Deep asleep, Lin Shisan was jolted awake by a chill unlike anything he had ever felt.
He tried to turn over and draped his arm to the side, only to touch warm, smooth skin.
His fingers abruptly froze.
That did not feel right.
Too smooth, too soft. There was no texture of fabric; his fingertips rested directly against the flowing curve of a shoulder blade.
Lin Shisan's eyes flew open.
Morning light seeped through the cracks in the window, tinting the entire room with a thin layer of warm gold.
Looking down, he saw a figure lying on her side beside his pillow, her back to him.
Long hair spilled like a waterfall, its deep-purple ends shimmering faintly in the morning light.
A thin merfolk silk quilt covered her below the shoulders, leaving the smooth lines of a shoulder and collarbone exposed.
Several extremely faint red marks still lingered on her skin.
It was not Bai Youyou.
Zi Yuner.
Lin Shisan's heart lurched.
It was as though a basin of ice water had been dumped over his head, instantly jolting him most of the way to full awareness.
He abruptly pushed himself upright, and the merfolk silk slipped from his shoulders.
He was naked too.
Several long, thin scratches marked his chest, and a faint bite mark lay on his waist.
His shoulder blade ached and tingled faintly, as though someone had used it as a pillow all night.
"This... what happened... how could this be... it was clearly..."
Lin Shisan's heart twisted into a knot.
He rubbed his head hard, trying to calm himself.
He drew a deep breath, closed his eyes, then opened them again, but the woman lying in bed was still Zi Yuner. Yet he distinctly remembered Bai Youyou.
Had he lost control after drinking, or...