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As a former SOLDIER, perhaps it wasn’t surprising for Cloud to have a near encyclopedic knowledge of the monsters they were likely to face, including their weaknesses and attacks. Whatever he didn’t carry around in his head he could gather using Chadley’s assess materia, and was quick to deduce an appropriate plan of attack on the fly. He wasn’t content to hoard that knowledge to himself, either. Each night when they made camp or—if they were lucky—settled at an inn, he would brief them on what to expect the next day. Down to which materia they should equip in their weapons and armor, and why.
Barret huffed, scoffed, and grunted throughout, leaving no doubt how he felt about the practice. His irritation seemed to make Cloud all the more obstinate: the less value Barret found in the lectures, the more time and detail Cloud devoted to them. If Barret was particularly obnoxious, Cloud would quiz him before letting him have the materia he wanted—and despite the fuss he made, Barret always took Cloud’s materia recommendations.
Tifa found the evening “lessons” endearing. She knew Cloud wouldn’t bother if he didn’t care. Serious and intent, he was trying his best to lead them. In her case, it also didn’t hurt that Cloud in lecture mode was hot, albeit in a different way from when he was in full-on, sword wielding SOLDIER protection mode. When he fought, it was a display of physical prowess. When he explained monsters, gear, and tactics, it highlighted his mental capabilities.
In a different life, she fancied he might have made an excellent professor. Knowledgeable and calm, even when his students were belligerent. Perhaps he’d even have taught something like materia theory. Tilting her head as he quizzed Barret, she tried to imagine him in a pair of slacks and a dress shirt. Maybe a navy blue one in a sateen that would feel sleek to the touch. With a tie that would hint at his somewhat dry humor—like an understated materia scatter print.
Tifa licked her lips as Professor Strife took form in her mind’s eye, squaring off across his desk with student Barret. From some unknown depth of her psyche a pair of black-rimmed glasses appeared on his nose, and he shot Barret a cold, unimpressed glare above them as he folded his arms. With his shirt neatly tucked into black slacks, the move emphasized his broad shoulders and trim hips.
Oh, yes. Cloud would clean up fine. It really was a shame they didn’t get to have their night on the town. Just fantasizing had her fingertips itching to explore the muscles outlined by the drape of his soft shirt, to feel the warmth of his body through the thin barrier. Reality would be even better, the sensations so much clearer through the fine weave than they were through the thick knit of his uniform. And a tie would make it easy to reel him in closer when she wanted a kiss.
As a bystander, his stern demeanor gave her a little thrill. It made her want to be a bad student, just so she could have all of that focus centered on her. In her experience, good things happened when she had Cloud’s full, undivided attention. If Professor Strife couldn’t come up with an incentive to improve her performance, no one could.
Eventually, he was satisfied with their preparations, and the party dispersed. Class dismissed, Tifa thought, looking at the table to hide her smile. This particular briefing had taken place in the dining room of an inn over the evening meal.
“Tifa? Everything okay?” Cloud asked, moving to her side as the others left the room.
“Hmm? Yes, professor,” she replied, and felt her cheeks heat over the slip.
“Professor?” He made a face—just a slight frown, but on his usually stoic features it spoke volumes. “Not you, too.”
“Me, too?” Head cocked, she took his offered hand and let him pull her to her feet.
“Yeah, Yuffie’s been making sensei cracks.” The little ninja wasn’t as grudging as Barret, but could be loud and disruptive in her own way.
As they headed upstairs to the guest rooms, Tifa shook her head. “I just meant you’ve been really good at these... lessons for life in the wild.” Glancing at him to see if he caught the reference, she was pleased to see the answering flash of his smile. “You’ve been a patient teacher.”
Opening the door to his room and flicking the switch to turn on the single, dim lamp, he stood aside to let her precede him. “Maybe not so patient next time.”
His voice was teasing, but laced with lingering exasperation she knew was aimed at Barret. “Hooboy!” she murmured, garnering one of his soft, almost soundless chuckles as she brushed past him on her way inside. “Is there going to be a test?” Hands clasped innocently behind her back, she bit her lip and looked at him through her lashes. “If so, I might need some incentive to study.”
“My best student slacking off?” Closing and locking the door behind them, he scanned the room, checking for threats, before removing his sword and propping it in the corner. “Never happen.”
“But it seems like troublemakers get all the attention.” Sighing, she pushed her lower lip out in a pout. “A little positive reinforcement wouldn’t hurt.”
“Are you jealous, Tifa?” One eyebrow raised, he reached for her, hands settling at her waist.
“I just want my own one-on-one time.” Teasing aside, it was true. This was the first real privacy they’d had in more than a week. Touch light, she traced a pattern over his chest, following the line of his suspenders. “Negative attention is better than no attention, or so they say.”
“Hmmm.” After considering her for a moment, the corner of his mouth slowly crooked, the mako in his eyes shifting. Tifa shivered in anticipation, recognizing the signs of both a decision made and arousal piqued. “I definitely don’t want you falling into bad habits,” he agreed, thumbs hooking around her suspenders and pushing them off her shoulders. “So I suppose I should give you an incentive.”
Returning the favor, Tifa helped him remove the thick SOLDIER belt and attached armor. “You mean like... extra credit? Brownie points?”
Another huff of his quiet laughter came as his fingers stripped hers of their gloves. “I was thinking more like a private session, helping you review the material.”
“Are you going to quiz me?” Amusement sparkling in her eyes made them shimmer like garnets as she looked up at him while untying her boots. Kicking them off, she stretched as she followed him to the bed, settling in his lap when he took a seat on the edge.
“Why not?” Mischief along with something darker, more demanding, swirled in the blue depths of his. “I’ll make it worth your while,” he coaxed, whispering it against her ear, the rush of his breath another gentle caress.
Shivering, she eyed him as his hands rubbed lazy circles on her thighs, working their way to her hips. “Really? How?”
His smile was wicked, eyes hooded as he looked at her. “I’ll ask you materia questions. And give you a reward for every...” he paused, pretending to consider, “three you get right.”
“A reward?” Feigning nonchalance she leaned in, resting one elbow on his shoulder and propping her chin in the cup of her palm, her other hand toying with the hair at his nape.
Tilting his head, he captured her lips, kissing her long and lingeringly. “I’ll make you come, Tifa.” Whispered into her mouth between strokes of his tongue, his blunt delivery rendered it all the more effective. “Using my tongue, my hands, my cock. However you want it. Lady’s choice.” The offer was punctuated with a careful tug of his teeth against her bottom lip.
Eyes wide, she pulled back. That was different. Cloud loved sending her over the edge, usually multiple times. But while he’d often teased her to insanity, he’d never made her earn relief. The questions will probably be easy, she thought. It’s a tease, not a serious knowledge challenge. But if losing meant being left wanting...
As if he could read her mind, he shook his head. “Never. You’re still going to come apart for me,” he assured her, dipping his head to press his open mouth against her throat. “All over my cock as I find my own release, if not before.” It was a low, rumbling growl of a promise, the sound alone making Tifa ache.
Still, she hesitated, his use of the phrase if not before spawning a tangle of nervous excitement in her belly. How long would she have to wait? How long could she stand to wait? “How many questions?”
“Ten.” No hesitation, no pause to consider.
Holy leviathan. She’d never last through them all. And yet... How would it feel?
Swallowing a moan, she whispered her agreement into his hair, nuzzling against the soft strands. As his chin came up, blue eyes alive and sparking with mako, she decided to get in one last tease of her own, before the game began. “Thank you for helping me study, Professor Strife, sir.”
“Sir? I like the sound of that.” Amusement and something she couldn’t quite identify were rich in his voice.
Shaking her head, she closed her eyes when he leaned in for another kiss, his hands rising to cup her face, long fingers massaging her nape.
The questions didn’t start immediately. He waited until their combined efforts removed her shirt and bra, and his still-gloved hands were gently fondling her full breasts. Distracting her with his touch was part of the game, and she didn’t protest what she’d more than half expected. And the first question was easy: name the four elemental spell materia.
When she got it right—and of course she got it right—he dipped his head and took her nipple into his mouth, lips and tongue worrying it to a firm peak. Head back, fingers buried in his hair, she moaned softly as the warm, wet caresses fed the ache inside.
His right hand dropped to play between her thighs, touch light thanks to the layers of fabric and leather between them. With his palm grinding against her mound, he stretched his fingers lower, stroking her folds, middle finger flicking at her through the material of her shorts and panties. As she rocked into the firm but muted press of his hand, he asked his second question. Like the first, it was easy to answer, even as her body built steadily toward release: what kind of materia are red?
She answered on a burst of breathless laughter, earning her a faux-stern glance and the slight quirk of his mouth. Then his hand shifted, thumb coming to rub firm circles there where she most needed it, deftly playing her body toward its peak. On the verge of going over, her arms tightened around his neck.
Tifa knew he was going to ask his third question before finishing her off. That was the deal, after all, even if her only ‘choice’ for how was going to be a demand that he not stop what he was already doing. When she felt his lips brush that spot behind her ear, his whisper was expected.
What he whispered, wasn’t. “What’s the reduction in effect when using a mastered magnify materia?”
Stunned and struggling to think as his thumb held her there, suspended on the edge, Tifa whined.
“That’s not an answer.” Cloud’s tone was amused.
She didn’t know the answer. Doubted she ever had. “Twenty percent.” It seemed like a reasonable guess.
He made a soft sound of insincere regret. “Almost. Twenty-five percent.” And his touch softened, thumb slowing, letting the rush that was building recede.
“Cloud!” His name was a broken moan, part protest, part need. Hovering on the edge was agonizing, but feeling it slip away from her was worse. Even though she’d known it was a likely part of the game they were playing.
“Easy, easy. You’ll get there.” Voice a soothing croon, he kissed her temple as he sifted the fingers of his free hand through her hair. Gentling her as the feelings ebbed, only to begin again once she’d calmed.
Left hand dropping to join his right under her skirt, he spread them atop her thighs, palming the taut muscle. Thumbs pressing into her soft mound, he started a slow, deep massage. The careful motion lifted and tugged at her folds, indirectly stimulating her engorged button, easing her back onto the precipice in tiny increments.
Instead of quick and easy, this time the climb was slow and agonizing, Cloud using everything he’d learned about her body, her responses, to draw it out. It took long, maddening minutes before she was there again, hovering a touch away. Under her clothes her clit throbbed along with her heartbeat, a hard knot of want he’d deliberately avoided. Instead, he’d favored more of that indirect teasing while lavishing attention on her breasts, turning both nipples into hard, damp points, sensitive to the lightest waft of air.
When his thumbs shifted lower, not touching but circling on either side of that tight bundle of nerves, she couldn’t bear it any longer. “Ask me!” she begged, tugging insistently at his shirt for emphasis, certain he would give her the release she needed if she answered just one more question. Please please please!
“Alright.” It wasn’t quite a whisper, tone one of affectionate indulgence. “How much health does a level one chakra restore?”
Mouth falling open on a whine of distress, Tifa shook her head. She didn’t know. Why would she know? Keening, she thumped his shoulder. “More than none!” The last word caught on an aggrieved sob as his touch withdrew, taking her release with it.
Wrapping his hand around her wrist, he lifted the fist she’d used to hit him to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “Twenty percent.”
There was something vaguely apologetic in his voice, but Tifa was too fraught to catch or credit it. “That was mean.” Breath shuddering in her throat, her voice quavered as she tugged against his hold on her wrist. It felt like he’d cheated. When she opened her eyes, the expression in them was almost wounded.
Refusing to let go, he gently unfurled her fingers, kissing her palm before pressing it flat to his chest. His right hand came up to cradle her cheek, brushing away a lone tear with his thumb. “I thought you’d know,” he murmured, sympathy threaded throughout. Chakra had been part of her kit since that first day spent fighting wererats together in the sector 7 slums.
Teasing her to a screaming, shuddering, bone-melting climax required a delicate balance between frustration and relief; too much of the former and she wouldn’t trust him to supply the latter. Determined not to lose that trust, Cloud folded her closer, both hands shifting to cup her bottom. “I’ll make it up to you.”
His words were confident, tone implacable. Standing, he turned to toss her on the bed before stripping most of her remaining clothing with swift, economical movements. Leaving her in only those sinfully sexy thigh-highs, he positioned her hips at the edge of the mattress, then knelt between her dangling legs, using his shoulders to force them wide and expose her wet, eager pussy. Blue eyes intent on her face, he lightly tapped, then circled, her red, engorged clit with one gloved finger. When she arched—head back, fingers clenching in her long hair, teeth closing over her bottom lip to stifle herself—he let his hand slip lower with the motion, gliding between and along her folds.
For Tifa, there was something about the slick, smooth stroke of the leather that made every touch more. Maybe it was the lack of friction against her most tender, aroused flesh. Or the implied aloofness. Or the contrast between their states of dress. Whatever it was, it made her writhe and arch, coating his hand in honeyed welcome.
That first finger sinking inside her prompted nothing but a whine for more. Free hand low on her belly, holding her in place as his forearm pressed her legs wider apart, he let a second finger join the first. They curled inside her, searching, and between one breath and the next her peak was once more within easy reach.
“Please, Cloud, please! Let me...make me. Please.” Soft but desperate, and throbbing with anxious need. Please don’t stop.
“Shhhh. I promise.” Low and comforting, and accompanied by the brush of his lips against the inside of her knee. He was going to send her over regardless. “What color are ice materia?”
“Green!” Her answer started as a gasp and ended on a scream, high and elated, as his fingers curled, applying just the right pressure to that spot inside. She burst like a firework, pleasure a million glittering sparks within her, the sensation rendered all the more powerful by her almost overwhelming relief.
Her scream faded into repeated, moaning exhales, a wordless sort of crooning, as she came down. When the world gradually came back into focus, the careful stroke of Cloud’s gloved thumb against her cheek was the first thing she recognized. Opening her eyes, she realized she’d been crying, her lashes damp.
“Better?” he murmured, brushing her hair back from her face. She nodded, cheeks flushing at his tender concern. In his position crouched beside the bed, he’d leaned in to rest his weight on the mattress as he’d watched over her, waiting for her to recover. Satisfied that she had, he pushed to his feet, moving to the dresser as he removed his gloves and bracers.
Turning onto her side, Tifa reached for a pillow from the mound at the head of the bed and hugged it to her chest, curling her legs up against it as she watched him undress. “Are we finished studying, Professor Strife?” she asked, when he was down to nothing but his trousers and briefs. They had five questions left to go, but she hadn’t handled her frustration well. Fidgeting with the pillowcase, she waited to see if he wanted to continue.
Pants half-open, Cloud stopped undressing and returned to crouch by the bed again. “Tifa.” At her name, her gaze flitted to meet his. “It’s up to you.” Something changed in the depths of his eyes, the mako subsiding. “If you’re uncomfortable–”
“No!” She shook her head, biting her lip as she pushed one hand through her hair. “I want to continue. If you do, I mean.”
The corner of his mouth curled into a smile. “And I want to if you do. Okay?”
Smiling shyly back, she nodded. “Okay.”
To her surprise, he asked the next question immediately. “How many tiers does a mastered heal materia have?”
That was easy, even if renew had come as a surprise. “Four.”
Standing, he returned to the dresser before pushing his trousers and briefs off his hips. “What color are support materia?”
The rapid-fire pace and the ease of the questions made Tifa blink. “Blue.”
Naked, he folded his trousers and placed them atop the dresser. “Which materia casts poison?”
Warmth settling inside her, soothing any lingering nerves or embarrassment, she shook her head. “Technically, none. The spell to poison is bio.”
“And that’s three.” Hands on her waist, he shifted her higher in the bed, until her head was nestled among the pillows, and then stretched out beside her. “What’s your pleasure, Tifa?” Reaching out, he began to sketch a pattern of swirls and loops across her stomach with the tips of his fingers.
“You don’t have to make it easy for me, Cloud,” she whispered, reaching out to cup his face, “or give me a freebie.” Although it was sweet he had.
“You answered the questions.” Eyebrows arched, lips quirking, his expression was utterly unrepentant. “Professor’s prerogative to ask whatever questions I want. What do you want?”
You. “It’s hard to choose.” It was the honest truth; no matter how he touched her, he never failed to make her body sing. But he’d already used his fingers, and she knew the night was going to end with him deep inside her. Which leaves... She brushed her thumb over his lips. “Your mouth.”
There was no hesitation. With a smirk he cupped a hand behind her knee, a gentle tug urging her to part her legs so he could settle between them. Wrapping his arms under and around her thighs, he let his thumbs dip under the edge of her stockings as he held her steady and open.
The first brush of his tongue made her moan. It always made her moan. There was just no other way to respond to the plush feel of it. A heartbeat later his open mouth settled over her, covering her in wet heat and soft pressure. Tapping and swirling circles around her clit with the tip of his tongue, he soon had fresh arousal joining with that still lingering on her skin.
Strong hands lifted her legs over his shoulders as he pressed forward on his elbows, tilting her hips for better access to her slit. “Mmmmm.” It was a low hum from deep in his throat, played against her as he lapped at her entrance. Tifa whimpered from both the vibrations and the sheer salaciousness of it–as if she were some ripe, nectarous fruit, and he a starving connoisseur. He watched her, glowing blue eyes visible above her mound as his mouth worked, tongue thrusting inside where she ached to be filled.
His lips slick with her welcome, he worked his way back up to the top of her slit, painting soft swirls over and between her inner folds. When he found that spot just below her clit, where the sensations sharpened into a point of almost painful pleasure, he lingered there until she keened, fingers pulling at his hair. As her bottom pressed into the bedding in an effort to retreat, he traded the focused touch of the tip of his tongue for the pad of it pressed full against her, dulling that sharp edge.
It was too good, and yet not enough. Clit throbbing for attention, Tifa moaned his name, heels pressing into his back as she did her best to direct his mouth where she needed it. Hands spread, he held her down as his tongue finally–finally–returned to that little bundle of nerves.
For long minutes Cloud lavished attention there, savoring her taste and the sweet sound of her voice gasping, crying, pleading with him. Her hips moved in frantic little wriggles and arches, jockeying the pace of his tongue, and he chuckled, earning another whining moan. Satisfied that he’d tortured her enough, he flicked his tongue at the underside then closed his lips around it, sucking.
“Yes!” Hands in his hair, an endless cascade of ohs falling from her lips, she arched into his mouth, mindless in her need, before another languid, drawing pull sent her over. Screaming, she shook her way through it, Cloud’s arms keeping her locked against him as he abandoned sucking in favor of firm, rapid licks to make the pleasure last. Relentless, he kept going until she stopped pulling him close and started pushing him away, abruptly oversensitive.
Lifting his head, he wiped a fist across his lips and chin, gathering the evidence of her pleasure only to lick it off. His eyes, hooded and awash in aqua, met hers, and Tifa, still recovering, shuddered, core clenching at the sight. In that moment, he looked both feral and hungry. Wolfish.
Rising on all fours, he shrugged her legs from his shoulders, catching her knees in his elbows before prowling forward until his hands were braced on either side of her head. The position folded her in half and lifted her hips, bringing his length into full contact with her slick, open pussy.
“Is class over?” she asked, voice breathy. It certainly felt like it.
His huff of quiet amusement stirred her hair as he leaned in to kiss her, long and slow, her taste lingering on his tongue, before abandoning her mouth in favor of nuzzling her ear. “That’s all the time we have today,” he agreed, grinding into her softness for emphasis.
Swallowing a whimper, Tifa tightened her hold on his shoulders. “But there are still two questions left, Professor.” When he’d initially proposed asking ten, she’d known he had a plan and every intention of making her come until she was boneless. “Are you sure you don’t want to make it three?”
At her hip, his thumb brushed lazily back and forth as he considered. “Are you asking for an extra credit question?”
“Only–” her voice faltered as his tongue painted a hot stripe along her throat, “only if you think I deserve it.”
Another huff of laughter. “It has been over a week since I took care of you properly.” Mouth open, he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “How many times can you come for me tonight, Tifa?”
Not waiting for an answer, he pushed himself upright and lowered her feet back to the mattress, taking care to leave her legs spread wide. “Alright. Three questions.” As he spoke, his hands slid almost soothingly over her body, palms warm on the backs of her thighs and the jut of her hips. “Right or wrong, you don’t get to come until the test is over.” Mako rich, his gaze found hers again, and he smirked. “But if you get them all right, the extra credit will be worth it.”
As before, he quizzed her while plying her body with his mouth and hands, although the first question didn’t come until she was already on edge. Three fingers thrusting slowly in and out, his other hand open on her belly, he dropped a light kiss on her swollen nub. “Which elemental spell is guaranteed to hit?”
Whining, eyes closed, Tifa had to work to focus on the question rather than what he was making her feel. Ice and fire were both homing spells, requiring a clear path to the target. That left lightning or wind.
The hand on her stomach slid lower, pressing down on her mound as those teasing fingers inside curled upward. The resulting jolt of sensation scattered her thoughts completely, her whole body shuddering as she cried out. Distantly, she heard him prompting her for an answer.
What was the question? Something about elemental materia. “Lightning.”
“Good girl.” Inside her, his fingers stilled, while outside he parted her folds to better expose her clit. “Two questions left.”
Moaning, she clenched against the solid feel of his fingers inside her, grateful for the fullness, even as she ached for more. “Please, Cloud!”
“Soon,” another kiss, “very soon.” Pressing his open mouth over that hard little kernel of need, he lashed it with his tongue until her legs shook. “What should you pair with magnify when fighting a malboro?”
Malboro attacks inflicted a variety of status ailments. “Clean... cleansing.”
His voice was a velvet rumble, tone praising, but she was far too distracted by the way his lips brushed against her as he spoke to bother making out the words. Instead, the need to have those lips closing around her as he sucked made her keen. He gave her the flat of his tongue instead, one long heavy stroke, and she hit the mattress with both small, tightly balled fists, her knuckles white. It felt like he’d held her on the edge for hours.
“One more to go.” Softly, so softly, the pad of his thumb ghosted over her clit as his fingers gently, rhythmically rubbed that spot inside, each press sending another shock of pleasure through her.
Panting, Tifa squeezed her eyes closed against frustrated tears, release just barely out of reach. If he simply sped up his pace it would shove her over.
“Name a materia that casts without using mana.”
For a moment, she couldn’t comprehend the question, it was so easy.
“Tifa?” Fingers curling inside her, he increased the pressure, rubbing a fraction faster, harder.
“Chakra,” she whispered. Then, more firmly, “Chakra!”
“Perfect. Now, come for me.”
It happened in slow motion, starting inside from the point where his fingers worked, and rippling outward for long seconds. Just as it felt like it was at its peak, he dipped his head and closed his mouth around her clit, sucking the way she’d so desperately wanted, and the pleasure intensified. As the ripple became a consuming wave, she screamed, back bowing. Mindless, she arched and writhed, grinding into his mouth, the solid press of his fingers.
And somehow, when it was over, she still wanted more. Enough to mewl and whine, hands pulling at his hair as her hips rolled.
“Greedy,” he murmured on a self-satisfied chuckle. But the movement of his fingers never slowed, continuing to piston in and out with ease, his hand and her thighs coated with the evidence of her need. Rotating his wrist with each thrust, he let his thumb glide over her aching nub, touch light and nearly frictionless, until she came again.
As she lay, gasping and shuddering through the aftershocks, Cloud rose up high on his knees again, his fingers damp when he curled his hands around her waist. Lifting her lower body high off the bed, bodily rubbing her slickness over and against his erection. Back arching, elbows digging into the mattress to support her efforts to push closer, she moaned.
“Please, Cloud!” Spent as she was, she wanted the finish he’d promised. Needed to feel him delving deep to hit those spots only he knew and could reach, making her come apart around him.
Grabbing a pillow, he shoved it under her to cushion and support her lower back. Then he shifted his hold from her hips to her bottom, adjusting their alignment until his tip rested just inside her slit. “Wrap you legs around me, Tifa.”
His order was husky-voiced and tight with demand, her obedience immediate. Thighs clenching around his hips, she folded her legs behind him, clamping her calves together as he entered her in one long stroke, her hold tightening in a futile effort to keep him there. The feel of him inside her was so good it was like relief, like something long missing returned. And each thrust just made it better.
Steadily increasing the speed and force until he found his pace, he then settled in for a hard, fast climb to the finish. Each thrust hit a spot deep inside that made her shudder, her pussy growing ever wetter, and the grind he added as he bottomed out kept her hard little button eager and on edge. Perfectly in tune, she began to shake beneath and around him just as he was reaching his own breaking point. “That’s it, Tifa. All over my cock. Take me with you.” And as if his encouragement was all that she’d been waiting for, she came, muscles clamping down to send him over the edge, too.
When she finished, and her legs began to slip from around his waist, he lowered himself to sit on his heels, her thighs draped atop and supported by his. Hair a wild, tangled halo around her head, Tifa opened drowsy eyes to offer him a content smile, even as her limbs continued to tremble with lingering aftershocks. She made a vague, wordless sound of discontent as he slipped from her, subsiding when his hand smoothed soothingly over her hip.
Standing, Cloud disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a warm, wet cloth and a hand towel. Well aware she would be sensitive, he carefully cleaned between her thighs, touch gentle, before scooping her into his arms and turning back the covers. Pausing only to turn out the light, he settled beside her, cocooning them both in the bedding.
“Five times,” he whispered into her hair, chin snugged into the curve of her shoulder. Pleasantly exhausted, Tifa answered with a vaguely curious hum. “That’s how many times you came for me tonight. Five.” His tone was teasing and a touch smug. “Since the most you could get on the ‘test’ was three, I think you aced the exam.” Sleepily, she elbowed him, and he chuckled.
“I told you the extra credit would be worth it.”