The Smut-Novel Heroine in the Beast World - Chapter 8

In the car.

“All bundled up?” Fu Yan arched a brow.

I was wearing a turtleneck and jeans. “It’s cold.”

“It’s August.”

“I run cold.”

“Should I turn on the heater, then?”

I turned and glared at him.

He chuckled, one long hand resting lazily on the steering wheel.

“This is the outfit Xu Bai chose for you? Isn’t he afraid you’ll break out in heat rash?”

“He doesn’t know humans can get heat rash.”

Hot and bothered, I tugged at my collar and defended him. “He originally picked out a beautiful red dress, but it accidentally got dirty, and my body…”

“Enough.” Fu Yan cut me off. “If you believe that load of crap, you might as well believe I’m Qin Shi Huang.”

I glanced at him. “You know Qin Shi Huang?”

“Mm. I’m rather interested in humans. I have a large collection at home.”

“That’s why I’d like to invite you to my house today. Is that all right?”

I hesitated. “Xu Bai said it would be best not to visit your… um… snake pit.”

“But we’re already here.”

Fu Yan unfastened his seat belt and smiled at me. “Don’t worry. I’m only taking you to my study. I won’t let you into my snake. Pit.”

“Fine.” I got out of the car.

Fu Yan was still dressed in a suit, its crisp tailoring making his tall figure look even more commanding.

He opened his arms to me. “Come here. I’ll carry you.”

Humans were slightly smaller than beastfolk and existed as pets here.

So beastfolk carried humans around like cats or dogs, or led them by collars.

Xu Bai alone preferred to hold my hand.

“No, thanks.” I refused Fu Yan.

“Why?”

“It looks too much like Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.”

“Gan Jiang and Mo Ye?”

“Speaking of which, would you be interested in helping me create a game suitable for all ages?”

Fu Yan was surprised. “You want to discuss business with me?”

Like a magician, I produced a briefcase. “Why not?”

He laughed despite himself. “Why not indeed?”

In the elevator, Fu Yan looked down at me and smiled indulgently every now and then.

The smile made my skin crawl. I wanted to snap at him.

But if my cat slung a briefcase over its shoulder and asked to discuss business, I would find that funny too.

I was living under a beastman’s roof, after all. I would forgive him for now.

In the end, Fu Yan still refused my business proposal.

“We agreed this would be a date. If you want to discuss business, you need to make an appointment with my secretary in advance.”

I set my briefcase aside. “Fine.”

At the door to his study, Fu Yan gestured for me to enter. “There are many things in here you’ll recognize. I think you’ll like it.”

Rather than a study, the room looked like a private museum of humanity.

It housed human armor and longswords.

I stopped before one display.

Behind the glass sat a perfectly preserved—milk tea cup.

Seeing me stop, Fu Yan said, “This object is rather fragile. I’ve always wanted to see what’s inside, but it may crumble to dust if touched.”

“…” I kept my mouth shut and moved on.

Next, I found a human skeleton.

Fu Yan explained, “This is the skeleton of an ancient human male. There’s something I’ve always wondered about.”

He tapped a finger against the glass. “Why are there steel beads here?”

“…You could say they were used for courtship.”

“I see.”

Finally, I stopped in astonishment before a massive portrait.

“Is that… me?”

“It looks like you, doesn’t it?”

Fu Yan drew me down onto the sofa opposite the portrait. “Sit.”

He seemed to sit here and contemplate the painting often.

“Don’t be afraid. I painted it.”

I sighed in relief. “You scared me. I thought I’d become a historical landmark.”

Fu Yan’s lips curved. “I painted it before I met you.”

I stared. “?”

“Ever since I came of age, I have dreamed of an unfamiliar human woman. We met and fell in love in those dreams. Then, one day, she stopped appearing.”

“I was afraid I would forget her, so I painted her.”

“Most beastfolk prefer their own kind. Only a small number choose humans as partners.”

“Yet I kept dreaming of this human woman. At first, she rode me and lorded it over me. Later, we came to understand each other, and our feelings deepened. In the dreams, she said we were perfectly compatible lovers.”

“I… agree with her.”

My attention was fixed on the painting.

Fu Yan’s was fixed on me.

His gaze burned too hot to ignore.

I had no choice but to look at him. “Come on. It was only a dream. You don’t expect me to take responsibility for it, do you?”

“But your face, your figure, the way you speak—even your personality—are all identical to hers.”

He knelt in front of me, caught my calf, and pulled me toward him.

“You like me on my knees. You like me in a suit.”

“You like it best when a tall, powerful man adopts a submissive posture before you. Don’t you?”

I swallowed. “A handsome man with a good body.”

“Thank you for the compliment.” Fu Yan narrowed his eyes in pleasure. “See? Even your tastes are the same.”

“To this day, I have never so much as touched a female’s hand.”

I wasn’t buying it. “I seem to remember you pulling me into your lap the first time we met. That didn’t look very chaste.”

Fu Yan scoffed, pinched my chin, and stopped his handsome face where our breaths mingled.

“One day, you’ll understand just how much restraint I have exercised.”

“After years apart, seeing the face from my dreams again made me want to tie you up, lock you in my basement, and make sure you could never escape me for the rest of your life.”

I leaned back against the sofa to put distance between us.

“Don’t be afraid.” Fu Yan caught my thigh and pulled me toward him. “I won’t do that, because you wouldn’t like it.”

“Unlike Xu Bai, I will never treat you as a pet. We are equal lovers. The only license you and I will ever get is a marriage license.”

He lifted my hand and rubbed his cheek against my palm. “You won’t even have to put any effort into training me. I’m already your little puppy-snake.”

“Don’t you want to experience the pleasure of one-hundred-percent compatibility?”

“So at least consider me. Hmm?”

A sudden message alert shattered the intimate atmosphere.

I checked my phone.

It was Xu Bai.

[Are you coming back?]

[Yes.]