Fouls Prohibited

The room was not large. Ye Ci took a few steps closer.

After tossing about all night, it seemed that some threshold had been forcibly lifted, and although his voice was so dry that it even felt unfamiliar, he still expressed himself clearly in the present situation: “Let’s hug again, hug for a while, ba. Huo-shushu . . . . you can’t just, you can’t go on like this . . . .”

Even if subjective feelings of pain were set aside, susceptibility syndrome could cause shock in extreme cases, and the risk was very real.

This was an outdated, absurdly savage mechanism of evolution.

In primitive times, it forced the genetically advanced Alpha to find an Omega that was highly compatible with itself, and insatiably plunder, possess, mark, breed . . . .

For primitive humans where instinct prevailed, this was a positive mechanism.

However, with the birth of civilization, law, and morality, reason and an increasingly rich and meticulous heart and mind thwarted the progress of genetic selfishness.

So much love, so much want.

In the eyes of a lover, a sweetheart who was ignorant of worldly affairs had become a budding flower.

He delicately sniffed and fiddled with it, and sometimes couldn’t help but reach into the core and steal a drop of honey . . . . yet couldn’t bear to break it.

But . . . .

Patience had its limits.

Moreover . . . .

He came to the door himself.

Huo Tinglan lowered his eyes and did not look at Ye Ci. Under his thin, half-closed eyelids, a pair of eyes nervously trembled.

He seemed to be hovering at some critical point.

Burning to the touch.

“I’m, I’m mentally prepared.” Seeing that Huo Tinglan was motionless, Ye Ci took two steps forward and stood in front of him.

His thin neck and hands were white as jade and lined with lake blue pajamas.

Inadvertently or not, he used a kind of “feigned calm” posture that diluted the ambiguity inherent in this mode of treatment: “You, feel free to hug this time, it’s okay. Before, I just wasn’t, wasn’t used to it . . . .”

Before he finished speaking, the world suddenly turned upside down, and the astonishing speed and strength of an A-level Alpha was revealed in this moment. With a bang, Ye Ci was shoved onto the bed. The mattress was soft, and it didn’t hurt, but it was shocking.

“Huo-shushu!” Ye Ci was about to get up, but Huo Tinglan’s hot hand grabbed the back of his neck.

He froze from head to foot.

Male cats would bite the back of a female’s neck at certain times to prevent them from escaping midway, which may be connected to how Omegas were built. Alphas had similar instincts, and would clamp down on an Omega in the same way when engaging in intimacy.

And Omegas cooperated sufficiently to evolve corresponding physiological reflexes. When the back of the neck was restrained by the high-matching Alpha they had established a trusting relationship with, they would fall into a state of surrender that was difficult to resist due to a series of stress responses such as decreased muscle strength . . . . this was very convenient for the Alpha.

“Wu . . . .” Ye Ci gritted his teeth and struggled to move, but could only do so weakly.

Huo Tinglan had also underlined this in that well-selected popular science book on physiological knowledge, but Ye Ci hadn’t read it.

He thought he had a hard enough fist to protect himself, but in reality, he had to pay the price for his arrogance . . . .

He was going to be “bullied.”

As if tormented by some sweet, sharp torture device, the blue veins on Huo Tinglan’s neck became prominent. His teeth were clenched so hard that they rattled.

After everything, he was still persistently enduring.

He forcefully pulled down the back collar of Ye Ci’s pajamas, using his fingertips to slowly and carefully stroke both sides of Ye Ci’s vertebrae to check the maturity of the Omega glands hidden under the smooth skin: It didn’t feel right, too small in size, slow to respond to an Alpha’s touch . . . . they demonstrated a low degree of development, and even a temporary mark could cause damage.

After being married for so long, this was actually the first time he had directly touched it.

The warm touch made both of them shudder at the same time.

Huo Tinglan couldn’t control his strength, and his force was rough.

Therefore, Ye Ci’s feedback came very quickly.

On both sides of his spine, the Omega glands were positively glowing with an unnatural peach-pink color. Driven by the blood vessels under the skin, they pulsed weakly and regularly, exuding a surging, extraordinarily appealing aroma.

— This was a testament to their responsiveness to an Alpha.

And the extent of their softening and volume was also in the range that could withstand temporary marking.

Before, Huo Tinglan had been looking for an opportunity to take Ye Ci to do a full set of examinations on the direction of his Omega development, but knowing that Ye Ci was thin-skinned, he didn’t mention it. He didn’t expect to do a preliminary inspection in a more straightforward way at this time.

Due to being slender and having little fat, Ye Ci’s skin looked very thin.

His Omega glands were stimulated and swollen, like a ripe fruit.

The thin skin had to work hard to cover them, pitifully red and swollen, luring people to bite.

The scent was also quite . . . .

Mixed with the familiar scent of vanilla was a thin layer of fishy sweetness.

That was the smell of desire.

“Huo-shushu . . . .”

With the heat of the Omega glands rising, and unprecedented restlessness swept through his whole body.

His bones were crumbling.

Huo Tinglan need not restrain him. He couldn’t struggle to break free.

He didn’t know what was going on. Compared to when he had a high fever, he had less energy, his thoughts were more chaotic, and the saturation of the colors in his field of vision had risen. Even the soft cream-colored material covering the walls and floor had a strange splendor under the light.

The sore, indescribable feeling in his abdomen from before also struck again.

Ye Ci was so restless with anxiety that he kept looking back, wanting to see what was going on at the back of his neck, like a stupid cat chasing its tail.

Of course he couldn’t see it.

Then he could only ask Huo Tinglan for help.

No matter how slow he was, he was still aware of who the culprit was behind this series of changes.

But he could only turn to the culprit for help.

“Huo-shushu . . . . what, what’s happening to me . . . .”

Huo Tinglan was silent, and his Adam’s apple rolled.

Originally, he consoled himself with empty hopes to quench his thirst, and was able to speak fluently.

But Ye Ci was too stimulated at this juncture, and unexpectedly entered the first phase of fever . . . .

Yet again, he innocently called out to him.

Huo Tinglan looked at the back of Ye Ci’s neck with burning eyes, so hot that they could burn through.

“Huo-shushu, I’m not, I’m not feeling well . . . . you just, just hug me, don’t, don’t do anything else . . . . okay?”

In order to break free, Ye Ci twisted like a willow swaying in the wind, and like tree sap, wrung out a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

He helplessly called out to that nice gentleman in his mind, stammering for mercy, wanting to awaken Huo Tinglan’s dormant “conscience” and reason. There was no turning back. The moment he stepped into the safe room, the matter was a foregone conclusion. But he had thought he would be shown mercy.

The lingering heat of that high fever was finally accompanied by the “Huo-shushu” and “hug me” that his brain clipped out without permission, igniting everything that was flammable in Huo Tinglan’s body.

There was a roaring in his ears, his vision exploded into white snow, and his blood surged. When he came back to his senses, his teeth had pierced the skin, wedged into the glands behind Ye Ci’s neck, and injected a small stream of pheromones.

Rich tequila blended with sweet vanilla to produce a wonderful chemical reaction. A brand new compound substance was derived, releasing an aroma that was somewhere between the two pheromones, but not quite like either.

This derivative, which symbolized a temporary mark, could solve the susceptibility period problem at the root.

Huo Tinglan took a deep breath. The torturous pain, the massive jumble of information brought by the hyper-sensitivity of the five senses, and the frenzied and chaotic thoughts were all cut down by a lot in an instant.

As comfortable as if he had been reborn.

The tip of his nose brushed the ends of Ye Ci’s sweaty hair. Huo Tinglan lowered his eyes and gently turned Ye Ci’s face, which was buried in a pillow.

Ye Ci’s cheeks were as pink as a spring peach.

An Omega’s initial fever would usually be quite severe, and their mental state would be affected. The current Ye Ci was a good example. With his eyes wide open, his blank pupils were filled with a kind of drunken emptiness, clearly not lucid.

Thanks to this lack of sobriety, his last bit of pretense completely disappeared. Not only did he forget that he used to be an Alpha, he even forgot to cover up his physical attraction, his desire for Huo Tinglan.

The misty expression in his eyes was thus completely exposed.

The temporary marking was only carried out halfway, and the amount of Alpha pheromones injected was still very small.

Originally, Huo Tinglan may have stopped here. After all, the symptoms had been relieved a lot. But right now, he had to use all the self-control he had to resist the urge to grasp Ye Ci and directly eat him clean. He crushed the impulse.

He turned Ye Ci over and put one hand next to his ear, teasing the cute drunken shrimp as he asked in a low voice, “Who am I?”

“You, you are Huo-shushu . . . .” Ye Ci answered honestly. His nose twitched, smelling him comfortably from a short, safe distance.

Good boy, even when he wasn’t sober, he hadn’t forgotten to use honorifics.

“Who is Huo-shushu to you?”

“He’s . . . . shushu.”

“Wrong.”

Ye Ci got stuck. Hesitating, he answered tentatively: “Or, the per, person who received a marriage certificate . . . .”

“And the person who received a marriage certificate with you is your what?”

“But –” Although Ye Ci was not sober, he instinctively avoided this pointed question, rambling, “Me, me and Huo-shushu are married . . . . it’s, it’s a fake marriage, it doesn’t count . . . .”

“There is no fake marriage at the legal level. Our marriage relationship is real and valid, “ Huo Tinglan said, his voice quiet and deep.

“. . . . . .”

Ye Ci didn’t speak.

“The person you have received a marriage certificate with, is your what?” Huo Tinglan repeated this question hoarsely.

He was unusually persistent, as if asking for a name for what he was on the verge of doing.

The obvious answer was that the Alpha with the marriage certificate was the husband.

Even kindergarten children knew this sort of common sense. Ye Ci raised his clear and beautiful eyes, a little shy, and looked at Huo Tinglan again a bit evasively. 

“It’s your husband,” Huo Tinglan said word by word.

The next second, Huo Tinglan’s chest sank down – –

Ye Ci was so embarrassed that he wanted to escape Huo Tinglan’s predatory gaze, but there was nowhere to hide.

That little head turned in confusion, dizzy and bewildered, and plunged into his arms.