**ALEX’S POV**
Sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting a soft gold over the tangled sheets and the scattered condom wrappers on the floor.
We were still naked, still connected.
Lilith stirred against me with a sleepy hum, her body warm and familiar after another night that had stretched far longer than either of us planned.
“*Mmmh… morning~*”
Her voice was rough from all the moaning, but the smug satisfaction in it was unmistakable.
She shifted just enough to look at me, smirk lazy and content.
“Good morning.”
I kissed her slowly, tasting the leftover heat of the night.
When we finally pulled apart we both sat up, still joined for a second longer before I slipped out of her.
The loss felt sharper than it should have under the new rules we had set only yesterday afternoon.
Roommates with benefits.
No strings.
Physical only.
Other partners allowed.
Pact ends only if one of us falls into something real.
The words sat in the back of my mind while we started getting ready for work.
Lilith moved with a slight, exaggerated limp, hips swaying just enough to remind me exactly why she was walking that way.
“*Mmhh… you did a number on me, baby~ I can barely walk straight.*”
She shot me a sly look over her shoulder as she gathered last night’s clothes from the floor.
I watched her for a moment, the morning light catching the faint marks my hands and mouth had left on her skin.
The pact said this was allowed.
The pact also said it was supposed to stay only physical.
Last night’s intensity already felt like it was testing that line.
I pulled on a clean shirt and decided to ask the question I had never bothered with before.
“Lilith, I’ve never asked you this.
Since we’re both cool now… what work do you do?
We know what we do here, but still.”
She paused while buttoning her blouse, a flicker of surprise in her eyes.
For a second she looked like she was weighing how much to give me.
When she answered, her voice stayed casual, but there was a thin edge of caution under it.
“I… work in the sales industry.
It makes me travel a lot, but the money is good, so I can’t complain.”
Sales.
Travel.
Vague enough that it could mean almost anything.
The pact didn’t require full disclosure.
Still, the lack of detail sat strangely after everything we had already shared with our bodies.
She finished dressing and turned the question back on me with a small, curious smile.
“What about you, baby?
You never did tell me what you do for work.”
“You know I go to the office every day.
I’m an engineer.
The money’s decent too.”
“Engineer?” Her eyebrows rose.
She looked me up and down like she was seeing a new version of me.
“Oooh, so you’re a bit of a brainy type then, huh?
I guess that explains why you’re always holed up working so much.
Engineer boy with a pretty face~”
I rolled my eyes, but a smile tugged at my mouth anyway.
“Yeah, yeah.
Keep the ‘brainy type’ remarks coming.
And I’ll have you know I’m the most attractive engineer in that office.”
She laughed under her breath and kept getting ready.
The ordinary domestic rhythm of a shared morning felt almost normal — until I remembered the wrappers on the floor and the new agreement that was supposed to keep everything clean and temporary.
I spoke again while tying my shoes.
“I asked about work because… we could hang out together as friends too.
Outside.
With your friends and mine.
If you’re comfortable.”
Lilith’s teasing expression softened into something closer to surprise.
She was quiet for a few seconds, then shrugged like the idea was no big deal.
“Yeah, sure.
I don’t see why not.”
The nonchalance felt deliberate.
Curiosity still flickered in her eyes, though.
I could tell she was testing the edges of the pact the same way I was.
“We just won’t invite them here,” I added.
“Better to keep things outside.
Because of… us.”
She glanced at the messy bed and the evidence of last night, a smirk tugging at her lips.
“*Mmh*, fair point.
Wouldn’t want our friends walking in and catching an eyeful.
I’m sure they’d be quite shocked to see their engineer baby being so… demanding.”
“And the sales-industry woman who spends half her time here in next to nothing,” I said.
Lilith chuckled and gave a mock pout.
“What are you implying, baby?
That I walk around naked the minute I step into the apartment?”
“Not naked.
Just bra and underwear sometimes.
But you’re a good girl if someone accidentally comes inside.”
Her smirk turned smug.
She knew exactly what I meant — the careful, angelic version of herself that appeared whenever other people were around, versus the version that only existed when the door was locked and it was just us.
“*Mmh*, I know how to behave~ When there are people around, I’m an angel.
But when it’s just us?” Her gaze dropped briefly over my body before meeting my eyes again.
The look said everything the pact tried to keep simple.
I stepped closer and kissed her one last time before we both had to leave.
The kiss lingered longer than a purely physical arrangement probably required.
“Take care of your work.”
Lilith’s eyes softened.
The usual smugness gave way to something quieter, almost shy.
“I will, baby.
You too, alright?
I don’t want you working too hard.”
She gave my arm a small, reassuring pat — an ordinary gesture that somehow felt heavier under the new rules.
Then she grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
I watched her go, the morning light still catching the faint marks on the side of her neck that her blouse didn’t quite cover.
The apartment suddenly felt larger without her in it.
The wrappers on the floor and the scent of last night still lingered, reminders that the “physical only” line was already harder to hold than either of us wanted to admit.
I finished getting ready, locked the door behind me, and stepped out into the ordinary weekday morning.
Roommates with benefits.
No strings.
Other partners allowed.
Pact ends only if one of us falls into something real.
The words were clean on paper.
They already felt less clean in practice.
I walked to work with the taste of her still on my mouth and the quiet, stubborn thought that last night had not felt like something that could stay only physical forever.