A humiliating part of Luke wanted to hear more.

He remained outside the bedroom with his shoulders drawn tight and his hand still twisted into the bottom of his shirt. The silence behind the door lasted only a few seconds, but each one seemed longer than the last.

Maybe Lauren would move again. Maybe another soft moan would slip through the wood, or the bedsheets would begin rustling beneath her.

Luke hated himself for hoping they would.

That realization finally broke whatever had been holding him there.

He turned and hurried down the hallway like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. At first, he tried to move quietly, but the thought of Lauren opening the door made him abandon caution.

A floorboard creaked beneath his foot.

Luke froze and looked back.

Lauren’s door remained closed.

He waited several painful seconds, expecting the handle to turn. His breathing had become so shallow that his chest barely moved, and his fingers ached from gripping his shirt.

When nothing happened, he forced his legs to move again.

The remaining distance to his room felt much longer than it had before. Luke reached the door, slipped inside, and closed it behind him as carefully as his trembling hands allowed.

Only after the latch clicked into place did he release the breath trapped in his lungs.

He leaned against the door and listened.

No footsteps followed him. Lauren did not call his name, and no light appeared beneath the door.

Relief weakened his legs.

Resting the back of his head against the wood, Luke stared at the ceiling and tried to slow his breathing. His erection still strained against his pants, and the memory of Lauren’s final moan seemed permanently stuck in his head.

If she had come out and seen me...

He could not bring himself to finish the thought.

How was he supposed to face her in the morning?

Lauren trusted him enough to let him live in her home. She had fed him, given him work, and bought him something more expensive than anything he had ever owned. If she discovered him standing outside her bedroom and listening while she pleasured herself, she might regret ever bringing him inside.

She might even ask him to leave.

That fear should have killed his arousal. Instead, remembering her voice only made his shaft throb again.

Luke squeezed his eyes shut and released a quiet groan.

"This is bad."

No system window appeared to reward his honesty.

Across the hallway, Lauren remained stretched across her bed while the final waves of her orgasm slowly passed through her body. Every muscle felt pleasantly weak, and sweat cooled across her flushed skin as she caught her breath.

Her fingers remained between her thighs for several lingering seconds before she finally pulled her hand away. Even that small movement sent another tremor through her.

Lauren sighed and let her head sink deeper into the pillows.

She had touched herself many times over the years. Living alone did not mean she had stopped having needs, and raising two daughters had never erased the woman beneath all her responsibilities.

Still, it had rarely felt this intense.

Her body had seemed unusually sensitive from the moment Luke entered her thoughts. Every memory of him brought a stronger reaction, but recalling his declaration inside the dungeon had finally pushed her over the edge faster than she wanted to admit.

Gorgeous and incredibly hot.

A slow smile spread across Lauren’s lips. Even after her orgasm, repeating those words made her toes curl beneath the blanket.

Luke had shouted them while an enormous monster charged toward him. He had no time to invent something flattering or hide behind politeness, and the dungeon itself had recognized his declaration as an absolute truth.

He truly thought Yvonne was beautiful, and he wanted to spend more time with her.

Lauren lifted one hand and covered her eyes.

Yvonne was still part of her. The face, body, voice, and desires all belonged to Lauren, even if the blindfold and revealing clothing allowed her to behave like someone else.

Luke’s attraction should have thrilled her without reservation, but guilt pressed against her satisfaction.

He did not know the truth.

Luke believed Yvonne was a stranger he had met inside the game. He had no idea the woman who pressed herself against him, teased him, and nearly kissed him was sleeping only a few doors away.

Lauren had planned to reveal herself eventually.

At least, she thought she had.

Every moment she spent as Yvonne made telling him more difficult. Luke spoke to her differently inside the game. He allowed himself to stare, admitted what he wanted, and became a little bolder whenever she teased him.

As Miss Lauren, she saw gratitude and affection in his eyes. As Yvonne, she saw desire.

Lauren wanted both, and admitting that to herself should have been far more embarrassing.

She rolled onto her back and stretched one leg beneath the damp blanket. The fabric clung to her skin, and the sheets beneath her were far too wet to ignore.

A faint laugh escaped her.

That was much better than before. It must be because of Luke.

She turned her face toward the hallway, and her pulse quickened again.

I want him far too much.

Lauren rested for another minute before forcing herself upright. Her legs felt weak, and the cool air against her damp skin made her shiver.

"I need a shower," she whispered.

She cleaned her hand with a tissue, pulled her nightdress back into place, and gathered the loose fabric around her thighs before climbing out of bed.

Lauren had barely taken two steps toward the door when violet light flashed at the edge of her vision.

A sharp pressure drove into her temples.

She stopped and caught herself against the bedpost as the room tilted beneath her.

For one disorienting moment, the bedroom remained around her while another image appeared through it. The hallway beyond her door came into view, colorless except for a thin violet glow outlining the walls.

The pressure behind her eyes intensified until she had to squint.

It felt exactly like Oracle’s Glimpse.

Lauren raised one hand toward her temple.

"That’s impossible."

She was no longer inside Powerforge Online. The headset rested beside her pillow, dark and disconnected.

Yet the vision continued to sharpen.

Luke appeared directly outside her bedroom.

His face was beet red, with his ears somehow even redder. One hand clutched the bottom of his shirt, and his chest rose and fell through quick, uneven breaths.

His entire body seemed frozen.

Lauren stared at him.

The image carried the same hazy distortion as the possible futures she had seen inside the dungeon, but this felt different. There were no overlapping versions of Luke and no branching outcomes around him.

Only one Luke stood there, looking helplessly flustered.

The vision did not feel like a possible future.

It felt like something that had already happened.

Luke looked so adorable that Lauren reached toward him without thinking.

Her fingers passed through his arm, making the image ripple across the room. A burst of pain flared behind her eyes, and she gasped as Luke faded before she could touch him again.

The violet light disappeared.

Lauren stumbled backward and sat on the edge of the bed. Pale spots drifted across her vision while a faint ringing filled her ears.

She pressed both hands against her temples and waited for the room to stop moving.

Had she imagined it?

Perhaps it was only a lingering effect from the game. Her mind was still full of Luke, and her body had barely recovered from an orgasm inspired entirely by him.

That explanation made far more sense than a game ability somehow appearing in real life.

Even so, the vision had felt real.

Once the dizziness passed, Lauren rose and opened her bedroom door.

The hallway was empty.

Luke’s door was closed, and no light showed beneath it.

Her gaze dropped toward the floor outside her room, although she had no idea what evidence she expected to find. There would not be footprints on the polished wood or some convenient sign proving he had stood there.

The possibility should have angered her. Instead, she drew the neckline of her nightdress closer to her chest and bit back a nervous smile.

God... Did I really see Luke just now? Was he eavesdropping on me?

She should have been horrified by the idea. Any responsible woman would have been furious to discover a young man listening outside her bedroom.

Instead, Lauren pictured the vision again.

Luke had looked helplessly aroused, and the memory made her press her knees together.

A strange shyness came over her. She placed one hand against her chest and felt her heartbeat beneath her palm.

Really, acting this way after all these years...

Lauren smiled despite herself.

She decided the vision was only a fantasy created by an exhausted and overstimulated mind. There was no reason to wake Luke and question him over something that probably had not happened.

More importantly, asking him would mean admitting what she had been doing.

Lauren stepped into the hallway and quietly closed her bedroom door. As she headed toward the bathroom, she glanced at Luke’s room.

For a moment, she considered knocking. She could ask whether he was still awake, and they could sit in the living room, drink something warm, and talk about the game.

Then she remembered the expression in her vision.

Lauren raised two fingers to her lips and blew a soft kiss toward his door.

"Good night, darling," she whispered.

The word came far more naturally than it should have, so she disappeared into the bathroom before she could reconsider.