Deviant: No Longer Human Chapter 748: *Shadowborn (4)*

"...Seriously?"

"..."

Velkhara hesitated for a second, then, reluctantly, threw half the blanket over him. A second later, she shuffled closer, barely a few inches.

The ceiling above was pitch black. Cold seeped in through the stone walls. She hugged herself tighter, but her toes were still freezing.

Her eyes drifted toward him, he looked... warm.

Unconsciously, she inched backward, just a bit. The heat from his body was addictive... A few more inches.

She stopped, cheeks warm now for an entirely different reason.

"...Just for heat," she muttered to herself. "That’s all."

But her heart was beating faster.

And her soft backside... was almost touching his thigh now.

An hour passed...

Velkhara couldn’t take it anymore, her body shivered, her toes numb, the cold was unbearable.

She shifted again.

Just a bit...

Until her back barely touched his chest.

Wang Xiao’s eyes opened at once.

"...Cold?" His voice was low, rough.

"!!"

She froze. "I...didn’t an to, did I wake you up?"

Wang Xiao didn’t answer that. Instead, his gaze trailed down her slender back, her pale shoulders peeking from the gown like soft marble under moonlight.

"I forget how cold this castle gets at night," he murmured, his breath brushing her nape. "I’ve long stopped feeling it... but your body still reacts."

She nodded slowly. "...Is there any way to make it warr?" she whispered unconsciously, maybe she ant magic, maybe she just wanted comfort, she wasn’t sure.

He didn’t say a word, just shifted closer.

His arm slipped around her thin waist, pulling her flush against him.

Velkhara stiffened.

"W-Wait... "

"This is the fastest way," he whispered. "Body heat."

His palm rested on her stomach, fingers grazing her claws. Her breath fastened. She could feel him now, his heat, his heartbeat... and the hard pressure slowly forming behind her.

"...This isn’t fair..." she whispered, cheeks flushed, cold toes pressed together.

"What isn’t?" he asked, his voice unhurried, like a man sipping wine, watching a bird corner itself.

"You’re not even... an evil person," she muttered, the words trembling. "Why are you acting like this... I don’t like it."

He chuckled, breath hot against her ear. "You sure I’m not an evil person?"

His hand drifted lower, fingers sliding just beneath her navel, soft, cold, deliberate.

Her entire body jolted, back arched, but not in resistance... Just instinct.

She didn’t say anything, just shut her eyes tightly.

"I... I believe you..." she mumbled.

"You shouldn’t," he replied. And the next second, his body pressed fully against her from behind. His arm coiled around her waist like a chain. Her soft butt brushed against the hard pressure forming at his groin.

He hadn’t even taken his clothes off, but she could feel the shape of it, long, thick, hot like steel fresh from a forge, pressing against the gap between her thighs.

She should have run.

Should have scread.

Instead, her body froze.

He rested his chin on her shoulder, his lips grazing her skin. A kiss, a bite.... Sothing in between.

She kept her eyes closed, face tilted away. Not resisting, not accepting either.

"Are you scared of ?" he asked quietly.

"...Y-Yes," Velkhara breathed, so faint it barely left her lips.

And she was.

But not in the dramatic, sobbing way stories liked to tell. This fear was colder, quieter. She was blank. Numb. Her mind flickered like a broken lantern, thoughts shorting out before they could form.

She didn’t stop him.

Could she?

A thousand stories about strength and will crumble the first ti a girl realizes her body doesn’t obey her anymore.

And Velkhara... was not stupid.

She knew, if he wanted, there was nothing she could do.

So why did she say "I believe you"?

Maybe because it bought her a second of illusion. Maybe because it was the only thing her mouth could form before she shattered. Maybe because sotis, when you’re powerless, you pretend trust is a choice.

But he didn’t stop at her waist.

His hand slid up now, rough fingers pushing her top aside and grabbing her breast, small, supple, full of youth. He squeezed it like testing fruit, then flicked her nipple with his thumb, drawing a gasp from her throat.

"Mmh!" she hissed, biting her palm as his thumb flicked over the tight bud of her nipple.

"What was your na again?" he asked casually, as if discussing the weather while groping her.

"Vel..." she muttered, ashad at the sound of her own voice.

"Vel," he repeated, amused. "No one ever taught you not to sleep next to a strange man?"

His hand squeezed harder. Her breath fastened. She wanted to curl away, but her body remained, traitorous and still.

"I... I don’t know what to do," she whispered.

Her arms instinctively pulled her knees up, trying to make herself smaller, as if she could hide from touch, from heat, from herself.

"You don’t need to know," Wang Xiao said, "Just follow ."

A breath of silence passed.

And then, she nodded.

Just like that.

Not because she trusted him. Not because she wanted him. But because her thoughts were sinking, and his voice was the only thing still above the water.

He blinked, surprised. "Good girl," he murmured, rubbing her head with affection.

Not the petting of a lover.

The indulgence of a man taming sothing.

He hadn’t expected her to agree this quickly.

But Velkhara wasn’t broken. She was just... displaced.

Like a mirror dislodged from the wall. Cracked, but still reflecting whatever was put before it.

A thousand emotions scread in her chest, but they were tangled, unford. She wasn’t aroused. She wasn’t crying. She was sothing worse:

Confused.

And confusion, at its core, is submission without clarity.

She might beco a woman tonight, but not in the way poets wrote about.

There was no romance in this.

No seduction.

Just silence.

And a girl who didn’t say no... not because she wanted to say yes, but because she didn’t how to say "no".

"Have you married yet, Vel?" Wang Xiao’s voice was a whisper near her ear, too casual for the words of what followed.

His hands withdrew from her breasts, but not without a last squeeze. The fabric of her nightdress stuck to his palms, and as he pulled back, his fingers dragged across her skin: from the soft curve of her waist, down the outside of her thigh, and then... in between.

A place no hand had touched.

Not even her own.

She tensed.

"N-Not yet," she managed to reply, throat dry.

His hand snaked between her trembling thighs, prying gently, not forcefully, but insistently, like water seeking cracks in stone. His face nuzzled against the back of her neck, his lips brushing her shoulder as he inhaled her scent.

Velkhara’s cheeks turned scarlet. Her breathe felt colder, her tribe didn’t treat marriage like the outside world did. It wasn’t a dress or a kiss or a signature. It was loyalty, soul-deep and unbroken. Once touched, once claid... there was no turning back. Just like their beasts.

Beast and Master, like Bride and groom, bond until death.

She was supposed to marry soone from her own bloodline, soone chosen.

Maybe a political link, a sacred bond.

But here she was, legs parting by the second.

Wang Xiao chuckled. "Perfect... then how about I be the priest and decide on your marriage partner?" he whispered, and slid his fingers lower.

Between her folds.

She flinched.

A soft, dry warmth , like the unopened petals of a flower waiting for sunlight. He rubbed her slit gently, up and down, pressing into the crease of her pussy until wetness slowly blood under his touch.

"Y-You’ll let go after...?" she asked, hesistant.

He didn’t stop.

"Of course," he said, thumb brushing just above her clit now , a slow, circular stroke that made her legs twitch. "But not before I conduct the wedding."

"What... wedding...?" Her voice was trembling.

Wang Xiao’s thumb slipped downward, pressing into her entrance.

Just barely.

Wet now, but still tight. He pushed in, a little deeper, eting the soft resistance inside.

The delicate wall of her innocence.

She gasped, fists clenching the blanket.

He leaned in, kissed her cheek, and whispered against her skin:

"Still sealed... like a flower that hasn’t been plucked yet. But you know, Vel... a ripe fruit isn’t the only thing thieves crave. Sotis, the untouched ones... are the sweetest temptations."

Her stomach twisted, she understood the taphor. And she hated herself for understanding it.

How easy it would be, if she were dumb. If she were ignorant, a village girl who didn’t know what this was. She could scream, cry, and later say she never knew.

But Velkhara knew.

Every word.

Every act.

Every intention.

"You... you said you’d let go..." she reminded again, holding onto the only thread she had.

"Mm. I will," Wang Xiao replied, his thumb still pressed at her entrance. "But first... I’ve decided to wed you."

His voice sharpened just a little, not with cruelty, but with the quiet arrogance of a man who didn’t ask for permission.

"To myself."

Velkhara breath stopped.

"...What?"

She twisted, breaking free from his hold for just a mont. She turned, eyes wide, staring into his face like he’d just spoken a foreign tongue.

"Marry... you?" she echoed.

The mont her legs closed, he lost contact with her slit, but didn’t seem disappointed. Her reaction made up for it.

Her eyes, shimring sapphire, were blown wide, reflecting confusion, fear, and sothing else... flickering like starlight in deep water.