Vrrrrm—
The bright cityscape peeled backward in a blur. After the initial excitement wore off, Chen Mo quieted down and idly played with Texas's tail behind her.
"By the way… how's Exusiai been lately?" he asked.
The sudden question hit Texas like a bucket of ice water.
For some reason, her agitated heartbeat seemed to freeze for an instant.
"…She's doing fine," Texas said.
"Is that so? Good." Chen Mo continued to comb through the soft fur with his fingers. "She hasn't sent me any of her long messages lately, so I thought something happened."
He felt Texas's body stiffen abruptly. His hand paused on her tail, and he frowned.
"What's wrong? Did I make you shy by touching your tail?"
Texas stayed silent for so long that Chen Mo was about to ask again before she finally answered, her voice sharp and cold.
"…What exactly are you to Exusiai, Chen Mo?"
"Huh?" Chen Mo blinked, confused. He leaned his head against her shoulder, inhaling the clean scent of her shampoo, and answered uncertainly, "A close friend of the opposite sex who really wants to sleep with me?"
Texas didn't respond.
If anything, her brow tightened further—as if she'd just confirmed something she absolutely did not want to confirm.
And for reasons she couldn't explain, her body felt hotter by the second.
Even that question—asking what Chen Mo thought of Exusiai—had slipped out when her thoughts were tangled and messy.
Texas lowered her voice, almost to herself.
"Something's wrong… There's something wrong with my body."
It didn't make sense.
Yes, she'd been single for years. Yes, she'd developed a vague, unformed fondness for him. But this level of physical contact shouldn't be enough to make her fall apart like this.
And yet, Chen Mo only had to speak near her ear for her to shiver—like someone had grabbed her by the base of the tail.
Worse still, if she weren't forcing control, her tail would already be wagging on its own, swinging with a will that betrayed her.
What… is happening to me?
Texas bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood, the metallic taste blooming across her tongue.
It didn't help.
If anything, the feverish restlessness in her body surged higher, faster.
The world grew fuzzy at the edges. The only thing that remained vividly clear was the silver hair in her peripheral vision.
"We're here—hey, don't zone out, Texas. Stop."
The motorcycle screeched to a halt, leaving a sharp black line on the road.
Chen Mo hopped off in one smooth motion and stepped in front of her.
"Thanks for the ride, Texas. You can head back—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
Texas's breathing was ragged. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes unfocused. It looked like she was burning up from the inside.
Chen Mo leaned closer and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.
He couldn't tell anything from that—his own body ran hotter than most races to begin with. But he could tell she was suffering.
Without hesitation, he flicked his tail and grabbed her wrist.
"Come on. I don't know what's going on with you, but you're coming up to my place for a bit. We'll get you medicine, you can rest, then you can go. You look like you're one bad turn away from getting flattened on the way home."
As he pulled her toward the building, he couldn't help thinking it was strange.
Texas didn't strike him as the type to accept someone's concern without a word. Yet she was quiet—too quiet.
At his door, he glanced back.
Texas's face was hidden by her lowered head, but her chest rose and fell violently. Behind her, her tail was moving so fast it nearly blurred.
The sound of her breathing was getting worse—low, rough, almost animalistic. It raised the hair on the back of Chen Mo's neck.
"Do Lupo really have a heat cycle?" he muttered. "And this sudden? Did I tease her too hard?"
No time for theories.
Chen Mo unlocked the door and dragged her inside, not even bothering to turn on the lights.
"Wait here, Texas. I'll find something—fever meds, anything."
He crouched at the living-room drawers, rummaging quickly.
Behind him, her breathing intensified—hotter, harsher.
To Texas's half-delirious eyes, Chen Mo's swaying scaled tail looked like a cat toy dangling in front of a starving predator: bright, taunting, irresistible.
Her Penguin Logistics jacket had been tossed somewhere on the floor. The tight black shirt beneath clung damply to her skin.
In the dim room, footsteps sounded behind Chen Mo—crisp, close.
"Oh—found it." Chen Mo lifted a small box, relieved. "Chen prepared this for me 'just in case.' Didn't think I'd actually need it."
He started to rise.
Then he felt it.
His tail—caught in a pair of burning hands.
Before he could turn, those scorching palms slid with unnerving precision to the tip—
—and pinched hard.
A chill shot straight up Chen Mo's spine, turning his limbs weak for a split second.
He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stay steady, and spun around.
Texas was right there.
Her face was flushed, her gaze unfocused and hungry, closing in until it filled his vision.
"Texas, don't you dare go into he—mmph!"
His words died.
His body slammed into the sofa with a dull thud.
Blood and heat flooded his mouth—she'd bitten him.
Texas's kiss wasn't a kiss so much as an attack: rough, frantic, invasive. She wasn't trying to make him feel anything—she was taking.
There was no gentleness, no restraint. Only hunger.
Her hands were even worse—skilled, relentless, stroking and gripping his tail as if she'd practiced it a thousand times.
For a few seconds, Chen Mo was too stunned to react.
Then his patience snapped.
He wrenched free with a harsh inhale.
"Enough! You've taken more than enough 'benefits,' Texas!"
A pureblood Draco's strength was not something you resisted in your right mind—let alone the brute force of a red dragon.
Whatever cheap melodrama about "women overpowering men" might exist in soap operas, it wasn't happening here.
Not against a conscious heir of Victoria's royal blood.
Unless he allowed it, no one was forcing him.
With one violent motion, Chen Mo flipped her.
Texas hit the floor and rolled several times like she'd been tossed aside as weightless as cloth.
Chen Mo didn't waste a second.
He sprinted into the bedroom, returned with bedding and cord, and bound the still-struggling Texas so thoroughly she looked like a tightly wrapped roll, thrashing and trying to lunge at him even while restrained.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Chen Mo stared at her, unsettled.
"So… was she touching my tail earlier just to find my weak spot?" he muttered. "That's terrifying."
He adjusted his rumpled clothes and then carefully smoothed his tail, looking genuinely pained at the state it was in.
He'd never treated it that roughly himself.
After a moment to steady his breathing, he rested his chin in his hand and studied Texas's dazed, unfocused eyes.
"Should I just hang her outside on the balcony to cool off overnight?"
The thought struck; he immediately did it.
With absurd ease, he lifted Texas up and hooked her out on the balcony like laundry, letting the cold night wind slap into her.
It worked.
Her struggling weakened, gradually, inch by inch.
Chen Mo nodded, satisfied.
Considering she'd just tried to force herself on him, he was already being generous. He hadn't retaliated. He hadn't called the authorities and thrown her into a cell.
He'd spared her a lot.
"Tomorrow she's going to explain herself," he muttered. "Seriously… who knew Texas had this side?"
He turned and walked back toward the bedroom.
Even for him, today's events were too absurd to process without sleep.
10:35 p.m. — Penguin Logistics Dorm
"Hey, Croissant," Exusiai asked lazily from the sofa, "why isn't Texas back yet? Don't tell me she picked up a man at the bar."
"As if." Croissant snorted. "That ice-cold Texas would scare off any man who tried. She's probably just wandering around somewhere."
Exusiai thought about it and agreed. That cool, ruthless gray wolf didn't seem like the type.
Reassured, Exusiai swung her pale legs idly, then stared at the tail-icon avatar on her phone.
She hesitated for a long time.
In the end, she still couldn't resist.
She sent a simple message: Good night.
When the read receipt popped up, Exusiai's shoulders finally relaxed. She set her phone down, satisfied, and silently cheered herself on.
Come on, Exusiai. Don't lose heart.
You can do it.
You will win Chen Mo.
....
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