Chapter 23 – You Don't Smell Cheap
He leaned back, watching her across the table.
So the dragon heiress wanted to play.
Fine.
Let the stocks tremble.
Mira Xianlong's gaze was sharp. Unflinching. Most women — hell, most people — got a little hazy under his Incubus Pheromones. They'd blink too much. Stutter. Fumble their words. The air would grow thicker with suppressed tension, like someone had turned up the heat a notch too high.
But Mira?
She just stared at him like he was a late stock report. Intriguing. But not intimidating. Her pupils did dilate just a little — he noticed. Her breathing changed subtly. So the pheromones were working. She was affected.
Just… not weak.
And damn if that didn't make her ten times hotter.
[Note: Subject affected by Pheromones.]
[Result: Emotional magnetism activated. No visible blush. Unshaken. ]
[Analysis: Unreasonably prideful.]
Lux smirked.
Mira spoke, her tone laced with something that hovered between challenge and accusation.
"I've never seen you before. But…" She sniffed softly, nostrils flaring like a dragon catching scent. "You don't smell cheap."
Lux tilted his head. "Thanks. I do bathe in money."
A flicker of amusement broke her face before vanishing behind a raised eyebrow. "New billionaire? Underground vault prince? Someone's runaway sugar baby?"
"I'll let you pick your favorite headline," Lux said, swirling his empty wine glass again. "But I'm definitely not new. Just… off the radar."
She leaned closer across the table, her earrings glinting like little blades in the candlelight. "Do you even know who I am?"
"Of course." His eyes held hers. "Mira Xianlong. Eastern Dragon Clan heiress. Owns a megabank, a tech startup, and a jade vault somewhere under the ocean. Allergic to coupons. Never been told no."
Mira's eyes flickered. Just once.
Then narrowed. "So you do know I'm here."
"I'm here," Lux said calmly, "for dinner. With my date."
That made her pause. Not for long. But it was there. A blink. A small draw of her lips.
"A date," she repeated. "So not because of me at all?"
"Not even a little."
For a woman used to the world rearranging itself to please her, that landed like a slap.
Her fingers curled around the stem of a wine glass that hadn't even been poured yet.
"…Then you need to leave, Mr. Vaelthorn," she said, her voice colder. "I don't like things that don't belong to me lingering in my orbit. Now get out of my seat before I call my bodyguards."
Lux gave her a lazy half-smile.
"I can be your seat if you want."
That earned a sharp inhale from the few servers nearby.
Even the system hesitated for a millisecond.
[…Bold play, sir.]
Mira didn't move. For a breath.
Then she smirked — and moved.
Lux didn't expect her to actually take the offer.
But she did.
The dragoness stepped around the table, slow and fluid like a cat circling prey. One leg swung across his lap, then the other followed, until she was seated sideways on his thighs, her cheongsam falling perfectly to reveal one long leg. She leaned in, her arms looped around his neck, like this was some casual lover's rendezvous.
It wasn't.
She stared into his eyes, unbothered by their proximity. Hell, her breath was warm against his jaw, her perfume richer up close — rare spices and old money and something subtly floral he couldn't name but immediately wanted to bottle.
Mira smiled, lips almost brushing his.
"No one plays around with me, Mr. Vaelthorn," she whispered. "I get what I want. I never lose."
Her voice was honey-coated steel. A lullaby backed with nuclear intent.
"You don't know how many men I've broken. Men with empires. Bloodlines. Legacies."
Lux raised one brow.
"Men who swore they'd never bend. Who ended up on their knees. Or worse."
She tilted her head, lips brushing his ear now.
"I could buy you like a cheap host on the street."
Her fingers trailed down the front of his crisp, open-collar shirt, toying with the first undone button. "And tonight, I've decided to mess your little date up."
The venom in her smile was beautiful.
"I'll make that woman of yours throw you away."
There was a beat.
And Lux?
Didn't even flinch.
He didn't shove her off. Didn't get angry.
No — instead, his heart thudded in his chest. A quiet, greedy, thrilled kind of thud.
A dragon heiress with a pride complex, borderline hostile, already straddling him?
Delicious.
[Compatibility: 98%]
[Recommend: Do. Not. Let. Go.]
"I'm starting to think I should've booked a table for three," Lux said calmly.
Mira raised an eyebrow. "Still joking?"
"Always."
"I could crush your wallet."
"You could try." He smirked. "But mine regenerates."
That made her pause. Not because she didn't believe him— but because she wanted to test it.
"I'm not into threesomes," she added casually, adjusting herself on his lap like it was her throne. "But I am into ruining women who think they've claimed something I want."
"Correction," Lux said. "She already claimed me."
Mira grinned. "Then she better be ready to fight a war. I never lose."
Lux shrugged. "Then I guess I'll be the first."
She leaned forward again. "Confident for someone about to be humiliated in front of his date."
"She knows what she signed up for."
"Does she know you're mine now?"
Lux's smile was slow, a curl of lips like a rising blade.
"I thought you didn't like things that didn't belong to you."
"Oh," Mira purred, "but you do belong to me now. Just didn't realize it yet."
[Sir, your heart rate is accelerating. Please stop enjoying this.]
Too late.
Lux tilted his head slightly.
"…You're fun."
"You're trouble."
They stared at each other for a breath too long.
Then the server returned, stopping in her tracks with a full wine bottle in hand, eyes widening slightly at the sight of Mira sitting on Lux like he was furniture.
"…Uh…"
"Yes?" Mira said sweetly, not looking away from Lux.
"I-I brought the Aeternum Rex, sir."
"Pour it," Lux said smoothly, arms now around Mira's waist like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The staff uncorked it carefully, the scent of the old vintage filling the air — earthy, deep, and too complex for anyone under a six-digit income to appreciate.
Lux accepted the first pour, swirling it with his usual grace. Mira didn't move from his lap.
He took a sip.
"Nice," he murmured. "Not worth the price, but then again… neither are most luxuries."
Mira smirked.
Then the elevator dinged.
Naomi stepped out.
Dressed.
Radiant.
And, for a moment, stunned silent.
Because across the rooftop restaurant, under moonlight and golden candlelight—
Lux Vaelthorn was being ridden like a throne.
And Mira?
Didn't even blink.
Let the fire begin.