……
The rain had ceased sometime earlier, and the stars and moon emerged together from behind the drifting clouds.
The starlight bathed Luo Congye’s back, yet it failed to illuminate his face.
Luo Congye had never seen this side of Bai Heting before.
Though obviously several years his senior, Bai Heting sat with his eyes half-lidded and unfocused at that moment, his gaze drifting aimlessly as though he had been struck by a powerful blow. Between his slightly parted thin lips, a hint of his cherry-red tongue was visible, and his chest heaved violently as if something were about to break out of its cocoon.
He was a completely different person from that cold and ruthless General Bai.
Luo Congye’s breathing had yet to even out, but his tone had already become somewhat restrained, “Are you… feeling any better?”
Bai Heting still did not answer. He raised his hand and forcefully tugged at his severely crumpled hunting jacket.
Thinking that Bai Heting found the wet clothes uncomfortable, Luo Congye unfastened his arm guards and finger tabs, then helped him take off the jacket. However, Bai Heting sat up and stripped off even the last short-sleeved shirt on his body.
The out-of-control fir pheromones pressed closer, along with the Omega’s soft body.
Bai Heting had actually hugged him.
The breathing that had just calmed down instantly became hot and hurried again, while a string of clumsy kisses fell upon his neck.
Bai Heting raised a hand, placed it on his shoulder, and gave a backward push.
“Lie down.”
The steady voice carried a hoarseness that instantly numbed half of Luo Congye’s ears. Supporting himself on the ground with one hand, he obediently lay back on his spine.
Although Bai Heting had not been to the front lines in recent years, his disciplined diet and training kept his body in peak combat condition. His shoulders were broad, his muscles firm, and his lean waist and abdomen carried not a shred of excess fat; he was significantly taller than the average Omega. Amid the crowd, he could easily have been mistaken for a handsome Alpha.
But right now, this usually abstinent and self-restrained man was completely unclothed while sitting on top of him with his handsome brows slightly furrowed and his eyes half-closed and blurred.
Luo Congye’s palms slowly slid across those smooth waist curves. His gaze turned fixed and entranced, and before he could stop himself, the words escaped his lips, “You… are so beautiful.”
He omitted the respectful honorific, but Bai Heting had no time to care about what he was saying. Something seemed to be playing havoc inside his body; his sluggish brain could not process any other information, leaving him with only the ability to perceive pleasure.
Bracing a few fingers against the Alpha’s well-defined abdomen, he moved atop him in a steady, rhythmic motion, rising and sinking as though mounted on horseback.
He moved slowly and not deeply enough. Unable to endure this leisurely pace, Luo Congye bent his legs and thrust his hips upward several times.
He didn’t know exactly where he hit, but a terrifyingly unfamiliar wave of pleasure swept over them. Bai Heting arched his waist in an attempt to pull away, but a strong hold restrained his hips, leaving him no room to struggle.
“Don’t…” He furrowed his brows in distress as a rare trace of panic flitting across his expression. “Don’t… it’s too intense…”
What answered him were even faster and fiercer movements, scattering his groans and crushing them entirely, until his vision and hearing were utterly submerged by the surging waves of pleasure.
Bai Heting could not stop shaking all over before finally leaning back in exhaustion against those two solid thighs behind him.
Yet, the hyper-aroused Alpha suddenly slammed on the brakes.
A powerful sensation of confinement made Luo Congye’s scalp tingle. It took him a few seconds of daze to realize what it was.
It was an Omega-specific organ, concealed from view; simultaneously the most delicate and the most enduring part of their body, created for the purpose of reproduction.
The urges to mark and to claim were instincts etched into an Alpha’s very nature. Panting heavily, Luo Congye flipped Bai Heting, who was lost in pleasure, over onto the ground before pinning him down from behind in a restraining posture.
“No… you…” Recognizing the danger, the man beneath him struggled futilely a few times, but his consciousness was already so chaotic that he couldn’t even form a complete sentence.
“Shh—” Dominated by instinct, the Alpha leaned down to suck and kissed the swollen nape of the neck while soothingly stroking the Omega’s trembling body.
From the thighs upward, he touched his hips, waist, and back, until his hand suddenly paused, stopping at the shoulder.
Luo Congye propped his body up slightly and slowly moved his palm away from Bai Heting’s shoulder.
A moment later, he withdrew from his body.
The downpour had only just ended, leaving the world wrapped in silence. Luo Congye rolled onto his back beside him and draped an arm across his eyes. He breathed heavily, waiting for the chill, moisture-laden air to gradually cool the desire still lingering in his body.
The fire in his own body had yet to cool, but the heat of the person beside him flared up once more. Plunging back into the fever of arousal, the trembling Omega pressed against him again, kissing his neck, begging for his pheromones, wrapping his arms and legs all over him, and panting softly right by his ear.
Luo Congye closed his eyes and let out a very soft, long sigh.
He turned on his side to hug that burning body back with his fingers tracing over the few old scars on Bai Heting’s back one by one, murmuring to himself, “When you wake up… you’ll probably throw me away, won’t you?”
*
As noon approached, the sound of footsteps finally came from the direction of the cave. Qiu Chen immediately stood up from the grass, turned, and saluted Bai Heting.
“General.”
Bai Heting gave him a nod and asked directly, “How long did I sleep?”
His attire was perfectly neat, but his voice was still hoarse. Qiu Chen was even more restrained than usual, choosing his words with extreme care, “Today is the fourth day of the autumn hunt.” He paused, then added, “Zhenzhu led us to the corpses of those few people. Finding this place… took some effort.”
Bai Heting said nothing, only casting a faint glance around the area.
Qiu Chen quickly said, “No fourth person knows about this.”
Bai Heting asked again, “Which day did you arrive?”
Qiu Chen replied, “Yesterday.”
The torrential rain had washed away the message Luo Congye had left on the rock and had also concealed their tracks, leaving Qiu Chen with no clues other than a few unidentified corpses.
He knew the purpose of Bai Heting’s trip. Bai Heting would not allow himself to fail, much less allow his failure to be seen by Bai Yi. Not daring to make a scene, Qiu Chen had no choice but to arrange for four close guards to join him in a low-profile, carpet-style search of the hunting grounds.
It wasn’t until yesterday that he finally found this place, where he stumbled upon a shirtless Luo Congye.
Even though a Beta could not smell pheromones, Qiu Chen could easily guess what had happened.
The scratch marks on the Alpha’s body were simply too glaring.
Standing several meters away from Luo Congye, Qiu Chen was silent for a long moment before finally saying in a cold voice, “You’re going to lose your head over this.”
Though his tone was harsh, the phrasing was mild.
He didn’t actually care whether Luo Congye lost his head or not, but if Luo Congye had permanently marked Bai Heting, he would drag Bai Heting down with him.
An Omega who was so easily marked by a guard would lose all of Bai Yi’s trust.
Luo Congye’s expression, however, remained very calm. He only said, “Go back and bring a set of clean clothes for the General.”
Qiu Chen looked toward the cave behind him, clearly hesitating.
“Don’t worry.” Luo Congye also glanced back, letting out a laugh with a sigh. “Before you return, I won’t go anywhere.”
