Chapter 43

Previews of my pictures were sent to me and came out much better than I expected. I had to choose which ones to put on my artist profile and decide if I wanted any of them to be my album cover. Then I saw something unexpected, a photo of Zai and me kissing against the car in my music video! Who took this?! Our kiss looked way more provocative from a third-person perspective! His hand was on my waist and my back was arched with our bodies pressed so close that there were no visible gaps between us. My face felt hot from looking at the photo so I turned and peeked at the person next to me, still unclothed and reading a book, with an expression that implied he was deep in thought.

"Um... Honey." His ears twitched at the sound of my voice and he closed his book, before turning to me with a smug face.

"Yes?" He asked.

"I... have a group of pictures here... they said I can choose the album cover from and... um... you're in one of them so I need to know if you're okay with me choosing that?" He blinked two times before answering with,

"Your lips are so beautiful."

"I asked you a question!" I shouted, hiding my face. Zai placed his book aside and started kissing my neck with his hand against the cheek on my opposite side. "Zai!" He chuckled lightly and pulled away.

"Let me see it." He requested so I handed him my phone. He stared at the image for a moment and said. "Yeah... as long as you send it to me too." I don't know if that's allowed but Zai is technically my manager so it should be fine.

"I'll send it right now!" I replied full of enthusiasm. He grinned at me and my heart shook with anticipation. I had to look away so I could send the picture because my hand was shaking so much.

"Thank you." He replied then he got up from bed and said, "I'm gonna take a shower." I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me. He gets me so hot and bothered then just leaves?! "Join me." Zai's invitation reignited my mood at full force.

"A-as you wish honey."

Later that day we took more pictures together. He backed up all the pictures and then posted them. While I focused on updating my status with something. 

"Putting the final touches on my album. Should be released soon! I'm so excited and I hope you all are, too." After I posted it, I wondered if it came off as ingenuine or overly eager.

"Where is it?" Zai muttered, scrunching his face. He was scrolling through his phone,

"Where is what?" I asked confused.

"You took a photo of me sleeping, I just realized I forgot to comment on it, but it's gone now." He saw that?!

"I uh... deleted it because I thought you might be bothered because I took it without your permission," I admitted, I felt slightly embarrassed remembering all the comments I read that day.

"I'm yours, Snowe, take all the pictures of me you want." He said while smooching my cheek. I giggled. "Brag about me all you want, mark your territory online. It's fine as long as I can do it too." I hate how he's calling me out right now!

"Okay, I hear you!" I replied, too loudly because of my nerves.

"I want to make love," Zai responded bluntly.

"What?" I mainly replied because I was shocked. Didn't we just do that in the shower?! I haven't even fully recovered yet.

"Was I not clear? Let's f**k, I want to have sex, let me put my tong-" I covered his mouth...

"I got you the first time! Where does all this libido come from?!" I retorted.

"I save up my energy for you." He needs to stop, I can think that... but I can never say it out loud because no matter how tired or sore I am, I can't deny I want him and I would hate for him to think otherwise or miss out on a chance to be with him. "Honey?" His calling me that, struck deep.

"That's not fair... calling me honey," I replied. My voice was shaking a little bit,

"My wife started it." He responded with a second assault on my heart.

"Fine! But... I want to be on top first this time." My comment made him blush so it was worth it.

The days went by, I only had to work for 3 days and Zai had to focus extra hard on his project with his brothers since he had been fooling around with me on my days off. Then finally it was the 17th. Zai was able to teleport us straight to Infaniya, and he had a travel clearance pass. He informed me his story was his parents were from the Eastern Continent of Infaniya but settled on Earth, where they had him. He had all the proper documentation even a passport so when we arrived, no one was suspicious at all and I was in awe of my husband... Thank goodness he's not interested in fighting at all or we'd have an enemy invasion on our hands. Zai was looking around, from his face I could tell he was unimpressed, but I'm not sure what it would take to impress him if the grand city surrounding the Southern Palace is a letdown.

"Snowe? Is that you?!" I recognized Ibij's voice as he rushed over to me. His hair was tied into a topknot and I could tell he'd gotten stronger because he was in much better shape than when I last saw him. He was also in very casual clothing with no shoes on.

"Yeah, Ibij. How are you?" His eyes teared up and he hugged me.

"I'm so glad you're okay." My body stiffened and then Zai pulled us apart saying,

"Hey... are you a friend of Snowe?" He was smiling but I could sense a lot of malice behind it. His eyes were saying, "I'll kill you if you step out of line."

"Oh... yeah. We were friends in secondary school." He hadn't noticed Zai before but now that he has, I could tell he was intimidated.

"He's the friend I mentioned, that had parties and gave me Elixir and Inspiration." Zai glared at Ibij, 

"Oh... he's the one." Ibij cleared his throat.

"Nothing happened! Plus it was a long time ago." He stated defensively.

"Oh... so you tried to corrupt Snowe a long time ago, so I shouldn't be upset?" Ibij's eyes went to me, pleading for help.

"Ibij was popular in school and I was an outcast so... when he spoke to me it became easier to interact with my other classmates. And after I went to the parties, people stopped glaring at me in the halls so I started to feel normal. It was only a short time but, it was the happiest I'd ever been in school." after I gave Zai this information he sighed, relaxed, and said.

"Thank you for looking out for Snowe, even though you only wanted to sleep with her." Ibij was in shock, 

"Zai?!" I screamed.

"I wanted more than that, but it was a long time ago, and... we just stayed friends." Ibij reiterated, "Anyway, I am so glad to see you, alive. Everyone thought you were dead when we couldn't find you anywhere."

"Yeah... It makes sense that you'd think that." I didn't want to go into detail on what happened to me so I kept my response short.

"Smoke was so worried... he was a mess for a decade. And I didn't know what to do for him... I was worried too, of course, but... anyway, is this your boyfriend?" He asked to change the subject. Smoke was that upset about me? I guess Qon did say he tortured him for a decade, so badly that he became permanently disfigured but our relationship was short. How hard could he have fallen for me?

"He's my husband," I answered, bashfully. Ibij gasped and looked at Zai, then back to me.

"Congrats on your marriage! I assume you're here for the royal wedding?" He handled that news well thankfully.

"You would be right," I replied.

"The wedding colors are red and gold, make sure to get a traditional outfit while you're here... and let's get lunch later if you're up for it, I'll invite my girlfriend." Ibij smiled proudly and I punched his arm very lightly.

"Who're you with?! Do I know them?" He nodded.

"Kara... truth be told... she was just trying to get closer to Smoke through me and I found out. After he rejected her and she saw how... depressed he became over another woman she changed. It took 50 years but we reconnected and we're dating now." I smiled widely,

"I'm so happy to hear that!" So much can happen in 100 years... I'm glad he's happy. Kind of sucks that she was a Smoke fangirl at some point but I guess, most girls our age liked him so I can't blame her. I was one of them.