New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

\'Wait. The pillow is under my head… What am I hugging?\'

He opened his eyes and saw the top of a red-haired head. His throat went dry as realization set in.

His body was already reacting instinctually to the female presence by his side, and he silently cursed himself. He tried sliding to the other side of the bed, trying hard not to wake her up.

"Mm… Five more minutes…" the woman next to him moaned, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Alexander cursed under his breath. He didn\'t want to wake the woman, but the situation was getting increasingly awkward for him.

A certain body part was getting more awake by the second, and he wanted nothing more than to leave her embrace, before something unbecoming happened.

He tried slipping away again, but Kary\'s grip around his waist was tighter than a wrestler doing a suplex.

\'Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up,\' Alex thought, his mind racing for a solution.

Alex slept with only a pair of pyjama pants on, and his bare chest was being assaulted by a stimulus that wasn\'t helping his situation.

With every movement he made to dislodge himself, he could feel Kary\'s breast through her shirt, rubbing on his ribcage. To make things worse, either she was cold, or slightly aroused, but he could feel two hard nipples poking his side.

He was so focused on resisting his urges and trying to free himself that he didn\'t notice the woman\'s eyes had opened. She was looking at him with a sly smile.

She slipped up one of her hands, caressing his abdominals, until she reached his chest and gripped her hand slightly, making her nails claw his skin ever so softly.

The biggest shiver he had ever experienced instantly took Alex, as his whole skin got covered in goosebumps. That\'s when he noticed her open eyes.

"Um… Can you let go, please? I\'m getting kind of uncomfortable."

Kary made a small pout at his request.

"Am I not attractive enough for you?" she asked, trying to look pitiful.

"No! No, that\'s not what I meant! Quite the contrary! I don\'t want to do anything unbecoming, that\'s why I want to leave the bed."

Kary\'s pout quickly turned to a mischievous grin again as she started sliding her hand back down slowly.

"Is that so?"

But before she could reach any place too sensitive, Alex grabbed her hand. He looked into her eyes, pleading.

"Please. I\'m not ready for this much just yet."

Kary pouted slightly, for real this time, before she released her hold on his waist.

"Okay. But remember, I\'m not a very patient woman. I might not ask you to reciprocate my feelings entirely just yet, but I expect more than just hugs and occasional kisses."

Alexander gulped, nodding his head two quick times.

"Understood."

After responding, he got out of bed, hiding his bulging pants, and practically ran away. Kary giggled as he ran away.

\'His innocence is quite cute.\'

Alex ran to his room, almost sprinting into his bathroom, before putting his head into the sink and opening the cold water. The crisp water leaking on his nape cooled down his mind and body.

"This woman, I swear. She\'s a vixen." Alexander mumbled, water still running down his neck.

He was certain of one thing. Had he let her hand run down on his, all the way to where he was sure she was going, he would have lost any sense of restraint.

He wasn\'t against the idea of sleeping with her, but he wasn\'t mentally ready to bed her just yet. He hadn\'t had a relationship in a while, and he wanted it to feel special.

Alex closed the cold water, letting his hair drip in the sink for a few moments, before grabbing his towel and drying his hair down. Then he put on some clothes and went downstairs.

Kary and Violette were already sitting at the kitchen island, talking in hushed tones, and they giggled when he arrived.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing!" Violette responded, her eyes filled with playful malice.

"Mhm… Well, whatever. What would you two beautiful ladies want for breakfast? I make a mean bacon omelet."

"Anything is okay with me," Kary answered, smiling.

"Can we make pancakes? I would loooove pancakes!" Violette chirped.

Alexander laughed.

"Leave it to a kid to want something so sweet for breakfast. Okay, we can make pancakes, but only on one condition."

The two girls tilted their heads in unison.

"I\'m not doing them alone. You have to help, both of you."

He knew this would make a terrible mess of his kitchen, but he still wanted to do it. His own parents and he had always done pancakes as a family, and he wouldn\'t do it any other way.

Kary and Violette both looked at each other, smiling, before nodding in agreement.

Alexander pulled out the ingredients they needed, and a few cooking utensils, before they got to it. It took much longer than normal to make the pancake batter, but the trio had fun while doing it.

They would sometimes jab battered fingers in each other\'s faces, sparking some minor scuffles and laughs, as the kitchen started looking like a war zone of eggs and flour.

After breakfast, they all teamed up to wash the kitchen, laughing and screaming as they resumed their earlier ingredient war. Some people would cry at the amount of wasted food they produced.

But the three of them didn\'t care. All that mattered at that moment was having fun.

Violette was able to forget momentarily why she was staying here in the first place. She could be a normal girl for those few hours.

Alexander was able to bring his mind off the incoming disaster. His mind was taken to the warm memories of his young childhood with his caring parents.

It took away Kary from the stress of always performing at her best. She could enjoy a more relaxed moment for the first time in a long time.

Once they were done with all this, they sat down to plan their day.