Chapter 45

Chapter 45

The hot spring's steam was so thick it nearly blinded Lu Xingwen. He never thought he'd be lured this far, to the point he couldn't even fake his usual calm, gentle act.

The Omega was sprawled at the pool's edge, back arched and waist curving down in a pretty line. His skin was smooth and pale, with two little dimples right above his butt. The gland on the back of his neck was a little swollen, and up close, you could catch a sweet whiff of pheromones.

The smell was so faint you could barely tell it was there.

Lu Xingwen braced himself on the pool's edge, leaned in, and brushed his nose right against the gland. The second that sickly-sweet pheromone smell hit his nose, he shot up and bolted to the farthest corner away from Su Xingze.

He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. He couldn't even bring himself to look at the Omega in the pool. He nodded. "You guessed it. Your heat's coming—probably in the next few days."

Su Xingze perked up and sank into the water until just his head poked out. "So I can finish my soak today, yeah?"

"Yeah." Lu Xingwen ran a hand through his half-wet hair and hoisted the other man up a bit. "You're good for today—finish your soak. But don't dunk your head under; it's dirty."

Su Xingze nodded. "Anything else?"

Lu Xingwen smiled. "Don't stay in too long—you'll get dehydrated. I booked our flights for tomorrow morning. We're heading back to Zecheng then."

Su Xingze nodded again. "And then?"

Wasn't he supposed to say something more? He'd let Xiaolu sniff his gland—how could he not get the hint?

Lu Xingwen looked a bit flustered. "Your pheromones... they smell really good."

"Huh?" Su Xingze was totally stumped. For someone so sharp normally, how had he suddenly turned into such a brick wall?

"Xiaolu, look at this hot spring—all the mist, the view... mmm." Su Xingze's eyes went wide as every drop of blood in his body rushed to one place.

Lu Xingwen finally snapped. Throwing all caution out the window, he yanked Su Xingze into his arms, crushing him close like he wanted to melt him into his bones.

This kiss was rougher than any before. Su Xingze ached everywhere—his bones felt like they were about to snap under the Alpha's grip. His heels couldn't reach the ground, so he had to balance on his toes just to ride out the storm of the kiss.

"Xiao... lu." He let out a tiny whimper, hoping the Alpha would loosen his hold.

The gland on the back of his neck was itching, like something was leaking out of it. He squirmed for a while before the Alpha finally let up.

He barely got two breaths in before the kiss came again—softer this time, not as rough. But Su Xingze's lips were already numb and sore, and he was so done with kissing.

He shoved the Alpha off with all his strength, slipped on the wet ground, and almost ate it. Lu Xingwen caught him, pulled him back, and gave him a soft peck on the corner of his mouth and the tip of his nose.

Su Xingze opened his mouth a little and pointed at his red, puffy lips in accusation. "Xiaolu, you kissed me until I'm all swollen!"

Lu Xingwen looked, wiped the drool from the corner of Su Xingze's mouth with his thumb, and gave him another little peck. "Not swollen. Looks good."

His chest was heaving like he'd just sprinted three miles. Su Xingze wasn't doing much better—his heart was slamming so hard it felt like it might punch right out of his chest. His whole body was on fire, and even his gland was pulsing.

"Don't you have something to say to me?" Su Xingze asked again, hoping he'd actually get an answer this time.

Lu Xingwen scooped Su Xingze up with one arm, sitting him on his forearm. He flicked water at him playfully and grinned. "I really wanna kiss you."

"Xiaolu!" Su Xingze smacked the Alpha's chest with his fist and warned, "You better say something I actually wanna hear."

Lu Xingwen held Su Xingze up with both hands and leaned in for a deep kiss—not rough like before, but slow and gentle, savoring the Omega's taste.

"I love you."

Lu Xingwen barely breathed the words out.

Su Xingze could feel how worked up he was—and he was just as bad. He leaned in to meet the kiss and said, "Say it again."

"You're the only one I'll ever love in this world, Chen Chen."

"I love only you too, Xiaolu."

Lu Xingwen carried him to the edge of the pool and fished a ring out of his clothes—one he'd clearly prepared in advance. "Chen Chen, will you be my boyfriend?"

"Not boyfriend." Su Xingze grabbed the ring and slid it on, grinning. "Husband. I'm your legally married husband now. You can't treat me bad or cheat on me. You gotta treat me right from now on, or I'll whoop your ass."

Lu Xingwen smiled, all soft. "I'll do whatever you say from now on."

*

"Hold up, you two—what the hell?! Brother Xingze, don't you dare mess with me!" Fu Yao stared at their clasped hands, squinting so hard he might as well have been trying to burn a hole through them.

It'd only been a few hours, and now they were all finger-laced and making googly eyes at each other! Totally different from before!

"We're a thing now." Su Xingze held up his hand to show Fu Yao.

Fu Yao's face went all knowing, and he said, all casual, "Was only a matter of time."

Lu Xingwen nodded at Huo Fuye and said, "We're flying back to Zecheng tomorrow morning."

"Why?" Fu Yao asked. "Weren't you guys supposed to head back Sunday? What's with tomorrow?"

Su Xingze leaned in and whispered, "My heat's about to hit."

"What!" Fu Yao said, panicking. "Then I'm heading back tomorrow too. You lost your memory—you don't know how to handle a heat, right? I'll come back and fill you in."

Su Xingze coughed. "I... I'll get through it with Lu Xingwen."

"Oh, got it." Fu Yao shoved Huo Fuye forward and laughed. "No worries—I'll have Xiaoye teach your Alpha, and then I'll teach you?"

"Do people actually need to be taught this kind of thing?" Su Xingze asked, curious.

Fu Yao nodded. "Duh. You can't just go off what they show in those video lessons—that's all textbook crap. This kinda thing needs someone with actual hands-on experience to school you."

Su Xingze zeroed in on the important part. "So you're saying you and Huo Fuye already..."

Fu Yao slapped a hand over his mouth and went, "Shh! You know it, but keep it down. You have no idea how much stamina a top-tier Alpha's got. If he hears that, he'll wreck me."

"I know." Su Xingze said, dead serious. "I really, really know."

"Great, then let's go eat. We need to load up on food to keep our strength up for later." Fu Yao dragged Su Xingze off to find something good to eat.

"What strength?" Before he could finish his sentence, he was already being pulled away. Before Su Xingze could even react, he was seated at a table piled high with high-calorie delicacies.

He picked up his chopsticks, not knowing where to start, and said helplessly, "If I keep eating like this, my abs are going to merge back into one."

Fu Yao urged him, "Eat up—you need to eat a lot. You don't know how much energy a heat burns through. When it hits, you'll want to eat but won't be able to, and lying in bed is miserable. The only option is those special high-nutrition injections—they taste like toothpaste, all pasty. One tube and you won't want to eat for three days."

"When you're lying there unable to move, I'm the one who cooks for you by hand," Huo Fuye added.

Fu Yao waved his hand. "I'm too dizzy and bleary-eyed to even tell what anything tastes like."

Fu Yao made it sound so serious that Su Xingze started to feel scared. He'd never experienced a heat before, but based on what he'd learned in physiology class and Xiaolu's stamina, he probably wouldn't be able to get out of bed to eat.

Fine. He'd work on his abs next year.

Early the next morning, the four of them boarded an eight o'clock flight back to Zecheng.

An Omega in heat only needs their Alpha around; other Alphas being nearby would set off territorial instincts.

So they grabbed the essentials on the way.

A large box of condoms, and Fu Yao grabbed a few more boxes on top of that.

Lubricant, the nasty-tasting high-nutrition heat injections, and various chocolates and energy drinks.

"We don't need these." Su Xingze stopped him.

Fu Yao glanced at the skimpy outfits with very little fabric, blinking. "These are all for spice."

Su Xingze said firmly, "Not yet."

"Alright, skip it for the first time." Fu Yao gave up on that section and moved to another area.

By the time they finally returned to the villa, the table in Su Xingze's room was stacked almost to the brim.

Aunt Zhang knew exactly what was up the moment she saw it. She was a Beta with no experience in Alpha-Omega stuff, so she went to Huo Fuye for advice, humbly.

Lu Xingwen was also all ears.

With Fu Yao pressuring him, Huo Fuye said, "Keep the food light, don't be rough, keep the nutrition balanced, and make sure they get enough sleep."

Aunt Zhang looked up. "That's all?"

Huo Fuye: "Besides the Alpha and Omega, it's best if nobody else stays at the villa."

"Thank you." Lu Xingwen went into the kitchen and started checking out the produce in the fridge.

Aunt Zhang was given the time off and went home, and Fu Yao left with Huo Fuye too.

Su Xingze sat on the couch, still in a daze. Everyone seemed so tense, but he hadn't experienced it yet and didn't know how he was supposed to feel about it.

Xiaolu had been chopping vegetables all afternoon, dividing them into small portions. As dusk fell, Su Xingze felt all sticky and went upstairs to take a shower.

He hadn't been in the shower long when he started feeling incredibly hot—every inch of his body burning, and unbearably itchy.

He caught a whiff of thick pheromones, a cloyingly sweet smell flooding his nose. Su Xingze tried to speak, but his voice came out in a way he never imagined it could.

"Xiaolu." He called out, slumping against the edge of the bathtub as the heat consumed him entirely. He couldn't tell if the wetness on his body was sweat or water, and he just felt awful.

His legs could no longer support him, as if he were walking on cotton, no matter how hard he tried.

His gland itched so badly it was almost unbearable—he desperately wanted an Alpha's fangs to pierce through, flooding him with thick pheromones, and savoring him slowly.

He felt like he was being roasted in a furnace, about to lose his mind, but not quite there yet. The pheromone concentration was still rising, and his heat symptoms hadn't peaked.

Before, he could only read about it in text and not understand, or hear others describe it without it actually sinking in.

So this was how painful an Omega's heat could be.

But now he had Lu Xingwen.

Just knowing Lu Xingwen was his Alpha, Su Xingze wasn't so scared anymore—he even felt a faint sense of anticipation.

So he sat there in the tub, hugging his knees, waiting for his Alpha to come save him.

==========Author's Note:==========

They confessed and got together.