"Mistress, Cassen was drugged."
The woman in red who sat at the desk raised her head. Her red eyes unreadable.
"Nathan and others took him to his room." The voice continued, though frantic.
'Drugged?' Her eyes narrowed. 'Who dares.'
In hurried footsteps, she was at his door.
The woman was beautiful, with long red hair that cascaded down her back in shimmering waves.
Her eyes were a deep shade of red, their gaze intense and striking. Her face was flawless, like fine porcelain.
As she stood there, she commanded power.
The air shifted. Servants felt it and stepped back.
She opened the door to find him on the huge pink bed.
His face was flushed, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
Just like her, his eyes were red. When he saw her, his wife, standing at his room door, he inhaled sharply.
"I thought you wouldn't come," the words rolled off his tongue, heavy and unsettling.
His voice was raspy and husky while tugging his clothes.
"Why shouldn't I come?" she asked back, voice cold, face unreadable.
'Pathetic. You let them touch you.'
"Well, you see, I am drugged," he persisted in a mumbling tone. "I drank a drugged juice at Ava's party. I did not know she could play low like that."
'Ava.' Her lips curved into something that wasn't a smile. 'She signed her own death.'
She stared at him silently. No thoughts could be seen behind those red eyes, and at last she moved to his side.
"I'll burn, Cassen," her voice was quiet, absolute.
He was so innocent,
So alluring,
So handsome,
So hers.
As the thought passed in her mind, she saw a hickey on his collarbone.
Her gaze went glacial.
The branding,
Not hers.
She snapped.
"Who did this?" she demanded, and the room seemed to shrink under her voice.
Rage,
Possessiveness.
Something terrifying threatening to unleash.
Her strings broke.
Gone was the self-restraint.
'How dare they touch what's mine,' she thought, and it came out as a promise of violence.
Mine! The word sounding feral.
She had been trying to run away from her own emotions.
'No more.'
The way her eyes always trailed him, they lingered on those plump lips of his.
She sometimes felt envious of his clothes, how they hugged his rugged figure.
She ignored it, sometimes scolding her heart to do its own work of pumping blood.
And now that idiot who calls herself the Child of Fate dares to touch him.
She cradled his face, their bodies and skin in close proximity.
'Mine. Say it.'
"Ava…"
She claimed his lips with hunger and ferocity, like a starving animal. The kiss was possessive, her tongue delving deep into his mouth.
As she explored his mouth with her tongue, Cassen moaned, and his gasps became hypnotic sirens, drawing her deeper into the abyss of passion.
Their clothes were already removed. Cassen circled his hands around her waist while claiming one nipple into his mouth, while one of his fox tails kneaded and pinched the other, sending waves of ecstasy crashing through her senses.
Two of his tails parted her legs, positioning her core against his cock as he began to grind onto her with increasing intensity.
"Mistress, should I ride you?" Cassen's voice was heard in a murmur, his eyes burning with uncontrolled desire.
"Oh God, Cass, just do it already. I can't wait," the red-haired woman moaned, voice low, commanding.
Her body jolted when his engorged cock brushed against her clit, sending waves of pleasure.
"At your command, mistress," he slammed into her.
'Good. Remember it.'
---
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
The phone rang loudly, echoing in the silent bedroom. When the sound reached the sleeping person's ears, she groggily woke up, untangling herself from the sheets.
'Annoying.'
Her eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing red, blood-colored irises. The dim morning light filtered through her window.
Her body was feeling heavy and uncooperative. As she stretched, she let her muscles warm.
She sat up, still feeling the sensation of her erotic dream.
"That was so intense," she exclaimed loudly. She could still feel her core dripping.
She unlocked her phone. She was still logged in on Webnovel, showing the end of her recent novel, 'Claiming the Villainess' Beast Husband'.
It was a book she had been ignoring for half a year, but sometimes it would insert itself between her reads, so she decided to give it a go.
What made her read it, even the second arc, was not because of the protagonist. It was because of the villainess.
Her heart went all out for the villainess, who was never given a chance at life in all arcs.
The second reason is that the villainess has her name, and she feels drawn to her.
She feels like she experienced it maybe in the past or the future, but what she knows is that it is not in the present.
Since she started reading the book, she had been experiencing those erotic dreams, but this time they are vivid.
Chloe cannot call herself innocent, because she is not.
She has never had sex in her twenty-two years of life, but the idea itself—maybe watching it inside her bedroom in darkness, or there in her sitting room wrapped in a blanket completely.
She has always been dark, browsing different kinds of R-18 on her laptop. You know it, name it. She always feels alive.
After freshening up and grabbing breakfast, she scrolled through her phone for delivery messages. Chloe worked as a middleman, buying goods for retail shops in town or in the suburbs.
As she read her messages, she almost sprayed her drink.
She read the message, stunned: Confirmed, you have received one million dollars from… Mosaic. Her new balance: 1.2 million dollars. When changed to her country's currency, it would be almost a billion.
The message read:
I need non-perishable foods such as canned goods and MREs. Don't forget energy bars, dried fruit, nuts, and jerky food. Some peanut butter and boxed juices for enjoyment.
About shelter and safety, I want tents and tarps, sleeping bags and blankets (not many, 30 of each will do), a first aid kit, and any fire-starting tools. If you feel like I will need self-defense items, put them on the list.
Do not forget any power sources like flashlights, extra batteries, solar chargers, portable power banks, laptops, and radios.
Hygiene and sanitation, you know them. You are a woman, and medical supplies.
Every type of vegetable, fruits, and protein source seeds.
Every type of rice, sugar, and oil within reach.
I know your connections are vast, dear, so today before noon my goods should be ready and pass through the forbidden road.
'Forbidden road.' Her eyes gleamed. 'Let's see who's playing games.'
Taking her other phone to call companies who supply her with goods, she read the message again to make sure it was not a scammer.
At noon, everything was ready to be transported.
Entering her truck, in front of her was the new hot priest in town. Even though she finds him attractive, she doesn't know why, but she can't bring herself to like him.
'He thinks he can read me. He can't.'
"Can I tag along?" His smooth voice was heard.
"Why do you ask when you are already in? Where to, Priest? My schedule is full today," she said irritably, tone sharp enough to cut.
"I'm free anyway," he replied calmly in a shameless manner.
"Then you better be silent. I don't want to hear anymore of your preachings and how my love life will be full in the coming days when I don't have a boyfriend by my side." He remained silent. Of course he always does.
"You know I don't like you," she said, voice flat.
"The feelings are mutual, Chloe. To me, you are more of a sacrificial lamb. And I'm following you to make sure everything goes as planned." He said the last sentence silently.
'Sacrificial lamb?' She smiled coldly. 'We'll see who gets sacrificed.'
"You always behave as if you knew me," she said, looking at the silent priest, whom she knew would brush it aside or remain silent as usual.
He laughed nervously. "Do I?"
She just gave him a dubious look. His silence is the answer, just like his name. The first time they met, he just told her, "At last I found you. Time is not on our side." The second time, he started preaching about how she should not run away from fate and let it take its course, because that is her destiny.
"Are you sure you are following me? You know my client asked me to go through that forest," she asked.
"I'm sure," he said while lying lazily. And that is something that infuriates her the most: the way he takes her personal space like it is supposed to be his.
The way he smiles at her in a business-like way.
The way he feels like he is a God who needs to control her life.
The way his silence answers her questions.
She hates his guts to barge into her life like nothing.
"You know there is another world that defies human perspective," he said suddenly, which broke her from her train of thoughts.
"To you humans, what is your perspective?"
"Pfft, I like the way you never address yourself as a human. There is no right or wrong. There are some grey areas. That's my perspective."
"So the world you are talking about is the grey part?"
"You can say that," he said, opening his eyes slowly. "It's time you witness it yourself."
"Watch out!" The priest's shout snapped her awake, but it was already too late.
The car hit something with a bang, followed by a thud like something falling, before a screech of brakes.