The Extra's Rise
Chapter 647 - 647: Extraction (2)

The financial reports lay forgotten on the desk as Rose and I lost ourselves in each other. What had started as teasing had evolved into something far more intense, our kisses becoming deeper, more urgent. Her hands had moved from my shoulders to tangle in my hair, while mine had found the small of her back, pulling her closer against me.

"Arthur," she breathed against my lips, her voice carrying a note I rarely heard from the composed businesswoman. There was something vulnerable in the way she said my name, something that made my chest tighten with emotions I wasn't entirely ready to examine.

I responded by trailing kisses along her jawline, enjoying the way she shivered at the contact. Her carefully styled auburn hair was becoming increasingly disheveled, and I found I preferred it this way—less perfect, more real, more her.

"We should..." she started to say, but the words dissolved into a soft gasp as I found that sensitive spot just below her ear. Her attempt at rational thought crumbled completely when I gently nipped at her earlobe.

"Should what?" I murmured against her skin, my voice deliberately low and teasing.

"Should... should probably..." Rose tried again, but her hands were doing the opposite of what her words suggested, sliding down to grip the front of my shirt as if anchoring herself to something solid in a world that had suddenly become unsteady.

I pulled back just enough to look at her, taking in the sight of her flushed cheeks, her slightly swollen lips, the way her brown eyes had gone dark with something that had nothing to do with business calculations. "Having trouble finishing that thought?"

She glared at me, though the effect was somewhat undermined by the fact that she was still pressed against me, still holding onto my shirt like a lifeline. "You're insufferable when you're smug."

"I'm insufferable most of the time," I pointed out, leaning down to press a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. "You seem to like it anyway."

"I have terrible taste in men," she muttered, but she was already tilting her head to give me better access as I traced a path down her throat with lazy kisses.

"Terrible," I agreed against her skin, smiling at the way she arched slightly into the contact. "Absolutely dreadful judgment."

Her response was cut off when I found another particularly sensitive spot, replacing whatever she'd been about to say with a sound that was half sigh, half something much more interesting. Her fingers tightened in my hair, and I could feel some of the tension leaving her body as she finally stopped fighting the moment and just let herself feel.

My hands had somehow found their way to the buttons of her blouse, though I didn't remember making the conscious decision to put them there. Rose didn't seem to mind—if anything, she pressed closer, her own fingers working at the collar of my shirt with a determination that suggested she'd abandoned any pretense of stopping this before it went too far.

The rational part of my brain tried to point out that we were in the estate's study, that anyone could walk in, that this was exactly the kind of complication Rose had been trying to avoid. But that voice was getting quieter by the moment, drowned out by the sound of Rose's breathing and the way she whispered my name when I did something she particularly enjoyed.

I was just considering whether the desk could support both our weights when a knock at the door shattered the moment like glass.

We both froze, Rose's hands still tangled in my shirt, mine still resting on the partially undone buttons of her blouse. For a heartbeat, neither of us moved, both hoping that whoever it was would simply go away and leave us to our increasingly compromising situation.

"Master?" Reika's voice came through the door, polite but persistent. "Are you available? I have some questions about the extraction operations."

Rose's eyes went wide with panic. In one fluid motion, she practically launched herself off my lap, landing on the couch across from the desk with a grace that would have been impressive if it hadn't been so obviously motivated by sheer terror at being caught in a compromising position.

I took a moment to straighten my shirt and run a hand through my hair, trying to look like I hadn't just been in the middle of what could generously be called "intimate business negotiations." Rose was frantically attempting to smooth down her hair and button her blouse, her movements quick and slightly panicked.

"Come in," I called, proud of how normal my voice sounded despite the fact that my heart was still racing from more than just the interrupted make-out session.

The door opened, and Reika stepped inside with her usual serene composure. She was wearing a simple black dress that somehow managed to look both elegant and practical, her violet hair pulled back in a neat arrangement that made her look every inch the proper lady's companion she'd once pretended to be.

But the moment she entered the room, her violet eyes took in the scene with the kind of analytical precision that missed nothing. Her gaze moved from me to Rose to the slightly scattered papers on the desk, and I could practically see her cataloging every detail—Rose's still-flushed cheeks, my slightly mussed hair, the way we were sitting suspiciously far apart despite having been "working" together moments before.

"Oh," Reika said, her voice carrying a note of polite curiosity that somehow managed to sound knowing. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"Not at all," I said smoothly, gesturing to the papers on the desk as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. "We were just reviewing the financial projections for the Ashen Territories extraction operation."

Rose nodded a bit too enthusiastically. "Yes, paperwork," she said, her voice coming out several octaves higher than normal. "Just boring old paperwork. Numbers and... and profit margins and... business things."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Reika's eyebrows rose almost imperceptibly, the only sign that she found Rose's explanation less than convincing. I, meanwhile, had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at the sheer absurdity of Rose's attempt at casual deception.

"Paperwork," Reika repeated, her tone perfectly neutral. "How... productive."

Rose's face somehow managed to turn an even deeper shade of red. "Very productive," she squeaked. "Lots of... productive... productivity."

I decided to take pity on her before she managed to dig herself any deeper. "What questions did you have about the extraction operations?" I asked Reika, successfully drawing attention away from Rose's increasingly creative destruction of the English language.

Reika's attention shifted to me, though I caught the slight smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I was wondering about the security arrangements for the extraction teams. Given the magical saturation in the area, standard protective measures might not be sufficient."

It was a legitimate question, and one that required actual thought rather than the kind of distracted half-attention I'd been giving to business matters for the past hour. I settled back in my chair, grateful for the excuse to focus on something other than the way Rose was still trying to subtly fix her hair.

"You're right to be concerned," I said, my mind shifting back into strategic mode. "The Deepdark saturation would be annoying to deal with. We could ask for the exosuits the Creighton family has."

As we discussed the technical details of safely extracting valuable materials from a magically saturated environment, I couldn't help but notice the way Reika's eyes occasionally flicked between Rose and me.

Rose, meanwhile, had gradually relaxed as the conversation moved away from whatever euphemisms she'd been trying to use for "making out on the desk." She was back in her element now, discussing profit margins and operational logistics with the kind of focused competence that had made Vakrt one of the most successful companies in the Empire.

But I caught the way she occasionally glanced at me when she thought I wasn't looking, a lingering warmth in her brown eyes that suggested our "productivity session" hadn't been entirely forgotten.

"I think we have enough information to begin preliminary planning," Reika said eventually, apparently satisfied with our discussion of security protocols and extraction timelines. "I'll coordinate with the advance teams to ensure everything is properly prepared."

She moved toward the door, then paused, turning back with that same barely-there smile. "Oh, and Arthur? You might want to fix your collar. It's a bit... disheveled."

And with that devastating observation, she slipped out of the room, leaving Rose and me alone with the echo of her gentle amusement and the sudden realization that we'd been far less subtle than we'd thought.

Rose buried her face in her hands with a groan. "She knows."

"She definitely knows," I agreed, reaching up to adjust my collar. "Though I have to say, your 'paperwork' explanation was particularly convincing."

"Shut up," Rose mumbled into her hands. "I panicked."

"I noticed," I said, grinning despite myself. "Very professional. I'm sure she believed every word."

Rose peeked at me through her fingers, glaring with the kind of embarrassed indignation that only made her more endearing. "This is all your fault."

"My fault?" I protested. "You're the one who kissed me first."

"You're the one who made it impossible to concentrate on actual work!"

"And you're the one who suggested we do paperwork while sitting in my lap," I pointed out reasonably.

She groaned again, flopping back against the couch cushions. "We're never going to live this down."

"Probably not," I agreed cheerfully. "Though I have to say, as interrupted moments go, that was pretty spectacular."

Rose buried her face in her hands again, the embarrassment clearly too much for her to handle. "I can't... I need to..." She stood up abruptly, gathering the scattered papers in her arms with jerky, flustered movements. "I'm going to finish these reports in my room. Where there are locks. And privacy. And no interruptions."

She shot me one final glare that was equal parts mortification and accusation. "This is entirely your fault, Arthur Nightingale."

And with that declaration, she hurried out of the study, clutching the financial documents to her chest like a shield against further embarrassment. The door clicked shut behind her with perhaps more force than strictly necessary.

I couldn't help myself—I started laughing. The entire situation was too absurd, from Rose's panicked leap to the couch to her high-pitched "paperwork" explanation to her dramatic exit. The mental image of her trying to explain productivity while looking like she'd just been thoroughly kissed was going to amuse me for weeks.

My laughter was still echoing in the study when I heard the door open again. I expected Rose to storm back in with some cutting remark about my amusement at her expense, but instead, Reika slipped quietly back into the room.

"Master," she said softly, her violet flower eyes meeting mine with that serene composure she wore like armor. But there was something else in her expression—something warmer, more personal than her usual professional demeanor.

"Reika," I said, my laughter fading as I took in her presence. She moved with that peculiar grace she'd always possessed, each step deliberate and fluid. "Did you forget something?"

Instead of answering immediately, she approached my chair with measured steps. There was something different about her posture now, something that made me pay closer attention. The elevation to mid-Ascendant-rank had changed her in subtle ways—there was an otherworldly quality to her movements now, a sense of existing slightly apart from normal reality.

"I wanted to speak with you privately," Reika said, her voice carrying those new harmonics that had developed after her power increase.

Before I could ask what she meant, Reika knelt down beside my chair and gently placed her head in my lap.

"Master," she said softly, her voice carrying a note of contentment that made my chest tighten. "I've been good, haven't I? Don't I deserve a reward?"