Don't Touch Me or Your Hands and Feet Will Rot

Li Mao was awakened by the incessant sensation bouncing against his chest.

The moment he woke up, the mingled scent of tuberose and sweet-tart green apple in the room rushed straight into Li Mao's nose, now that his sense of smell for pheromones had returned. There was also a faint salty, fishy bitterness mixed in, making him frown.

The red cord around Li Mao's wrist had been untied during the first half of the night.

Because that mad dog had said he wanted Li Mao to hold him, to build some bullshit newlywed affection.

Li Mao had no choice. After Wan Fuqi untied his hands, he directly tossed both of Li Mao's arms over his own shoulders and forced him to keep them wrapped around him, refusing to let him loosen his hold.

The blindfold on his face had been torn off in the latter half of the night.

Because it was still the same mad dog, shamelessly claiming he wanted to give him a lesson in reproductive health.

So Li Mao could see whether an Enigma marking an Alpha was the same as an Alpha marking an Omega.

Over the course of that night, Li Mao's twenty-five-year-old body had nearly fallen apart.

Though it could hardly be called mutual affection or willing consent, at the very least, this had been the longest Li Mao had stayed conscious through one of these experiences.

As the marks between them accumulated, his physical and psychological dependence on Wan Fuqi would only grow stronger. There would only be more compromises like this, not fewer.

Though he had stepped into a trap this time, he still had things he needed to do.

He would just treat it as having found himself a free gigolo. They had both gotten what they needed.

Li Mao was taking it rather well, and he felt more secure than he had after that time at the hotel.

This man was just possessed by a sex demon, not the reincarnation of a murderer. They had already done everything they should and should not have done several times over, so what was there left for him to fear?

So Li Mao stopped stubbornly looking for chances to smack the man and run. When it ended at dawn, he simply turned the tables. No matter how tightly Enigma held him, he dropped his head and went straight to sleep.

With Enigma's pheromones helping him sleep, it became the first peaceful night's rest Li Mao had had in many days.

But...

What the hell was this idiot fiddling with on him again?

If he had so much free time, why not turn on the TV and watch something?

Did his ultimate move not need any cooldown at all?

Li Mao reluctantly pried one eye open. Staring at Wan Fuqi's fingers moving over him, he asked in confusion, "What, what are you doing? If you don't, don't touch me for a while, will your hands and feet rot off and kill you?"

Wan Fuqi stopped moving at once. Somewhat surprised, he lifted his face to look at Li Mao, who had one eye open and one eye shut as he watched him. "You recovered that quickly? You kept crying last night that you couldn't take it anymore, that you couldn't stand it. I thought you'd sleep for a long time today. I didn't expect you to get up so early. Alpha bodies really are so durab—"

"Sh-shut up!"

Face reddening, Li Mao hurriedly cut off Wan Fuqi, who had no shame and loved spouting outrageous nonsense.

"Who, who the fuck asked what I said last, last night?! I'm asking whether if you don't, don't touch me, your hands and feet will, will rot off and kill you!"

After saying that, Li Mao grabbed Wan Fuqi's hand where it rested on him and flung it aside like garbage.

"Did, did you wash your hands?! Disgusting! Get lost!" he snapped.

"Of course I washed them." Wan Fuqi placed his hand back on Li Mao's flat lower belly.

"You fuck..." Li Mao ground his back teeth so hard they creaked.

While Li Mao was mentally searching for words to curse him with, Wan Fuqi propped himself up slightly and pressed an ear against Li Mao's lower belly.

In all seriousness, he asked, "Darling, if I work as hard as I did last night every day, do you think you'll give me a baby? Would you like a boy or a girl? Do you think the baby would be an Alpha like you, or an Enigma like me?"

Enigma's insane ramblings stunned Li Mao so badly that he forgot all about the oppressive authority this man had built up in his mind over the past while. He raised a hand and slapped the back of Wan Fuqi's head. A sharp crack that sounded painful exploded against Wan Fuqi's skull.

"Are you out of your, your mind?! How many, many times do I have to tell you? I'm an Alpha!! Didn't, didn't your teachers teach you when you were little that Alphas can't have bab, babies? If you have delusions, go, go get them treated. Don't let it get so bad one day that you open your mouth and call me Dad, Daddy."

Wan Fuqi took the opportunity to gently rub against Li Mao's stomach. "Wifey, I think I can feel the baby kicking me."

Li Mao:?

Now he truly thought there was something wrong with this man.

"What you're hearing is my fucking intes, intestines! Moron! Shit's calling you! We, we've only known each other for a few days! Even maggots don't turn into flies this, this fast!"

Li Mao's analogy was so novel that it made Wan Fuqi laugh nonstop with his head pillowed on Li Mao's stomach.

He felt more and more as though he had slept with a treasure.

Li Mao could not be bothered arguing with a mad dog. He spat at the back of Wan Fuqi's head, muttered a few more curses under his breath, then reached out to grab the cigarette pack from the bedside table and pulled one out to put between his lips.

The moment he had opened his eyes, he had spotted this precious lifeline of his.

The cigarettes were his—the pack he had stuffed into his pocket when he went to the clinic yesterday. Even the number left inside matched.

He had not had time to smoke yesterday, and these cigarettes had disappeared along with the clothes and pants that had long since vanished from his body.

And he clearly remembered that the cigarette pack had not been on the bedside table last night.

Who knew what that mad dog had been thinking.

Maybe, unable to sleep during his post-orgasm clarity, he had paced around the room with sighs, regretting how he had somehow ended up in bed with this blond punk again, and had casually found Li Mao's cigarettes and set them by the bed.

Whatever!

He would smoke one first to ease his worries.

Li Mao picked up the lighter placed neatly beside the cigarette pack and lit the cigarette in his mouth.

Squinting, he leaned against the headboard and took drag after drag of his post-sex cigarette.

And the Enigma who had slept with him looked more like the one who had been marked, wrapping his arms around Li Mao's waist and burying his face in Li Mao's embrace. His shoulders trembled, and at a glance, it was impossible to tell whether he was laughing or crying. He looked rather like someone regretting the loss of his virginity.

Li Mao's cigarette had nearly burned down to the filter before Wan Fuqi finally stopped laughing. He lifted his face to look up at Alpha and answered, "I was measuring."

Li Mao, who had been spacing out, did not understand at first what the man meant. He instinctively asked, "What?"

Wan Fuqi patiently repeated, "I was measuring."

He sat up and looked into Li Mao's eyes.

The instant Li Mao saw him lean closer, he reflexively moved the cigarette butt farther away and casually waved away the smoke still hanging between them.

Only then did he frown and continue, "Measuring what, what the hell? Comparing, comparing what in secret? Why so sneaky? Why not just, just ask directly? I've measured it with a ruler."