"Ugh—so hot..."
Nadia Clark opened her eyes drowsily and lazily reached out, pressing the light switch by her bed several times with a series of clicks.
The room remained pitch black, and the old wall-mounted air conditioner made a hissing sound, protesting its power outage.
Another blackout! Nadia was drenched in sweat, her thin dress clinging uncomfortably to her skin.
The windows and doors of her rented apartment were tightly shut. In Seaside City, where it felt like summer all year round, May was already extremely hot.
"Of all days to have a blackout, it had to be today!" Nadia grumbled as she climbed out of bed and stumbled to the sliding glass door of the balcony, pulling the curtains aside with a swish.
As the heavy curtains parted, she opened the sliding door for some air. Suddenly, a tall, dark figure loomed into her view.
A ghost?!
Nadia was instantly paralyzed with fear.
While her mind was momentarily frozen, the shadowy figure had already enveloped her completely.
The figure staggered forward, and a large hand unexpectedly reached out towards her.
Nadia's mouth and nose were covered by the hand, silencing her.
A strong scent of blood filled her nostrils...
The cold touch of the hand sent chills down her spine. Nadia held her breath, too terrified to make a move.
"Get inside!" The deep, hoarse command echoed in her ear.
Nadia couldn't help but tremble, standing frozen in place.
The shadowy figure seemed to grow impatient, lifting her effortlessly and tossing her back onto the bed.
"Ah—ouch—" Nadia cried out as she landed hard on the wooden bed, a sharp pain shooting through her back.
As she struggled in agony, the shadow swiftly removed his gear, and then a cold, solid body pressed down firmly on Nadia.
In the darkness, Nadia's heart pounded with fear. She instinctively pushed against the shadow, her hands fumbling until they touched a muscular chest. It was then she realized—the shadow was a man!
Terrified, her struggles grew more intense. The man quickly pinned her legs with his long limbs, his muscular arms tightening around her, making it hard for her to breathe.
Everything happened so suddenly that Nadia, overwhelmed by fear and helplessness, couldn't help but cry out.
"Sob—sob—" Tears streamed down her burning cheeks. The man felt as cold as a vampire from the night.
"I... won't hurt you... as long as... you don't move... and stay quiet..." The shadowy man spoke in a pained but soothing tone, trying to calm her down.
Nadia paused, her sobbing abruptly stopping. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw more figures dangling from wires outside the balcony, their weapons glinting in the moonlight.
At that moment, Nadia was stunned, wishing someone would tell her this was just a movie scene!
"Ah!" Nadia exclaimed nervously as she saw the shadows of several figures seemingly about to enter the room.
The cold man was startled for a moment, then quickly threaded his fingers through her hair, lifting her head as he abruptly captured her lips with his own.
In an instant, Nadia's mind went completely blank. All she could feel at that moment was the coolness of his dry, thin lips, with a faint hint of blood.
His breath enveloped her, slowly brewing an atmosphere thick with ambiguous hormones.
The faint lemon scent emanating from her was a fresh and sweet aroma, an unprecedented temptation for him.
Her body was soft, her lips tender; he could truly feel the warmth and fragrance of her delicate form.
Every little detail about her made his heart race uncontrollably. So, this is how delicious a woman could be.
He had never had improper thoughts about any woman before, yet in the instant he kissed her, he found himself instinctively wanting more.
Gradually, he was no longer satisfied with just a light taste... Unable to control his emotions, the man cupped Nadia's head, tracing her lip line with his agile tongue before sucking on her tender lips deeply, repeatedly pressing and prying open her teeth, slowly savoring the taste of this intoxicating kiss.
Desire took over his mind, and he was completely unable to pull himself away.
Nadia was furious. "You jerk!"
Slap!
Just as the man turned his head, feeling a moment of relief, a crisp sound echoed through the room. Nadia had slapped him across the face, and the force of her hand sent the man reeling onto the bed, unconscious.
Did she hit him too hard? Nadia stood there, dumbfounded.
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out the varying shades of gray and black that defined the room's objects.
She got up and retrieved a candle and a lighter from the bedside drawer. After lighting the candle, she placed it on a small white porcelain plate on the desk.
Outside, the night was silent. Clouds drifted past the moon, allowing its light to pour into the room like a gentle stream, illuminating the man.
He had short, jet-black hair and a chiseled face with a high-bridged nose and sharply defined, dry lips. His collarbone was prominent, leading down to a well-built chest...
This man looked mature, with messy hair and face paint smudged across his features, his chin was covered in stubble.
Despite his unkept appearance, his handsome and striking features were undeniable.
Wow... he's really handsome! And not just any kind of handsome—he had that mature, sexy, and strong masculine charm!
Wait, what's this sticky feeling? Nadia snapped out of her daze, realizing her hands felt a bit sticky.
By instinct, she glanced down and noticed a deep, roughly four-inch wound on the left side of the man's abdomen, revealing his eight-pack abs and a defined V-line. Blood was slowly seeping from the wound.
So much blood!
Nadia hurriedly grabbed her phone from the nightstand, ready to dial 911, but hesitated.
The situation just now... Could he be hiding from his enemies who were trying to kill him?!
If she exposed his location, wouldn't she be pushing him into his death? With a sigh, Nadia pondered.
He had just violated her, so should she really help him? If she didn't, he might die!
After a moment of internal struggle, Nadia decided to go all the way in helping him. She rummaged through her small first aid kit, pulling out cotton swabs, ointment, gauze, disinfectant alcohol, surgical sutures, a needle, and scissors.
Then, Nadia went to the bathroom to wash her hands thoroughly with soap, applied alcohol on her hands, and once all the disinfection preparations were complete, she began to stitch up the man's wound.
She needed to stop the bleeding first. Thankfully, the cut wasn't too deep and hadn't penetrated his abdomen to damage any internal organs.
The man seemed to be in a deep sleep, not making a sound as she stitched up his wound.
Once the stitching was done, she applied some hemostatic ointment and a bit of anti-inflammatory medication.
As Nadia bandaged his wound, sweat dripping down her own forehead. She could only hope that when he wakes up, he wouldn't suffer any lasting damage.
After all, the only similar procedures she had performed were on animals during C-sections.
Nadia had learned these skills from her grandmother, who was the village's barefoot doctor. Her grandmother not only treated and delivered babies for people but also did the same for animals.
Since childhood, Nadia had been her grandmother's right-hand assistant, gaining a lot of hands-on experience with treating injuries.
Before high school, Nadia grew up in the countryside. It wasn't until her grandmother passed away that her parents brought her to live in town.
After she carefully completed treating and bandaging with the gauze, though he must have fainted from excessive blood loss.
She hoped he would wake up soon, or else she would have no choice but to take him to the hospital.
Just as she was thinking this, the man slowly opened his eyes. Thank goodness, he was finally awake!
As Nadia let out a sigh of relief, the light from a nearby phone suddenly pierced his jet-black eyes, which then emitted a chilling glare that made her shiver.
He abruptly sat up, his hand shooting out to tightly grasp Nadia's delicate neck. His voice was cold and wary as he demanded, "Hmph, trying to kill me?"
Nadia's scissors slipped from her hand, her entire body freezing. Sweat from her forehead dripped onto the man's wrist as she held her breath.
Nadia was terrified that the man might not control his strength and snap her neck!
"You... you've got it all wrong, you're hurt! I'm just trying to help you!" Nadia frowned, her hands gripping his cold wrist tightly.
She couldn't believe how much blood he had lost, yet he still had such strength! As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, his cold, dark gaze began to scrutinize the girl in front of him, who had put him on guard.
He couldn't see her features clearly, but recalling their recent passionate kiss and the physical reaction to her, he began to feel fondness for the girl, which made him slowly loosen his grip and let her go.
"Give me your phone!" the man suddenly demanded, his voice icy. This guy's mood swings were faster than flipping a switch!
Nadia stunned, picked up her phone from the bed and handed it to him. The man snatched the phone from her hand, quickly dialed a number, and pressed the phone to his ear. "Sloan, it's me!"
"What's your house number?" he asked, looking at Nadia with the same cold tone.
"1808!" she replied with annoyance tone.
He then relayed the house number to the person on the other end of the line. After saying just those few words, he hung up and tossed the phone back to her.
Nadia caught the phone, feeling certain that he wouldn't cause any more trouble, and then got up to leave the room.
She went to the kitchen, took a bowl of soup from the fridge, and placed it on the gas stove to heat up.
Once it was ready, she poured the soup into a bowl, placed a spoon in it, and then carried the bowl back to the room.
A faint aroma of meat wafted through the air, causing the man sitting on the bed to swallow involuntarily.
Nadia handed the bowl to the man on the bed. "Drink this. It will help replenish your blood."
The man eagerly took the bowl from Nadia's hands, not even bothering with a spoon, and took a big gulp. He was starving, after all.
As expected, both the soup and the meat in it were delicious.
This woman can cook!
"What kind of soup is this?" he asked coldly, even as he continued to eat heartily.
Nadia replied calmly, "It's pig liver with red dates and goji berries, specifically to help with blood replenishment. It's perfect for you."
Pig liver!
The man's expression changed slightly, and with some hesitation, he asked, "Did you make this just for me?"