Lucifer's words echoed like a final verdict within the silent bedchamber, hammering at Lin Xi's taut nerves.
He gave her no time to prepare. Almost the instant his voice faded, the black velvet robe, saturated with his scent, was torn from her by his own hands and fell limp to the floor. The icy air instantly enveloped her body clad only in a thin lining, sending a fine shiver through her. The shackles on her wrists and ankles were bone-chillingly cold, forming a cruel contrast to the burning intensity of his gaze.
"Kneel," he commanded, his voice low, devoid of any trace of desire, holding only pure, overbearing control.
Lin Xi's fingernails dug deep into her palms as humiliation coiled up like poisonous vines. Yet she knew any direct resistance now would be futile, inviting only harsher suppression. The system's warning—[Mission Remaining Time: 11 minutes]—echoed like the Grim Reaper's countdown.
She had to use this.
She did not submit immediately. Instead, she lifted her head to meet his crimson pupils, her lips curling into a smile that was almost broken yet held a hook: "What does Your Majesty wish to see... submission, or shattering?" Her voice was light, carrying an imperceptible tremor, yet her gaze burned like a candle flickering in the wind, stubbornly holding onto the last glimmer of defiance.
Lucifer's pupils contracted slightly. She was always like this—even in her most desperate moments, she could still extend the sharpest thorns.
He did not answer, choosing action over words. He stepped forward, his immense shadow engulfing her entirely. His palm, calloused and scorching, pressed down on her shoulder without warning, the force so great it sent her tumbling backward, stumbling uncontrollably.
Her knees finally struck the cold, hard ground.
She knelt at his feet. This position forced her to look up at him, like a believer gazing upon a deity, or a prisoner staring at an executioner.
He looked down at her, savoring her forced submission and the unyielding flame in her eyes. His hand slid down her slender neck, traced the sharp curve of her collarbone, and finally rested on her chest. Through the thin, sweat-soaked lining, he felt her heart racing.
"Your heart races, 'Advisor,'" he murmured, his breath scorching her earlobe. "Is it fear... or anticipation?"
Lin Xi bit her lower lip, stifling a moan that threatened to escape. His touch carried an appraising, possessive edge—more a branding than a caress.
"I'm calculating..." She gasped for breath, struggling to maintain clarity. "Calculating how much longer His Majesty will tolerate this unruly 'possession' of his."
"Until I tire of it," he declared coldly, his other hand violently ripping open the front of her lining.
The sudden rush of icy air against her exposed skin made her gasp. With her upper body stripped bare, she instinctively tried to curl up, but he pinned her in place.
His gaze felt tangible, greedily scanning every inch of her exposed skin—from her slender waist to her flat yet smoothly contoured chest—finally settling on the fading yet still faintly visible bite mark on her shoulder.
"The old mark has faded," he rasped, his crimson eyes churning with deep desire and a possessiveness bordering on savagery. "It needs a new one."
He lowered his head, his scorching lips and tongue replacing his fingers, searing the sensitive skin where her neck met her shoulder. Not gentle sucking, but punishing bites and licks, like a beast marking its territory.
A violent current, a mix of stinging pain and strange pleasure, shot through her body. Lin Xi couldn't suppress a short, muffled whimper, her body shaking violently, barely able to maintain her kneeling position. Her hands clutched helplessly at the fabric of his military pants, her fingertips turning white.
[Warning! Host's physiological indicators fluctuating violently! Adrenaline levels surging!]
[Mission Remaining Time: 9 minutes 47 seconds!]
Just as Lin Xi's consciousness began to blur from the overwhelming stimulation, on the verge of succumbing to this forced intimacy, Lucifer's movements abruptly halted.
He lifted his head, his lips tinged with the faintest trace of her blood—he had wounded her after all. Yet the droplets seeping from that tiny wound only added to the brutal beauty of the scene.
He gazed at her dazed eyes, flushed cheeks, slightly swollen lips, and the fresh, reddened mark with traces of blood on the side of her neck, narrowing his eyes in satisfaction.
"Now," he murmured, wiping away the droplet of blood with his fingertip, his voice low and dangerous, "the scent of me on your body is even stronger."
Lin Xi gasped for breath, her body limp and weak, leaning against his leg to keep from collapsing. Humiliation, rage, and a thread of unwillingly aroused physical response she refused to acknowledge tangled together, sending her mind into chaos.
But the system's countdown doused her with ice-cold water, jolting part of her consciousness awake.
Nine minutes... Only nine minutes left!
She must... must let him complete the marking! The true marking!
Summoning a shred of strength, she raised her limp arm and wrapped it around Lucifer's neck, pressing her burning cheek against his hard abdominal muscles. This almost clinging gesture stood in stark contrast to her earlier resistance.
"Your Majesty..." Her voice was hoarse from the earlier biting, tinged with a broken, seductive softness. "Is... that all?"
Her fingertips traced the cold metal buckle of his military belt, cautiously, tentatively.
"Alpha's 'mark'... does it truly end with... just a wound?"
She tilted her head back, her eyes glistening with tears, yet radiating a reckless, deadly defiance.
"Or is it... that Your Majesty... actually... dares not truly possess me?"
The air seemed to freeze in that instant.
Lucifer's body stiffened abruptly. The gaze he cast upon her became terrifyingly intense, the desire churning within it nearly solidifying into flames that threatened to consume her entirely.
[Time Remaining: 8 minutes 15 seconds]