'It's working,' Avendial said slowly, leaving her hand while staying at a distance where their breaths were tangling with each other.
He could clearly see how her mind, which had been filled with thoughts of Lin a few days ago, was now, at least for this particular moment, shrouded with his own.
Though he had made sure she completely lost her mental defenses by overloading her mind with several things one after another, there was still a lingering doubt.
One can never truly determine the mental strength of a person, given the complexity of the brain.
However, it all became evident from the fact that she seemed to be in this state.
"Haa..." Avendial leaned back, settling onto the bed with a satisfied sigh.
His eyes never left her form as she slowly released her grip on the sheets, her fingers loosening like she had just been pulled back from the brink.
'Upper body...' He couldn't help but admire the sight before him.
She was a mess of flushed skin, her breaths ragged and uneven as she struggled to calm herself.
"Haa...! Haah...!" Her chest rose and fell rapidly, each breath making her breasts heave under her partially unbuttoned shirt.
The way her damp hair clung to her cheeks, the glistening sheen of sweat that clung to her skin—it was all so intoxicatingly raw.
'Lower region...' His gaze drifted down her trembling form, lingering on the way her thighs pressed together, her body still quivering with the echoes of what he had done to her.
Her lips were parted, swollen from his kisses, her cheeks tinted a deep red as if she were burning from the inside out.
She looked utterly ravished, completely overwhelmed by the sensations he had drawn out of her.
"Ah....A..ve..n" As he sat up, her eyes fluttered open, her gaze hazy and unfocused, as if she were trying to piece together where she was and what had just happened.
Avendial couldn't suppress the smirk that tugged at his lips.
The sight of her sprawled out beneath him, her eyes filled with both desire and hesitation, was a heady combination that made his blood sing.
Of course, this song was a mix of two things.
The first was admiration for the true beauty in front of him, which wasn't new for him to see.
The second was satisfaction that this was going in the right direction, considering that, unlike how he had anticipated for this particular day to come after a month, it was accomplished soon enough.
"What... what are you going to do?" Aria managed to stammer, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Of course, this satisfaction did not stem from the fact that her body reacted to his touch; he was not a narcissist.
He had enough experience to understand what was necessary to elicit such reactions in moments like these.
He had categorized intimacy into several levels, where the first step—before considering size or technique, which could overwhelm the partner—was to adjust their body condition.
Just like now, how Aria was exhausted, not physically but mentally, given her weakened mental fortitude, as she needed someone's warmth.
Specifically, he made sure that it would be him.
It was clear that even with his slight touch, her mind would release hormones, amplifying the effect twofold compared to what it would have been naturally.
"Ahn...w..ai..t" Her body jerked slightly in a half-hearted attempt to resist, but she was too far gone now, too deeply entangled in the sensations he had awakened within her.
Avendial could see it in her eyes—she had already lost this battle.
Her hands, which had briefly lifted to push him away, fell limply to her sides as if in surrender.
"There we go," he whispered, his tone dripping with satisfaction as he leaned in, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
The tenderness of it was almost deceptive, a stark contrast to the raw hunger that still simmered in his gaze.
He moved slowly, deliberately, trailing soft kisses down her face.
"Haahnn...." Her lips quivered under his, and he could feel her breath hitching, her eyes fluttering shut as if trying to brace herself for what was to come.
His lips ghosted over her chin, down her throat, tasting the salt of her sweat.
"Nngh... haa.... w-wait...."
He paused there, letting his tongue glide over the delicate pulse point on her neck, drawing a moan from her that resonated within the room.
"Mmnn... haah... Aven... nnngh...." she whimpered, her voice a broken, needy whisper.
The sound of his name on her lips, so soft and desperate, only fueled his desire to hear it more.
Not that he wanted to force this whole moment; his aim in the end was simply to fill her to the brim with his bodily fluid.
However, doing something like that without any emotional connection would ruin the whole plan.
Given that Aria would most probably take it as a one-night stand, even after awakening her ability, she would not listen to his words further and would leave his side.