Chapter 2

"You… You just kissed…" Matteo looked pale. Confusion battled across his face, breaking through his usual cynical expression. "You don't think my abs are disgusting?"

I shook my head wildly and fixed my gaze on his chest.

I grabbed one of his pecs and squeezed. "These muscles had to be sculpted by the gods themselves, Handsome! Who the hell would think they're disgusting?!"

I meant every word. His musculature looked sharper and more refined than that of my fellow Nymphomist peers who devoted themselves to swordplay and combat.

Matteo's body jolted at the sensation of my grip. He stepped away from me as though my hand were a burning iron.

Fury slowly replaced the panic in his eyes.

"Enough!" he roared, his chest heaving with heavy breaths.

The sudden movement sent me flipping backward onto the bed.

Memories rushed into my mind.

Damn. Now I remembered what kind of world this was. It was no wonder Matteo kept insisting he was hideous.

The masculine beauty standard here was completely different from the elven world's. In this world, the "hottest" men had to be around 5'3", weigh 200 pounds, and possess flat, rotund faces with barely visible necks. The larger and rounder, the better.

On the other hand, a man with an exquisitely sculpted body and face like Matteo's would only be regarded as a freak of nature.

I inhaled sharply and looked at him again. My pleasant surprise had evolved into sheer ecstasy. This man had been bullied since childhood for his "ugliness."

His parents hated him, and his peers ostracized him. Even after becoming the richest man on the planet through his ruthless business acumen, people still would not stop talking about how no amount of wealth could make him easier on the eyes.

No one had ever wanted to pursue him romantically. Hell, the only reason the original owner of my body was here was that her parents had forcefully separated her from her childhood sweetheart and dragged her into Matteo's bed for the sake of money.

Madam Freya had once told me about men like this. There was no easier target under the sun than an insecure man who had never been loved.

My eyes drank him in again and again. I had never felt so satisfied with my luck. And those sexy lips… Their shape alone was mesmerizing, and the way the light caught their color made them even more irresistible.

What would happen if I kissed them? Would I absorb even more energy that way? God, I could barely contain my excitement anymore.

I lunged again and pressed my lips against his with precise, reckless force.

The world went silent. My parents looked so stunned that I swore their eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

Matteo froze as his eyes widened further and further.

Spirit energy, ten times more powerful than what I had absorbed earlier, surged through our mouths and flooded my entire body. It poured into my barren Source, rejuvenated my veins, and nourished my starved body so thoroughly that I nearly moaned.

Unable to help myself, I flicked my tongue across the corner of his lips as though searching for stray drops.

Matteo shoved me away in shock.

I stumbled and crashed back onto the bed, surprised that it didn't hurt at all. I turned my focus inward toward my Source and realized that a wisp of energy had begun filling the emptiness inside me before forming a weak barrier around my organs.

Hot damn. So this was the only way for me to recover my lost magic: intimacy with him.

I caught the fear and shock in Matteo's eyes and decided to press my advantage.

I pounced like a homing missile and grabbed his thighs.

He reeled backward, dumbfounded, then stared down at me with a mixture of bewilderment, humiliation, and disgust. "This… This is how low you'd go for money?"

I looked up at him, love practically bubbling in my eyes. "Excuse me? Forget money! Letting a manifestation of masculine hotness like you walk free is the real loss I can't afford!"

The entire room gasped.

A faint blush spread across Matteo's face.

He was blushing. Then, hesitantly, he asked, "You… are not repulsed?"

"How could I possi—"

Suddenly, the door burst wide open. A short, rotund man barreled inside, breathing hard as he grabbed my hand. "Don't be scared, Cher! I've come to rescue you! We shall flee together!"