"What the?!"
Marcus cursed, fumbling in the dark. Then he froze.
A sharp gasp cut through the silence.
Followed by wet, sloppy sounds. Slurps. Muffled moans.
Right there, inches away.
[Ding! 200 NTR points credited!]
[Good job, host!!!]
Marcus's mind went blank. His body stiffened. No way. That couldn't be Lily. She was standing right here!
But those sounds felt like they were echoing right from her direction. His brain started melting like butter on a hot pan.
Then—buzz!—the lights flickered back on.
Lily stood there, wobbling on her feet, cheeks redder than a tomato on Valentine's Day. Her lips quivered. Her breath came out hot and uneven.
Nothing looked… wrong, and yet everything did.
And then Marcus looked at Alex.
The man had the most casual smile plastered on his face, but his mouth—his lips—were glistening. Wet. Shiny. Suspiciously so.
"Man, that blackout got me all hot and sweaty," Alex said, fanning his chest like nothing happened. "Phewww~ someone turn on a fan before I melt."
Marcus blinked, his mind spinning like a broken ceiling fan.
Something definitely happened. He just couldn't pin down what the hell it was. He was sure—absolutely sure—he'd heard slurping. Not the "eating soup" kind. The forbidden kind.
"D-did you… also hear that sound?" he asked, voice cracking like an old floorboard.
Lily stiffened. "W-what sound, h-husband?"
Alex leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs like a man enjoying a show. "Yes, Marcus," he said with a calm smile. "What sound?"
Marcus swallowed, his Adam's apple doing a nervous dance. "T-the slurping sound. Like… s-something was being seriously eaten."
Alex's lip twitched. He wanted to laugh but held it in. It wasn't the right moment—yet. Especially when his system was blowing up.
[Ding! 300 NTR points credited!]
[Ding! Bonus awarded for clueless husband confusion!]
Alex coughed into his hand, trying to mask his grin.
"Nope," he said smoothly, not missing a beat. "Nothing like that happened at all. Didn't hear a thing. Did you, Lily?"
"N-n-no, definitely not," Lily stammered, her voice shaking like a spoon in a blender.
If only Marcus could see her from behind. Her skirt was still hitched up, hem trapped halfway under her panties—like someone had lifted it up for business and then tried to yank it back down in a panic, but gave up halfway through.
"I-I see…" Marcus said awkwardly, scratching his neck. "Here, grab my hand so you don't get lost if there's another power outage."
He reached out, his hand trembling slightly. Lily hesitated, then stretched hers toward him, their fingertips just brushing—
a perfect, almost cinematic, marital moment.
Until Alex ruined it.
From the corner of his eye, Alex saw the street lights outside flicker and die one by one. His lips curled. Right on cue.
The house plunged into darkness.
Marcus blinked. "L-Lily?"
Before he could grab her hand, it was suddenly snatched back—like something (or someone) had pulled her into the void.
Then came the sounds.
"Gawk~ Gawk~ Slurp~ Gawk~ Gawk~"
Marcus froze mid-reach. That… that wasn't fear. That was—oh god.
[Ding! 200 NTR points credited!]
[Ding! 500 NTR points credited!]
[Ding! 800 NTR points credited!]
Alex smirked in the dark, eyes glinting like a villain who just hit the jackpot.
Just then—Fzzzzt!
The power came back.
Light flooded the room, exposing the battlefield.
Marcus blinked several times, pupils shrinking like a vampire caught in sunlight. Lily stood right where she was, posture stiff, face glowing bright pink.
Her hair was a little messy, like she'd wrestled a ghost, and her lips—oh lord—were glistening as if she'd just finished an entire popsicle marathon.
"W-wife?" Marcus croaked, eyes wide.
"Y-yes?" Lily chirped, voice way too high-pitched, like she'd inhaled a helium balloon. "What happened?"
"What happened? You tell me! You were just—uh—there was a noise—"
"Noise? Oh, Marcus, you must be hearing things again," she said quickly, brushing her hair behind her ear with trembling fingers. "It's your medication! Remember? It can cause... auditory illusions!"
Marcus blinked. "Auditory… what now?"
"Yeah," Alex cut in, standing up with the confidence of a man who definitely didn't just commit something wildly inappropriate in the dark. "She's right. I read about that somewhere. Especially common in... older gentlemen."
Marcus squinted. "Older—hey, I'm only thirty-eight!"
"Exactly," Alex said with fake sympathy. "That's when the hallucinations start kicking in. Happens to the best of us."
Meanwhile, Lily stood awkwardly beside them, hands clasped in front of her apron, legs slightly crossed. Her breathing was too calm, too forced.
Anyone with eyes could see she looked drained. Her cheeks were glowing, eyes watery, and there was that dangerous little afterglow tremble in her knees.
Alex casually stretched his arms and yawned.
"Well, that was fun. Power's back, everyone's alive. Guess we can eat dessert now."
Lily's eyes twitched. "D-dessert?"
"Yeah," Alex said with a grin, meeting her gaze for half a second.
[Ding! 1000 NTR points credited!]
Lily caught that look in Alex's eyes and instantly knew—bad news. It was the look of a man who'd already sampled the goods and was now eyeing seconds… right in front of her husband.
'Oh hell no.'
Not again. The man had just buried his face between her thighs like a starving wolf at a buffet and made her gawk until she nearly forgot her own name. She didn't even want to imagine what "round two" meant.
And yet… everyone in the room could guess exactly what "dessert" meant.
Panic mode engaged, Lily darted toward Marcus and plopped down beside him, clutching his arm like a loyal wife in a drama she definitely wasn't qualified to star in. She forced the most awkward smile imaginable.
"I-it's getting late, right? Y-you should totally go home now, Alex."
Alex leaned back, lazy grin on his face. "Oh? But I didn't have my dessert yet."
Her breath hitched. There it is. The cursed line.
She could feel it—her body betraying her again. Her panties were a humid disaster zone, heat radiating like she had a fever only sin could cause.
Every heartbeat reminded her what he'd done to her earlier, and the worst part? Her body liked that reminder way too much.
She crossed her legs tightly, smiling a little too hard. "N-no dessert tonight. Kitchen's… closed."
Alex chuckled low.
Marcus actually felt a wave of relief when Lily sat beside him.
'See?'
He told himself. His wife wasn't that kind of woman.
All those paranoid thoughts earlier? Just stress and heat exhaustion. She looked a little messy now—flushed cheeks, glistening skin—but that was clearly from the blackout heat, not from… anything else.
Yeah. Nothing like that could've happened between her and Alex. Absolutely not.
And then—
Pop!
The power went out again.
"Marc—mfff!!"
Marcus froze. "Lily?"
Silence. Then—nothing.
"Lily?! Where are you?!"
He jumped to his feet, arms flailing through the darkness like a drunk exorcist, desperately trying to find his wife. But the space beside him was empty. Cold.
"Alex?! Is Lily with you?!"
A calm voice came from somewhere in the dark.
"Nope. Not with me at all."
Marcus turned toward the sound, but before he could even take a step—
Plap~ Plap~ Plap~
Marcus froze again. "...What was that sound?"
More plaps. Faster this time.
Plap-plap-plap-plap!
It echoed through the room like someone tenderizing meat—or perhaps, his sanity.
Marcus squinted uselessly into the dark, face flushing in confusion.
"W-wait… that doesn't sound like footsteps…"
Meanwhile, in the corner, Alex was definitely not walking.
[Ding! 5000 NTR points credited.]