I wanted to escape. My heart was beating fast, and my cheeks felt a bit flushed. However, I couldn't get away from Steven's embrace. He had me trapped with his shirt.
"Stephie, you're blushing," Steven said softly, as if he had just discovered something wonderful. "Stephie, you should feel your pulse now."
I stared at him blankly and asked, "Why should I?"
"You once told me that if you liked someone, your sympathetic nervous system would get excited. This means that there'll be an increase in hormone secretion, followed by the transmission of dopamine and the acceleration of the heartbeat.
"If your heart rate now is higher than your resting heart rate while we're kissing, it means you like me," Steven explained earnestly.
I paused upon hearing that. I couldn't believe how childish I was in the past. I had apparently come up with formulas to determine whether I liked someone or not.
I coughed and said, "You talk too much," Then, I lowered my head to untie the drawstring on his sweatpants.
Suddenly, I recalled something and narrowed my eyes. "Take off your pants and get into the bathtub yourself. You're drunk, not handicapped!"
Steven started to act aggrieved and pretended to feel dizzy. "But Stephie… I feel so horrible. The alcohol is making my body burn up. It feels like I'm… in a rut."
I gritted my teeth. "I have scissors right here. Should I neuter you to help you out?"
Steven immediately straightened up and took off his clothes obediently. He did not treat me like a stranger at all. After stripping, he got into the bathtub by himself.
I rubbed my temples and complained inwardly about how shameless Steven was.
But to be fair, we were technically legally married.
"Stephie, my hand hurts," Steven said while showing me his palm. Only then did I notice the wounds there.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" I hurried to get the first aid kit as I cursed and worried over him.
Steven lay dejectedly at the edge of the bathtub. He watched me treat his wounds with a dazed and unfocused gaze. I figured it was because he was a little drunk from all the drinking.
The steam from the bathtub began to fill the bathroom. With Steven lying in it like that, he looked like he had just stepped out of a fairy tale. He was just so beautiful.
"Stephie…" Steven whispered my name and fluttered his eyelashes.
He was just too irresistible.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Revenge After Death (Michael and Stephanie)
A very good thriller in the beginning ruined by unnecessary twist and unrealistic plots. Exaggerating the story just for the sake of it. Totally disappointed...