Chapter 187: Chapter 175: After Getting Drunk

His tanned cheeks were flushed, his eyes hazy as he feigned composure. But his lips, usually pressed into a firm line, kept breaking into one silly smile after another.

Was this the same proud, cold Lex Cross she knew? He was nothing more than a big, goofy, tough guy.

"Hey, go back to your room and sleep it off! You’re drunk." Flora Bloom poked his rock-hard chest, trying to push him away. But she never expected him to be so audacious; he actually leaned into her finger, pressing closer.

Suppressing the churning discomfort in her stomach, Flora Bloom snapped, "Hey, hey, hey, I know you’re still conscious! Don’t use being drunk as an excuse to take advantage of me! Watch it, or I’ll punch you!"

THUD. His heavy head dropped onto the crook of her neck, his hot, heavy breath tickling her unbearably. She raised a hand, wanting only to shove his head away.

"You—Lex Cross! Wake up!"

A wet, sucking sound. Flora Bloom realized he was gnawing on her neck. "Get off!" she yelled, shoving him onto the bed. But in the next moment, his hand shot out and grabbed hers, pulling her down along with him as he fell.

The strong stench of alcohol washed over her, and Flora Bloom’s stomach gave a violent lurch.

The moment before she crashed into Lex Cross’s chest, the world spun. The ceiling flashed into view, and in an instant, their positions were reversed.

Pinned firmly beneath Lex Cross, sinking into the soft bedding, Flora Bloom stared up into a pair of hazy yet dangerous eyes.

Lex Cross’s cheeks were still faintly flushed, but the drunken haze in his eyes was being devoured by some kind of dark substance, turning them into deep, black voids.

The overpowering stench of alcohol flooded her senses. She turned her head, trying to get a breath of fresh air, but Lex Cross’s long fingers clamped around her chin, holding her in place.

’Something’s wrong. Something is very wrong with Lex Cross.’

Right now, in addition to his Thunder Element energy, a devouring Dark Energy was rampaging around him. Lightning and darkness intertwined, serpents of thunder snaking through the black. The two powers twisted together, seemingly vying for dominance as they tried to consume each other.

’A Dual Ability User would only experience mutual rejection if their powers were something like fire and water.’

’Thunder and Dark... I’ve never heard of them rejecting each other. No, this isn’t rejection, it’s consumption. It seems like they’re trying to devour one another, to annex the other to strengthen themselves.’

’This is too dangerous! If this gets any worse, he could literally explode!’ Flora Bloom took a deep breath, fighting down the churning in her stomach as she tried to wake Lex Cross.

"Lex Cross, snap out of it! Hey!"

Despite Flora Bloom’s repeated calls, not only did Lex Cross not wake up, but his face grew even redder, and his breathing deepened.

As Lex Cross lowered his head, the heavy reek of alcohol intensified. She saw that his eyes, beyond the dense and irrepressible darkness, were now tainted with a flicker of raw lust, sending alarm bells ringing in her head. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Sure enough, the reek of alcohol on his breath, mixed with his coarse, deep breathing, drew closer. Flora Bloom tried to escape but found that even with her strength as a Level 3 superpower user, she was completely immobilized by his grip.

The hand on her chin squeezed, forcing her clenched lips apart. A second later, his cool lips came crashing down in a fiery kiss, stealing what little breath she had.

The stench of alcohol filling her senses, combined with the suffocating pressure, made Flora Bloom sick to her stomach. Lex Cross was like a savage beast—impossible to push away, impossible to wake. In his eyes, desire and darkness were locked in a stalemate, and she had become the unfortunate outlet for both warring forces.

A flurry of kisses rained down on her ear and cheek, moving down to her neck. Each one felt like he was viciously tearing at her skin.

This strange and terrifying sensation made her tremble uncontrollably. She gathered her Water Energy, trying to form a water shield between them, only to find that the instant it touched Lex Cross, it was devoured by the Dark Energy within him.

After several attempts, she realized her Water Ability was not only useless against him, but it was actually fueling the Dark Energy in his body, while her own spiritual power was being rapidly depleted.

Now, Flora Bloom was truly panicking. For the first time, she found Lex Cross terrifying. She had always known he was powerful, but she’d never been afraid of him. Because of the budding, unspoken connection between them, because of Polly’s existence in her belly, and because of his repeated advances, she had always thought of him as someone she could control. A man she could keep at a distance or let close, provoke, disrespect, or ignore. But he had never, ever been scary.

Facing this beast-like version of Lex Cross, she felt utterly powerless. Finally, the fear and nausea became too much. With tears streaming down her face, she used every last ounce of strength to twist her upper body to the side and began to vomit violently.

The familiar voice, now broken by sobs, reached Lex Cross’s ears. The sound of her crying was like a magical energy that bored into the depths of his soul, instantly shattering the two explosive energies warring in his mind.

A form of black energy, one more profound and terrifying than the Dark Energy itself, suddenly surged from his mindscape. It enveloped both the thunder and dark powers, pacifying and separating them.

But this action came at a great cost. The haze in his eyes cleared, the flush vanished from his face, replaced by an unnatural pallor.

This entire process, from start to finish, took only a few seconds within Lex Cross’s body. The moment he regained clarity, he saw the small figure beside him, trembling at the edge of the bed, sobbing and vomiting.

"Flora?" he asked nervously, reaching out to steady her shoulder, but a frightened and wounded cry from her stopped him.

"Go away! Don’t touch me!"

The men in the courtyard were already dead drunk, most of them slumped over the tables, unconscious. Jade and Cynthia Grant, who had already gone to bed, were jolted awake by Flora Bloom’s voice from upstairs and rushed up to check on her.

Hearing the footsteps approaching from downstairs, Lex Cross waved his hand. The bedroom door swung shut, and a wave of black energy spread out, enveloping the room and isolating it from all outside sound.

Flora Bloom vomited for a long time, until she was completely exhausted. She propped herself up, took out some spiritual water, and gulped it down. The cool liquid cleared her head the moment it entered her system.

She looked up to see Lex Cross standing beside her, looking helpless and full of apology. The worry on his face didn’t seem feigned; it was a world apart from the hazy darkness of before.

Lex Cross looked into Flora Bloom’s icy eyes, and his heart sank. He knew that while uncontrollable forces had been at play, he had not been completely unconscious.

And so, he hesitated by Flora Bloom’s side, not knowing how to comfort or explain.

Flora Bloom caught her breath and looked at Lex Cross, her gaze distant and cold.

"Lex Cross, I’m begging you, don’t come near me again!"

The profound helplessness and distance in Flora Bloom’s voice made Lex Cross’s heart ache sharply. The person before him was so close, yet he felt an insurmountable distance between them, a gap he couldn’t cross.