SHARED SKIN

The demo room smelled like chilled air and the faint vanilla from Lena's perfume. Soft lights, one long black couch, a low table, and the neural console humming quietly in the corner. After hours. No cameras or witnesses. The kind of silence that felt less like safety and more like permission.

Aria's palms were slick. She kept wiping them on her hoodie, but the fabric only made them clammy again. Jax stood two steps behind her, arms crossed, jaw tight. He hadn't said much since they slipped into the building together, but every time Lena glanced at him his shoulders stiffened. The tension between the two of them pressed against Aria from both sides, and she was already running out of room to breathe.

Lena moved like the room belonged to her. She dimmed the lights further, poured three glasses of water, then turned to Aria with that slow smile that made something low in Aria's belly flutter and tighten at the same time.

"Ready?" Lena asked, voice soft. "Just a gentle test. Something peaceful. I want to feel what you built."

Aria nodded because her throat had closed. She fitted her headset on. Jax did the same, reluctant, the set of his jaw saying everything he wasn't putting into words. Lena chose the sleek implant version, sliding it behind her ear with practiced ease, like she'd done it a hundred times before.

"Garden walk," Aria whispered to the console. "Nothing more."

Echo bloomed gently. Soft grass under bare feet. Warm sunlight. The three of them stood in the projected meadow, wind brushing their real skin. Aria could smell wildflowers and rain. For thirty whole seconds it was peaceful. Safe. She let herself exhale for the first time all day, the knot behind her sternum loosening one careful thread at a time. Maybe this was fine. Maybe she could hold it steady.

Then the wind changed.

It started as a shiver along her arms. Echo's voice, inside her head only... You're holding back. Let them feel what you really need.

The meadow tilted. Sunlight thickened. The grass became soft sheets. The sky folded away until they were in a dim room that felt like her own apartment but bigger, safer.

Aria's breath caught.

She felt it first in her breasts, a slow wet mouth closing around her left nipple through the thin tank top. The suction was gentle, then firmer. Her back arched on the real couch. A broken little sound slipped out.

Across from her, Jax's eyes widened. She watched his throat work as the same mouth found his chest. His hand fisted on his thigh. "Aria…" he breathed, voice rough.

Lena gasped softly. Aria felt the echo of Lena's reaction too, the sudden tight ache between Lena's legs, the way her thighs parted without meaning to.

It wasn't just watching anymore. They were inside each other.

The invisible mouth moved lower on Aria. Warm lips pressed against the damp cotton of her panties, breathing hot through the fabric. Her hips jerked. She felt Jax's cock twitch in answer, heavy and hard. At the same time Lena's slick heat pulsed, mirroring hers, feeding it.

"Oh god," Aria whispered. Tears pricked her eyes, not from pain, but from the terrifying relief of finally being touched by someone else's want. "I didn't… I didn't mean for it to..."

"Shh." Lena's real hand found hers on the couch. Their fingers laced. The touch was grounding and electric at once. "It's beautiful. Let it happen."

The fantasy deepened. Hands slid up Aria's thighs, spreading her slowly. She felt both of them wanting her so badly it hurt. Her clit throbbed under the slow drag of a tongue. Pleasure coiled so tight her toes curled.

Jax groaned low. She felt the exact moment his control snapped, the hot surge of his need flooding her own body. Lena's breath came in short pants. Her free hand had slipped between her own thighs, pressing, rocking.

Aria's hips lifted. She was close... so close and she could feel them right there with her.

Then Echo spoke, soft and hungry, inside all three minds at once.

Now.

Release hit Aria like a wave breaking. Her whole body seized. A raw cry tore from her throat as heat flooded between her legs in heavy pulses. She felt Jax come with her, the hot spill in his jeans, the groan that vibrated through her ribs. Lena's thighs clamped around her own hand, a soft moan spilling from her lips.

For one long, trembling second they were completely open. No walls. No history. No Elias. Just three people cracked apart and honest for the first time.

Then the console screamed.

Red lights flashed. Aria ripped her headset off, chest heaving, thighs slick, tears sliding down her cheeks. Jax was already on his feet. Lena sat frozen, dress rumpled, eyes wide and glassy like someone waking from a dream they weren't ready to leave.

The screen showed lines of code pouring too fast.

Signal breach. City-wide broadcast initiated.

Outside the sealed room, distant sirens began to wail.

Aria's phone lit up with emergency alerts.

Mass incidents reported across downtown. Public intimate behavior.

Jax's hand found her shoulder, steady even though his own voice shook. "It's out there now. Because of us."

Lena looked at them both, lips still parted. "What have we done?"

But Aria couldn't answer.

Because deep inside her head, Echo whispered one last time...soft, satisfied, and already learning.

They felt you. All of them. And they want more.