“Can you not use a suppressant?”
Before Shi Qi could react, Shang Sui pecked his cheek and whispered a promise, “I’ll try my best to make you happy.”
Shi Qi met his bright, glimmering eyes. His body was growing hotter and hotter.
When no reply came after a long pause, Shang Sui simply rubbed his cheek against Shi Qi’s face. “Please?”
Compared to him, Shang Sui’s body temperature was always on the cooler side. The cold, delicate skin of his cheek brushed against Shi Qi, making the taller Alpha feel more like a clingy pet than anything else.
Unlike his coquettish gestures, the scent of honey was growing stronger, with a hint of dominance, restlessly wrapping around him.
The mere thought of going all the way sent a rush of anticipation surging through Shi Qi.
Whether it was the heat or pure excitement, his fingertips trembled slightly. On the surface, he maintained his composure and said, “Then let’s try it.”
Shang Sui’s eyes lit up instantly.
Shi Qi added deliberately, “If I don’t like it, we stop.”
The Alpha agreed, like he didn’t have a temper at all, “Okay.”
After speaking, Shang Sui cupped his face in his hands, eyes curving in delight.
Shi Qi asked hesitantly, “You’re not thinking of doing it here, are you?”
“Here?”
Shang Sui froze for three seconds, instinctively glancing around at the layered flowerbeds surrounding them. Once he realized what Shi Qi meant, he couldn’t help but laugh.
A beat later, another chuckle escaped him.
He didn’t even dare imagine a scene like that—what kind of things were going through Shi Qi’s head?
“So Xiao Qi likes it like that,” Shang Sui twisted his words on purpose, voice suggestive. “Doing it outside isn’t out of the question.”
“Like hell I—”
Just as the curse reached his lips, Shi Qi saw how Shang Sui couldn’t stop laughing, and a flush of irritation rose in his chest. “What are you laughing at! Laugh again and we’re not doing anything!”
As he spoke, he kicked Shang Sui, and although he wasn’t pleased, he still remembered to hold back his strength.
Shang Sui took the chance to grab his wrist and pull him forward. Shi Qi stumbled a step, and Shang Sui seized the moment to lift him into his arms.
“Of course we’re going to the bed.”
Shi Qi’s ears flushed red. He stopped struggling.
But after a moment, he felt something was off.
So what if they were going? What was there to be embarrassed about? Shang Sui didn’t look the slightest bit shy.
Not wanting to be one-upped, Shi Qi wrapped his legs around Shang Sui’s waist, clinging to him fully.
To Shang Sui, he was as light as a feather.
To avoid blocking his view, Shi Qi tucked his head into the crook of Shang Sui’s neck. A moment later, the Omega couldn’t help but lean closer to his glands, softly inhaling.
That one breath was like a tiny flickering flame quivering lightly, then suddenly exploding.
His clear mind turned hazy at lightning speed. Shi Qi felt like a cat intoxicated by catnip. The sweet, heady scent made his own glands swell faintly, pulsing beneath the skin in eager demand.
“Shang Sui…”
He wanted more.
Shang Sui caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of Shi Qi’s platinum-blonde hair rubbing against him, as if he couldn’t wait.
Holding Shi Qi with one arm, he entered the room, reached back to lock the door, and responded with a smile, “I’m right here. Good boy.”
The walls of the small villa’s interior were a worn shade of pink, with furnishings made of velvet and wood. The lavish, vintage decor called to mind the decadent scenes from films of the last century.
Shang Sui carried him up the spiral staircase to the second floor and kicked open the master bedroom door. Just as in his memory, Shi Qi saw a large walnut bed positioned in the center of the room, piled high with linen pillows.
He had dreamed of this many times, but this was the first time in six years he was seeing it again with his own eyes.
Shang Sui set him down on the bed and helped him remove his shoes. Shi Qi’s limbs felt weak, his whole body like it had been soaked in hot water. He knelt at the edge of the bed, eyes unconsciously following Shang Sui’s movements.
As they moved, the pillows on the bed tumbled one by one onto the carpet. A sudden flash of a dream from high school surfaced in Shi Qi’s mind.
The Alpha, whose face had been indistinct in the dream, now had a clear appearance. That Alpha reached out, gently caressing his flushed cheek.
Shi Qi met those fox-like eyes, and his heart pounded wildly.
Only now did he understand why he used to fantasize about that scene. As he recalled how the Alpha in the dream had softly stroked his spine while kissing him, Shi Qi’s breathing grew heavier.
“Get on the bed,” he ordered, “kiss me.”
Shi Qi tilted his head back, his once pure and beautiful face now tinged with seductiveness. As if that wasn’t tempting enough, his glimmering eyes stared steadily at him from below.
Shang Sui paused, his eyes flickering.
Bracing one leg on the floor, Shang Sui bent his knee onto the bed, half-kneeling beside Shi Qi.
He leaned closer, the distance between them nearly nonexistent, their breaths entangled.
Just as Shi Qi thought they would kiss, Shang Sui moved away, his lips brushing against the jade white skin of the Omega’s neck.
The heat made Shi Qi especially sensitive, and his glands throbbed with waves of warmth.
Shang Sui nipped lightly at the side of his neck. The touch, infused with scent and damp warmth, was as addictive as a drug. A soft whimper escaped Shi Qi’s throat as he instinctively clung to him tighter.
It felt so good.
His whole body felt light, as though he were floating on clouds.
As if pleased by his cute reaction, Shang Sui said softly, “Looks like I can keep going?”
Without waiting for a response, his teeth pressed against the glands at the back of the Omega’s neck, sucking harder.
The brief sting brought Shi Qi crashing down from the clouds in an instant. His body shuddered; he sat half-upright on the cushions, legs tightly pressed together.
His legs were long and straight, and his bent knees showed a faint pink, like a layer of sheer gauze. Shang Sui’s cool fingers brushed over them, and as he pushed up the hem of the black shorts, a tiny red mole at the base of Shi Qi’s thigh was exposed.
His pheromones spilled out uncontrollably, the scent of lily of the valley lingering in the air. The Omega seemed like a flower slowly blooming.
“Does it feel good?”
“Mm…” Shi Qi mumbled in a daze, “More.”
Compared to the gentle kisses and sucking, he wanted something harder and rougher.
Shi Qi couldn’t bring himself to voice the hidden desire in his heart. All he could do was silently hope Shang Sui would take it further.
He wanted to be marked. He wanted to be bitten.
His instincts nearly drove him to rub against Shang Sui in desperation, but the other man only continued to nip at his neck, showing no sign of going further for the moment.
Shi Qi wanted to urge him but felt that speaking would make him seem too eager, so he could only look around to distract himself.
In the corner, a shelf held jars of brightly colored paints, and a vase on the desk brimmed with lush double-petaled peonies, as if the owner of the house had never left.
“You… you prepared all this beforehand?”
Shang Sui gave his neck one last lingering lick, as though savoring an exquisite delicacy.
Shi Qi could feel his breath growing heavier, as disoriented by desire as he was himself. His tone barely managed to stay even. “I thought revisiting this place might help you recall some of the past. I didn’t expect Shen Qianyu to give you medication first, and not even tell me.”
Shang Sui commented vaguely, “At least he’s professional.”
“Are you angry with him?”
“Of course not. I’m actually thinking of how I should properly thank him.”
Shi Qi’s head was fevered, but he still managed to add, “I already repaid him.”
Realizing the “repayment” Shi Qi referred to meant Jiang Yan, Shang Sui suddenly burst out laughing.
He lifted the hem of Shi Qi’s shirt and flipped him over.
“Bad cat.”
Shi Qi’s face was shoved into the bed, and a chill spread across his body.
Fingers traced down the line of his spine, and his cheeks flushed red as a cry escaped his lips.
…
His thighs were trembling uncontrollably, and by the end, they even spasmed. But Shang Sui held him down firmly, not letting him escape.
Shi Qi struggled instinctively. “D-don’t!”
But he hadn’t expected the other person to actually stop.
It was as if he’d been suspended in a place where he could neither go up nor down, unable to find release. Shi Qi needed a long moment just to register that Shang Sui had indeed stopped moving.
Driven nearly to madness, he turned his face and demanded, “Why did you suddenly—”
Stop?
In contrast to his own utterly disheveled state, Shang Sui appeared entirely unaffected, so much so that he even had the leisure to circle back to their earlier conversation.
“I promised you—if you didn’t like it, I’d stop.”
Shi Qi’s mind went blank. For a split second, he thought he saw devil horns sprouting from the Alpha’s head.
Mortified and furious, he kicked his leg in frustration. But he was too weak now, and his legs barely kicked a few times against Shang Sui before being caught.
“Why are you still flailing around, Xiao Qi?”
Amusement gleamed in Shang Sui’s eyes. He grabbed both of Shi Qi’s ankles, one in each hand, and tugged him downward.
His lowered gaze felt like it had weight, slithering inch by inch across Shi Qi’s skin like a snake.
Shi Qi wore only a T-shirt that had been pushed up, and realizing that Shang Sui was looking at him unabashedly, his shame reached a breaking point, and he gave up all pretense.
“Keep going, faster! Just do it!”
Shang Sui lowered himself with a smile, and it was only then that Shi Qi noticed something unusual.
Unlike his seemingly composed demeanor, Shang Sui’s reaction was even more intense than his own. Shi Qi was pressed against him tightly, his whole face burning.
In a low voice, he asked, “How long have you…?”
“It’s been like this for a long time.”
In front of Shi Qi, he didn’t have that kind of self-control.
Or rather, he was already on the verge of exploding.
This time, they were face to face. Shang Sui kissed him while continuing what he’d been doing earlier.
…
Shi Qi briefly lost consciousness. When he came to again, staring up at the ornate floral chandelier above, it felt as if everything in his field of vision had shattered into crystalline fragments.
A moment later, he realized the corners of his eyes were damp and tears had fallen.
But it seemed that using only hands wasn’t enough.
If anything, the kisses and intimacy from before only made him crave more. The heat within him was becoming harder and harder to contain.
“Baby, your face is so red.”
Shang Sui reached out to cup his face, pulling the limp Shi Qi into his arms. He brushed aside the scattered strands of hair. “Your eyes are wet, so beautiful.”
Shi Qi couldn’t take it anymore and glared at him. Shang Sui’s gaze froze, only to become even more captivated. “You look beautiful even when you’re glaring.”
“…”
Crazy.
Even knowing Shang Sui wasn’t quite right in the head, Shi Qi couldn’t help being moved by the affection woven into his words. His body gradually softened under the sweet talk.
Only then did he notice Shang Sui’s clothes had ended up on the floor at some point, and all those excess linen pillows had rolled aside.
Under the dazzling lights, every inch of the Alpha’s skin was flawless. His lean, powerful frame radiated raw strength, and the butterfly tattoo at his collarbone looked as if it might take flight at any moment.
Shang Sui pulled him in by his slender back, pressing him close and biting through the thin fabric of his T-shirt.
The originally dry linen sheets had become slippery. Shi Qi stomped on the last pillow as if venting his emotions, then couldn’t help but kick it away.
They were pressed tightly together, but Shang Sui suddenly stopped without warning.
Shi Qi had been flipped this way and that, tormented relentlessly for a long time. He finally reached his breaking point.
Face flushed, he cursed through ragged breaths, “A-are you insane? Are you doing it or not?”
“Didn’t we make a deal?”
Shang Sui chuckled softly and reached up to grip Shi Qi’s chin. “If you don’t allow it, I can’t go on.”
Unlike the teasing tone from earlier, his curled fingers now gently brushed against Shi Qi’s skin. Though the action could be considered gentle, it carried an invisible sense of pressure.
“Do you like it or not?”
As he spoke, he pressed against Shi Qi, every word and move laced with unspoken meaning.
Shi Qi looked at the flush spreading from the corner of his eyes due to arousal. As if bewitched, he answered dazedly, “I like it. I like you.”
The Omega’s fair cheeks were tinged with a pink like peach blossoms, a fine sheen of sweat clinging to the tip of his delicate nose. His eyes, like pools of spring water, held a dreamy devotion as he said he liked him.
So unfair.
That wasn’t the answer he was supposed to give.
Shang Sui’s breath faltered for a second as he changed tactics, pressing him with a different question, “What do you want me to do?”
“You already know…!”
“I do, but I want to hear you say it.”
Shi Qi squeezed out a weak sound from his throat, as if he were about to break under the pressure. It was hard to tell whether he was on the verge of tears or wanted to curse him out again.
“Why are you crying? Haven’t I always done what you said?”
Shang Sui only became more brazen, leaning in to lick away his tears.
Whether it was because of his overwhelming obsession with Shi Qi or the effects of their pheromones, even Shi Qi’s tears seemed to carry the scent of lilies of the valley, like morning dew rolling off petals.
Only then did Shi Qi realize Shang Sui had planned everything from the very beginning. Even his reactions had been predicted in advance, and Shang Sui had simply been waiting for him to fall into the trap.
Contrary to the seemingly obedient words, Shang Sui’s actions were utterly ruthless.
Shi Qi’s fevered mind turned sluggishly. Recalling how Shang Sui had told him to wait, he finally understood what the man was trying to get him to say.
“I-I want you to—”
Shi Qi bit his lip, the words stuck in his throat.
His gaze shifted, and only then did he notice a thin layer of sweat on Shang Sui’s forehead—he, too, was barely holding it together.
Seeing that unwavering stare fixed on him, Shang Sui coaxed gently.
“Say it, Xiao Qi.”
“As long as you’re willing, we’ll both be happy.”
Shang Sui’s voice was like a spell, dragging him into a bottomless whirlpool.
Shi Qi trembled all over. Unable to think, he finally cried out those two words.
