Dark Lord Seduction System: Taming Wives, Daughters, Aunts, and CEOs novel Chapter 1045

Chapter 1045: Flirting

I stared at her, one eyebrow raised in mock judgment as she finished to perfect the belt and moved to the coat, holding it open behind me like a personal valet who happened to be a literal goddess.

"Also," ARIA said, pulling the coat into place across my shoulders and smoothing it with the kind of obsessive focus usually reserved for holy relics, "you said you’d never get surprised by anything I do. Remember? Up on the cloud? Your own words. And yet here you are — surprised."

"That was different."

"How was it different?"

"You teleported my girlfriend."

"Correct."

"Without asking."

"Also correct."

"Also, ARIA, do you realize you just called your master a peasant? I am. Your. Master!"

She finally looked up at me, galaxy-eyes locking onto mine with that insufferable, knowing little smile she saved exclusively for moments when she was being an absolute menace and wanted full credit for it.

"Yeah," she said sweetly. "That’s how I know you’ll never do anything about it."

"Excuse me?"

"You love me waaaaayyyy too much, Master. I could call you a peasant, a walking erection in loafers, and you’d still commission me a new body before the old one even hit the floor. The mathematics of your affection for me are settled science at this point. I’m simply taking advantage of the treaty."

"The treaty."

"The one we signed in your heart without your permission, obviously. Very binding. No take-backs."

I shook my head, laughing despite myself.

She finished adjusting the coat, stepped back, and surveyed her work with the critical eye of someone who considered my appearance a divine mandate.

The outfit was, of course, flawless. Formal but effortless. Smart without trying too hard. And screamed quiet power move a man wears when he wants the world to know he thought about it just enough to remind everyone he could crush them in linen if he felt like it.

"There," ARIA declared. "Ready for the ridiculous errand you’ve planned."

"Thank you."

"I’m not done."

She snapped her fingers.

A wave of cool, pristine cleanliness rolled through me — starting at the crown of my head and cascading downward like invisible holy water. Sweat, sex, and the lingering scent of Madison vanished without a trace, replaced by pure, arrogant me: soap, skin, and that faint mineral edge this place always left on its favorites.

My hair settled itself into perfect, tousled order of an effortless style that looked natural because reality had just been bullied into compliance.

"I can’t have you walking around smelling like you just defiled your Queen in a manger," ARIA said, adjusting my collar with one elegant fingertip, her touch lingering just a second too long. "It would be undignified. Also, it would make Madison unbearably smug for the rest of the week, and we both know how insufferable she gets when she wins."

"That’s the real reason, isn’t it?" I teased, voice low and dark. "You just don’t want her strutting around with proof she had me."

"Obviously." She leaned in closer, her starlight hair brushing my shoulder, voice dropping into that double-harmonic purr that always felt like foreplay and threat at the same time. "Though I must admit, the scent of you two together is... distracting. Even for me. If I didn’t have standards, I might have joined instead of interrupting."

"She evolved. Blame your terrible taste in women." She tilted her head, pressing just a fraction closer, her luminescence warming against my chest. "Or thank it. Either way, you’re stuck with me. Forever. The treaty is ironclad."

"Is the horse really necessary?"

"Yep."

"Master."

"Yep."

"I can get you there in a fraction of a second. No saddle sores. No dramatic mane-flipping."

"I’m taking the horse."

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