What happens after the first kiss?
I have not decided how to react after breaking off the contact with Art. I have no idea what to say to mitigate the effect of the embarrassment burning on my face. I have no clue how to manoeuvre the kiss. My knowledge comes from what I have seen on screen, what I have heard from my cousins, and what I have read in my romance novels. I must admit that when I read those novels, and the particular page numbers and paragraphs, rather than focusing on skill development, I had been lusting after the hot viscounts and CEOs.
So, I freeze for a millisecond after pressing my lips onto his. All my courage dissipates into the cold, night air when his fingers tighten around my arms. I do not notice when my position changes and I cling to his body, my limbs tightly wrapped around his body. He holds me tighter as if he has been waiting for this moment.
Without wasting any time, Art takes control. His tongue gently pries open my mouth and enters like a snake, slowly moving forward for its prey. The very intimate contact makes me shiver and moan. My face turns hot, but my body feels cold. I feel an insatiable urge to pull him closer so that I can steal the warmth from his body. His hand caresses the skin on my back my spine, making me moan again. In between the moaning, and the urgent groping, I keep on hoping for more. I don't know what to expect, but I feel like I need more.
When I break off the kiss to take a breath, I notice it. Art is watching me intently. Felix has closed the gap between us, concern etched on his face. Kises should not bring out concern. Kisses should bring out embarrassment, mischief, fun, and affection, even it can bring out sarcasm or taunting comment, but not concern.
What did I do wrong?
A shimmer emerged from nowhere. I can't point it out. Where is it coming from? I am feeling cold, and everything is turning black around me. I need to sleep, or else my brain will stop working.
Yes, I need to sleep.
When I open my eyes, I find myself in a spacious room. It is almost as big as mine, as vintage as mine, but it has now windows. It's dark, so I can't tell whether it is day or night. My hands find a blanket over me, and underneath, I lay in my undergarments. I extend both my hands to my sides to gauge the area of the bed, and mainly to find my phone.
"How do you feel?"
It takes some time for me to find Felix in that dark room. He sits on a chair, a little away from the bed, like he has to maintain the distance mandatorily. There is someone else in the room, but he stands in the dark behind Felix, and so almost invisible.
"What happened?" I croak. My throat hurts as I try to speak. The other man moves forward and hands me over a glass full of water.
'Here, drink this."
I drink the water he gives me while trying to match the voice with the men I have met recently, who can be in the same room as Felix. I don't need to be told it is his house, the god-forsaken mansion I had no intentions to return.
"You should sleep for a while. Once you're better, I will take you back to your home."
The other man hisses at the suggestion. "You know it is a bad idea. Now that Ivan knows about her, more will come. We will not be able to protect that family."
Regaining some of my lost strength, I focus on the two men in the room. Felix is too familiar to me, just like Art, but this man is not exactly a stranger either. Who is he? I remember all the men I met that night in this same house, while they go on with their arguments.
"I am not going to force her to stay here," Felix says.
"If she returns, it will not be safe for her or her family. Don't be silly," the man says.
"You care about that family just as much I do, so stop showing fake concern."
"I may hate them, but I am bound by my promise. I can't believe I am having this argument with you right now."
"She is going back home," Felix announces.
"She is going to stay here, as she is supposed to be. It has to be like this."
"What will happen if I return home?" I ask finally, reminding them of my conscious presence in the room. I have recognised Alp now.
"Ivan, the man who attacked you last night, will follow your scent to your home." Alp sighs and sits on the far corner of the bed. "It is going to be extremely, lethally dangerous for your family."
"He is just a sick pervert. My house has enough security to stop a rapist," I say in the same croaking voice.
"I wish he was just a rapist. It would have been easy to shoot him and bury his body in a ditch," Felix says casually shrugging. The prospect gives me goosebumps.
"You have no security strong enough to stop him. Now that you have no mistress at the mansion. Charlotte has already been released from her duties because you were to take over, which you successfully evaded. What do you think would happen if that creature entered your house without anyone to stop him?"
I stare at Alp, contemplating. I may not be entirely devoted to my cousins, but I don't want a creep anywhere near them. "Why do you talk about him like that?"
"By now, I think you have understood it," Alp says. I frown. I cannot admit it out loud, because just thinking about it makes me feel like an idiot. It is not possible, yet everything points towards it.
"He is not a human," I exclaim.
"And now your house is not safe, because you did not complete the ritual and take over the responsibility of a mistress." Alp nods.
"Stop it," Felix hisses. I notice that art has appeared at the doorstep. My entire body turns cold at first, then hot. Everything from the last night comes back to me like a series of embarrassing images. I felt numb, so Art had to carry me in his arms, and then I kissed him.
He kissed me back. I may not be a well-practised kisser, but I recognised the touch of desire. Art enjoyed it as much as I did. His touch, his taste, his voice, everything seems to be intoxicating. Why is he not speaking?
Suddenly, all the sounds are muted. There is nothing around me, just Art in front of me, with his bright aura. A beautiful, purple glow surrounds him like an extended halo. Why was I so apprehensive about staying here? I can stay here as long as I want to, right? Isn't that what Aunty Rosemary said to me? I am theirs, and they are mine.
I am yours, and you are mine.
The thought makes me giddy. I suppress my giggle and look at Alp, who is standing now. His entire face has contorted into disbelief and pain. He shakes his head and rushes closer to me.
"What did you just say?" he asks me, holding my hands in his. I stare at him in utter confusion.
He shakes me and repeats his question. "What did you just say?"
'I don't know," I whisper.
"Leave her, Alp. She still doesn't know," Felix says. Art says nothing, his eyes are fixed on mine.
"Is that so?" Alp smirks and lowers his head, so close to me that I can feel his breath on my face. "In that case, she cannot stop me."
His lips touch mine. At first, all I feel is a touch, a small and innocent contact, but soon I feel a sting. He bites my lower lip, while his movements take an aggressive turn. As a response, my skin tingles. Slowly these tingles gather around my fingertips, my stomach, and my thighs.
I feel good. No, I feel great. It feels like the kiss I shared with Art last night, but it is different too. Somehow it is more intense and painful. A new realization hits me: I am enjoying the pain and the bliss that is an inseparable part of it.
My hands act on their own impulse, though. They push him away, violently, and with such strength that Alp falls on his back. Nervously I take a look at the others in the room.
I see Felix and Art frowning with a grim expression as if they are trying to solve a puzzle. I see Rayo and Orion appearing at the door, ready to kill someone. I see Lazarus leaning his back on the wall. His hands are folded, and his lips play a half smile.
Then I see her. The woman, with her deadly viciousness, is soaring in the darkness like a shadow of everything evil in the world.