Lilith didn't tell me to stand, and that alone told me everything about how she intended to control the room.
Instead, she moved with steady calm and took the chair across from mine at the long stone table. Her posture was immaculate, spine straight, shoulders relaxed, hands resting lightly atop the cold surface as if the pressure of the Library itself meant nothing to her. She looked exactly as she always did, composed to the point of intimidation, like the concept of authority given a body.
Rissa was still on my lap.
Compared to before, she felt smaller, her earlier bravado burned out and drained away by exhaustion and by the fact that Lilith was now here, close enough that even Rissa couldn't pretend this was a game anymore. Her back pressed against my chest, her breathing shallow and uneven. Sweat from earlier had begun to cool on her skin, leaving a faint chill that contrasted with her natural heat. Her breasts were still bare, every slow inhale made her buds brush faintly against me, a soft, dragging sensation that was impossible to ignore.
Not that Lilith would.
Lilith noticed everything. She always did.
"The Library allows guests," she said evenly. "Not ownership."
Her tone was neutral, but the insinuation behind the words pressed down on the space between us.
"I didn't claim the shelves," I answered without hesitation. "Just what climbed onto me."
Rissa stiffened the instant I said it. I felt it in the tension of her spine and the way her breath caught. Then my hand slid over her stomach, fingers spreading in an unambiguous, possessive line of contact. The reaction was immediate. Her muscles loosened, her shoulders dropped, and her tail curled tighter around my thigh as if anchoring herself there.
Lilith's eyes flicked down to the motion. Just for a moment. Then she looked away again, her lips snorting so slightly that most people would have missed it.
"Limbo exists between desire," she continued, voice unchanged. "It absorbs excess. Violence, lust, intent. As long as none of it destabilizes the structure, I let it pass."
I met her gaze. "And I did not disrupted it."
"No," she said after a beat. "You did not."
Silence followed, thick but not uncomfortable. It settled into the room like dust that had nowhere else to go. The Library itself hummed faintly around us, a low, constant vibration like a breath being held forever and never released.
Rissa shifted on my lap, her thighs pressing together. The damp heat trapped between them hadn't faded even now, the evidence of earlier still clinging stubbornly to her body. When my thumb began to trace slow, idle circles just above her hip bone, she sucked in a sharp breath, trying and failing to stay quiet.
Lilith's gaze snapped back to my hand.
"She is claimed," Lilith said. "But not bound to you."
"I suppose," I replied. "It doesn't matter."
Rissa's fingers tightened, knuckles pressing into my chest as if she needed the reassurance.
Lilith studied her for a moment. Her eyes moved over Rissa with clinical precision, taking in posture, expression, the way her tail refused to loosen its grip. Then she shifted her attention back to me.
"Lust will notice you," she said.
"It already has."
"The queens won't tolerate competition."
"That's unfortunate for them," I said.
That earned a pause.
Lilith leaned back slightly in her chair and crossed one leg over the other. The motion was subtle but drawed attention, the kind of movement that carried intention even if it pretended not to. The fabric of her dress shifted, tracing the line of her thighs before settling again. My eyes followed the movement on instinct, and she noticed.
She didn't comment on it.
"You seem to understand how Lust operates," she said. "Power consolidates around pleasure. Submission is currency. Excess is law."
"I made myself aware."
"And yet you intend to walk that path."
"I intend to enjoy it."
Rissa let out a small, embarrassed sound as my hand slid higher, brushing against the underside of her breast. Her body reacted instantly. Her pinkish buds hardened against my palm, betraying her before she could stop herself. I didn't squeeze nor teased further. I simply let my hand rest there, warm and unmistakably possessive.
Lilith's gaze lingered on the contact longer this time.
"You aren't very subtle," she said.
"I don't need to be here," I replied. "This place welcomes who I am."
Her eyes narrowed just a fraction. "And what is that?"
I leaned back in the table. Rissa shifted with me, her body moving as one with mine. For a brief moment, the wet gap beneath her thighs pressed against my member before she resettled, the contact drawing a visible shiver from her. She bit her lip hard enough to leave a mark.
"A constant," I said aloud. "Something Lust cannot exhaust."
Lilith inhaled slowly. Her composure didn't crack, but the tension in the air sharpened, thinning into something tight and electric that made the space between us feel charged.
"Then listen carefully," she said. "Because Limbo won't protect you."
I smiled, the answer coming easily.
"I wasn't counting on it."
Lilith didn't raise her voice when she continued speaking. There was no need for her to do so, and that fact alone carried reason. The room itself seemed to recognize that her words didn't require force to be heard.
"Lust doesn't fall to strength alone," she said, her tone even. "Its queens rule because they are desired. Feared, yes. Obeyed, sometimes. But above all, wanted. You won't be the first who thought conquest meant domination."
I didn't hesitate before answering. "I'm not here to overthrow them," I said. "I'm here to entertain myself."
Her eyes narrowed, just a fraction. It was subtle, but intentional. "And you think that distinction matters."
"It does," I replied without raising my voice. "They rule because they make others chase them. I don't chase."
Beside me, Rissa moved again. This time it wasn't subtle. Restlessness ran through her body, responding more to the tension in the air than to the literal meaning of our exchange. I felt it clearly. My hand slid lower of its own accord, fingers brushing along her inner thigh. The warmth there was still tacky, lingering evidence of reactions she hadn't been able to push down. When I touched her, she inhaled sharply and froze, her muscles locking for an instant. Then, when I didn't press further, she softened and melted back against me, her body yielding as if relieved.
Lilith snorted.
"You reduce everything to appetite," she said, her gaze flicking briefly before returning to my face.
"I don't," I answered. "I respect it. Hell runs on want. Deny that and you rot. Indulge it blindly and you drown. I plan to walk the middle."
"The middle does not exist in Lust."
"It will," I said calmly. "As long as I'm there."
Silence followed my words. It lingered, heavier than before. This wasn't the kind of silence that came from confusion. It was the kind born of reassessment.
Lilith leaned forward, resting her elbows lightly on the table. At this distance, the restraint she carried was more apparent. It pressed outward, coiled too tightly, like something that had been held in check for far too long. Her eyes searched my face carefully. She was not looking for bravado or arrogance. She was searching for fractures.
"What are you really here for?" she asked.
I allowed myself a faint smile. "You already know."
Her eyes flicked, only once. It was enough. To Rissa. To the way her body was pressed against mine. To the way my hand rested in a place it had no business resting if I were anything less than completely assured of myself.
"You came to be satisfied," Lilith said.
"I came because nothing on Earth could touch me anymore," I replied. "Because boredom turns into hunger when you stop pretending you're above it. Because Hell promised friction."
Her lips pressed together. There was no disapproval in the motion. Only calculation.
"And you think Lust will fulfill you."
"For a while," I said. "Long enough to matter."
Rissa stirred at that. She lifted her head and looked directly at Lilith, her eyes wide but steady. "He won't discard us," she said suddenly. The words left her mouth before she could temper them. Surprise flickered across her own face as she realized what she had said. "He keeps what he takes."
Lilith studied her closely. Not unkindly, but with the same precision she applied to everything. After a moment, she nodded once.
"That may be the most dangerous thing about you," she said, directing the words at me.
"To them," I agreed.
She straightened, the moment of deliberation ending as decision settled firmly into place.
"I won't bar you from the First Layer," Lilith said. "Limbo will remain open to you. Those you claim may return here. Rest. Gather. Learn."
"And the cost," I said.
Her eyes met mine, unwavering. "You don't need to know. Only that I won't interfere when Lust pushes back. And it will. One of its queens specializes in breaking men who think themselves immune."
I felt Rissa tense against me, her body reacting before her thoughts could catch up.
"Good," I said. "I was hoping for resistance."
Lilith rose from her seat, smoothing her dress as she stood. She turned to leave, then paused, stopping just before the threshold.
"Don't mistake this for generosity," she said. "This is observation."
I leaned back slightly, my fingers still resting on Rissa's thigh. "Then watch closely."
Her gaze lingered on me for a heartbeat longer than necessary.
"I will," she said.
She left without another word.
Only after the pressure of her presence faded did Rissa exhale, the breath shaky and unsteady. "You really are going to claim Lust."
"Tomorrow," I said.
Her tail tightened around me, excitement and fear twisting together until they were indistinguishable.
Somewhere beyond the Library, the First Layer waited.
And something there was already aware of me.