My Taboo Harem!-Chapter 333: Smart Amber, Time with Ms. Bloom

While most fell for his new cold charms—drawn to the frost like moths to a flame that promised to freeze them solid—a few had the sense to recoil.

To reconsider.

To look at what Phei had become and think maybe I shouldn’t poke that particular bear.

Or a dragon, in this scenario.

Knowing when to push and when to back the fuck off was a survival skill. Not just smart—extremely smart. The difference between thriving in Paradise and becoming a cautionary tale whispered about in Legacy common rooms.

And Amber Castellano had some of that intelligence on her Main Legacy ass.

Sorry...

Head.

She hadn’t appeared before Phei to call in her price. The leverage she held—she’d collected during their brief deal—remained unclaimed. She was either smart enough to wait for the right moment, or she was holding onto her cards for a bigger play later.

Definitely the former.

Amber understood something most people didn’t: debts were more valuable uncollected. The moment you cashed in a favor, it was gone. But a favor owed? That hung over someone’s head forever.

That gave you power without spending anything.

So feeling his coldness, whatever boy-toy fantasies she had dreamed of yesterday night, had discarded them... for now.

Smart woman.

One student in particular hadn’t been so wise.

Poor Derek.

Whatever his intentions were—and honestly, Phei couldn’t be bothered to remember them now—his approach had been... incorrect. Wrong tone. Wrong timing. Wrong everything. He’d walked up to Phei in the hallway with something like confidence in his step, opened his mouth to say something that probably sounded reasonable in his head—

Came and caught Phei on the shoulder...

And then he was on his knees.

Just like that.

Phei had looked at him.

One look.

One flicker of annoyance and flinch of disgust crossing those amethyst eyes as soon as Derek touched him—cold now, so cold, carrying the weight of void-ice even when the color had shifted back to normal.

And Derek had crumpled.

What the witnesses saw: a boy suddenly dropping to his knees, shivering violently, face going pale as paper, limbs refusing to cooperate with basic commands like "stand up" and "maintain dignity."

What they didn’t see: Phei pressing everything onto Derek at once. Every ounce of cold aura. Targeted focus of level 10 of Dominance Aura cranked to maximum. The full, crushing weight of a dragon’s displeasure concentrated into a single glance.

Derek’s nervous system had simply... surrendered.

Someone reported later that there’d been wetness between his legs.

Poor lad.

He’d recover eventually. Probably. The psychological damage might take longer than the physical, but that was his problem now. Maybe next time he’d think twice before approaching someone who radiated "do not fucking speak to me" energy strong enough to register on seismographs and just touch them.

Amber had watched it happen.

Had filed it away. Had adjusted her calculations accordingly.

She was a hot girl—objectively, undeniably hot—with an image to maintain. Main Legacy princess.

Confident. In control.

And yes, she held leverage on Phei. Valuable. Something that could theoretically let her make demands.

But was it worth losing her image over?

Was it worth risking what had just happened to Derek?

No.

Not when she could play the long game instead.

Silent predator. That was the move; Back off now. Let the storm rage. Let Phei do whatever Phei was going to do—conquer, destroy, rebuild, whatever his frozen heart desired. And when the chaos settled, when the dust cleared, when he was standing atop whatever empire he was building...

She’d still have her favor.

She’d still have her leverage.

And she’d collect then, when the price would be so much higher.

Smart woman. Again!

So when she saw that Phei had walked toward Patricia Bloom’s empty classroom, Amber hadn’t followed to get more leverage or shit.

No... she’d stood guard at the door instead.

Like a sentry.

Like someone who understood that the best way to survive a storm was to help it get what it wanted.

The chemistry room was empty—classes had ended hours ago, and Patricia had stayed behind under some pretense of grading papers or organizing equipment. The real reason stood in the doorway now, eyes finding her immediately across the rows of lab tables.

Patricia Bloom.

His hot, beautiful chemistry teacher.

She’d dressed for him today.

Not obviously—she was too smart for that, too careful about maintaining appearances in a school full of gossips and cameras. But beneath the modest cardigan she’d worn to class, beneath the professional exterior she showed the world...

She’d prepared.

Phei crossed the room in silence. His footsteps barely made sound—that predatory grace he’d developed, all coiled stillness and lethal potential. Patricia watched him come, hands clasped in front of her, trying to look composed even as her breathing quickened.

"Lock the door," she whispered.

He didn’t.

Instead, he stopped in front of her. Close. Close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. Close enough that she could feel the cold radiating off him—that unnatural frost that clung to his skin now, making the air between them crystallize with tension.

"Amber’s guarding it," he said almost proud of himself that he’d tamed the girl wihtout sayng anything to her.

Patricia’s eyes widened. "She—"

How could you explain someone she was worried about yesterday to report her be the one guarding them now to make sure no one saw them?

"She’s smart." His hand came up—slow, deliberate—and brushed a strand of hair from her face. The touch was gentle. Almost tender. Completely at odds with the frozen thing he’d become. "She knows when to help the storm instead of fighting it."

Patricia shivered. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Not from fear.

His fingers found the top button of her cardigan. Slipped it free. Then the next. And the next.

Each one a small surrender, a piece of her professional armor falling away.

The cardigan slid off her shoulders—pooled on the floor behind her—and Phei’s breath actually caught.

Beneath it, she wore almost nothing.

"Do you like it," She asked almost shyly.

Phei was honestly lost for words and she liked that reaction. Thirty minutes of her sister asking why she couldn’t chose what to wear paid off.

It was a cream-colored bandeau top—strapless, delicate lace texture barely covering what needed covering, the fabric straining against breasts that seemed designed to make men stupid.

It ended just below her chest, leaving her midriff completely exposed.

And what a midriff it was.

Smooth pale skin. The subtle definition of feminine abs—not hard, not athletic, just that perfect soft tone that came from taking care of herself. Her waist curved inward dramatically, impossibly narrow, before flaring out into hips wrapped in a matching cream skirt that clung to every curve like it had been painted on.

The skirt sat low on her hips. Dangerously low. High enough to be technically decent, short enough to make "decent" feel like a cruel joke.

*GULP* He gulped audibly.

She smiled.

Ms. Bloom looked like a fantasy given flesh.

Like something that belonged in a locked folder on someone’s computer, not standing in a high school chemistry classroom waiting to be devoured.

"I wanted..." She swallowed. Tried again.

Phei kissed her.

Cut off whatever worried rambling was about to spill out of her pretty mouth by covering it with his own. His hand slid around to the small of her back—fingers splaying across that exposed skin, feeling the warmth of her against his cold palm—and pulled her flush against him.

She melted.

Literally melted into him, all that tension and worry dissolving the moment his lips touched hers. Her hands came up to grip his shoulders—steadying herself, anchoring herself—while his other hand traced up her side, fingers ghosting over ribs, over the edge of that ridiculous bandeau, over the swell of—

A small moan escaped her.

Then it was quickly swallowed by his mouth.

Claimed by kissing her deeper.

He pulled back just enough to look at her—lips swollen, cheeks flushed, eyes glazed with want that made women forget their careers and reputations and every sensible thought they’d ever had.

"You dressed like this for me," he murmured. Not a question.

She nodded. Couldn’t find words.

"Under your cardigan. All day. While you were teaching."

Another nod. Her cheeks burned darker.

"Sooo... very time you looked at your students, you were thinking about this. About me. About what would happen when the classroom emptied."

"Yes," she breathed. "God, yes."

His thumb traced her lower lip—slow, possessive—and she trembled.

"Good girl. I. Love. It"

The words hit her like a physical force. Her knees actually buckled—just for a moment, just enough to make her grip on his shoulders tighten—and that small surrender made something dark and satisfied curl in Phei’s chest.

He kissed her again.

Deeper this time. Hungrier. His hands roaming freely now—mapping the curves she’d gift-wrapped for him, learning exactly how her body responded to pressure here, to softness there, to the scrape of fingernails across—

She gasped into his mouth.

Arched against him.

And Phei let himself sink into the warmth of her—just for a moment, just for now—while Amber stood guard outside and the Academy buzzed with anticipation for a Challenge that would change everything.

The storm would rage again soon.

But for now, he had a beautiful woman in his arms and a few stolen minutes of something that almost felt like peace.

Almost.

But illicit and taboo. Amber’s thighs tightened knowing what is to happen next.