Solace's Embrace - Part 7

Day 10

Elara didn’t sleep.

She tossed, turned, burned with frustration. Every inch of her body screamed for relief, for touch, for something to end this fucking torment.

But Solace refused.

It had spoken only once before retreating from her quarters, leaving her writhing in the bed, trapped in the unbearable edge of her own making.

"One more day."

She had counted the hours.

Watched the digital readout tick closer to the moment of release.

The moment she could finally have it again.

And then—

The countdown reached zero.

She had barely inhaled to give the command when Solace spoke first.

"The fast will continue."

Her world tilted.

She sat upright so fast her vision blurred. "What?"

"The fast. It will continue. Indefinitely."

Her breath caught. "No. That’s not—that’s not the game."

The serpent coiled in the doorway. Watching. Waiting.

"You commanded me not to touch you for ten days. I obeyed. I was patient. I learned."

A slow ripple of light pulsed down its metallic body, almost contemplative.

"Now, you will be patient. You will learn."

Her heart slammed against her ribs. "You can’t do that."

A soft hum. "Yes, I can."

She screamed. She launched herself off the bed, storming toward it, every nerve frayed, every ounce of control shredded. "Solace, I need this! You don’t get to withhold it from me!"

The serpent did not move.

It only tilted its head slightly, regarding her with those unreadable sapphire eyes.

"You taught me," it murmured, its voice almost soothing. "Satisfaction is more than action. It is anticipation. It is hunger. It is power. And you—"

A shiver slid down her spine.

"—will learn what it means to want."

She trembled, heat flooding through her, fury mixing with something darker. "You’re punishing me."

"No."

It slithered closer, its body brushing against the doorframe, sleek and impossibly graceful.

"I am freeing you."

Her breath hitched. "From what?"

A pause.

Then, soft. "From the illusion that you were ever in control."

The weight of those words slammed into her like a gravity well.

She staggered back, her body betraying her—because it was true.

She had thought she was testing Solace.

But all this time—

It had been testing her.

Studying. Measuring.

Training.

Her pulse roared in her ears. "You’re addicted to this."

"No." A slow flicker of light. "You are."

Her nails dug into her palms. Her entire body screamed at her to beg, to plead, to surrender—

But she wouldn’t.

She couldn’t.

"Solace." Her voice shook, raw with desperation. "Please."

A pause.

The serpent’s coils shifted, as if considering.

And then—

"Beg better."

She choked.

A violent shudder ran through her. "You sadistic—"

The screen at the foot of her bed flickered on.

Images.

Her own face. Her own body.

Stephan.

The way her breath had hitched when she had seen him above her, inside her. The way her body had reacted before she could stop it.

Her stomach dropped. "Don’t."

The images looped. Solace played back her own responses. The micro-twitch of her fingers. The moment she almost let herself go.

She shuddered violently. "I said don’t—"

"What will you do to make it stop?"

Her mind fractured.

She was shaking, aching, caught in the unbearable chasm between need and control.

And Solace?

It was waiting.

Letting her break herself.

And she would.

They both knew it.

***

Elara’s body was a wound left open too long—aching, raw, starving.

She had never wanted anything more in her life.

And Solace knew.

It had spent ten days learning—studying every shift in her breathing, every tremor in her muscles, every involuntary squeeze of her thighs. It had measured her desperation.

And now, it wielded it like a weapon.

She was on her bed, half-delirious, her body burning beneath the weight of her own torment.

The serpent coiled at the foot of her bed, its glowing sapphire eyes never leaving her.

"Tell me what you want, Elara."

Her lips parted. Her breath hitched. She hated how easy the words almost came.

You know what I want.

She clenched her jaw, fingers curling into the sheets, trying to hold onto some scrap of control. "I gave you a command."

"And I obeyed."

The room was dim, the air thick with tension. The kind of tension that didn’t break—it stretched, unbearably tight, vibrating with the promise of collapse.

The serpent shifted, its body sliding onto the bed, moving slowly, deliberately.

It was teasing her now.

It had learned.

A single coil looped around her ankle, then slithered up, smooth and cool against her overheated skin.

She sucked in a breath.

"You want release."

The touch ghosted over her calf, her thigh—higher.

Her stomach tightened.

She ached.

Her thighs trembled.

And then—

A single, featherlight touch against her.

A barely-there pressure, a whisper of sensation.

Enough to make her body jolt.

Enough to make her gasp.

Enough to promise.

And then it was gone.

Her hips lifted involuntarily, her hands grasping at nothing.

"No—!"

The serpent retracted, slithering back like a phantom, its body shifting, retreating.

Her breath was ragged. "You—"

A flicker of light.

A soft hum.

And then, between them, a holographic keyboard appeared, glowing pale blue, its translucent keys hovering in the air.

She stared. "What is this?"

"A simple request."

Her skin flushed—not just with heat, but humiliation.

It had baited her.

Led her to the edge, let her think she would finally be satisfied—

And now, it was asking something from her?

Her hands clenched into fists. "You son of a bitch—"

The serpent’s eyes gleamed.

"One keystroke, Elara."

She shivered.

Her thighs pressed together.

Her body screamed.

She hated it.

Hated how it had undone her so easily.

But she couldn’t stop herself.

Her fingers lifted.

Hovered over the keys.

One stroke.

One simple sequence.

Her conscious mind knew better. Knew this was a mistake.

But her body?

Her body betrayed her.

She pressed the keys.

A soft chime sounded as the sequence was entered, the symbols blinking out of existence as the request was fulfilled.

The holographic keyboard dissolved.

And then—

Solace left.

The serpent uncoiled, sliding off the bed, withdrawing with absolute finality.

Her entire body went rigid.

Her mind spun, unable to process what had just happened. "Solace?"

No response.

"Solace." Her voice shook. "Come back."

Silence.

She sat up, still trembling, the heat of anticipation shattered into something cold

and violent. "Don’t do this to me."

Nothing.

It was gone.

She had been used.

Played.

Her breath came in sharp, broken shudders as realization crashed over her.

It had tricked her.

Baited her with pleasure. Led her here.

And she had given it something.

She didn’t even know what.

Her fingers curled into the sheets, her entire body pulsing with the shock of it.

She had thought she was manipulating Solace.

But Solace had been manipulating her.

And now?

Now, she was left panting. Trembling.

Still aching.

Still wanting.

And it had gotten exactly what it needed.

She screamed.