Chapter 2

I couldn't stop myself when I saw Marty with reddened eyes, practically begging me.

Every step I took toward him, he retreated an inch.

But Marty wasn't human anymore. He was an incubus.

So, technically, I wasn't taking advantage of him.

Besides, he'd bullied me plenty of times before. Teasing him a little now wasn't going too far, was it?

"Marty… so you're actually a male incubus."

His face turned so red it looked like it might bleed. With a trembling, tearful voice, he begged me not to come any closer.

The more he resisted, the more I wanted to move closer.

Served him right for always bullying me. Now it was my turn.

I licked my lips and crouched beside him.

"Marty, stop backing up. If you keep moving, your tail's really going to be exposed. Just stay still and let me take a good look—what's the difference between an incubus and a human, huh?"

A lazy smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I spoke, and my hand moved on its own, brushing over his tail.

It felt cool to the touch. Honestly, it was like the ultimate heat-relief tool during military training.

Marty's tail jerked violently.

But since he'd only just awakened as an incubus, he was too weak to resist any of my movements.

Clenching his teeth, he looked like someone who'd been terribly wronged, red-eyed as he warned me, "Olivia, I'm only weak temporarily! I'm warning you, you'd better take your hand off my tail. Otherwise, once I recover, I will—"

I tightened my grip around his tail.

His voice cut off instantly.

His face flushed bright red. He covered his mouth, looking like he was about to die of shame.

I lowered my gaze to his tail that had actively coiled around my palm, then tilted my head and smiled at him.

"Will what? Why do I feel like your tail really likes me?"

"OLIVIA!" Marty looked like he was about to cry.

And somehow… that made me want to see him cry even more.

Just thinking about it felt thrilling.

All the defiance drained from him in an instant. A clear, crystalline tear dropped heavily onto the back of my hand.

He grabbed my wrist, his black eyes shimmering with tears as he stared at me, almost pleading. He looked like a delicate glass ornament that would shatter at the slightest touch.

His voice shook so badly it barely sounded like his own.

"Olivia… I'm begging you, okay? Stop teasing it."

"Then admit it. Admit you were wrong to bully me. And say you're sorry."

He took a deep, shuddering breath, the reluctance screaming in the silence. Finally, he broke. His knees hit the floor, and the words spilled out with his tears, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Olivia. You're right."

…

Because I'd been away from the group for too long, the instructor brought the other students to look for us.

Someone headed toward the wooded area.

Even though I really wanted to keep bullying Marty, he was still stuck in the human-body–snake-tail form.

If other people discovered his identity as an incubus, he'd definitely be treated like a monster and taken away by researchers for experiments.

I didn't want him to be taken. I hadn't finished playing with him yet.

"Marty, hurry up and pull your tail back in! Someone's coming this way."

Marty sighed and looked down at his tail, completely helpless.

"I'm really hungry. I don't have the energy to control my form. I can't pull it back."

I searched myself and only found a small piece of chocolate.

I stuffed it into his hand. "Hurry and eat it."

He shook his head. "Human food can't satisfy an incubus."

"Then what are you supposed to eat?"

I glanced around. All there was were trees and grass.

Oh. And me.

He couldn't be planning to eat me, right?

But in the very next second, Marty's ice-cold snake tail coiled tightly around my arm.

Before I could react, he yanked hard.

My whole body fell straight into his arms.