I slept so well that I didn't wake up until light shone through in the early morning.
When I got up, though, Colin was nowhere to be found. He'd just left a note sitting there that said, "I'm going to Turner Mansion."
Well, well. He was clearly heading over there to settle things, which meant my father's little move of sending me that fox beastman must have really gotten under his skin. I figured I'd go and enjoy the show.
The second I walked into Turner Mansion, I caught Hailey right in the middle of a meltdown. She was throwing things everywhere and shouting, "Someone figure out a way to make Colin fall for me!"
All the servants stood there with their heads down, not daring to say a word. One of them noticed me, then immediately shook Hailey's arm to let her know I'd shown up.
Hailey's face changed slightly when she saw me, but then, something seemed to dawn on her, and she lifted her chin with this smug look in her eyes before saying, "You're not here looking for Colin, are you? Don't waste your time. He's going to be my beastman any minute now."
Seeing how completely out of touch with reality she was, I just clicked my tongue and said, "In that case, I actually feel sorry for you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, giving me a suspicious look.
"Well, he might look strong and impressive in every way, but the truth is he's totally useless where it really matters. You know, down there. It just won't stand up."
For some reason, right as I was saying those words, I felt like there was someone breathing softly right next to my ear. But when I tried to look for it, the feeling disappeared, so I just told myself I must have imagined it.
Hailey hesitated for just a second, but in the end, she still didn't believe my words. She curled her lip, rolled her eyes, and said, "You've got to be making that up."
I shot back, "I'm not, I swear. Look, I don't even have the mark, see?"
Everyone knew that when a human mated with a beastman, a little star-shaped red mark would show up on the human's leg, with this special kind of glow that couldn't be faked or hidden.
I lifted my skirt right there and showed her the very top of my thigh. It was completely smooth and flawless, without a single thing on it.
Right at that moment, I could have sworn I heard breathing right next to my ear again, and this time, I was absolutely sure it wasn't my imagination.
Hailey's smile only got wider as she said, "Well, then I guess you just don't have what it takes to attract him."
But I didn't have time to stand around arguing with her anymore, because there was something way more urgent I needed to check for myself, so I said I needed to use the bathroom and left.
Sure enough, when I walked past one of the doors, it just swung open out of nowhere all by itself, and before I knew it, I got pushed inside by some kind of invisible force.
I reached out into the air in front of me, trusting my gut, and my hand closed around something—the exact kind of fabric that Colin always wore.
I fumbled around, undoing his buttons one by one and running my hands over his skin, and even though I couldn't see the body right in front of me, I could feel every bit of muscle in it go completely tight under my fingers.
I stood up on my tiptoes a little and brought my mouth close to his, then asked, "Colin, be honest with me. That time when I was taking a shower in the bathroom, were you hiding in the corner watching me?"
That good smell of his was unlike anything else in the world, completely one of a kind.
My hand kept sliding lower and lower as my voice dropped to this bewitching, coaxing whisper. "How much did you see? My legs? My waist... or all of me? Did you like what you saw? And why didn't you just come over and let me have you back then?"
But then, right through the thin layer of fabric, the moment my hand touched something down there, I pulled it back like I'd been burned.
What on earth was that? It was way too big. There was no way I could take in something like that without breaking!!!
Right at that exact second, Colin turned visible again. He grabbed my hand and pushed it back down where it had been, his eyes burning with pure desire and this fierce sense of possessiveness. His voice came out a little rougher than usual as he gave a teasing smile. "Weren't you just coming on to me all strong a moment ago? What's the matter, scared all of a sudden?"
Then, his hand moved up along the opening of my shirt, and for the first time ever, his fingertips brushed against a spot so sensitive that even the groan that slipped out of my mouth was beyond my control.
I tried to squirm away, but he pulled me right back, and my body ended up pressed hard against something so hot that it felt like it was burning through the cloth.
That was when I heard footsteps from outside the door. "Why do I hear a voice in there?" someone asked.
"Who's inside?" It was Hailey and Lilith.
The exact instant the door swung open, Colin grabbed hold of my waist and drove into me with one deep, hard thrust.