Chapter 5

“Well,” Rosalie said. “You’re better than most novices. If you keep out of the way, you might be able to help. In ... some small way.”

It was far from glowing praise, but it meant Zoey wouldn’t be forced to stay out of the action entirely. That was a win, in her book.

And why the hell was spellcasting—utilizing her Rune of Arcana—so difficult? Hadn’t she been summoned to this world by a literal goddess ... shouldn’t she be a prodigy at everything she did, or something? Instead, Rosalie seemed distinctly unimpressed, even after Zoey had spent an hour clumsily crafting together one-circle spells, and the same one again and again: a simple ice spike given velocity.

“Now,” Rosalie said. “For your mana situation.”

It’s called lust, actually. Zoey had picked up a thing or two about how this world worked, by now, during the lessons Rosalie had provided her. Mana was what normal mages used to fuel their spells, but Zoey’s resource system had been replaced by ‘lust’, which was recharged by ... well, by things such as what she and Rosalie had done in the coffin, which had been what topped her off in the first place.

“I’m running low,” Zoey said with a nod. “It’s time for us to recharge.”

Rosalie stared. “Us?”

Zoey blinked. She realized the assumption she had made. “Well, I just mean, uh, it says bonded targets provide more ... and I figured—”

“You are perfectly capable of jerking yourself off, thank you very much,” Rosalie’s incredulous reply came.

It seemed Zoey’s earlier assumption—that their intimacy in the coffin had been a one-time thing—was true.

“Right,” Zoey said. “Right. Didn’t mean to assume—uh. Anyway. So, like, I should do that now, then?”

“Unless you’re waiting on something?” She made a shooing motion. “Do it in the corner. And don’t let me hear you.”

Zoey paused, feeling a bit demeaned. “I know this is an odd situation, but—”

“A disgusting one, actually.”

“Disgusting?” Her temper flared; Rosalie’s snippiness was getting to her. “You didn’t think that an hour ago, did you?”

“Excuse me?”

“You were just as into it as me, princess.”

“I was not.” The words were two full octaves higher than normal.

“That body wracking orgasm was ... an act, then?”

“Orgasm? I absolutely did not. Are you—are you insane?”

Zoey stared incredulously. She was denying that? “Okay. The fact you joined in, then? Or are you denying the humping, too?”

“Because I wanted it over faster, pervert. And you told me to.”

“There’s no need for insults.”

“And there’s no need for you to be propositioning me to jerk you off, either. But you did that, didn’t you?”

Zoey realized she needed to be the mature one here. Rosalie’s embarrassment over sexual matters was even higher than Zoey had thought it would be. And while the harsh rejection and insults stung, she could tell Rosalie needed to be able to deny what had happened—for her own comfort. Zoey could do that, at least.

“Fine. Fine. I’ll go ... take care of it. Alone.”

“Don’t take too long.”

Zoey bit her tongue on a retort. Rosalie had been otherwise pleasant—if serious and domineering—up until this point. She’d only been rude when sex had been brought up.

Well, not even sex. It’d just have been a handjob. But whatever.

Zoey walked to the corner, feeling like a pretty giant idiot. ‘Don’t make any noise’? Could this be any more embarrassing?

She shrugged off the banner she’d been wearing, then set it out against the floor to sit on. It shielded her from the grime and dirt of the stonebrick, though the banner itself wasn’t the cleanest thing.

She spread her legs out and stared down at her cock.

Well. Time to make personal acquaintance. She hadn’t had an opportunity to do that, yet.

She poked at the sensitive flesh. Even when it was soft, the size of the thing was comically unwieldy. Zoey had always preferred girls, so cocks hadn’t ever done much for her. Strap-ons were fun, sure, and she didn’t have anything against cocks; just, she’d never been interested in men, so.

Having her own wasn’t so bad. At least as far as that interaction with Rosalie had gone.

At the reminder, she started to grow.

She wrapped a hand around the shaft, feeling it expand in her soft grip—and wondering at her slim, feminine fingers wrapped around the massive rod of meat. It was probably—scratch that, definitely—weird to be turned on by seeing her own hand wrapped around her cock, at seeing her own cock grow, but she’d be lying if she said it didn’t do something for her: the mismatch in sizes, the way she could barely fit it in her grip. Seriously, why the hell was it so big? Ephy must have a size kink, to be forcing a monster like this onto Zoey.

And maybe Zoey had a bit of one, too, based on how she admired the fact it just kept growing. Especially since Ephy implied the whole ‘fitting’ thing shouldn’t be an issue, once she ‘figured out her runes’. Which hadn’t happened yet, but runes evolved and new skills were revealed, so Zoey assumed that’d be down the line.

Finally full mast, Zoey admired her impressive weapon. She gripped it in both hands, thin fingers covering a comically small amount of space.

So. Jerking off, guy-style. How did it work? It couldn’t be that complicated. Didn’t they use lotion, though, or something? Lubricant?

She gripped herself and ran her hands up and down, but with how much real estate there was, Zoey quickly realized she’d be needing some sliding, if she wanted to be effective about things. Unless ... a hand went to the top, where she caressed the tip, then tried a few jerking motions. Zoey winced in pleasure—that had definitely been better. But still. Lubricant would help.