Your Girlfriend Calls Me Daddy-Chapter 9 | My First Taste Tasted Like Cinnamon and Trouble

Chapter 9: 9 | My First Taste Tasted Like Cinnamon and Trouble

"BAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What?"

She kept laughing.

"You think I’m a succubus?"

"You’ve got the look."

"The look?"

"The whole demon thing. Red skin. Horns. Tail."

She wiped her eyes.

"Oh my god. Did you think I was buttering you up to milk you for my power?"

That’s literally what I’m doing to you so yes.

"I mean you do have that look."

"No."

She shook her head.

Still smiling.

"No. I get that a lot but nah. Just a hybrid from my mom and dad."

"Hybrid?"

"Root Type modifications from my mom’s side. Physical changes tied to her Essentia. I was born with the red skin and horns."

That explains the appearance.

Doesn’t explain the ability.

"So what’s the actual power?"

"Now where’s the fun in telling you outright?"

She grabbed another chip.

Dragged it through the queso slowly.

Her eyes stayed on mine the whole time.

"You’re smart. Figure it out."

I grabbed my lemonade.

"Give me a hint."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I’m paying for lunch."

"Fair."

She bit the chip.

Chewed.

Swallowed.

"It’s spatial."

Spatial.

Teleportation? Dimensional storage? Portals?

I ran through the novel’s cast list in my head.

There was a teleporter in the Sports Festival arc.

Minor character. Got eliminated early.

Was that Mera?

"Teleportation."

"Close."

"Portals."

Her grin got wider.

"Warmer."

"Dimensional rifts."

"Now you’re just guessing big words."

"Am I wrong?"

"Little bit."

She leaned forward again.

Her shirt pulled tight across her chest.

"I can open gates. Little ones. Move things from point A to point B."

"Like teleporting objects."

"Sort of. More like cutting a door through space and walking through it."

That’s actually useful.

Mobility in combat. Repositioning. Escape routes.

Why the hell was she eliminated early in the novel?

"How big can you make them?"

"Big enough to fit through. Haven’t tested the upper limit yet."

"Range?"

"About half a mile if I’m pushing it. Comfortable range is closer to a hundred yards."

She grabbed another taco.

"Your turn."

"My turn?"

"Yeah. I told you mine. Tell me yours."

Can’t exactly say incubus absorption power that gets stronger the more I fuck people.

I finished the chip and wiped my hands.

Essence Drain requires physical contact.

Increased intimacy means increased efficiency.

But what counts as intimacy?

Holding hands? Skin contact? Eye contact?

Only one way to find out.

I held out my hand.

Palm up. Fingers relaxed.

"Hold my hand."

Mera blinked.

Her yellow eyes flicked from my face to my hand and back again.

"Is this what you do to any girl or am I special?"

The corner of her mouth pulled into that grin again.

"Special enough to have me share this with you?"

"Just testing something."

"Oh okay."

She put her hand on mine.

Her palm was warm. Way warmer than normal human skin. Her fingers curled around the edge of my hand and I felt the smoothness of her red skin against mine.

I closed my fingers.

The connection hit immediately.

Pressure at the back of my skull. Not painful. Just present. Like someone tapping on the inside of my head with one knuckle.

What the hell is that?

The pressure pulsed.

I focused on it.

Activate.

My vision shifted.

Everything got sharper. Colors got brighter. The restaurant came into focus like someone cranked the contrast up on a TV screen.

Mera’s eyes went wide.

"Holy shit Rome your eye—"

She gasped.

Not a normal gasp.

A sound that came from somewhere deeper. Her whole body tensed. Her hand squeezed mine harder and her shoulders pulled back like someone just touched her somewhere she didn’t expect.

"Ah!"

The sound was breathy. High. Almost a moan.

Her face flushed darker. The red of her skin turned deeper across her cheeks and down her neck.

Oh.

Oh shit.

I felt it.

Energy moving from her into me. Not fast. More like liquid pouring through a narrow opening. Warm. Electric. The pressure in my head intensified and I could feel her Essentia flowing through our hands and into my chest.

Her breathing quickened.

Her pupils dilated.

She bit her bottom lip and her tail went rigid against the chair leg.

This is what the ability does.

I let go.

Her hand dropped to the table.

She stared at me.

Her chest rose and fell. Her mouth was open. Her eyes still wide.

"Holy shit."

My voice came out rough.

The energy that just entered me settled somewhere in my core. Warm. Buzzing. Present.

I can feel it.

I can feel her Essentia inside me.

Mera touched her throat.

Her fingers trembled.

"What was that?"

I looked down at my hands.

They looked normal. No glow. No visible change.

But I felt different.

Stronger maybe. More aware of my own body. Like someone turned the volume up on every sense I had.

"Rome."

I looked at her.

She was still flushed. Still breathing hard.

"What did you just do?"

Good question.

What the hell do I tell her?

Sorry I just drained some of your life force through casual hand holding?

That’ll go over great.

I leaned back in my chair.

Tried to look casual.

"Testing a theory."

"What theory?"

"My Essentia."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You said you were a Null."

"The scan said Null. Doesn’t mean it’s right."

She crossed her arms.

The movement pushed her chest up and I watched the fabric of her shirt pull tight before I caught myself.

Focus.

"Rome that didn’t feel like nothing."

"What did it feel like?"

Her face got redder.

She looked away.

"I don’t know. Weird. Like you were pulling something out of me."

Accurate.

"Did it hurt?"

"No."

She looked back at me.

Her yellow eyes were sharper now. Focused.

"But it didn’t feel like a normal Essentia either. What are you?"

I grabbed my lemonade.

Took a long drink.

Gave myself time to think.

Can’t tell her the truth.

Can’t tell her I’m walking around with an incubus power set that gets stronger the more intimate contact I have.

That’s a one way ticket to getting reported to the FBH.

I set the glass down.

"I don’t know yet."

"You don’t know?"

"The scan said Null. But I’ve been feeling something since I transferred. Thought maybe it was dormant activation."

"Dormant activation requires a trigger."

"Maybe transferring to Coastline was the trigger."

She tilted her head.

Her tail unwound from the chair leg and curled back around it the other direction.

"That’s not how it works."

"Then I don’t know what to tell you."

Mera stared at me.

I stared back.

The construction workers at the next table finished their food and left. The door chimed. Luca started cleaning their table.

"Your eyes glowed."

"What?"

"Just now. When you grabbed my hand. Your eyes lit up. Like they were glowing from the inside."

I touched my face.

"How long?"

"Just a few seconds. Then you let go and it stopped."

She leaned forward.

Her elbows hit the table again.

"Rome if you’ve got an unregistered Essentia that’s a legal problem."

"I know."

"Like a serious legal problem."

"I know."

"The NEA doesn’t fuck around with misdiagnosis cases."

"I said I know."

She bit her lip again.

Different this time. Not from pleasure. From thinking.

"You need to get retested."

"Boone already told me that."

"And?"

"And I’ll do it when I figure out what the hell this actually is."

"That’s stupid."

"Probably."

She grabbed a chip.

Ate it without queso.

Her eyes never left mine.

"What did you feel?"

Honest answer or safe answer?

I went with halfway.

"Energy. Like something flowing into me."

"From me?"

"Yeah."

"My Essentia?"

"Maybe."

She set the chip down.

Her hand went to her chest.

Pressed flat against her sternum.

"I feel lighter. Like I just ran a mile but I’m not tired."

The drain worked.

Not a lot. Just enough to confirm the ability functions.

But she noticed.

She felt the transfer.

Mera’s breathing slowed.

Her flush started to fade.

She looked at the table. At her empty plate. At the half finished basket of chips between us.

"Can you do it again?"