chapter 1

Jiang Yancheng has never truly fed me.

Right now, I cling weakly to his shoulders, my face buried against his neck.

I draw in everything I can, but it still isn’t enough.

He stands ramrod straight, refusing to lower his head even an inch.

Impatience clouds his face.

I plead in a small voice, “Could you bend down a little? I want to kiss you.”

My flushed face tilts up toward him. My skin burns all over, and the low neckline of my gown rises and falls with every breath.

He looks down, and something softens in his eyes for just a second.

With an annoyed click of his tongue, Jiang Yancheng grips my chin and kisses me.

It is not a gentle kiss.

Still, I can tell he has lost himself in it.

But the moment my hand moves toward his belt, he shoves me away.

“You’ve had enough.”

I freeze, hurt welling up inside me.

“I want more. A lot more. Aren’t we boyfriend and girlfriend? We’re engaged anyway, so something like this—”

“Tsk.”

He cuts me off and straightens his clothes.

“Did I ever agree to that engagement?”

His gaze brushes over me without weight.

“Sleeping with you would be no different from sleeping with an animal.”

The cruise ship is dazzlingly luxurious, its halls dripping with gold. Everyone aboard is either rich or powerful.

I have already lost sight of Jiang Yancheng.

He discovered I was a succubus the day my hunger flared in front of him.

Whatever innocent, ambiguous thing had existed between us shattered when I threw myself at him and kissed him.

He was startled by my boldness, but once he had a taste, he wanted more.

Twisting a strand of my hair around his finger, he asked, “Want to date?”

We grew up together. My grandfather and his were comrades-in-arms.

I had always loved trailing after him, so I nodded.

After that, though, he began disappearing all the time.

He only let me feed when I was close to my limit.

And my appetite kept growing.

I stagger down the cold, gilded corridor, bracing myself against the wall. The skirt of my gown cannot hide the succubus tail that has slipped out behind me.

So that is it.

He hates what I really am.

Before I can close the door, a scent drifts past outside.

It is faint, but delicious—irresistible.

I run my tongue over the points of my teeth.

Without thinking, I follow the scent, drag its owner into the room, and pin him against the wall.

I lean close, chasing that elusive fragrance.

Then temptation wins, and I kiss him.

The man’s chest is solid and powerful. There is a trace of hard liquor in his mouth.

His hand closes hard around the back of my neck.

His voice is low and rough.

“The Jiang family’s little fiancée? Do you have a death wish?”

Only after I see my tail quietly retract do I dare meet the crushing force of his stare.

His profile is all severe angles, his black eyes deep as a lake.

He feels like a great dragon lying dormant in the dark, radiating a terrifying danger.

Black clothes and shadows swallow him together. I can barely make him out.

My knees go weak with fear.

I shove him away and flee in a daze.

I hide in a corner, hoping to quietly endure the rest of the party.

Then I hear intimate noises coming from a side room.

“Yancheng, were you really that desperate?”

The girl’s sweet voice is familiar.

It is Xu Yan, the wildly popular actress he met three weeks ago.

“Stop teasing. Someone got me worked up. Help me cool off.”

Jiang Yancheng’s voice is painfully hoarse.

She pouts. “She starts the fire and I have to put it out? You’ve got some nerve, Jiang Yancheng.”

Whatever he does next makes her let out a sharp cry.

“Don’t talk. Save your strength. You’ll be doing plenty of screaming later.”

In a broken voice, Xu Yan asks, “Have you ever touched her?”

“No.”

The mood inside seems to turn even more feverish.

After a long while, Jiang Yancheng adds, “I don’t sleep with animals. The thought disgusts me.”

Something slams into my chest, and I throw up.

The room goes silent.

I race outside and reach the deck, where I vomit until there is nothing left.

The sea wind carries a chill that seeps through my skin.

A few minutes later, a pair of red high heels stops in front of me.

Jiang Yancheng stands behind their owner.

“You’ve seen it for yourself, Yun Chu,” he says. “This is where we end.”

“As for your… condition…”

He seems to be searching for the right words.

I slowly straighten. “It’s fine. I have plenty of options besides you.”

Jiang Yancheng suddenly stiffens, staring behind me.

When he cast me aside earlier, I brushed him with the tip of my tail.

He felt it.

But now there is nothing behind me.

“Just as well.”

He gives a cold laugh.

“Let’s see how you find someone willing to accept your true form when you haven’t fed in half a month.”

Xu Yan wraps both hands around his arm and tilts her head.

“We’ll get going, then. We wouldn’t want to interrupt your meal.”

Jiang Yancheng is right.

My tail may have withdrawn, but only for now.

And—

I struggle to hold my breath. Xu Yan seems to have released some kind of aphrodisiac just now.

Its effect would be negligible on anyone else, but to me, starving and desperate to feed, it is lethal.

My mouth dries out. My chest heaves. Even the light brush of my gown against my skin is unbearable.

The boundless sea behind me exerts an endless pull.

At last, my arms give out against the rail, and I fall into the water.