His Flavor

I never knew such a complex feelings existed before. Two distinct emotions cloaking my heart at the same time.

I had lost count already, how many times I had wavered at his presence.

One and a half day, that was all the time it took, for him to drive me on edge consecutively.

I was left flustered as a tingling feeling came rushing in when his fingers grazed mine and traced along my skin, until he successfully intertwined our hands.

I felt the strength in his grip when he joined our ten fingers together. It was like a metal chain binding me to him. My long ebony hair was spread across the white linens while my legs were trapped between his.

For the first time since our first meeting, I realized how overwhelmingly big he was. His figure loomed over me and blocked my vision entirely until he was the only entity within my sight.

"Li Fei." My name had smoothly escaped from his lips.

Thud, went my heart, as if the gravity had took me and dropped me several feet down onto the solid ground.

In that instant, my body stiffened and my eyes zeroed in on him. Perhaps I heard it wrong, but for a second there I felt his voice was one octave lower, deeper with more volume and a little bit husky. There was no longer a playful tone imbued in it.

It was totally different from his usual self. It felt like the man staring down at me was another person whom I didn't know of.

His sharp gaze sent a chill down my spine and with that, he held me captive. I totally lost my cool as I looked on nervously at this stranger who was seemingly preying on me.

"Li Fei," Jin Longwen called my name again. This time, it sounded more like a whisper. But the intensity behind that soft whisper alerted my heart.

I couldn't help it. That emotions coloring his gray eyes. I was wavering, lying meekly beneath him.

"M-Mr. Jin," I answered his call reflexively. And that brought a smile on his thin lips.

Next thing I knew, his hand was already on my cold cheek, caressing it ever so delicately. It rendered me helpless.

"You're cold." His voice was laced with concern.

"I'm always cold." Every second, every minute, ever since I came back to life...I had always felt cold.

Yet, his temperature smoldered the iciness of my skin. The feeling of his touch running on my cheek and slowly sliding down to my jaw, my neck and finally slipping down onto my collarbone.

I gasped.

Every step, every touch, every friction of our skin, he left the fire of his temperature burning a second longer, slowly but surely setting my skin ablaze and my mind scorched. It rendered my brain incapable of functioning.

Then, amidst the firework, I saw his smile deepening and his eyes darkening. With his signature smirk, he asked, "Is it a fever or-"

He paused, leaning down towards my ear. He whispered, "Are you blushing, Ms. Huang?"

Thump!

Without warning, my heart jolted and my breath hitched. His temperature was now burning me.

"S-stop." Unfortunately, my voice came out wrongly due to how nervous I was. I was dumbfounded when I heard that misleading tone. I didn't mean it. I had truly wished he would stop.

As expected, the man chuckled instead and his soft whisper tickled my ear again, "Are you shy, Little Fei?"

'No, I just feel like dying because I can't breathe.'

Alas, something stopped me from answering that and thus, I only turned away, distancing my ear from his lips.

When I sensed the man retracting himself, I turned back to face him again which I shouldn't have. It was a mistake in my part. I made the wrong move.

We were only five centimeters apart. I could feel his warm breath caressing my skin. I caught a glimpse of his gray eyes staring at me intensely. I always knew from the very beginning, how sharp his gaze was. His eyes were clear like a mirror. One glance and it could subdue the beholders and rendered them immobilized. Indeed, I was captured.

"Hi." He smiled charmingly at me as our eyes met again.

I gulped, feeling a lump stuck inside my throat. It was getting harder and harder to breath.

My mind was on a rollercoaster when a thought came to me suddenly, 'Am I going to hyperventilate again?'

But then again, it might be a good idea to faint. 'I should stop breathing now,' I thought to myself.

And so I did, my body reflexively cut the incoming oxygen and the flow of my breathing stopped. The movement of my chest halted. The temperature of my body was lowering down fast.

Alas, I was too naive. I caught his piercing gaze ramming straight into my heart and the corner of his lips curved upwards in the most daunting manner.

Truth to be told, never had I ever seen such a beguiling sight in my life. It was both dangerous and disarming. Yet, his presence was nevertheless soul-absorbing.

Ba-thump!

My heart was struck senseless. I was caught off-guard. My lips parted as the air within me broke out.

And that was all it took for the man to dive down and seized my lips. Fast as the wind, strong as his grip, agile like a cat, he tasted my lips and reared my tongue.

I was dumbstruck, sensing his warm breath blowing into me. A bitter taste of black coffee harassing my mouth.

It was a familiar feeling, a familiar taste, and my body willingly complied. It reset my memory and took me back to the moment where I had been breathless.

It was then I realized, he was my source of oxygen back then.