"There must be a rule from the Heavens whispering in your ear right now." Leaning closer, the escort placed covered her mouth with the back of her hand, whispering as if she was bestowing top-secret information to him. "How many hours will it take for the food to appear and fall from the sky as blessings from the gods?"
"No."Chao Xiang turned his head towards her for a second before returning to the flat surface. "It wouldn't take hours."
"Days, then." The escort shrugs with nonchalance, but he could literally hear her swallow. "I'm hungry."
The escort's stomach growled.
Chao Xiang ran a frustrated hand through his midnight hair as it curtained into two silky parts from the center.
Narrowing his eyes at her t in annoyance, he bit his lower lip as he unfurled the first three buttons of his dress shirt without removing his gaze from the escort.
Without warning, Chao Xiang pulled one delicate wrist, and the escort gasped in surprise when he whirled her around, shoving her back against the edge of the kitchen area, trapping each of her sides with his arms in an instant.
She glanced up at him, and their brown eyes met.
He swore there was an electric current passing between them with just one look.
She held her breath when he bent his head closer, making sure the escort knew how sexy the deep tendons of his neck up to the wing of his collarbone was.
"Why don't you sit on the table and wait there. I will tell you when it is done, hmm?" Tilting his head, Chao Xiang peered her pink lips between his lashes as he brought his lips closer to hers that they were almost kissing.
She withdrew her face as far as she could, and her eyes widened like saucers the more he challenged that distance.
Chao Xiang smirked, his voice low. "What do you think, babe?"
"I—I" Hunching her shoulders, the arms she pressed close to her chest, which served as a shield between their upper bodies, stretched as she settled her palms on his broad shoulders in a weak attempt to push him off her.
Chao Xiang didn't even know if the escort tried. Chao Xiang jutted his chin as the hands on the kitchen counter slowly clutched her hips.
He knew that his seductive strategy had worked when she couldn't take her eyes off his bare chest.
Her dark eyes had darkened, smoldering into embers as she licked her lips without thought.
Chao Xiang witnessed her swallow hard as she clenched and unclenched her fists on the crook of his neck without even forcing him to step backward.
She yelped when Chao Xiang sunk himself into her and parted her legs through a muscled thigh.
Giving a glance between their warm bodies, which were a hairbreadth away, Chao Xiang wondered why she couldn't bring herself to look at him again, her gaze fixed on his…groin rubbing shamelessly against hers.
It was cold in his penthouse suite, but the friction was enough to keep him warm--no, it made the kitchen sizzle with lust.
It should be grilled food that was sizzling but... oh, well.
He desired to see her blush, but the only view she could give him was the top of her head.
"Cat got your tongue?" Chao Xiang's raised an eyebrow as his lips curved in amusement. "Better me than the cat."
Chao Xiang cupped her chin with both hands, closed his eyes, and aimed for that pink tongue to begin his debauchery, but it seemed like the escort was quicker than him.
It wasn't her sweet, little mouth that he kissed.
He realized it was the back of her hand when he opened his eyes.
Chao Xiang lifted his head and glowered at her hand with a grudge, disliking the fact that she prevented him from his attempts of luring her to bed.
An escort who didn't like him close to her and didn't want to be kissed?!
His brows furrowed in confusion. Well, this was new!
How would they even get close when they—
Chao Xiang should throw this escort out if she weren't willing to compromise her virginity, body, and everything!
When his gaze landed on her beautiful face, he figured out that the escort was the hardest to seduce, and he knew at that point they would never get anywhere if he didn't cook for her.
Exhaling a loud sigh, Chao Xiang straightened his spine and gave her a look of intimidation. "I paid you ten thousand dollars and you wouldn't give me a kiss?" He took a step backward as he crossed his arms, scanning her from head to toe.
"What kind of escort, are you? I'm thinking that you are scamming me for my money. You haven't provided me any services yet. But if Jian Yu sent you here at the Emperor's Club…" Trailing off, he raised her chin with a finger.
Her fearful eyes and her eerie silence were uncomfortable.
Chao Xiang murmured as he watched her warily, "You wouldn't do that to me, wouldn't you?"
The escort cleared her throat as she placed her hands together in front of her.
Glancing at the floor, she replied, "No. I want to watch so that I may learn from you. I want to know how people in this world make their food."
"Why do you insist you are not from this world?!" Chao Xiang growled in frustration as he tapped his foot in impatience. "It's not like you are an alien."
Her big brown eyes rested on his face. "Alien?"
Chao Xiang slapped his forehead.
And…. The repetition started again.
"Hey." Waving his hand in front of his face to make sure he still has her attention, he asked, " I don't want to admit this but.." No need to be ashamed. He just needed to get it over with. "--do you know how to use an induction stove?"
"Are we staring at it because you, the Master of the House, don't know how to use it?"
His lip pressed together in a tight line as he shook his head.
Why did he even bother asking this alien?
"Would it taste better than how I create mine in three large stones and firewood I could find on the forest?" She queried.
Firewood?
Forest?
Stones?
Was she a time traveler from the Stone Age?
Or was she a poor girl with a peerless beauty from the province--a country bumpkin--who was dirt poor and lived on a farm?
Finally, a bright idea flashed through his mind. "Perhaps, we could try the gas stove." It would be easy to turn its knobs to produce the fire he needed compared to this digital cooking box.
He had a gas stove in his penthouse in case of an emergency, such as a blackout, and the generator wasn't working.
"I only have to twist the knob." Chao Xiang muttered to himself. "Yes, that's right. I'm a genius."
"What is a stove?"