Chapter 79: Aftermath
Chapter 79
The next day, a faint warm golden light from the bright morning sun pierced through the grime-streaked window, illuminating the entire room.
The room was a literal embodiment of destruction, with shards of obsidian ice that had fully melted into strangely clear, stagnant puddles on the floor that looked no different from the puddle of normal ice.
Clothes that were currently left hanging around the entire place as if a level five hurricane had just hit the place. Even the once proud desk that had accompanied him for years, now lay broken beyond human comprehension.
And as for the duo responsible for this mess, they were currently lying on the bed, with the woman snuggled deeply into the man’s chest, while the man would occasionally let out small grumbling noises while occasionally covering his eyes from the stinging rays of morning sun.
After a while of enduring the persistent sunlight, Alex stirred first. His body felt like it had been molded out of heavy lead mixed with heavy doses of cement. Every muscle in his body hummed with a deep, satisfied ache, so much so that he didn’t want to get up at all.
As his consciousness slowly came to life, he felt a soft warm body pressed against his chest and looked down. Celine was still there, her hair a silken mess against her snow white shoulder and her breathing was surprisingly calm for the first time since she had quite literally tried to put a hole in his head last night.
Just as he was enjoying the peaceful morning, Celine’s eyes suddenly flew wide open. Normally there was supposed to be this groggy confusion after just waking up from a particularly wonderful sleep, but it looked like that rule didn’t apply to someone like her.
One moment she was a sleepy beauty, and the next, she was a coiled viper ready to strike with no hesitation. She rose upward with her soft hand instantly coating in a dark, ominous frost as she lunged straight for Alex’s throat.
"Whoa! Whoa! Relax!" Alex hurriedly yelled while catching her wrist that was now inches away from his jugular.
The air between them dropped twenty degrees instantly, and the frost from her palm was slowly beginning to bite into his skin, but strangely it didn’t affect him like before.
Before he had time to ponder over why this was happening, Celine tried to bring her knee up into his groin, but Alex rolled in time, pinning her beneath him once more. The room was cold, quiet and filled with a tension so thick it felt like it might just about combust.
"Get... The hell off me... you pig!" Celine hissed, her voice a raging fire that contrasted sharply with her ability.
Her obsidian eyes were no longer hazy with lust, they were instead burning with a humiliated, murderous light. The realization of what took place last night was crashing down on her like an avalanche.
The Black Rose, the hidden blade of one of the three underworld rulers, who had never allowed a single man within ten feet of her personal space, had just been dismantled, toyed with, and thoroughly conquered by an annoyingly irritating man who was supposed to be her freaking target.
It was official, her life was now ruined.
"Is this how you say thank you?" Alex asked, his voice dripping with a shameless, morning after rasp.
He didn’t let go of her delicate wrist, he just continued to stare down at her flushed, angry face.
"Because I’m pretty sure you were the one begging me not to stop a few hours ago. In fact, I think your exact words involved threatening to kill me if I dare stop."
"I was under the influence of your disgusting ability!" She spat, her face turning a shade of crimson that had nothing to do with desire and everything to do with pure rage. "You freaking used me! You manipulated my body and forced me to... to..."
"Forced you?" Alex cut her off with a snort. "For your information, I clearly remember asking for your consent. I literally paused and asked if you wanted me to go all the way or I should stop. You were the one who told me to shut the hell up and get to work. Now, what was I supposed to do when a gorgeous, horny woman was practically rubbing herself against me? I’m a healthy young man, not a monk, so it would have been rude to turn you down. Besides, my doctor once said it’s not good to suppress that kind of thing."
"You... you shameless bastard!" Celine screamed, and her primordial essence instantly flared, causing a spike of ice to erupt from her free palm. It was a good thing that her hand was trembling with rage if not the shard could have pierced Alex on the waist.
"I will tear your heart out! I will freeze your blood in your veins and shatter you into a thousand pieces! I will..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, you’ll kill me. Can we do all this later." Alex countered, while releasing her wrist and rolling off her to stand up. He didn’t care that he was naked and his massive length was currently visible. He just walked across the room with a nonchalant swagger that only served to infuriate her even more. "Right now, you look like you need a shower and a change of clothes. That is unless you plan on walking back to Marcus’s place in torn up panties and a scowl on your face."
Celine sat up, clutching the tattered bedsheets to her chest, her eyes darting across the room until they landed on the remnants of her assassin suit. It looked torn beyond repair all because of a certain bastard who couldn’t keep his hands to himself.
Just the sight of it made her stomach turn. Great. Here she was, stuck in the apartment of her target, naked, drained of a significant portion of her essence, and completely compromised.
"I’m not going to wear anything of yours, you bastard!" She growled.
"Suit yourself," Alex shrugged, leaning against his closet door. "But my apartment building doesn’t exactly have a naked woman policy. So I reckon you’ll probably make it about halfway down the stairs before someone calls the police, and then you’ll have a whole new different set of problems. Or, you could just take the clothes. After all, I’m not the one who’ll be looking like an insane person wandering this peaceful street in their birthday suit."
Celine looked from him to the door, then back to the heap of ruined black fabric on the floor. As much as she hated to say this but the pervert was right, She couldn’t just go out like this. If she was spotted in this state, then her reputation would be dead before Marcus could even get a chance to kill her.
"Fine," she whispered with resentment. "But don’t even think that this changes anything. Now hand me the clothes and turn around."
Alex rolled his eyes while tossing a bundle of fabric toward her.
"What’s there to hide? It’s not like I’ve not seen everything there is to be seen yesterday night. But, I’ll just give you some privacy."
It was a heavy, grey hoodie and a pair of grey sweat pants. Celine made sure to confirm that he had really kept his word, before she scrambled out of the bed. The moment her feet hit the floor, she winced a bit. Her legs felt like jelly, a stark reminder of the crazy thrusts she had endured.
She looked down at her body and spotted the faint red marks on her body that was already beginning to heal due to her Awakened physiology and cursed Alex to the moon before calming down.
Then she pulled on the sweatpants first. Maybe it was because Alex was a solid 6ft 1in and she stood at 5ft 7in, that the waistband came up nearly to her ribs, and the cuffs pooled around her ankle like excess skin. She had to tie the drawstring as far as it could go just to keep them from sliding off her hips.
Next came the hoodie. The damn thing was too massive on her; the shoulder seams slumped down to her mid-bicep, and the sleeves completely covered her fingers.
She looked at the small mirror above his dresser and sighed. The feared Black Rose known as the icy shadow of death in the underworld was now looking like a woman who had just borrowed her boyfriend’s clothes after a long night. The sight was so infuriating that she felt a fresh wave of fury.
"I hate you," she said, her voice muffled by the oversized hood as she pulled it over her head. "I hate everything about you. I hate your stupid apartment, I hate your clothes, and I hate that stupid look on your stupid face right now."
Alex turned around and was momentarily unable to suppress a genuine laugh. Just seeing the lethal assassin drowning in his oversized clothes was a wonderful sight.
"You look so adorable, Celine. Like a grumpy little penguin. Hahaha."
"I am going to kill you, mark my words," she repeated, her eyes flashing dangerously from the depth of the hood. She marched toward the door, her oversized pants swishing with every step, making her look significantly less threatening than she would have wished to be.
"Don’t think this is over. Marcus might have sent me to test you, but now this is personal. I will find a way to break that ability of yours, and when I do, I’ll make sure you regret ever touching me."
"I’ll be waiting. Just make sure not to take your whole life trying to kill me. Oh and friendly advice... If Marcus sent you here to test and kill me, then what are you going to do when he finds out that I’m still alive, so for your sake I hope you know of any excuse... Or you could just hide in my place. Hehe."
Celine paused at the door with her hand on the knob. Though she didn’t turn back Alex was still able to notice the way her shoulders tensed before she yanked the door open.
"Goodbye, Alex Walker. Make sure you always sleep with one eye open from now on."
With that the door slammed shut with a loud bang that threatened to pull it out of its hinges.