Another gasp left Li Ming's lips as Hei Long bit her shoulder lightly. His hands roaming over her bare arms, igniting fire in their wake.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

Li Ming heard him softly whispering into her ear. He sounded pained and hurt, making her heart clench with sadness.

She didn't get a chance to respond as the very next second, his strong fingers were grasping her around her throat, making her groan because of his firm hold.

"Why can't I hate you? Why can't I stop myself from worrying about you? Why can't I stay away from you? Why?"

He kept asking those questions though he didn't give her any chance to reply. His hold on her throat was firm but he wasn't hurting her.

"I was supposed to keep you away from my brothers, to keep them safe from you. But look at me, look what I'm doing. I'm failing them, and I'm failing her too."

His voice carried too much hurt and disappointment like he almost hated himself.

Li Ming's mind registered the 'her' in his sentence, making her heart skip a beat.

She didn't want to overthink but she couldn't stop her mind from forming one after another worst scenarios.

Was he in love with someone else? Was there already a girl in his life? Her mind was overflowing with these questions and her heart was filled with sadness.

He was her mate but he wasn't obliged to accept the bond if there was already someone else in his life.

Would she let him go if there was someone else in his life?

Yes, she would never stop him from finding his happiness, even if she had to give up on her bond.

But would she be happy about it?

Of course, not. How could she stay happy after losing one of her mates?

Trying to clear those stupid thoughts out of her mind, she tried to turn around so that she could look at him directly.

It took her quite sometime to get his fingers away from her throat and to turn around to face the Second Demon Prince.

She wasn't expecting to be greeted by a strong smell of wine grazing her nose and the red gleam in Hei Long's eyes which told her that he was overpowered by his feelings at the moment.

"A-are you...drunk?"

She was too shocked by what she was seeing. Wasn't he completely sober a few minutes ago? How could he become drunk within a few minutes?

Her eyes flew towards the living room and she almost got a heart attack after seeing at least seven or eight jars of wine sitting there.

But there was no jar on the table when she first came downstairs. She was a hundred percent sure about that.

He looked completely fine and normal. No trace of wine fragrance was present in the living room, then how?

It took her mind a few moments to realize that he probably hid everything with his powers. And since he was completely in the drunken slumber, he had lost his control over his powers.

The Devil! He sure was brave!

"Are you that much mad about accompanying me to the Snow Fields that you are now drinking to forget your anger? I can't believe this!" Li Ming almost shouted at the Prince who, of course, neglected her words like a passing breeze.

"Why are you not answering my questions? You need to answer them. Come on, tell me, exactly who and what you are?" Hei Long asked as he took hold of her two hands in his large ones.

They both were standing too close to each other. Li Ming had her back against the kitchen counter and she was completely entrapped by him.

To be honest, he was looking kinda cute in his drunken state but his questions only made her groan.

"How many times are you going to ask this question? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired of it." She said with a scoff.

However, looking at his indifferent face it was clear that he hadn't heard a single word that she just said.

Was it even possible for him to get drunk? Exactly how strong was that wine? Li Ming thought as her eyes flew to the jars that were scattered around her coffee table.

"You are so good. You are beautiful, sweet, cute and so soft..."

Li Ming stared at Hei Long with wide eyes as he stopped talking to lightly caress her cheeks. His index finger softly and slowly slid down her cheeks to her chin, then to her nape, and then to her collarbone, stopping at the edge of her top.

She gulped down to relive her dry throat as she looked up in his deep dark gleaming eyes which were ready to engulf her in their neverending abyss.

"...you are smart, intelligent, powerful, productive. You are kind, understandable, and full of goodness. Even after knowing you for more than a year, I can't find a single bad thing about you, except that you are a tease."

He chuckled at his last words as his eyes roamed over her body, coming back to rest on her eyes.

"See! I should not like you. I should keep you away from me and my brothers, but here I am. I can't make myself stay away from you. You keep haunting me all the time."

Li Ming was so taken aback that her mind had stopped working. She just stood there listening to him.

"I love it when you contradict the others, it's so rare to see someone going against my brother and the Supreme Immortal. I love it when you melt under Lord Yueliang's softness. I love it when you bicker with Zhang but the respect and friendship that you both have. I love it when you smile. I love it when you tease Snowy and the others. I love to see you caring about everyone. But there's not one single thing that I hate about you."

Hei Long's eyes were filled with warmth, affection, and....love. Li Ming never thought about coming across such expressions in his eyes.

She felt a single tear rolled down her left cheek, but Hei Long immediately caught it before it could drop on the ground.

"I hate seeing you cry." Hei Long suddenly said with a sad face, making Li Ming burst out into soft giggles.

"I can't make myself hate you, that's why I have started hating myself and my brothers. We aren't supposed to like you in this way. We aren't supposed to be this close with you, and we all are failing very badly."

Hei Long said softly as he caressed her cheeks lightly.

"We are failing her too..."

Here! The mention of that 'her' again. This time Li Ming couldn't control herself from asking, "Whom? Whom are you all failing?"

For a few moments, the Second Demon Prince didn't answer but then he softly said, "The chosen one. We are failing her. What we are feeling for you is supposed to be for her. I know she will never forgive me but I can't make myself hate you. I just can't. I think.....I'm already....in love with you."

Li Ming looked at her mate with shock evident in her eyes. She wasn't expecting that. Not only his coldness towards her because of herself, but he also confessed his love for her.

How was she supposed to answer? Would he even remember any of this the coming morning?

Would her reply matter when he would gain consciousness the coming morning? Her head was starting to ache due to so many questions that were taking over her brain.

Never in her dream did she imagined that Hei Long would be the very first one to confess to her.

"I'm not going to pretend to hate you anymore. I won't try to hurt you with my words anymore. I won't try to keep you away from my brothers anymore. I'm going to accept that I can't stay sane without you." Hei Long started saying as he cupped her face with both of his hands.

"I'll always be guilty of not waiting for her, for not staying loyal to her. But I can't lose you too. Am I a bad person, lilac girl? Am I a bad person for betraying her?"

Li Ming immediately shook her head to answer his question. How much she wanted to tell him that he wasn't betraying his mate. That he wasn't guilty of anything, but unfortunately, she couldn't.

"I'll probably be going to sin because of what I already did today. I think it won't be a bad idea to add another one to the list." He softly whispered.

Their faces were so close to each other's and Li Ming could clearly see the glowing red ring around his irises.

She didn't know what he was talking about, making a confused look appear in her eyes.

However, every single thought left her mind as the soft warm lips of Hei Long landed on her already parted ones.