Chapter 22
The glass hovered in mid-air for two seconds before being placed back on the marble dining table.
Pei Tingyu’s brow furrowed slightly, his tone surprisingly hesitant. “Bai Yan, have you… been drinking?”
Otherwise, why does he seem drunk?
“I haven’t.”
Bai Yan shook his head, his eyelids slowly blinking. He repeated seriously, “I haven’t been drinking.”
Moisture filled his cherry-pink eyes, and two patches of crimson floated on his cheeks. The young man’s sweet smile didn’t fade, the dimples by his lips looking incredibly soft.
With guests visiting, the dining room had been sprayed with a higher concentration of scent-blocker. Pei Tingyu couldn’t smell the young man’s pheromones.
The man didn’t feel relieved in the slightest. He frowned and quickly glanced at the space in front of the young man.
The beef bourguignon was completely gone, but the onions hadn’t been touched, carefully picked out and piled in a corner of the silverware.
Only this dish contained alcohol, but even so, the amount was negligible and wouldn’t normally make someone drunk.
The Alpha instantly remembered the young man’s unusual physical condition. His brow twitched, and he suddenly leaned over toward the young man’s seat.
Bai Yan watched with wide eyes as the man approached him.
The smooth line of his jaw, his slightly pursed thin lips, gradually magnified before his eyes until they filled every corner of his vision.
When the back of the man’s hand touched his forehead, even his breathing slowed by half a beat.
The skin his hand touched was as delicate as warm jade, but its temperature was slightly higher than usual.
Pei Tingyu couldn’t help but frown. Just as he was about to get up and call a doctor, the person beside him stood up first and caught his hand before he could withdraw it.
Before the Alpha could react, the young man had taken his hand and pulled it in front of him, turning it over and over like a new toy.
“Such beautiful hands,” Bai Yan said, squinting his hazy eyes as he examined them. His voice was soft and slurred from the alcohol. “Your hands are so big… so beautiful.”
The lines on the Alpha’s palm were faint. His fingers were long and slender, his knuckles well-defined, and they were very large. One of his large hands could almost cover both of his.
The young man curled his fingers and curiously rubbed the man’s palm, then slowly slid his fingers toward the fingertips, having a grand time.
A tingling, numb sensation spread through his palm, as if a faint electric current was coming from the young man’s fingertips, flowing from where they touched all the way to Pei Tingyu’s heart.
The man’s heart trembled slightly, and he couldn’t help but follow the young man’s gaze.
His own skin was on the paler side, but even so, the young man’s complexion was much fairer.
His fingernails were clean and white, trimmed into a neat, rounded shape, with a hint of a cute pink. A ring fit snugly on his ring finger.
It fits well, Pei Tingyu’s gaze darkened.
The cool pads of his fingers would occasionally slip between his, the touch a little cold, and also a little… hard?
The man looked closely and was suddenly stunned.
He reflexively took Bai Yan’s hand and only then discovered that there was a thin layer of calluses on the young man’s fingertips. There were also some small scars at the base of his fingers, and even a slight indentation at the base of his index finger.
Far from as soft as he had imagined.
Pei Tingyu’s pupils trembled slightly. He understood. These were probably the scars Bai Yan had gotten at the orphanage.
That past he knew nothing about was perhaps not a happy one.
As he was lost in thought, the fingers in his palm suddenly moved.
The young man’s eyes didn’t blink, his gaze fixed on their joined hands. His calloused fingertips slowly, but irresistibly, slipped between the man’s fingers.
Until their fingers were intertwined.
“There,” Bai Yan said, shaking their clasped hands. A beautiful curve appeared on his soft lips as he said in a soft voice, “This way, I won’t lose you.”
The scent of orange blossom in the dining room suddenly intensified.
Pei Tingyu couldn’t describe the feeling at that moment. Something unfamiliar was growing in his chest, quickly flowing through his entire body.
His heart trembled in his chest. His brow twitched, and he instinctively tried to pull his hand away, but Bai Yan’s other hand held it tightly, and he couldn’t break free.
The young man lifted his moist eyes, tears quickly welling up at the corners, sticking his snow-white lashes together.
He looked up at Pei Tingyu, accusing him pitifully, “Why are you abandoning me?”
The thread of reason in the Alpha’s mind, numbed by alcohol, was on the verge of snapping.
Pei Tingyu’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. With what little reason he had left, he softened his voice and asked, “Yanyan… let me go, okay?”
The young man didn’t listen, sullenly looking away.
He deliberately lowered his voice and scolded, “Bai Yan, you have a fever. I’m going to call a doctor.”
“No, don’t go to the hospital!”
Hearing this, Bai Yan’s eyes immediately widened. He threw off Pei Tingyu’s arm, stood up from his seat, and threw a rare tantrum.
The next moment, he actually wrapped his arms around the man’s neck and sat astride his lap!
The man was completely unprepared. His pupils contracted violently, his large hands hovering over the young man’s back to prevent him from falling.
Bai Yan looked up pitifully, his face flushed and damp from the alcohol, looking as if he were on the verge of tears.
Tears rolled down his hazy eyes, and with his red eyes, he looked like an abandoned, soaked little rabbit.
The young man’s whole body trembled, his nostrils flaring as he mumbled softly, “Don’t go to the hospital, okay… I don’t want to be abandoned again.”
The Omega’s soft body pressed against his chest. The scent-blocker had completely failed, and the scent of jasmine, tinged with alcohol, had a intoxicating quality, tempting and delicious.
The young man rested his head on his chest, a soft bundle pressing against his thigh. But his shoulders trembled with fear. The soft, snow-white tips of his hair occasionally brushed against his chin, making it tickle.
The small, slightly red gland on the back of his neck was completely exposed, ripe for the taking.
The S-class pheromones surged through his body, desperately seeking an outlet. It felt as if all his blood was converging in one place, clamoring with shameful desire.
Veins popped out on Pei Tingyu’s forehead. His pupils contracted violently, and he almost looked away in shame, his breathing ragged.
The last shred of reason he had, however, reminded him that the young man’s strong aversion to the hospital was not normal.
To prevent the young man from falling from his lap, the man’s large hands gripped his slender waist, his arms bulging with thick veins.
The rich, intoxicating scent of jasmine pheromones rushed toward him. The man’s gaze was dark and profound, the heat in his heart growing more and more intense, as if about to start a prairie fire.
The possessiveness and desire for control unique to an Alpha swirled in his eyes, his voice extremely hoarse. “How could I abandon you?”
Pei Tingyu’s breathing was rapid and hot. The equally intoxicating scent of orange blossom pheromones was released into the air, quickly enveloping the young man in his arms.
The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He softened his voice as much as possible, patting his back to soothe him. “We won’t go to the hospital. We’ll just wait for the doctor to come here, okay?”
Bai Yan bit his lip pitifully, the force of his embrace softening, but he still refused unhappily. “I don’t want to.”
“Yanyan… be good. I’ll stay by your side.”
“I’ll always be with you.”
The comforting words were a little clumsy at first, but slowly became gentle, tinged with an indescribable, hazy tenderness, like a dream.
Under Pei Tingyu’s patient soothing, the Omega finally quieted down. He placed his hands on the man’s bulging chest and rested his head against him, unmoving.
The young man’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier, his lashes fluttering restlessly before completely covering his beautiful eyelids.
Pei Tingyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He lifted the young man into his arms and walked steadily out of the dining room. He instructed a servant to call the family doctor and carried the young man to his room on the third floor himself.
After the servant went in to take care of him, he immediately turned and went back to his own room across the hall. Without even looking at the area below his waist, he injected a high-strength suppressant into his veiny arm.
The sharp needle pierced his body, but the man didn’t even frown, his movements as practiced as if it were a routine meal.
The cold, stinging liquid was slowly pushed into his veins, and his hot, rapid breathing gradually calmed down.
The empty suppressant tube was thrown into the trash. Pei Tingyu glanced at the few remaining high-strength suppressants in the box and thought calmly.
The frequency with which he would be using suppressants from now on would probably be very high.
