The Inconceivable Flame: A Fallen Angel“s Disguise

Ru noticed the way he kept looking at her face with a lingering smile and her brows puckered up in uncertainty. "Did I say something funny?" She asked with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Isn’t it really funny?" He asked in return and continued, "This is the very first time, you are making an effort to clear up my misunderstanding. You have never done this before. You once told me that you hate explaining yourself. Then why are you explaining yourself to me?"

Ru cleared her throat in a cloddish manner. Avoiding his burning gaze, she said, "Can’t you tell?"

Xiao Zhiren shook his head. "I can’t tell."

"Aren’t you smart?" She asked again looking straight into his eyes this time.

"But didn’t you just mention that I’m the dumbest one here?" He used her words right back at her.

"So, you’re accepting that you’re the dumbest?" She asked incredulously.

"First of all, I don’t have the courage to disagree with you, love." Ru pursed her lips as he continued, "And second of all..." He took an unnecessary pause to test her patience.

Ru slapped his chest saying, "Aren’t you gonna continue? Why are you dragging it for so long?"

Xiao Zhiren smiled at her response and said, "Second of all, when it comes to you, my little chili, your Zhiren becomes the dumbest one who only knows how to love you. With you around only my heart beats, the mind stops functioning."

Ru rolled her eyes at him as she said, "If your mind shuts off, then where do those clever and cheesy remarks come from?"

"Obviously, from my heart." Xiao Zhiren replied matter-of-factly. When Ru gave him a skeptical look, he continued, "Let’s accept it. Between us, I can never win in the brain game. You’re smarter than me." The proud peacock’s feathers stood up proudly at this remark. "So, I can only win with my sincere heart."

"You just have an answer for everything, right?" Her face contorted as she tried to hide her smile from him.

"Naturally." He replied and silence prevailed in the room.

Ru wiggled out of his arms and surveyed the room which she had to share with him for two days. Apparently, it was an established fact as girlfriend and boyfriend, they’d be staying in the same room. Was that logic really feasible?

Calling it a room was an understatement. It was more like an exclusive suite.

It had everything that a normal person could wish for. A king-sized bedroom separated from the living area with a tinted glass wall. A wall of glass right in front of the bed looking over at the bed of the sea with a wraparound personal balcony. As it’s mentioned, this luxurious suite could accommodate any normal person. However, Ru wasn’t normal, to begin with.

Probably that’s why Xiao Zhiren saw no change in her expressions as she looked at the vast sea. He hugged her from behind and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "Love, do you like me?"

His lips were attached to the skin of her neck, trailing over it temptingly. He peppered kisses along its length, his mouth sucking and nipping on her skin. Ru took a sharp intake of breath as she said, "I’d have thrown you in the sea by now if I didn’t like you."

Xiao Zhiren chuckled against her skin and hot breath fanned dangerously on her skin. His tongue darted out to nibble on her earlobe and Ru had to bit her tongue to keep herself from laughing. That tingling sensation was hard to suppress though. "Let me rephrase my question then... Do you love me?"

He stopped teasing her skin as he was eager to know the answer. He needed that answer to breathe now. It was something he couldn’t live without anymore.

He was already in her personal space, all she needed to do was turn around and that’s what she did. She turned around and circled her arms around his neck taking him by surprise. With just the right amount of heat, she looked; not at him but into him. But his eyes were masking her feelings perhaps he held an even higher intensity than her. Or maybe he just knew the right blend of seduction which she was oblivious to.

However, she still didn’t hesitate before crashing her lips against his smoothly. Her body was poised, a just-right blend of relaxation and tension. She personally knew how bad she was at kissing but according to her, words might not be enough to communicate with him anymore. She needed him to read her feelings and she tried her best to convey it with that kiss.

It seemed like her will to communicate with his heart was strong since the kiss was intense to Xiao Zhiren. For a man to feel butterflies in his stomach... Sigh! He felt really like a love-struck fool.

His hands glided from her waist to her cheeks as he slightly pulled away, resting his forehead against hers, he hummed, "Are you trying to hide from someone again? Ow!" Ru tugged at his hair making him yelp in disbelief.

"Forget it, if you can’t understand," Ru was going to pull away but he gripped onto her hips and pulled her back.

His lips softly grazed against hers, teasing her slowly. "I understand. You and your crazy heart that is certainly beating for me now." He gave a cheeky smile and as Ru opened her mouth to talk, he didn’t hesitate before letting his tongue in. His pace was fast as he ravished her mouth.

A sound escaped from the back of Ru’s throat making her want to scream. How could her body betray her like this? Her heart had already betrayed her. And now this body wasn’t even working with her. But since the other person was her Zhiren, how could she complain?

With their locked lips, they stepped back one step at a time and Ru finally landed on soft sheets. Xiao Zhiren’s only dilemma was that they were fully clothed! But still, he hovered above her still kissing every single part of her exposed skin.

Ru’s body twitched as she said, "This bloody thing is too soft. I feel like I’ll sink in."

Xiao Zhiren laughed at her comment and with a twist, pulled her over his own body. "I told you last time, this whole body is all yours. Use it as you want."

"Huh! You don’t even dare to fight with me for your right." She replied while glaring at him.

He pushed her hair away from the face and said, "I can fight with the whole world for you. But I can never fight with you."

"Why is that?" She asked.

He kissed the tip of her nose making her scrunch it up and said, "Because I love you."

"You just need excuses to say that..." Ru trailed.

"Indeed. But one thing is confirmed."

"What?"

He pointed between both of them and said, "Between us, you’re definitely gonna be the one at the top."

Ru’s eyes went round before she gritted her teeth and hit his jaw with her head. "Can you be nice for once?" He complained holding his jaw.

Ru sat back up on the bed and said, "People can either be honest or nice. And I prefer being honest."

He wished he could refute her words but why was it so difficult? He also sat up but a wave of vertigo made him dizzy. He rubbed his temple as a headache made him clench his eyes shut.

"What’s wrong?" Ru asked seeing him acting weird all of a sudden.

He loosened his tie and unbuttoned a couple of buttons saying, "I don’t know. My head is heavy. And I’m feeling really hot. Is there no air conditioner?"

"I don’t think it’s that hot."

"Ants are crawling all over my body." His fair skin suddenly tinted red at a speed visible to the eye.

Ru’s eyebrows scrunched up and she pulled his arm. She held his wrist and took his pulse. "Did you eat or drink anything?"

He stressed on his mind. "Just a glass of champagne before you pulled me to the elevator." He replied.

She got up and stepped away from him. "Your body temperature is high. And your heart is beating abnormally fast. I think... I think your drink was spiked."

"What?"