Previously on Lewd System: Every Scream and Moan is EXP...
Jax manipulates Isadora into believing her arranged marriage to Damian is a cover for Damian's secrets and hidden desires. He plays on her despair, claiming Damian's ego and paranoia would destroy her family if she tried to escape directly. Jax then hints at a way out, asking Isadora what she truly desires.
She gazed at him like a shipwreck survivor sighting land.
Jax paused, his hesitation a deliberate act of calculation. "What if you were to marry... me, instead."
Her eyes widened in astonishment.
"Damian would never defy me. I am the sole individual capable of appeasing his rage and reasoning with him. If I were to tell him that I'm taking you as my wife because you bear a resemblance to Yuline, that losing you would be akin to losing her a second time, he would undoubtedly yield. He would step aside, not out of weakness, but because our bond of friendship surpasses any political union."
Then, Jax recoiled slightly, averting his gaze as if ashamed of his words. "I apologize. That was inappropriate of me to say. In essence, I'm replicating Damian's actions toward you. Trading one arranged marriage for another, solely because my own selfish heart perceives a phantom of someone I've lost."
He rose from the bed. "Disregard my words. I shall uncover an alternative approach, even if it demands more time and entails greater peril. I refuse to become the very entity I am striving to shield you from."
However, Isadora perceived not a man ensnaring her, but one who had just betrayed his closest friend to safeguard a woman he barely knew. A man who offered her an escape route only to retract it moments later, deeming it unfair to her. A man prepared to sacrifice his most enduring friendship so she wouldn't have to endure a life of seclusion.
She reached out, grasping his hand before he could take another step. "Wait."
Jax halted, not turning, allowing her to clasp his hand from behind, as though attempting to conceal the emotions coursing through his face.
Her voice, though wavering, steadied as she spoke. "Did you truly mean that? Are you genuinely prepared to marry me to ensure my protection?"
Jax turned to face her, his expression a canvas of emotions so profound they bordered on the illicit. "Every syllable I uttered was sincere. If you make that choice, if you choose me, I pledge on my life to grant you everything I once aspired to give Yuline."
He tightened his grip on her hand. "However, the decision rests entirely with you. Should you decline, I will still move mountains to ensure your safe passage. But if you accept, you will never be a substitute, nor a mere echo of Yuline. You will be Isadora. My wife. The woman I vow to cherish throughout my remaining days."
She stood, still holding his hand, her face a tapestry of tears, bewilderment, and a nascent emotion beginning to dawn in her eyes.
"Why would you jeopardize so much? If you proceed with this, your friendship with Damian could be irrevocably shattered. Imagine the uproar when the nobility and the public learn of a sudden change in grooms. You risk the stability of the entire empire. Your friendship. All that you've jointly established." Her voice trembled. "For me?"
Jax drew his face towards hers, deliberately. Her breath caught the instant she felt his warmth drawing near. His lips brushed against hers first, close enough for her to feel each expelled breath against her skin. Then, they shifted, moving towards her ear.
He whispered, "I've already explained my reasons. You are an exact replica of the one I failed to save. If I allow another to slip through my grasp, I fear I wouldn't know how to cope with myself."
He withdrew slightly, their faces once more close, their noses nearly touching. The rascal knew precisely what he was doing, executing it with the flawless precision of a surgeon altering a patient's entire worldview.
Isadora's gaze searched his, seeking any hint of deceit, any sign of a trap, any conceivable reason to resist what every fragmented piece of her being was urging her to accept.
She found none.
Her lips moved first, slowly, almost imperceptibly, closing the final inch between them with the trepidation of a woman leaping off a cliff, choosing to trust the descent.
And Jax met her halfway.
They were locked in a kiss, initially slow and tender, but escalating in intensity with each passing second, becoming more passionate, more demanding, as emotions and something else entirely began to take hold.
Feelings for Jax? Not a possibility. That scoundrel was savoring the act of claiming another's intended bride with the same unadulterated glee a child displays when unwrapping a present not meant for them.
—x—X—x—
Some time had elapsed.
Jax and Isadora lay in the bed, both completely unclothed. She rested against his chest, her expression transformed from the despair of an hour prior.
[A/N: The visual representation of this scene is available in the comments section.]
She was content, thoroughly so, with the favorable turn of events regarding her new future and the commendable performance of Emperor Oberon – or rather, the man inhabiting his body as if it were a borrowed suit.
At that precise moment, Jax's peripheral vision caught sight of something. A familiar pair of eyes, encased within the gleaming metal of knight's armor, peered through a sliver in the door. It was Echidna, occupying his body.
Positioned by the window, Emperor Damian gazed upon his bride's exposed backside, turned directly towards him.
A wicked grin spread across Jax's face, causing Echidna to flinch from her spot across the chamber. She recognized that expression, an omen of impending disaster.
Unaware of the intense scrutiny from the two pairs of eyes, Isadora wiped a trace of semen from her lips. She then trailed her fingers lightly over Jax's abdomen.
Her voice, still husky from their recent intimacy, remarked, "Your Majesty, I doubt Emperor Damian is to blame for losing his… appendage. After all, who wouldn't be tempted by this body?"
She planted kisses along his pectorals. "You are flawless in every way. Truly, I've struck gold."
Jax sensed the Emperor's murderous intent surge from the window, growing so potent it could have stripped paint from the walls. With a deliberate response, he cupped Isadora's buttocks with both hands, squeezing with significant force. The resulting moan that escaped her echoed thunderously within the grand hall.
He repositioned himself, setting Isadora on all fours before him, preparing for a second encounter. As he aligned himself behind her, Damian's unwavering glare fixed upon the unfolding scene through the window, Jax mused with a triumphant smile.
'Easy there, pal. That was merely the prelude. The main performance is about to begin.'
