Chapter 364: Emma’s Feelings The half-formed thought pulsed from her, laced with an ache so profound it vibrated in my bones. Forbidden Appeal latched onto that embryonic want, feeding it, making it feel preordained, inevitable. Sin Resonance and Bloodline Tension wound tighter, twisting her step-sibling loyalty into a weapon of mutual destruction. She was drowning in the sudden, overwhelming tide of desire the System had weaponized within seconds. "Taboo, help me here, will ya..." I whispered urgently into the silent space of my mind. The raw power surging towards Emma was intoxicating, tempting... but this? This was Emma. My sister. Step-sister, technically, but the line was incendiary enough. And while the System’s mandate was Liberation, this felt... indiscriminate. Like setting off a nuke to kill a fly. I needed control. Instantly, I felt it. A cool, soothing mental presence wrap around me, a gentle but absolute barrier. Not just dampening the abilities, containing them. Pushing the overwhelming aura back, sealing the predatory resonance. I saw Emma physically stabilize. The frantic pulse hammering in her throat slowed noticeably. The glassy, starving look in her eyes receded, replaced by dazed confusion and lingering shock. Okay. So not just a theory. Taboo could actively throttle the impact, even negate the passive effects on a target. Sentient Systems. Gotta test the boundaries. "Thank you, Taboo." My mental voice was thick with relief. [Any time, Master.] Her reply was soft, almost... pleased? Like she’d been waiting for me to ask for restraint. "Em," I stepped forward, closing the distance slowly. I didn’t want to startle her again. "Are you... okay?" My voice was low, careful. I reached out, placing my hands gently but firmly on her shoulders. She shuddered violently under my touch, a full-body tremor not entirely erased by Taboo’s intervention. The residual power, the ghost of the attraction, still sparked where our skin met. Then, like surfacing from deep water, she blinked rapidly, awareness flooding back. "P-Peter," she stammered, her voice shaky, avoiding my eyes, staring fixedly at the collar of my shirt. "You... you’re awake...?" The question was weak, a placeholder. The real question, the one screaming in her mind just moments ago {–What the fuck are you now? –} remained unvoiced. This was Emma Carter. She didn’t do subtle avoidance for long. She’d chew through her own tongue before leaving the biggest question unanswered. Bracing myself... "I am," I confirmed, keeping my voice calm, steady. My thumbs rubbed small, reassuring circles on her shoulders. "How are you feeling?" Her eyes finally snapped up to meet mine, wide, still haunted by the residual shock and the echoes of forbidden fire. "What happened to you back there?" she demanded, her voice gaining strength, laced with panic and confusion. "I mean, you just... fell. After that... that scream. And..." Her gaze raked over me, from my newly sharp jawline to the expanse of chest visible under the open shirt, down to the broad shoulders filling the silk fabric. The words caught again, replaced by stunned breathlessness. "What the fuck happened to you? You... you look..." "Relax, Em," I cut in gently, my hands tightening fractionally on her shoulders. I offered her a small, deliberate smile – the Peter smile, the one meant to disarm. The charismatic stat, even locked, still held baseline power. It worked. A wave of furious crimson flooded her cheeks, a deep, immediate blush she couldn’t control. She looked down again, flustered, the dangerous heat momentarily banked by simple, overwhelming embarrassment. The System’s passive abilities were contained, but the sheer, undeniable visual impact of the new Peter Carter remained. And it was, apparently, blushing-inducingly potent. The first test of the new Peter Carter’s aura in the wild? Achieved. Emma Carter, momentarily disarmed. Mission accomplished... for now. The real hunt had just begun. The air crackled, thick with the residue of her gasp and the dark knowledge humming in my veins. That wasn’t just shock staining Emma’s cheeks crimson. That was recognition. Hunger. The kind that makes you forget your own name, let alone societal taboos. And the newly awakened predator inside me? It wanted to feast on that realization. I leaned in, erasing the careful distance between siblings. My new voice—low, velvet, dipped in sin—cut through the silence. "Em." My thumbs brushed the frantic pulse beating in her throat, feeling its frantic race accelerate under my touch. "That gasp?" A slow, dangerous smile curved my lips. "Sounded less like surprise... and more like discovery." Her eyes snapped to mine, wide and dark—a deer caught in headlights, but the headlights were her own desire. "Peter, I..." She swallowed hard, the movement visible against my thumb. "I don’t know what you’re talking about." "Oh, I think you do," I murmured. My gaze deliberately traced the path of that furious blush, down the elegant line of her throat, lingering where her pulse hammered. "You looked at me like you’d suddenly realized the boy you grew up with... wasn’t a boy at all." I let the implication hang, thick and heavy. "Like you saw something... delicious you were never supposed to want." Her forbidden thought – He’s my STEP-brother – ignited again, feeding the fire instead of dousing it. Sin Resonance amplified the buried years of resentment masking attraction, the secret glances she’d stolen when she thought no one was looking. Bloodline Tension thrummed along the fragile thread connecting us, making that single word – step – feel like an incantation, unlocking doors better left sealed. "Peter, stop," she whispered, but it was a plea stripped of conviction. Her breath hitched as my thumb stroked a slow circle on her throat. Her own body betrayed her, swaying almost imperceptibly closer. The heat radiating from her skin was intoxicating, a tangible thing. "This is... wrong." "Is it?" My voice was a mere breath now, mingling with hers. I tilted my head, my lips hovering near her ear. "Feels pretty... right to me, Em. Feels like..." I inhaled deeply, drawing in her scent—vanilla and something uniquely Emma. "Feels like you’ve been starving. And I just walked in, smelling like the only thing you want to eat." The raw honesty in my own words surprised even me. The system wasn’t just amplifying her desire; it was dredging mine too from depths I had acknowledged but never acted upon, turning sibling affection into a gnawing, visceral hunger. Her eyes locked onto mine, and in them, I saw the battle rage and shatter. The shame, the fear, all consumed by a tidal wave of raw, desperate want that mirrored my own. "Peter..." It wasn’t a protest this time. It was a surrender. A fractured whisper. That was all it took. Sin Resonance hit its peak. Forbidden Appeal ignited like napalm. The air between us ignited. Emma moved with shocking speed, fueled by the amplified system and her own shattered restraint. Her lips brushed the corner of mine. A tentative, trembling peck. Scorching hot. So close to the forbidden fruit itself it felt intentional. **** A/N: In the next arc we will be exploring Emma and her feelings, and emotional memory lane, for like three or four Chapters, until Peter Carter finally, finally, claims and fucks his sister.