4 An indecent proposal

Zi Mei woke up with a start, her heart thumping loudly in her ears. She is lying in a bed in a strange room. A large luxurious room. Like a hotel suite.

She gasped and checked her clothes. All her clothes are intact. She is fully clothed. She remembered being dragged into the car with Thorin Loong and his wife, Jessica. After that, everything went dark.

She tried to get up and realised her left hand and right leg were chained to the bed. She pulled at the restraints and it clanged loudly. These are thick sturdy metal chains. She had been kidnapped and now being held captive? What will they do to her? All sorts of ideas filled her mind. Torture. ****. Sadistic sex rituals. Devil worshipping. Human sacrifice.

It can't be for money since she is poorer than an out-of-work trishaw man. Besides, she comes with a $500,000 debt that she had no way of repaying. If they had kidnapped her for ransom, they will be in for a huge surprise.

She struggled against the restraints ineffectively. There was no way she could get out of this. Frustrated tears welled up in her eyes. Why is this happening to her? First the loansharks and now this. She cursed her luck. She cursed her lousy karma. She cursed her gambler father for leaving her in his mess. She cursed her ancestors for not blessing her with good fortune and luck.

The door opened. She quickly wiped off her tears with her unrestrained hand. She didn't want to look weak in front of her captors. Her kidnappers.

Thorin Loong walked in. Dazzlingly handsome and just as imposing. Her breath caught in her throat and her pulse quickened at the sight of him.

What is wrong with you Zi Mei? He is your kidnapper! She admonished herself, then she gasped when he stood over her, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes, on the other hand, were filled with longing.

Was he going to bend down and kiss her? Was he going to do all sorts of nasty things to her? Her heart thrilled at the thought but her rational mind recoiled at how her heart reacted to such thoughts. She must be out of her mind.

"I apologise for chaining you up. We had to make sure you will not escape before we have this talk," he said. He sat down on the bed, the mattress dipped under his weight and she felt her body roll towards him, stopping a mere inches away from him.

She gasped. Her blood is singing in her veins at his proximity and her pulse is now doing the cha-cha. What was wrong with her? She should be frightened. She should be mortified. Yet, her body is responding like a horny hormone-filled teenager.

"Why are you doing this?" she finally said, her voice tremulous. She tried to move as far away from him as possible, pulling at the restraints as she did so.

"I need an heir," he said. "And you can give it to me," he added.

Okay. He may be handsome but he is obviously insane. He sounded like some royalty from some period drama show. She would have laughed if she was not chained to a bed, practically vulnerable to whatever he wanted to do to her.

"While I am honoured, you have a wife to do that so there was no need for me," she said. She will have to play along and placate him. You can never antagonise a crazy person.

"No, Jessica can't give me an heir. None of my wives from all these centuries could bear me an heir. I need a perfect human match and after so many centuries of searching, you are my match," he said.

Her eyes widened. Now, he sounded like a full blown escapee from the asylum. She tried to keep her calm.

"I am sorry but I have to, er, respectfully reject your offer, of course, I am so honoured, but you see, I am still way too young to be a mother," she said. "I will make a horrible mother too!" she added.

She has to play along. Who knows what he will do if she angered him? Her right hand slowly reached into her pocket, hoping her phone is still there. It wasn't. She bit back her frustration. And fear.

"You are 21 years old, you are an adult and as far as I can see, quite fertile and ready to bear an heir for me or maybe even a few heirs," he said.

Cold fear ran down her veins. He sounded crazier than the homeless man who talks to himself down the street near her house.

"But…but…what will your wife say? She might not like this at all," she said.

"Jessica? Don't worry about her. She is not actually my wife. She is there for official purposes, just for show, like what you humans are fond of saying," he replied.

She looked at him warily. There he is again with his reference to "humans" and the way he said the word. It was as if he was way superior than common humans.

"Maybe she will gladly bear you an heir since she is already pretending to be your wife?" she suggested.

Annoyance crossed his aristocratic face. He frowned at her.

"You aren't very smart, are you?" he asked. He traced a finger down her face, leaving a trail of red hot sensations on her skin. "That's just too bad when you are so pretty," he added.

She was outraged. How dare he touch her like that! How dare he insult her intelligence!

"Why you…." She spluttered but he interrupted her.

"Let me explain to you again. I have searched for centuries for a match to bear me an heir or several heirs and I have never found one. All these years, I had to take on a partner, a 'wife' as you humans like to call it, for appearances' sake. I find that remaining single attracts unwanted attention and I have no time to fend off all these lusty horny females falling at my feet incessantly," he said.

She rolled her eyes. Yes, of course. He must brag about the women falling at his feet in adoration. As if. But she kept her scornful thoughts to herself.

"As you would have already guessed, I am immortal and I am not human. I come from a long line of dragons from the Heaven's Descent Clan…"

This time, she couldn't help herself but to laugh out loud. A literal LOL. If she wasn't chained to the bed, she would be ROLFMAO-ing.

A dragon. What next? She is actually a reincarnated warrior princess? He needed her by his side to fight a war between heaven and earth? And then they have to defeat The Dark One from another dimension by producing lots of heirs?

"Please. Do you think I am that naive and stupid? You don't even look an ounce like a dragon," she interrupted him. She is done placating him. His insanity knows no boundaries and it doesn't look like he will let her go anytime soon.

Cold anger sparkled in his eyes. His lips thinned.

"Don't believe me? Fine," he stood up. He closed his eyes. There was a flash and a silver dragon floated before her.

She gasped and blinked. She rubbed her eyes and stared. There it was. A silver Chinese dragon with an undulating body of a large snake, four claws, a long snout like a horse, antler-like horns and shiny scales along its sinuous body. Its deep brown eyes was glaring at her. She blinked again and Thorin Loong was back in human form. He smoothed his thick hair.

Did she imagined the whole thing or did she just see a real life dragon?

"Now do you believe me?" he asked.

She gaped at him. She didn't know what to say. Maybe he had drugged her and she was hallucinating. That was the only possible explanation for what she saw. Dragons are mythical creatures. They aren't real. They are stuff of legends and stories.

"Now, back to what I was saying. I am the last of my kind in my clan and I need to produce an heir or a few heirs soon before I lose my immortality and powers. Much as I am bored with the trivialities of living amongst you humans, I prefer to remain immortal and I prefer to keep my powers for now, we need to maintain the delicate balance between good and evil with my presence," he said.

And there it was. The mention of good and evil. She is sure he will mention some sort of battle or war soon. It was like the plot of a very bad B-grade fantasy drama.

"In order to get heirs, I need to find a perfect match and yesterday, after touching you, I realised you are my perfect match," he said.

Okay, so she was wrong. No mention of battles. Now he sounded like he's reciting lines from some fantasy romance drama.

"You will have to be my mistress and bear me at least an heir. In return, I will give you all the riches that you want, millions of dollars, gold, jewellery, all the riches that you humans desire the most," he said.

Wait. Hold up. What did he just say? She narrowed her eyes at him. So, he is a pervert after all.

"Define mistress," she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? You don't know what that meant?" he asked. He walked towards her and bent towards her, his lips next to her ears.

"It meant sleeping together. It meant countless nights of passion until you conceive and it also meant, you are mine until I release the day I release you," he whispered.

He blew gently into her ears and she shivered. Sudden red hot desire bloomed within her and she gasped at its ferocity. She tried to tamp it down and reminded herself that she is with a lunatic who thinks he is a dragon. She is certain the dragon she saw was hallucination. He must have drugged her.

He brushed his luscious lips against her neck ever so lightly, like the touch of a butterfly, and it sent a lightning of current down her veins. She gasped yet again. Then he was standing up and moving away, leaving her feeling empty. Like a gaping void inside her.

"I know you still don't believe me. But you will very soon. Take your time and think it over. I will get my people to release you from your chains," he said.

Then he walked out, leaving her confused, inexplicably aroused and flabbergasted.