur slipped from Lauren’s lips as she smiled in her sleep and pressed closer, apparently satisfied that she had finally found whatever had been missing from her bed.

The nightgown barely softened the contact. One breast rested above Luke’s arm and the other below it, surrounding him with so much warm, yielding flesh that his forearm seemed small between them.

Her nipples pressed firmly against him through the thin fabric, rubbing lightly over his skin whenever she breathed.

Miss Lauren is actually hugging my arm with her tits.

His erection surged as Reinforce responded with perfect timing, sending another pulse of warmth into the thick cock trapped beneath his pants. The waistband tightened until it became almost painful.

Luke bit back a groan while Lauren continued moving without waking. One leg slid over his thigh and hooked around him, bringing the warm inside of her thigh against his side.

The rest of her body followed.

Her breasts closed around his arm while her stomach pressed against his side and one heavy hip settled dangerously close to his erection. Luke held his breath as her thigh shifted and his cock brushed against her through their clothes.

His entire body tightened, but Lauren only released another happy murmur and hugged his arm more firmly.

She felt that.

Panic shot through him before excitement quickly replaced it. Even asleep, she did not pull away. Her body welcomed him instead, drawing closer until almost no space remained between them.

Luke stopped fighting the urge to enjoy it. He let his cock rest against the warmth of her thigh and allowed himself to feel the weight of her body along his side.

His free hand moved toward her waist. There was nothing uncertain about the motion. Lauren had invited him, found him in her sleep, and wrapped herself around him. Holding her felt like the most natural response in the world.

Luke placed his palm against her back, and the nightgown was so thin that he could feel the heat of her skin beneath it. His fingers followed the soft curve toward her waist before stopping where her body narrowed and began swelling into the generous shape of her hip.

For a moment, he considered moving lower. The full curve of Lauren’s ass rested only a few inches from his hand, and Luke imagined filling his palm with it, feeling how much soft flesh would spill between his fingers.

His hand remained at her waist.

There would be plenty of time to grab her ass when she was awake. The thought no longer felt like a denial.

It felt like a promise.

Lauren sighed and tucked her face closer to his shoulder. Her lips brushed lightly against his shirt while her breasts tightened around his arm, making Luke’s cock throb against her thigh.

God, she’s soft.

Her warmth, the scent of her hair, and the pressure of her curves threatened to overwhelm him, but Luke did not want the moment to end.

This was not a disappointing substitute for sex. If anything, the quiet intimacy made the moment feel more important. Lauren was sleeping peacefully because she felt safe enough to let down every defense, and after one of the worst nights of her life, she had chosen Luke as the person she wanted beside her.

He did not need to prove anything or force the night toward some imagined finish. Having her relax against him was already a reward.

The faint tension between her eyebrows had disappeared. Her breathing remained slow and even, while the small smile on her lips made her look completely content.

Warmth settled in Luke’s chest.

He still wanted sex. He wanted to see Lauren naked, hear her moan his name, and discover whether those thick thighs would tighten around his waist. He wanted to know whether her breasts felt as incredible against his face as they did around his arm.

He wanted to squeeze her ass, spread her thighs, and find out how wet her pussy became when he touched her.

The tenderness of the moment did nothing to weaken those desires. It only made him want her more, but Luke no longer felt any need to rush.

Lauren was already in his arms.

Morning would come, and when she opened those beautiful blue eyes, they would still be lying in the same bed. Perhaps she would notice his cock pressing against her thigh. Maybe she would smile, tease him, and finally reveal how much of tonight’s invitation she had truly meant.

Waiting to see what she would do was almost as exciting as imagining it.

Reinforce continued working without any concern for Luke’s dignity, turning his erection into a mast powerful enough to carry him across the Grand Line in search of the One Piece.

He nearly laughed at the ridiculous thought, but Lauren’s face rested too close for him to risk waking her. Instead, Luke tightened his arm around her by the smallest amount.

Lauren responded by pressing herself closer. Her breasts squeezed his forearm, her thigh rubbed against his cock, and another pleased sound escaped her lips.

Luke smiled into the darkness.

She trusts me.

For most of his life, no one had trusted Luke with anything important. His father had treated him like a burden, strangers had ignored him, and even basic kindness had once seemed temporary.

Lauren had given him a home. Now she was giving him her softness, her warmth, and the peaceful expression she wore while sleeping in his arms.

At that moment, those things felt more valuable than any reward Powerforge Online could have offered.

Luke did not know whether he would become a hero, a villain, or something neither side could easily name. He only knew that he wanted to stay beside her.

I don’t care what I have to become, Miss Lauren. I’m staying with you.

His eyes slowly closed while Lauren continued holding him. For the first time since entering her bedroom, Luke stopped wondering what might happen next and simply enjoyed having her there.

Morning light eventually slipped through the gap between the curtains and spread across the bed.

Lauren woke slowly, surrounded by warmth. For several comfortable seconds, she remained half asleep and pressed closer before realizing that the warmth belonged to another person.

Her eyes opened.

Luke lay beneath her with one arm trapped between her breasts. At some point during the night, Lauren had draped herself almost completely over him, hooking one thigh across his body and tucking her face against his shoulder.

His hard cock pressed firmly against her thigh through his pants.

A sweet flush warmed her cheeks.

Rather than pulling away, Lauren remained still and took in the sight of their tangled bodies. Luke’s hand rested carefully at her waist, nowhere lower, even though she had practically wrapped herself around him.

A soft smile touched her lips.

He had stayed beside her all night.

More importantly, he had held her without disturbing the peaceful sleep she had desperately needed. Somehow, that made the warmth in Lauren’s cheeks spread even farther.

Her gaze traveled over Luke’s sleeping face.

She wanted to know what he had thought when she wrapped herself around him. Had he panicked when she pulled his arm between her breasts? Had he enjoyed her softness? Had he spent the entire night staring at the ceiling while trying not to move?

The last possibility nearly made her giggle.

Then Lauren remembered the strange vision that had shown Luke standing outside her bedroom.

Oracle’s Glimpse had allowed her to witness something that had already happened once before. Perhaps it could show her what had happened during the night as well.

The hospital had warned her not to experiment with an uncontrolled ability, especially after the pain and dizziness caused by her previous visions.

Lauren knew she should wait until her examination.

Still plastered against Luke, she closed her eyes and searched for the strange sensation that always came before Oracle’s Glimpse.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then a faint violet light flickered at the edge of the darkness.