“People you were hanging around with...?”

His tone was hard despite the teasing manner, and the nuance in it sounded like nothing but discontent. When I hunched my shoulders and asked back, he replied without a hint of hesitation.

“The second son of Taejin Construction, for one.”

A face came to mind— a man still young, absurdly talkative.

“...We weren’t that close.”

It wasn’t close enough for me to catch his scent. We’d exchanged a few words at most, and he probably hadn’t had any real interest in me either.

“Well, at least that one had some manners.”

Kwon Yido agreed readily, then set his lips to nibbling slowly along the side of my neck. Shifting against me, he moved down toward my collarbone and bit hard near the bone.

“Ah!”

The sharp sting drew an involuntary cry from me. Unbothered, Yido sucked at the spot until he was sure a red mark would be left, then wrapped the arm that had been cradling my neck around my shoulder.

“Other people were busy touching here and there, playing the fox.”

“...Hht.”

“I almost wanted to rip up every business card you received, Jung Sejin.”

His clasped fingers tightened, holding me immobile, and he bit down on the place where my neck met my shoulder. It was petty, deliberate mischief—yet I couldn’t help but be puzzled.

“Who’s been touching me...?”

I’d shaken hands with plenty of people at the ceremony, but nothing you’d call ‘groping.’ Even so, Yido loosened my tie with a faint laugh.

“Don’t know if you’re clueless, or just indifferent...”

His hand swept over my back and shoulder, then trailed down my arm to rest lightly above the elbow. Even through my dress shirt, the breadth of his palm was clear.

“What do you think’s the reason for holding someone’s arm like that in conversation?”

“...”

I knew what he meant—casual, meaningless touches, whether a hand on my arm or an arm around my shoulder. The former was usually from shorter women, the latter from men about my height.

“Well...”

I’d be lying if I said I’d never sensed ulterior motives. But there’d been no reason to guard myself or waste attention on people I’d never see again.

“So you weren’t interested.”

Yido read me exactly and said it flatly. Curling his lips in a slow smile, he went on in a monotone.

“Which is why you didn’t bother to shake them off.”

“...”

It wasn’t a sharp tone, yet it felt like being scolded. More than the surprise that he’d been watching me, it was the fact I had no defense ready that made me uneasy. As if to ease my tension, he pressed a soft kiss near my cheek.

“Betas... fine, they’re just poking at fruit they can’t eat.”

People with special traits tended to pair with others of the same. There was no rule, but society leaned that way. He kissed me again, fingertips brushing my ear.

“Alphas who don’t know their place are the ones worth watching.”

Was this where I was supposed to answer? I didn’t nod— it was a promise I couldn’t keep. He knew that too, which was why his words came like a warning.

“You can’t cover up the perfume I gave you with someone else’s scent.”

“...”

It only stood out because I had no pheromones of my own, and even then it was faint—something that just clung naturally after being nearby. By now, only a trace of perfume remained.

“If you don’t like that...”

Slowly, I brought our joined hands up toward my face, rubbing my cheek against the back of his hand before meeting his eyes.

“Then I can cover it with your scent from now on.”

“...”

That must have been the spark. He poured out a flood of pheromones, nothing like before, and claimed my mouth with no space to breathe. In the thick haze, I felt him unfastening my buttons one by one.

When I came to, I was half-naked on the bed. His palm smoothed over my bare chest before his thigh pressed firmly between my legs, drawing a groan from my throat.

“Ungh...”

“When did this happen?”

“Wait, hhh...”

His solid thigh worked between mine, coaxing a readiness that promised more. When I shivered, he undid my belt and slid his hand inside.

“Shall we get one out first and then take it slow?”

“Ah—wait... hhh...”

His large hand gripped me roughly, slipping under my underwear without pause. I caught his forearm and stifled my voice as his palm worked expertly over the head.

It was as if he knew exactly what made me shudder. Just one hand, moving lazily, was enough to stack the pleasure relentlessly—far more stimulating than anything I’d done alone.

“Hh...!”

It didn’t take long before I spilled into his hand, the result of his practiced touch and the waves of pheromones. He caught it all with ease, then stripped away my pants and underwear, tossing them to the floor.

Those will be ruined, I thought faintly. He murmured in reply.

“They’re clothes I bought to take off you.”

“...”

His instincts were uncanny. Besides, they’d already been spoiled with wine. While I resigned myself, he stripped off his own jacket. A brooch from the lapel clinked onto the floor.

Unlike last time, when he’d only half-undressed, this time he took off his shirt as well, tossing it down. His torso was as striking as a painting—broad shoulders, a wide chest, and the solid ridges of ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) muscle.

“Quite the appetite you have.”

“...Mm.”

Embarrassing words, but I couldn’t deny them. I wasn’t the type, or so I thought, yet my throat bobbed at the sight of him. He caught my averted gaze and spoke in a curious tone.

“With that face, you’ve got a surprisingly perverse side.”

“What do you mean, ‘that face’...”

When I reflexively asked, he swept his eyes more deliberately over me, smiling slowly.

“Do you know you have a look that makes people want to defile you?”

Defile? I frowned in confusion, and he brushed a finger over me again. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen me bare, but my face still burned.

“When you’re lying naked like this, sometimes it feels like I’m doing something I shouldn’t.”

“You’re literally doing something you shouldn’t right now.”

His hand toyed idly with me. Freshly spent, I was hypersensitive; I bit down on my tongue to keep from crying out, and he warned me.

“Don’t bite your tongue.”

“...”

Sometimes I wondered if he had some kind of second sight—reading my thoughts along with it.

“...Aren’t you going to take your pants off?”

Trying to change the subject, I glanced down—and froze. Even through his black slacks, the outline was blatant.

Had he put something in his pocket? No, I knew better. I’d had it in me before, but last time had been too chaotic to take a good look.

Yido didn’t care about my gaze, undoing his buckle at an unhurried pace. Through the open fly, the swell beneath his black underwear was impossible to miss, the skin below his navel veined and taut.

“Want to suck it?”

He asked without shame, stroking my knee. When I startled and looked up, he explained mildly.

“You were looking at it like you wanted to taste it.”

“...Not suck. Just...”

“Just?”

“Maybe touch it...”

He narrowed his eyes, his expression going darker.

“Then touch it.”

“...”

“You’re going to take it anyway.”

Drawn in, I sat up and reached out. He stayed still, letting me do as I wished. My fingertips traced the bulge between his legs, and I saw his lower abdomen tense.

Carefully, I slipped my hand into his underwear. The heat and weight in my palm made me tense all over. Wrapping my fingers around it, I felt him lean down to murmur against my ear.

“Harder.”

I obeyed, feeling the pulse and thick veins under my grip. Stroking down its length, I found the sheer heft daunting.

It was different from being in heat—different from just looking. Like how watching a needle makes it feel worse.

“I... don’t think this will fit.”

He gave a short laugh, then replied coolly.

“Then I guess what you put in last time wasn’t this.”

I swallowed hard. Whether it was tension or anticipation, my heart was pounding so fast my breath grew hot.

I took him in both hands; even so, some length was left over, and it swelled further with a few strokes.

He was tall, with large hands—so of course it was big. Even without comparison, it was obvious. While I toyed with him in fascination, he bit gently at my ear.

“...Having fun?”

I couldn’t deny it. It was like playing with a toy—no wonder he’d treated mine the same way.

“It is... interesting.”

“You’ve got the same thing yourself.”

“Not this big.”

It was meant as a joke, but he actually looked down at me seriously, narrowing his eyes in appraisal.

“The shape of yours is prettier.”

“...”

“Sometimes it’s almost a waste, that you’re an omega and never use it.”

“...”

“It’s quite the luxury size.”

I’d started the teasing, but somehow I was the one embarrassed again. I stayed quiet, and he chuckled softly, sliding an arm around my waist to ease me back onto the bed.

“Touch more later. I’m in a hurry now.”

He shed his trousers and underwear, then pressed down over me. Bare skin against bare skin sent a shiver up my spine. His lips brushed my jaw, then moved down to my chest.

“Mmh...”

His warm tongue closed over a nipple, while his fingers teased the other. I clenched the blanket, and he sucked harder.

“Hhh.”

A place I barely noticed in daily life, and now it was driving me mad. He worried the nub with teeth, then flicked it with his tongue.

“Stop that... hhh...”

It wasn’t a sudden spike of pleasure, but it was maddening all the same. Even when I pushed at his shoulder and shook my head, he held me easily.

“Ah—hh...!”

The wet sounds were humiliating. I was sure he was leaving marks again—patches I’d have to carry for days.

When he’d had his fill of my chest, he bit along the upper edge, down to my collarbone and shoulder, then caught the tender inside of my arm in his teeth.

“Haa...”

It was relentless, enough to make me wonder if he meant to devour me. Soon, my whole body was marked, his pheromones smothering the last traces of perfume.

“Stop sucking...”

I lifted my hips against him, acting on instinct in the haze. The hard press of him against me made him narrow his eyes, breath rough.

“...Asking me to hurry?”

His voice was already steeped in arousal. He kissed me, biting my lower lip before pulling back to hook my knees over his shoulders.

He lifted my lower body, and in the blink of an eye his lips slid from my thigh to bite lightly at the base of my erection.

“Wait—Kwon Yido...! Hh.”

I clapped a hand over my mouth as he took me in. His tongue circled the head, then one hand slipped between my cheeks. Finding the already-wet entrance, he pushed a finger inside, brushing the inner wall.

When he pressed a certain spot, my hips jerked violently.

“Ah...!”

My toes curled as he swallowed me deeper, throat tightening while his tongue bound me. A second finger joined the first.

“No, wait...”

I caught at his head. From this angle I could see his face buried between my thighs, the long lashes, the bridge of his nose brushing hair. It was almost obscene.

“S-stop... hh.”

I tried to close my legs, but he moved his head insistently, urging me on, his fingers never still. The slick sounds blurred between front and back.

He took me as deep as possible, throat gripping me as his fingers pressed hard inside.

“Stop, please... Yido, hh...”

It felt like being hurled into climax without warning. Everything was in his hands, and even when I begged, he only twisted his fingers inside.

“Ah—ah...!”

In the end, I came hard into his mouth, my abdomen clenching, thighs trembling. The muscles below tightened around his fingers, and he lifted his eyes to mine.

“Hhh...”

The sight of me slipping from his mouth was indecent enough to haunt dreams, a strand of fluid trailing from the tip along his tongue. With my release still in his mouth, he watched me with a furrowed brow.

Then—

“...”

He swallowed. I stared wide-eyed as his throat worked, and he pressed his lips back to the still-wet head.

“It still doesn’t taste good.”