When Huo Shaoyan carried Qi Xing back to the master bedroom of the downtown apartment, a thin sheen of sweat had already formed across his back.
The person in his arms, however, was sleeping like a baby. His delicate face nuzzled against Huo Shaoyan's chest, and a few indistinct murmurs escaped his lips.
Huo Shaoyan had planned to toss this little troublemaker straight onto the bed and be done with it. But when he caught the scent of alcohol from the banquet and a faint trace of tobacco mingled with the rose scent on Qi Xing's body, the CEO's germophobia and obsessive habits flared up instantly.
"...You really are a handful." Huo Shaoyan's face darkened as he resigned himself to picking Qi Xing up again and turning toward the bathroom.
The bathroom quickly filled with steam.
Huo Shaoyan settled Qi Xing onto the nonslip stone stool beside the bathtub. As he ran warm water, he resignedly picked up a towel and wiped Qi Xing's face.
"Huo Shaoyan... hot..." Qi Xing tilted his head. His lashes were damp, and the alcohol and bathroom heat had turned his pretty face a rosy pink, adding a few touches of feminine softness and allure that he normally lacked.
"If you're hot, then stop moving around." Huo Shaoyan grumpily ran the warm towel over his fair forehead and straight nose before finally wiping across those two crimson lips.
His movements could hardly be called gentle, but they were undeniably careful.
The drunk, however, clearly had no intention of cooperating.
Qi Xing found sitting too tiring, so he simply slumped forward, letting most of his weight fall onto Huo Shaoyan, who was crouched in front of him.
"Huo Shaoyan, you're so cool. That feels nice..." Qi Xing pressed his face against Huo Shaoyan's expensive designer shirt, his arms naturally winding around Huo Shaoyan's neck like a clingy, boneless kitten.
"Qi Xing! Sit properly." Huo Shaoyan warned him in a low voice, but his hands instinctively circled Qi Xing's waist to keep him from sliding down.
With that embrace, his palms landed directly on the curve of Qi Xing's waist beneath his coat—it was impossibly slim and soft. One long leg was draped across Huo Shaoyan's thigh, while his slender fingers restlessly scratched at the buzz cut on the back of Huo Shaoyan's neck.
"I don't want to sit there... I want you to hold me." Qi Xing mumbled, blowing warm air beside Huo Shaoyan's ear. The alluring rose pheromone flowed with his breath, brushing Huo Shaoyan's neck without the slightest restraint.
"Shit—" Huo Shaoyan sucked in a sharp breath. As a top-tier Alpha, his self-control was facing a catastrophic test at that very moment. Gritting his teeth, he cursed Tang Wanrou eight hundred times in his head—why had she made him take care of this seductive fox?—while scrambling to coax and cajole Qi Xing out of his elaborate banquet formalwear.
Hot water rinsed over Qi Xing's luminous fair skin, droplets sliding down his delicate collarbones and long legs.
Huo Shaoyan kept his eyes straight ahead as he used the showerhead to rinse him, but the dark depths of his eyes had already grown frighteningly deep.
At that moment, he felt less like the CEO of a publicly traded company worth hundreds of billions and more like a personal manservant waiting on his master.
The key point was that this master was enjoying his service while shamelessly putting his hands all over him. After finally hauling Qi Xing out of the bathroom and changing him into a loose silk pajama set, Huo Shaoyan felt more exhausted than he would have after negotiating in the business world for three days and three nights.
His own shirt was completely soaked, clinging tightly to his muscular chest. His red-wine pheromone churned uncontrollably through the air as his emotions fluctuated.
"Lie still. I'm going to take a shower." Huo Shaoyan tucked Qi Xing beneath the covers and turned to leave.
But the next second, a cool, slender hand clamped tightly around his wrist. The force was almost unbelievable.
Huo Shaoyan froze for a moment and looked back.
Qi Xing, who was lying on the bed, had already opened his eyes.
Those peach-blossom eyes, usually three parts mischievous and seven parts spoiled, were now fixed on him without blinking. Deep within them flickered a madness and devotion bordering on obsession.
"Don't leave." Qi Xing's voice was hoarse, but his tone carried a command that brooked no refusal.
"Qi Xing, I'm soaked. I'm going to wash up." Huo Shaoyan explained patiently.
"I don't care." Qi Xing tightened his grip. Though his cultivation was no longer at the peak it had been in his previous life, dealing with an unprepared Alpha was still more than easy.
Huo Shaoyan felt an irresistible force yank him forward. He instantly lost his balance and fell straight into the soft bedding on the large bed.
Before he could react, Qi Xing had already wrapped himself around him like an octopus.
One long leg pressed directly across Huo Shaoyan's waist, both arms locked tightly around his chest, and his entire face burrowed into Huo Shaoyan's damp neck, greedily inhaling the rich red-wine scent.
"Shaoyan... Shaoyan..." Qi Xing murmured over and over, a barely perceptible tremor and grievance woven into his voice, as though the moment he loosened his grip, the person before him would once again become the lifeless corpse inside the ice coffin.
Huo Shaoyan went completely still.
He could feel Qi Xing trembling. It wasn't physical cold, but a fear that had sunk deep into his bones.
The scent-blocking patch on the back of Qi Xing's neck had shifted crookedly, exposing a small patch of tender, pink scent gland. As he breathed, the rose and red-wine scents frantically interwove and melded in the air, their compatibility astonishingly high. But after spending so long together, Huo Shaoyan could still keep himself under control—it was simply torturous.
"...Did you have a nightmare?" Huo Shaoyan's voice softened at last. He lifted a hand and gently covered the back of Qi Xing's soft head with his rough palm, stroking him in slow, intermittent motions as he soothed the kitten in his arms, who had suddenly become desperately starved for security.
"I'm right here," Huo Shaoyan murmured.
Surrounded by the familiar warmth and sound of a heartbeat, Qi Xing finally began to calm down.
His tense body relaxed bit by bit, but his grip did not loosen in the slightest. Watching the person in his arms sink into deep sleep once more, a satisfied smile still curving his lips, Huo Shaoyan let out a helpless sigh.
The CEO resigned himself to closing his eyes and letting himself serve as a human body pillow for the entire night.
He thought, I'm screwed. He really has me trapped in his little troublemaker's grip.