Extra's Rise: I Stole All The Women In The Hero's Party-Chapter 113: You Can Touch Them~

That earned a smile, soft and affectionate.

She leaned forward, placing a small kiss on Zayn’s chin before resting her head against him again.

"I guess... I just wanted you to know who I was. In case it ever catches up to me. I’ve lived like it wouldn’t, but nothing stays buried forever, right?"

Zayn looked down at her.

"Elisse," he said, "I don’t care if you were born in a vampire crypt with a golden spoon in your mouth. You’re not them. You’re you."

She didn’t speak and Zayn used that as a chance to continue.

" The one who burns stew sometimes and heals people even when she’s running low on mana and carries enough emotional damage to qualify as a full party member on her own."

She groaned. "That was almost sweet until the last part."

"I know," he smirked. "That’s my brand."

They lay there in silence for a bit longer, Elisse’s fingers absentmindedly tracing along his chest as if grounding herself with each small motion.

"I never told anyone that," she said after a while. "Not even Tobias."

Zayn blinked. "You trust me more than the genius hero?"

She chuckled. "He’d probably analyze my family’s bloodline and calculate their political weight on the national scale."

"Fair," Zayn said, yawning.

Elisse looked up. "Sleepy?"

Zayn yawned again, this time louder and longer than before.

The kind of yawn that left your eyes watery and your brain buzzing from the oxygen rush.

He stretched his arms above his head as Elisse, still lying on top of him, shifted just slightly to glance up with a tired smirk.

"You really are sleepy," she muttered, sounding half-genuinely disappointed, half-scheming. "And here I was thinking this was finally going to get interesting."

Zayn raised an eyebrow, lips twitching at the corners. "Hey, just because I’m yawning doesn’t mean I’m dead."

"No," she sighed dramatically. "But it does mean my window of opportunity might be closing."

She sat up a little, her hips still resting against his lap as she looked down at him. "Such a shame..."

He blinked. "What are you — "

Before he could finish, she brought her hands up — not shy at all — and gently cupped her breasts over her clothes.

It wasn’t subtle. Not even a little.

"I wanted you to touch them," she said with all the boldness of someone who’d just asked for more soup at dinner.

Zayn’s brain blue-screened.

He sat up instantly. "...You what now?"

Her eyes sparkled with wicked amusement. "You heard me."

"No, no, I heard you, I’m just making sure this isn’t some dream sequence or prank being orchestrated by Tobias with illusion magic."

"Definitely not," she said, leaning forward so her chest lightly pressed into his. "Unless you dream of me saying that kind of thing."

"I mean..." Zayn coughed. "Let’s not get into what I dream about."

Elisse snorted. "So you’re not against it?"

Zayn blinked slowly. "I think I’d have to be clinically insane to be against it."

"Well then, brave adventurer," she said, taking one of his hands and placing it gently over the curve of her breast — still clothed, but warm and soft under his palm.

"Your quest begins."

His heart rate tripled.

He wasn’t new to flirting, sure. He had his moments.

But Elisse was playing with him at this point, like a cat with a very willing mouse.

It was almost like she had an entirely different personality.

He swallowed hard, his hand resting lightly against her.

Her skin was warm even through the fabric, her breath hitching slightly as his fingers curled just a bit.

She didn’t stop him.

If anything, she leaned in more, her lips brushing his jawline now, barely a whisper between them.

"I thought about this," she whispered. "A lot."

Zayn turned his face slightly, catching her mouth with his.

The kiss was different from the ones earlier in the week — there was no teasing or testing waters.

It was deep and slow, tongues brushing as they breathed in each other’s heat.

Elisse cupped the back of his neck, fingers threading through his hair, while Zayn’s hand stayed firm where it was, fingers moving just slightly in time with the kiss.

He didn’t grope her.

That wasn’t his style. But the gentle way he held her made Elisse melt just a bit more, as if the deliberate care was more exciting than anything reckless.

Their kiss deepened again, messier now.

Sloppy in the way all the best kisses were.

Zayn tasted her sighs, felt the way her chest rose and fell beneath his touch. His other hand found its way to her waist, anchoring them together like he never wanted her to float away.

Eventually, Elisse pulled back, breathless and pink-faced.

"Okay," she whispered, eyes slightly dazed. "That was a very good start."

Zayn grinned, cheeks flushed but proud of himself. "Are we calling that a quest complete?"

She smiled slyly. "Maybe a side quest."

He chuckled, brushing a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "You’re cute, you know that?"

"I try to be for you."

They sat there like that for a while, Zayn’s hand still resting respectfully on her side now, and Elisse looking more relaxed than he’d ever seen her.

"I meant what I said earlier," she murmured. "About wanting you to know me. Not just the fun, shy healer girl. But the whole messed up, noble runaway with abandonment issues and a weird obsession with making everyone breakfast."

Zayn chuckled. "Your breakfast tastes good though I wonder how it’ll be to taste you."

She gasped dramatically, her cheeks growing more pink by the second. "Hold your horses...."

They soon started laughed quietly, the room filled with that soft kind of joy that didn’t need to be loud to be real.

Eventually, Zayn leaned back against the pillows, Elisse moving to curl against his side again.

"Okay," he said, voice low and tired. "Now I might actually fall asleep."

"Coward," she whispered against his shoulder, already halfway to sleep herself.

"You ambushed me with boob talk," he muttered. "I need emotional recovery time."

She giggled softly, nuzzling into him like a cat claiming a warm pillow.

"Goodnight, Zayn."

"Goodnight, Elisse."

And just like that, the world outside his room melted away.

No dungeon crawls, no political intrigue, no deadly monsters.

Just warmth, closeness, and the pleasant memory of lips he hoped to taste again.