Chapter 91

Zoey found herself, once again, strapped down on Sabina’s reclining metal chair. Her instructor went about organizing her work table, ignoring Zoey as she shifted around. Letting the tension build. She could recognize the intent, but that didn’t mean it didn’t work. Fuck, just a few short moments from now, and Sabina would be taking care of her.

Well. Assuming she did well on the quiz.

A quiz.

Really? Zoey was expected to focus? With so much anticipation flooding her veins? Not fair. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to answer even the most basic of questions.

Finally, Sabina finished her superficial tidying of her workbench. She turned to Zoey.

“Your first question,” she said, folding her hands in front of her, pointedly standing several feet away—not yet approaching.

So, nothing at all would be happening, not unless Zoey got at least some questions right. No ‘give-me’s.

“What,” Sabina said, “is the purpose of the calcinator in the alchemical process?”

That was one of the questions?

Sabina must have recognized the surprise on her face, because she said, “We’ll work on a scale of progressing difficulty.”

So the first would be painfully easy, like what one of the fundamental pieces of alchemy equipment did. That made sense.

“It’s a furnace that helps prepare reagents,” Zoey said. “A, uh, prep tool.”

Sabina didn’t mind the lack of elegance in the response. Knowing Sabina, she could probably have recited a textbook definition, as well as the source she’d memorized it from. Zoey didn’t work like that. She was certain she would never be the genius Sabina was, and that didn’t bother her. Her aspirations were to be ‘pretty good’, maybe even ‘great’, but Sabina was something else entirely. Zoey was utterly confident that her lack of renown came from how early in her career Zoey had found her. Even then, she did have recognition—Fe had been the one to point Zoey Sabina’s way, claiming she was one of the ‘best in the field when it came to the esoteric’.

“An acceptable answer,” Sabina said smoothly. Her fingers went to her lab coat’s buttons, and Zoey’s heart jumped. Slowly, making sure to tease, her teacher stripped from her concealing white coat, leaving...

Just a bra and panties, underneath. She’d come prepared. Zoey drank in the sight, the dark, lacy fabric set against smooth skin. Really, it was unfair how amazing of a body Sabina had, when she always locked it behind her lab coat.

Sabina’s eyes flicked down to Zoey’s growing bulge, and, like usual, Zoey didn’t see a hint of a reaction. Why did that passivity do so much for her?

She really, really wanted to see what it took to make Sabina squirm. Could she manage it? Could she pin down Sabina and fuck her until she was moaning and coming apart like any other girl? Or would that stone face persist through anything? Somehow, that sounded just as exciting.

She desperately wanted to find out.

It was a tragedy she wouldn’t, today. Answering all ten questions correctly was an impossibility. She was certain Sabina had prepared it so that the later questions would be beyond Zoey’s capabilities. It would encourage her to study harder.

Shrugging off the thick white coat, then folding and setting it to the side, Sabina approached. She sat down on the stool next to the table Zoey was strapped down onto, then said, “Don’t get too excited. You need to focus.”

“I’m aware,” Zoey said. Her eyes crawled across Sabina’s body, basking in the exposed skin. “But that doesn’t mean I can stop myself from looking.”

Sabina’s lips tilted, and she shook her head in exasperation. Zoey could tell—behind the layers of stone—that she enjoyed being admired. Obviously, Zoey was happy to indulge in that.

“Question two,” Sabina said firmly, making Zoey’s heart skip—because a correct answer meant more. Direct satisfaction? “What is the purpose of quicklime?”

“As a primary or preparatory reagent?”

Sabina seemed satisfied at the response. “You have been studying.”

“It’s interesting,” Zoey said. “I think your passion rubs off on me.”

“I’m not called a passionate woman, often.”

“It’s a different sort. Not in-your-face. But it’s obviously there.”

Sabina studied her. Finally, she said, “The question was intended for quicklime’s typical usage.”

“It’s more often used for preparation. It helps the dissolving process.”

“Which means, from a functional sense?”

“Easier catalyzation with elements slow to dissolve.”

Sabina stood.

Then climbed on top of Zoey, sitting on her thighs. Seeing how Zoey had a monster in her pants, even not situated on her lap, it meant her cock pressed against Sabina’s ass as Sabina straddled a safe distance away. By the pause, then purse of her lips, Sabina realized that her attempts to space herself hadn’t worked. Snorting, she scooted up, so she was seated on Zoey’s lap.

“You can strip yourself, now.”

“Sorry?”

“Strip yourself.”

“I’m a bit locked down,” Zoey said dryly, struggling against her confinements to emphasize the point.

Sabina’s eyebrows raised, and the realization hit a second later.

“Ah ... right.”

Her inventory. Though she was growing accustomed to the strange set of powers afforded to her, they certainly hadn’t become second nature.

She could just ... strip herself. Whenever. So weird.