I woke up goodness knows how many hours later, still groggy from the kiss earlier. It had been a kiss that had spanned for hours, one that I had not known to be possible between a demon and a mere human.
If just a kiss had that immobilising and numbing effect, then I cannot imagine how doing the deed with the demon would feel. Probably I would be dead from that. Who would know?
I suddenly feel the chilling touch of his cold fingers teasing me with a few prods below my chin.
"The maiden is having not so innocent thoughts again," his icy voice condemns me. He judges me with a disdainful stare, annoyingly ogling at me without blinking. His hair now hangs, long and silky, down his shoulders. As he has usually appeared before me with short cropped 'modern' hair, to see him in this different getup bamboozled me.
But before I can defend his statement, I just realise something I had forgotten about earlier.
"We didn't get to finish exploring the museum!" I exclaim", a thought I made out of the top of my head.
"And you only realised now?"
I use all the mental strength I can accumulate in my head to contain myself from thrashing out at him. With the strength of a human, a girl furthermore, I could not enable myself to win in a brawl with a demon. With his unexplainable power that could take me places and turn back the clock, what could I do but just play along with him for now? Neither can I win a fight of wits with him.
He seems to realise what I am thinking, as he smiles at me with a very proud and achieved look on his face. His long eyelashes flutter as he nears me. I am still lying down on the bed in the cabin, and when he comes close I jump up in panic.
"Why are you still so flustered? It's not like I would do anything to you when you were out cold."
Yeah, as if. I'm sure you would go out to do anything even if I wasn't out cold!
[Huh, what do you mean?] Cullen's voice rings clearly and audibly in my mind.
Who took off my clothes that day with his powers? I taunt. The day at the cavern…
[Ah, that. What if I told you there was some other meaning to it? The cavern is a historical site, with the ability to empower magic. But even if I told you, you wouldn't understand with your simple mortal mind.]
Is he poking fun at me for being a useless, weak mortal as opposed to him being the one with supreme power and magic? Then what is his point in doing so much?
That is a question that he would probably never answer, in spite of being able to read my thoughts.
To my surprise, he tucks me under the covers and smiles, rather amiably. Since when is Cullen not talking to me or treating me coldly? Why is he seeming to exhibit care and concern towards me?
"Cullen..." I gather my strength and stare at him submissively. He puts his chin against mine so our faces are almost touching.
His proximity turns me on, and I feel my body slightly itching.
"I could not wait a moment longer for you to be mine," he says in a deep tone, stealing my soul away. I realised what I wanted from Cullen not long ago, just before I woke up in the bed in the cabin. Hence, I did not hesitate and allowed his eyes to travel across my figure. The pink fleece blanket formerly covering my body had miraculously vanished, but my body was heating up so horribly that I didn't think I would need it at this moment.
"Cullen, I..."
"Is there anything wrong with me?" he retorted. He is staring at me so madly that I could feel a bout of icy, stingingly cold heat. Normally, ice and fire would not blend, but he is Cullen, the demon which doesn't give a damn about logic and makes up his own rules.
Cullen, the cold-blooded hot demon. My heart skips a beat, and my skin burns, pleading me to give myself up to him.
I just can't, but it's not because I don't like him at all. It's just too complex. He's a demon, I'm a human. He would live years longer than me. I would die. But over everything, I just don't know how we could begin a life together, being from different worlds.
His dismay causes my heart to shatter and sends me into a state of disarray. Memories of our hot kisses and how we almost went past that boundary he had created swim in my mind. I am confused, but I don't want t see him disappointed with me further.
"No, it's not that, Cullen..." I reach to grab him and pull him closer.
"Don't forget I can see through your thoughts, Shengyi."
Not a single word leaves my mouth. I embrace him close to me, sensing a tear go down my cheek. I don't know….
"Tell me you want me, Shengyi."
"I want you..." I didn't even think twice before muttering the words. Cullen strokes my head gently, treating me as if I was a fragile Ming vase in the museum that we had seen during the visit.
He lays me down on the bed and slips his fingers under the bows of thin nightdress I was wearing when I awoke in the cabin.
"Cullen, are you going to...?" I stammer.
"It's not what you think," he whispers slowly. Skilfully he has undone my nightdress, done in a lounging robe type of fashion. The fair skin beneath comes into view. I have never been shy to be naked before him, but now thinking of the time he had seen me in my final moments, with my hair disheveled and my dress torn, gives me a very unique feeling about him seeing my naked body now.
He doesn't seem to make anything about it. Instead, he just turns me around so my back now faces him.
"You have a weak constitution, Lu Shengyi," he mouths. I don't see the connection between my weakness and why he has stripped me and turned me away from him. Is he a pervert that he wants to see my naked bottom? To be used as an object for his perverted desires makes me awfully uncomfortable. I like him and want him, but is this what I mean to him?
"Lu Shengyi, you are overthinking again," he remarks coldly. "Clear your mind, and focus on nothing, only the cold wind surrounding us. Allow the breeze to take you to where you want to go. Meditate, Shengyi."
Meditate? What was that even?
He proceeded to go on and on about the process of spiritual meditation, a ritual-like practice that no longer existed in the world I lived in, especially given the absence of religion and faith in the gods.
Nevertheless, I believed him and allowed him to take the reins, teaching me about the ways of the past world and allowing me to experience what he wanted me to.
I felt strengthened like he had put some strong energy through me. I sensed power gushing through me, revitalising me and recharging my abilities. In other words, I was empowered.
I recall vaguely that I had felt some twitching in my body, like random surges of electricity, when Cullen kissed me in the cavern. This was a similar feeling, but way more powerful. As curious as I am, Cullen would not tell me anything until the time is right, so it was pointless for me to ask.
It did not take a few minutes when he snapped his fingers and told me to open my eyes. When I did, we were now back at the museum, fully dressed in the human gear that we were wearing before we had embarked on the sailing trip.
What Cullen does, most of the time I cannot get, so I hope that one day, he would be willing to explain it all to me. I have a very curious mind, and having all these unanswered questions stuck in my mind makes me feel unsettled and uneasy.
"Shengyi, curiosity killed the cat," the demon in his human disguise reminds me. I grimace and just nod obediently. No use reasoning with someone who is galaxies far from me.
He just takes my hand and leads me to another corner of the museum. The display showcases an ancient red bridal costume, glittering with jewels and accessories of varying colours, sizes and designs. An inscription on a tablet nearby along with a drawing of how the historians perceived marriage ceremonies of the past to be, explains these ceremonies.
"It seems something has captured your attention," he teases. I just nod again.
In my world, where everyone had been so business-oriented and concerned with fast results, a wedding would typically last no more than a few minutes. When I came to think of it, there were less passion and romantic moments, people of Andophia only cared about getting the marriage 'deed' done, i.e. signing the certificate to be legally bound by marriage.
"I am just wondering how the marriages happen," I told him truthfully.
"In that case, would you like to experience the taste of being my bride?" he says, extremely thick-skinned and daring with what he wants to say. I suppose that nobody can ever beat him in that.
"I don't dare," I murmur. "I still want to live, not to be eaten alive by you."
He releases my hand, only to curl his arm around my waist.
"Now, now, Shengyi, I'm not a cannibal. When we are married, I promise that I will do my utmost to fulfil your wishes."
"What is your intention in marrying me?" I suddenly found the courage to ask him.
"Contract. You agreed to sign a contract, so why can't I get the most out of it by invoking a marriage contract?"
A marriage contract, I swallow hard. By his words, did it mean that it was a marriage contract I had signed when I agreed to the deal with the devil then?
Now the question was between love and vengeance, which should I choose.