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Amber light glimmered at the edges of Gao Tu’s lens, falling out of the corners of his eyes to cascade down the sharp steel building in gentle waves. A blistering summer sunset, stealing the last daylight with its retreat. Bodies moved with it, filing out gradually in lumbering paces - a calm end after a long day of work.
But not Gao Tu.
Droplets flew from the slim thermometer with a shake of Gao Tu’s wrist. It bounced with its drop back into the pristine case; reserved and well tended to. Golden clasps clicked back into place and the tools returned to their locked place in the employee lounge cabinet.
The sleeve of Gao Tu’s suit jacket fell back, giving into the motion it followed every day. “Two more minutes…” His breath tasted stale - a horrible lack of moisture on his tongue as his consequence for skipping lunch.
It was necessary. No other secretary was at their desk when a surprise visit had been called up by reception - a collaborating company that demanded to discuss results that couldn’t be ignored.
Gao Tu took the reins, sliding all digital and physical files into Shen Wenlang’s hands before the elevator even chimed. Standing tall with an unaffected expression, tailored perfectly neutral as he remained near Shen Wenlang’s side, took priority over his forgotten lunch left to get cold on his desk. The way the alpha’s professionally calm expression twitched, it was all Gao Tu had to see to adapt and be the calm he needed.
Words weren’t required between them. Shen Wenlang preferred it that way - an alpha built on action. He’d rather give a lazy twirl of his finger and let exactly what was needed to be said come from Gao Tu’s lips instead.
Shen Wenlang led, and Gao Tu followed; always, just by a look.
Minutes ticked by and Gao Tu dropped his arm, his watch sliding back under his sleeve. Regardless of how unsteady his grip was around the tray as he turned on his heels, it would never fall. He would never allow it.
There was no need to knock on the naturally intimidating office door. In the late hour, it would only ever be him to step inside; he was expected, he was welcomed.
Shen Wenlang’s eyes glanced up from his keyboard, sharp and dark, as if he had been anxiously waiting for him. The sight spun Gao Tu’s stomach into intricate knots. A buzzing storm of emotion edged onto satisfaction, filling his lungs, and he set down the tray of white tea - perfectly brewed to Shen Wenlang’s preference.
Chair wheels squeaked as Shen Wenlang pushed himself away from his work. Gao Tu entered his focus, and the walls around them fell away. The powerful scent of irises flickered, curling around the air without being acknowledged.
“Still here?” Shen Wenlang’s jaw clicked with his half laugh. It was a redundant question, and yet the second of a prideful grin had indeed existed; Gao Tu never missed a single detail of the alpha.
It was natural to lean forward and chase the comfortable atmosphere. Just as quickly as they could settle into a casual warmth, the moment would leave, running with the mild breeze.
Gao Tu answered with a composed smile, keeping a tight leash on his emotions; they weren’t allowed to run freely. “What needs my attention?”
By the curve of Shen Wenlang’s brow, the air in the room was sucked out. Gao Tu’s chest tightened. The daydreams in his mind twisted the alpha’s voice into what he wanted to hear, into an answer he craved: I do.
Heat licked underneath his skin. His dry bottom lip trembled faintly, a shake he had no handle on when another wave of iris pheromones flowed through the room. It verged on overpowering, threatening the strength of the inhibitor pills he swallowed back that afternoon.
Shen Wenlang’s fingers hooked around the glass tea cup, casual and indifferent to the pheromones pouring off of him. “There’s not much left, but there wouldn’t be anything if I wasn’t interrupted today…” His breath drifted across the steaming white tea, splitting ripples as his lips wrapped around the rim.
The shift was expected, exactly as it always was. Shen Wenlang’s shoulders relaxed and the tension around his eyes lifted. “Good.” He huffed, gulping another mouthful before setting the cup back. “There’s still some competence around here.”
The hidden parts of Gao Tu preened at the indirect compliment. It forced his smile to flicker brighter, victorious against his composed will that snapped at it to stay quiet.
“Gao Tu?”
Straightening back at the call of his name, Gao Tu pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and nodded.
“There’s still documents for the morning meeting tomorrow that need to be organized. They’re from R&D so they should be…” An uncharacteristic trail off stole the natural weight of Shen Wenlang’s voice. His attention lowered, and his jaw tensed, eyes looking hurriedly for the words he dropped.
Gao Tu stepped closer to the heavy desk. The near dagger sharp corner pushed into his thigh, but it was the least of his concern. “President Shen?”
The alpha’s mouth opened, but no sound followed. He pulled at the collar of his dress shirt, shifting the line of his tie - a flash of confusion crossing his face. “The heat,” He mumbled. “Turn it down.”
Gao Tu blinked, eyes adjusting to what he was witnessing. The signs were evident no matter how Shen Wenlang ignored them. But a request from the alpha wasn’t something he dared to ignore.
The bright blue numbers on the office thermostat became clearer the closer Gao Tu stepped towards them, as did the unavoidable reality. Still, he turned it down; lower than its mild chill that offset the outside summer heat.
"President Shen-” Gao Tu turned, and lost his breath once again. Seeing the alpha’s hunched forward shoulders seemed to have that effect.
Shen Wenlang punched a fist to his chest. He inhaled, ragged and sharp, struggling to regain the composure he had held so tight just moments ago. His chin dipped, forcing down what stuck in his throat, and finally, he looked up.
Heat rolled down Gao Tu’s stomach. Seeing the alpha so unstable looked wrong. It was the same erratic look that hunted him in the staff lounge at X Hotel. A keen wolfish glare filled with disdain, and hunger, that robbed Shen Wenlang’s self-control, taking a hold of its own.
“Gao Tu…” Shen Welang rasped. His fingers clawed at his suit, tugging at the expensive fabric as if just having it on him was suffocating. “Go home.”
But traitorous as Gao Tu’s body always seemed to be, it refused to move. Blaming it on the surge of pheromones pinning him in place would be a lie, as would an excuse about his memory of their night at X Hotel. There was something more holding him back - a more he couldn’t admit, not even to himself.
With shaky hands Gao Tu yanked his phone out of his pocket. His fingers rushed to his meticulously handled calendar, skimming back over weeks as he counted. One, two, now three. Three ruts in less than forty days; it was biologically infeasible.
Shen Wenlang ran a hand through his hair as his head fell back heavily against the chair. A flash of pain crossed his face. It squeezed around his eyes, forcing them closed as he sucked in a shaky breath. The sight pulled at Gao Tu’s chest.
“President Shen, should I-” A cough wracked Gao Tu’s body. The crushing pressure of the alpha’s iris pheromones surged. The office spun around him, taunting him as the muscles in his legs tightened.
Shen Wenlang’s brow furrowed. “Did you leave your brain at home? Why are you still here?” He spoke with gritted teeth, not even opening his eyes. A restless bounce found his leg as his hands dug into the chair’s armrests. “I won’t be responsible for giving you an asthma attack. Leave.”
Something swayed inside Gao Tua’s chest. It was a command his body didn’t want to answer. Rather than run as he was told, as what he understood as the right action to take, he wobbled forward, palm resting on the desk.
“Let me,” Gao Tu swallowed thickly. “Call you a scent proofed car.”
Shen Wenlang’s shoulders jumped with his scornful scoff. “Am I feeble? Do you think I can’t do it myself?”
Gao Tu shook his head. He knew even with a rut creeping and sinking its claws into the Shen Wenlang, the alpha was never incapable of anything. It was Gao Tu's fault for making him assume his intentions. He was the incapable one; he couldn’t leave the alpha’s side when in such a state alone.
Cracking one eye open, Shen Wenlang sighed, resigning himself to the predicament. “Call it, but outside. Don’t get sick. I need someone capable here while I’m off.”
Gao Tu’s heart clenched. It was already clear that he wouldn’t return home unaffected, but the small glimpse of unfiltered care was appreciated. It was a glimmer, a reminder of why he stayed where he did; in the moment and in life. The quiet affection he held onto for over a decade was no less powerful to him than anything that would ever be spoken.
“Too many times now.” Shen Wenlang grumbled. His eyes shut again, helping him summon a deeper breath to hold him steady. “It must be that filthy omega’s fault.”
A white hot pain cut deep from the spat accusation. The ire in Shen Wenlang’s voice was unwavering, and unapologetic. He cursed the faceless omega feeling they were a distant nuisance and not standing right in front of him.
Gao Tu’s eyes dropped, shame prickling his skin. The venom Shen Wenlang shot wasn’t directed at him, but he was meant to receive it. The guilt of the night they spent together at X Hotel tormented him, weighing on his mind as Shen Wenlang lived free of the memory, lucky to direct his frustrations to an unidentified omega.
To him, the omega took more than advantage of him. Shen Wenlang prided himself on reserving his emotions and never bending for intimacy, much less that of an omega. He spent his ruts on his own; no partner, no hired service, he survived the agony of need by himself. It was nearly admirable, even if Gao Tu wouldn’t give the same praise to himself.
His heats on his own were out of survival, while Shen Wenlang’s ruts were taken in restraint.
But since their encounter, it was like a seal on the alpha had been snapped. Instincts had become a fizzling bottle, shaken and unused for years in Shen Wenlang’s hand, and one night had cracked the cap. There was no going back to his steady control of knowing the exact day his ruts would hit - they demanded he bow, craving more of what they had gotten a taste of.
If Gao Tu made an unprofessional guess, he would almost assume it was a form of mate seeking syndrome.
But it was another impossibility.
“Is it going to keep being like this?” Shen Wenlang’s groan dissolved in the air, joining the heat blooming around his neck. The iris scent waved back and forth from his body, fighting against him, refusing the call of reigning itself back in.
Gao Tu’s mouth twitched in a sympathetic smile from behind his raised arm. The fabric of his suit was practically as strong as a tissue under a waterfall of pheromones. “I’m sure it’s only temporary, but I can arrange a doctor’s appointment for next week.”
Shen Wenlang rolled his eyes, ignoring the wince of his own brow. “Fine, make one.” He popped the first button near his neck, savoring a full inhale. “I need this to stop, it’s inconvenient. At this point I might even consider going on a retreat.”
The quiet around them snapped. Glass replaced the air, whipping up unbearable pain inside Gao Tu’s chest. Shen Wenlang’s labored breathing dissolved into nothing more than a buzz in his ears, circling around Gao Tu’s head like white noise.
Never before had Shen Wenlang even entertained the thought of going to an alpha retreat for his ruts. He’d rather swim in a toxic pond than let any omega see him through his rut, regardless if it was the more bearable choice to make as an alpha. It was an indulgence he swore against, even if the resorts had available betas along with it-
Gao Tu forced his eyes closed. He couldn’t breathe right, and even if he wanted to, the assault of alpha pheromones wasn’t the clear breath he desperately needed.
The thought of a beta, or even another omega - thinking of anyone serving Shen Wenlang in that manner brought a metallic taste to his tongue. It was nauseating. He was closer to Shen Wenlang than anyone else. He already served him, answering his every whim for years; medical history, food preferences, clothing size, he knew everything about the alpha.
About his alpha. His Shen Wenlang.
It was hushed, the way buried locks in Gao Tu’s mind broke. He had always thought they’d shatter with a scream, or cave through unbearable pressure, not the bubbling silence, not in the utter calm he felt as he walked towards the tall filing cabinet.
The weight of his decision could threaten everything in his life. Everything he had built, everything he desperately wanted to maintain, but he couldn’t ignore what was right in front of him, and the words Shen Wenlang couldn’t take back.
“Sheng Shaoyou seems to enjoy them. Well, he did.” Shen Wenlang smirked with the comparison, eyes blearily following Gao Tu across the room. He shifted in his desk chair, the discomfort of his beginning rut sinking in. “I’d rather not at all, the places sound disgusting, but I can’t keep having this happen so frequently.”
A sigh sagged him further in his seat as Gao Tu slid a cabinet drawer back with a thud. “At least I wouldn’t have some lunatic wanting revenge on me after.” A dry chuckle leapt from the bottom of his chest, the last of his active energy fading to laugh almost fondly at the insult.
Metal crashed together and Shen Wenlang’s focus returned. The haze lifted, a veil peeling back from his eyes, slowly, slowly, until the light was too bright, twinkling behind Gao Tu’s silhouette.
Shen Wenlang’s jaw shifted, parched lips dragging against one another. “Gao Tu..?” Weight pressed on the top of his head; clouded confusion pushing him further down his chair. He couldn’t understand the languid movements Gao Tu made or the rigid flex of his fingers around a glass bottle.
It was one of the multitude that were brought in - samples of progress shared in collaboration. Different smells, different affects, all stored away as per Shen Wenlang’s grumbled request to deal with them at a later time. Now delicately between Gao Tu’s thumb and forefinger, dangling nearly carelessly, the puzzle turned clear at a distance.
“Gao Tu.” It was a warning. Under the heat of his breath, it rolled out as a growl, low and rough.
But Gao Tu had already gone too far. There was no turning back. The decision raced through his mind with fervid recklessness, clawing inside him, driving him to keep going; one more step, one more part left until it was done.
Translucent liquid sloshed back and forth inside the crystal cut bottle, chasing after him with every tilt. “President Shen,” His voice was even, neutral, just as every meeting he ever attended. “There’s no need for one of those retreats.”
Iris pheromones flared angrily, whipping up in the air - not with rut filled desire, but controlled caution - a demand Gato Tu choose his movements carefully.
The golden pump of the bottle sank down with one easy push. Mist exploded out, descending over Gao Tu’s body as a half muffled curse got caught in Shen Wenlang’s throat. Gao Tu felt the wild eyes jump all over him. They doubted themselves, doubted what they watched, and the panic was taken and used.
Meant for display only, the mist was born from nothing more than tap water. It was a performance - magic working in an open view.
Gao Tu sprayed more at the side of his neck, his chest, abdomen, drinking in the unsteady shock that watched his every move. Shen Wenlang’s eyes refused to leave the bottle like a horrified audience who could only watch, and just like every trick, he missed the slight of hand.
Rubbing his palm over his neck to activate his scent gland felt like a breath of fresh air Gao Tu wasn’t allowed to take. Standing impulsively in Shen Wenlang’s office, in front of the man himself, was a crime his instincts lauded him for.
His suffocated sage was finally freed.
Wary, just like himself, it crept out slowly. Unlike wave after wave of flowing iris, his scent was careful, testing its environment. Nervously curling, falling off Gao Tu’s shoulders, it left him vulnerable, snared by the eyes of a hunter.
“Pheromone perfume.” Shen Wenlang’s grip on the armrests of his chair cracked the leather - his restraint waned. “It smells just like-!”
It didn’t count as lying if the alpha himself took his assumptions as truth.
“Do you even realize what you’re doing? Is this some kind of joke to you?” His growl was broken by a gasp. Velvety darkness swirled in his eyes as he desperately tried to cover his scent gland. His hips jerked up on their own; more loss of his control, a hunger he couldn’t contain.
The flowing iris pheromones roaming erratically through the air locked onto the sage, and chased. They wrapped tight, digging in with a possessiveness Gao Tu could feel through his entire body. It claimed him, dragging his budding heat out into the light.
Luring pheromones - instantly, explosively, all pointed at him.
Gao Tu’s breathing was frayed. The room shrunk around them, losing space, losing air, until the only thing left was Shen Wenlang.
“This is it… right?” His stomach cramped as his body reacted similarly to the night at X Hotel. Submitting to the alpha, living by the iris pheromones alone - the omega he wanted buried inside him purred at the overwhelming bliss.
“This is the same scent the omega had, right?” Gao Tu gasped, a hand falling down to clutch at his stomach. The bottle plummeted to the ground, landing on its side and rolling towards the door, yet it didn’t break - unlike the snapping will in the room.
Shen Wenlang jolted in place as a frustrated groan rumbled up from his chest. His head turned, fighting against himself as his fingers clamped down tighter around his neck. “I hate it.”
The broken smile that dared to cross Gao Tu’s lips faded in seconds. The comment wasn’t for him to suffer the dig, he had to remain impassive. Shen Wenlang’s vitriol, his hatred, was for the omega he didn’t know - the omega who scrambled his alpha instincts.
In the story he followed, Gao Tu was not someone who would react. Gao Tu was his beta secretary, his friend of ten years who had heard his distaste before, the anger should roll off his back. It was the omega’s fault after all.
And they had to take responsibility.
Correcting his expression, righting it for his audience, Gao Tu shifted, polished shoes scuffing the dustless floor. A fever rose up under his skin and the familiar ache he had abhorred for others to see him in, flowed through his muscles.
“I know.” His answer came as a whisper; it was all he could manage while his chest heaved every breath. Its edges were stained with sadness, his body mourning for him, wishing the alpha his heart had chosen would love his scent. Rather than flow as an intangible allure, it was part of a crime; the culprit that tied them.
Shen Wenlang pulled at the buttons of his dress shirt as if it alone had shackled him to the spot. He gasped, head still turned away like he could avoid the magnetism that saturated the air.
In its own way, it was almost sweet.
“Leave.” The roar ripped up Shen Wenlang’s throat with a strength that called to be set free. Buttons popped open, exposing his collarbone past the line of his dark tie, and he drew deeper in his lungs for a gasp. “I’ll deal with this myself. I’m not forcing you into this.”
The alpha’s mouth hung open, lips red and burning. He looked disheveled as his hands reached for Gao Tu’s waist on their own. They sought him out through heat alone, knowing by sense when he was close enough.
Shen Wenlang cursed. Holding himself back looked unbearably painful, but he did it anyway. Resisting himself, resisting how his fingers squeeze above Gao Tu’s hips and the sharp gasp he earned. It was a show of immense inner strength, admirable consideration, and it only made Gao Tu even more sure about his decision.
“President Shen.” Gao Tu’s legs trembled with his voice. Even held back, reduced to what it could be, the alpha’s power was overwhelming. “I can help you through it. You don’t need to go anywhere.”
“I didn’t actually want to go!” Shen Wenlang’s shoulders rose, the tension around his eyes tightening. “I never said I was going to a retreat! I hate those places, why would I go? Why would I… why…”
One fluid motion threw the top of Shen Wenlang’s head onto Gao Tu’s stomach. His fingers tensed like Gao Tu was the only thing keeping him from floating away - that he needed him. “Gao Tu, why aren’t you leaving?”
The vulnerability chewed at the back of Gao Tu’s chest. Why couldn’t the alpha always open up like this?
“Because,” Gao Tu breathed. “It’s what I know.” Iris wrapped tightly within his lungs, making his limbs feel heavy. His fingers smoothed down the dark head of hair in a gesture he had only ever dreamed. “And I know you better than anyone else. I know what you need.”
“No, Gao Tu, you’re a beta.” Shen Wenlang bit out the fact he believed in so strongly. “Go home, and don’t even think that there won’t be any consequences for trying to smell like that omega.”
Memories bubbled to the surface of the reflection that once stared back at Gao Tu. The bruises, the split lip, the marks left by Shen Wenlang’s own hands. Days to heal, days to fade, echoes of how he was treated as ‘that omega’.
The scent of iris and sage wound tightly together, natural compatibility that spoke for them. Given time, they would soak into one another, harmonizing as one. The more they pressed together, the more skin they explored, the deeper the claim would be.
Fantasies, old and new, of the proud alpha carrying his scent, enough for anyone nearby to notice, prickled the skin on the back of Gao Tu’s neck. Beyond just his clothes, hair, skin, he wanted it deep into Shen Wenlang’s very being. It had to be thick and impossible to wash off. A stain that lingered, that Shen Wenlang boasted about, that he adored being covered in.
You smell good.
The memories were relentless. It was like his body never wanted him to forget every second, every word from that night, and Shen Wenlang fared no better. His instincts itched for more after a single taste, as if his body knew exactly how close his craving really was. It memorized the shape of Gao Tu, his warmth, the hints of his scent, lighting fires inside Shen Wenlang to act on impulse and take what he wanted.
Gao Tu tempted him to take it all.
As his legs swung over the sides of the office chair, he dared the impulses to go further. The clawing abhorrent idea of Shen Wenlang ever taking anyone else would be dealt with. Secretary Hua had already gotten too close - looks, touch, he had more of the alpha than he was allowed. Shen Wenlang asking Gao Tu to trust him, that he never actually pursued the secretary, paled in comparison to ensuring he would be incapable of thinking of anyone else again.
The heat between them turned sweltering. Sitting in Shen Wenlang’s lap felt right. Gao Tu should have been there years ago, bearing his neck to the alpha just like he was, savoring the instant snap of willpower.
Shen Wenlang buried his face into Gao Tu’s neck the moment it was presented to him. He inhaled; a sharp and unstable sound, and his entire body shook. Through the years of inhibitors, Gao Tu knew his abused scent gland was tight, dulled, almost as if it was a beta’s neck, but Shen Wenlang luxuriated in his scent.
Gao Tu’s thighs squeezed involuntarily, searching for something solid to hold onto. It was impulsive the way his body sprinted ahead, but the inferno that his dragged out heat had become had to be fed.
“This can’t go on the market.” Shen Wenlang mumbled, voice gruff. His fingers clamped tighter around Gao Tu’s shoulders, shoving his face more into his skin. “If anyone else smells like this… fuck.”
Sparks raced up Gao Tu’s back, buzzing around the base of his skull and dissolving in a pleasant hum. “Don’t worry, only I will wear it.” There was unchecked pride heavy in his answer, but he was past the point of caring about appearances. The longer Shen Wenlang grew drunk on his scent, his rut rising to its peak, the safer he felt to loosen the act of a perfect beta.
Between them, carnal urges overpowered everything else. Gao Tu knew to tilt his head further, and give Shen Wenlang more space to indulge himself the moment his tongue licked its first hot line. Smelling alone wasn’t enough for the alpha, he needed to taste and search for more.
A hungry wolf, lapping where Gao Tu had never willingly let anyone before. It was horribly, beautifully, intimate. Every trace left by Shen Wenlang’s tongue called for more. Gao Tu’s body compelled him to cover more of his skin, rewarding the alpha with roll after roll of his hips, rubbing them together.
Lips latched to his neck, and Gao Tu released a moan he never thought he would be capable of making. Loud and hot, it fueled Shen Wenlang’s uncoordinated grip that tore at Gao Tu’s suit jacket. His fingers rippled the fabric at his shoulders, struggling, racing to expose his skin.
The touch was rough and claiming, dissatisfied that something stood between him and Gao Tu. Shen Wenlang growled, his voice hovering low in his chest when his hands were guided down. Tunnel vision had locked the alpha to a single point, and he would push and push until it broke. Anything that pulled him away was considered an enemy, except for where Gao Tu placed his hands - along the buttons of his jacket.
Shen Wenlang ripped it open the instant it clicked in his mind. Gao Tu lost his well worn suit jacket, tie, and dress shirt next; scattered in pieces across the office floor. He shivered at the change, at how real it was.
Unlike before, Shen Wenlang knew it was him. He wasn’t a nameless omega to curse, he was Gao Tu - secretary, friend, and the person his hands couldn’t get enough of.
Satisfaction filled Shen Wenlang’s lazy smirk as he nuzzled into the base of Gao Tu’s neck. It was approaching adorable. “Soft.” Heat leeched off his tongue with a groan. His hands rubbed up Gao Tu’s chest, palms memorizing every line and divet as he circled around to his back. “And firm.”
Gao Tu gasped under the pressure. Shen Wenlang wasn’t shy about grabbing handfuls of his ass. He kneaded it under his fingers, moving his cheeks in greedy circles through his slacks. Slick had already begun dripping from Gao Tu the moment he made his decision, but he was sure as he was fondled, he was making the front of Shen Wenlang’s pants wet.
He prayed the alpha wouldn’t notice or ask about the new smell. Gao Tu’s mind was too far gone to conjure up lies about preparing lube or just denying its existence entirely.
Graduating from heated licks to playful bites, Shen Wenlang got his fill. He decorated Gao Tu in throbbing red marks. Down the front of his neck, shoulders, Shen Wenlang’s head dipped to his chest and without warning, latched to a perky nipple.
A tremor roared through Gao Tu’s body. He was too close to coming untouched. He vainly pulled at Shen Wenlang’s hair with a whine, but it was taken as encouragement.
Shen Wenlang’s teeth clamped down, and he sucked.
Gao Tu was engulfed by a wave of pleasure before he could stop it. His hips rocked as he came, pressing harder into the solid bulge he felt in Shen Wenlang’s pants. Euphoria raced through his stomach, and the heat locked him in, ready to give more for the alpha’s needs.
It was an unnaturally quiet pause that took hold around them. Shen Wenlang’s tongue slowed, and he popped off Gao Tu’s nipple to gaze up. His eyes looked starry, almost ready to spill with tears while his mouth hung open, gasping for air.
Shen Wenlang licked his lips, eyes never leaving Gao Tu’s face. “I felt that.” He whispered like it was a secret the world couldn’t know. His throat bobbed as he forced himself to swallow, his face burning with heat. “And I smelled it too.”
Shame seized Gao Tu by the chest. It was as if reality had pushed its way through into their moment; cold and judging. He wasn’t familiar with touch, with wanting affection. His body was quick to translate the pleasure into substance, but he needed the alpha to be pleased with him. He needed, needed, to be everything he desired; he needed to last.
The rapacious touch started up again - brushing Gao Tu’s nipples with something that bordered on reverence. Shen Wenlang’s focus still hadn’t broken, watching, staking out for a sign he was looking for, until he spoke. “Do it again.”
Gao Tu’s hand flew to his mouth, covering a reactive whine. He was losing himself, threads splitting apart under the tension, and the alpha underneath him just smiled as if he knew exactly what he was doing.
His omega nature howled inside him, intoxicated and pleased. He would come as many times as the alpha wanted him to; Gao Tu’s body was all his. Anything his alpha wanted to say, or do, like the gentle care he exuded as he grabbed Gao Tu’s skewed glasses, was the right he had.
The simple wireframes clicked against the desk as they were set down next to Shen Wenlang’s keyboard. Everything around them morphed into a blur as Gao Tu blinked, adjusting to the loss of vision, but Shen Wenlang stayed in focus - what mattered most in his world.
A testing shift of his hips lit a short fuse, and for one brief moment, Gao Tu forgot gravity existed. He was picked up like he weighed nothing at all, swung as a toy in the alpha’s grip. The cool wood of Shen Wenlang’s desk stuck to Gao Tu’s hot skin. It was nearly soothing when physical urges continued crawling through his muscles.
Gao Tu struggled to peel his chest away to catch a glimpse behind him. All his limbs ached, heavy with the exhaustion of a heat that wanted to keep him down - to help him submit. Instincts whispered that moving wasn’t necessary, his skin alone told him what the alpha was doing; hands impatiently tugging at his belt. All that was required of Gao Tu was to lie back, and receive.
His pants pooled around his ankles without a word. Shen Wenlang’s labored breathing hitched, caught in between a moan and a pleased exhale.
Waves of pleasure crashed inside Gao Tu’s chest. He was the cause of the alpha’s unsteady breathing. For the first coherent time, Shen Wenlang got to see all of him - spread out across his desk, waiting for him.
Gao Tu’s instincts preened. He wanted the alpha to be hooked, just like the fingers that slid inside him. Shen Wenlang wouldn’t even think of any other omega or beta after seeing him through his rut. Too fulfilled, too satisfied to ever want to reach for anyone other than Gao Tu - a gorged predator with a meal always in reach.
Shivers ran down Gao Tu’s legs as Shen Wenlang took his time slipping his fingers in and out of his slick filled hole. It was almost too gentle. Three fingers glided around, curling to tug at his rim, spreading the hot slick further over his skin.
“Gao Tu,” Shen Wenlang’s voice rumbled like encroaching thunder. “Once I start, I won't stop.”
Moaning against his forearms, Gao Tu reveled in the promise. The sound of a zipper pulling apart made his toes curl. It was so much at once, crashing into his senses and pulling him underwater. The only answer he could give was blindly throwing his arm behind him, and grabbing onto Shen Wenlang’s hip - inviting him in with a pull.
The previous tenderness melted away with one thrust. Shen Wenlang pushed in all at once, too wound tight to wait, and crashed into Gao Tu’s back. The expensive fabric of his suit dragged against Gao Tu’s searing skin. It was a fitting reminder of the different worlds they lived; Gao Tu disheveled and bare, while Shen Wenlang was wrapped in money and luxury.
The desk legs shrieked as they shifted an inch across the floor. Shen Wenlang refused to relent, forcing himself deeper, like he could click in place and remain there forever. His warm hands slid down Gao Tu’s body, grabbing his inner thighs as he pulled them further apart.
Gao Tu whined as his legs were spread, stomach clenching as he felt Shen Wenlang slip in deeper. The heel of Shen Wenlang’s shoe kicked at Gao Tu’s dropped pants with irritation. He demanded they come off, and what was Gao Tu’s life if not to serve his alpha?
Clenching his muscles and gripping the desk for support, Gao Tu lifted his feet off the ground, giving room for Shen Wenlang to finally remove the last restraint. His shoes were ripped from his feet in the process, colliding with the polished floor in a heap.
Clearly pleased with himself, Shen Wenlang drew his hands back up, brushing Gao Tu’s cock in a teasing manner before returning to his hips. “You look good like this.”
Gao Tu’s brain was too hazy to laugh. Bent over Shen Wenlang’s desk, keeping him warm, ‘good’ was certainly a choice word to describe him.
The soft drag of Shen Wenlang’s nose up Gao Tu’s spine sent a tremble through his heart. The push and pull, soft and harsh, threw his system into disorder. It was difficult to tell what his body cried for the most, left to twist and thrash around for anything.
“Like this, just like this…” Shen Wenlang’s words coiled like smoke against Gao Tu’s neck. He kissed just above the begging scent gland; so close, oblivious to how much euphoria he fired through Gao Tu. “Having you like this, it feels like you’re mine.”
A hot pulse shot down Gao Tu in a pleasing roll. Body and soul, he had been the alpha’s for years. His heart contracted, clutching onto the words said in the lust filled haze, and imprinted them into his very being.
“Yes,” Gao Tu gasped, fingers clutching the edge of the desk. “I am.”
Shen Wenlang’s lips pressed into Gao Tu’s hair and inhaled. He drank in more than just Gao Tu’s scent, causing a new hopeful tug in his chest. If Gao Tu closed his eyes and allowed himself to dream, the act was loving.
“Tutu…”
Gao Tu’s lips quivered.
“Legs apart.”
A testing thrust sent Gao Tu’s brain into overload. The natural obedience he had carved into himself over the years complied without question. The tips of his toes glided across the floor, struggling to support his weight as he was forced further up the desk, but it was just enough to please - evident by the sigh Shen Wenlang burrowed into his neck.
The desk rattled again, suffering through each quake as Shen Wenlang’s rhythm remained slow, hardly a beat to follow. The long forgotten tea tray crept further to the edge, and in Gao Tu’s foggy mind, he let it fall.
An explosion of glass and cold liquid hit the floor. Shen Wenlang didn’t even acknowledge it, too focused on each jerky push into Gao Tu’s body. It wasn’t important.
Shen Wenlang’s fingers were sure to leave bruises at Gao Tu’s hips. The claiming hold kept them steady, even as the world seemed to dance around them.
“Breathe.” The simple command struck hard. Lightning in a storm, it charged every inch of Gao Tu’s skin, leaving him pleading for more.
Something of an actual pace found its way into Shen Wenlang’s movements. His hips pressed forward, angling up and dragging back down, filling the empty space Gao Tu’s body begged him to claim. They didn’t acknowledge the squeeze Gao Tu’s muscles naturally gave, or the way he guiltily tried to pull him in further, feeling it was already enough.
Gao Tu choked on his breathing, stifling another hungry moan into his knuckles. The pain was sharp as he bit into his own skin; a distraction to keep his mind above the clouds. He had to stay coherent, he refused to slip into a wet state of pleasure that was only versed in taking and whining for more.
The nips along his shoulders grew ravenous, and risky. They dotted around his scent gland, never touching it, but hanging hungry on its edges. Each tested Gao Tu’s humanity and if he could stay grounded on earth. And the aggressive ram of Shen Wenlang’s hips was no better.
Thick and heavy, the feeling of Shen Wenlang’s cock making a home inside him was a forbidden paradise. Gao Tu’s body was gluttonous, contracting around it, adding more pressure as slick dripped down his thighs. The sound of the desk rattling, Shen Wenlang’s breathless grunts, and the squelch between them, it was impossible for Gao Tu to stop himself.
A broken moan tumbled over his open lips when he came for a second time; all over Shen Wenlang’s expensive desk. He shivered, muscles vainly attempting to clamp around Shen Wenlang’s cock to keep him still, but it only stirred him on.
With palms flat on the surface of the desk, Gao Tu arced his back. His skin had virtually become one with the smooth wood, needing to be peeled away, while his lower half was slippery, a mixture of cum and slick loosening him.
He needed to catch his breath. Lost under layers of ecstasy, everything around him felt unsteady, like it could melt at any point. Shen Wenlang was the one heavy in his rut, yet Gao Tu was the one overcome with desperate need.
“I’m-” Gao Tu licked his lips, his voice hoarse, crackling another groan. Shen Wenlang’s thrusts slowed as if he still had the control to stop and listen - his teeth in Gao Tu’s shoulder was a different story.
Their breathing was thick, matching one another as their scents intertwined beautifully; iris and sage so tight together it was indistinguishable where one started and the other ended.
“Wenlang.”
Gao Tu yelped when the hands around his hips flipped him over with an animalistic possessiveness. His back slammed into the desk and he wheezed. The bright office lights pierced his vision, blurring the shadows in the corners of his eyes, haloing the striking alpha hovering over him.
Swollen lips, a glistening wet chin, and a dark dominating gaze. The image of a self-restrained businessman and CEO had crumbled away. Standing hunched over Gao Tu, pinning his wrists above his head with just one hand, Shen Wenlang was the embodiment of power; Gao Tu’s alpha.
“Again.”
Gao Tu shuddered, pressing his knees together as he registered the sudden emptiness.
Shen Wenlang’s brow furrowed, his features sharpening in a painfully beautiful way that made Gao Tu’s body produce more slick. “Again.” He repeated with a forceful heat on his breath.
The order confused Gao Tu’s already soupy mind. In the passion of the moment, he had wanted Gao Tu to cum a second time, and he did - he did. But did he want it a third time? Or was there more missing?
Agitation grew inside Shen Wenlang’s eyes. He wasn’t pleased by the lack of an answer, he was almost furious. “Again, Gao Tu!” A growl slipped out past his gritted teeth. “Are you fucked senseless?”
Gao Tu wanted to answer with reverberant yes, because yes he was too deep into erotic cravings to think. There was a sense of pride attached with it, knowing Shen Wenlang had pleasured him and not another omega. All his energy and attention was on Gao Tu, and there would be nothing left for anyone else.
A fury took hold of Shen Wenlang’s available hand. It raced down Gao Tu’s stomach and dug into the top of his thighs with a frustrating might. Gao Tu’s legs twitched in response, loosening just enough for Shen Wenlang to grab on, and guide the first one around his waist. And then the next.
Oh no…
Oh no.
Gao Tu’s heart rate spiked into a painful race. Shen Wenlang’s goal was transparent and terrifying. It wouldn’t be a lustful rutting into Gao Tu like it had been, it would be deeper - it was personal; Shen Wenlang’s face, inches from his, staring right into his eyes, unblinking.
Shen Wenlang guided himself back inside Gao Tu’s slicked hole, but his focus still didn’t leave him; for Gao Tu to watch. To watch and see the contentment washing over the alpha, as if in the few seconds he wasn’t flush inside Gao Tu were agonizing.
It was exactly what Gao Tu had wanted, and it was too real for comfort.
Gao Tu’s hands twisted miserably in the alpha’s hold. It wasn’t constricting or overbearing, but it was there, and that’s all it needed to do to keep Gao Tu locked in place. Writhing on the desk, he could do nothing but stare back at Shen Wenlang, take in the overwhelming pressure, and moan.
The steady rhythm returned like it never left - forcing Gao Tu back and forth. The tie hanging loose around Shen Wenlang’s neck dripped down Gao Tu’s chest, sliding soft as silk. He wanted to pull it, to bring the alpha back to his neck and hide away from the hot-blooded glare.
Another thrust, harder, deeper than before, shot shivers down Gao Tu’s legs, and stopping his reaction of pressing his heels in Shen Wenlang’s back was unfeasible. Through all the shame hot over his skin, he desperately needed the alpha closer. No matter how wrong he knew it was, how selfish it was by the moral eye, Gao Tu wouldn’t feel at rest until the alpha was addicted to him.
And it was made so tangible the longer Shen Wenlang’s gaze stayed locked to him.
Gao Tu couldn’t avoid the wanted connection, he couldn’t keep a single barrier up when they were face to face, memorizing exactly who they tangled with. There was no pretending, no running away from the fact that it was entirely Gao Tu underneath Shen Wenlang, clenching around his dick like it was all he knew. The thought was nearly comforting, if he didn’t think too far into the future.
This way, Shen Wenlang couldn’t deny what they were doing, or ever forget.
Lifting his hips just an inch pushed them closer together, enough to make the corners of Shen Wenlang’s mouth twitch. The speed picked up, heavy and wild, the hot and promising knot bouncing against Gao Tu’s rim. It was maddening - perfectly fitting the wanting squeeze his body jolted with.
“Wenlang…” Tears prick the corners of Gao Tu’s eyes; an already blurry world growing more misty, but Shen Wenlang was clear. Like a blazing beacon guiding Gao Tu through the night, he was haunting. “Wenlang I-”
An unhinged level of strength punched up Gao Tu’s stomach. His wrists were abandoned, free to roam as Shen Wenlang’s hands dug into his waist with a fiery intensity.
“Again, Tutu.” Shen Wenlang groaned with a voice almost unrecognizable. Hair fell into his eyes, ardent gaze obscured, but no less powerful.
Gao Tu was coming undone. Heat had built teasingly below his stomach once more, threatening to tear the world around him to pieces if it wasn’t allowed release. “Wenlang!” He finally allowed himself to cry, to feel every emotion that had been stuffed down wanting to burst at just a single look.
A shaky hand cupped his cheek, thumb swiping stray fallen tears. Through the mounting tension and strained emotional spill, it was soothing, a strong, reassuring hold Gao Tu wanted to sink into.
“More Tutu.” Shen Wenlang’s command edged on the sound of plea. “More, let me hear you. Let me see, my Gao Tu.”
Gods themselves would bend if they heard the same worship brimming on Shen Wenlang’s lips. Unshakable, bare, and every bit right.
Goa Tu’s fingers threaded through Shen Wenlang’s dark hair, and he pulled his world closer. Blinking away more tears, sharing heated pants, he leaned into the gentle palm, and sighed. “I’m here, Wenlang. Always yours.”
It was unexpected, a calm in the middle of a storm, the sudden clash of their mouths. They melted into one another with sinking weight, fitting so naturally together to cross the final line.
Shen Wenlang took control effortlessly, hungrily molding Gao Tu’s mouth, biting his bottom lip until he gasped. There was no space left to think when Shen Wenlang’s tongue forced its way in, slippery and having a single goal in mind: to cover every bit of Gao Tu.
It was dizzying. It was irresistible. Gao Tu hardly had enough ability left in him to bite back, stuck in the whirlwind of the prolonged kiss. He trembled under the unrelenting pounding his body took, nearing his absolute limits. His fingers clawed at Shen Wenlang’s shoulders in a hopeless plea to be heard.
His heart hammered against his chest and the tears wouldn’t stop. It was more than he ever thought to ask for, more than his own fantasies could paint - Shen Wenlang mumbled his name endless into his mouth, hips jerking forward in one last motion, and then, they were joined.
Gao Tu’s muscles convulsed, stretching around the additional burn of Shen Wenlang’s knot. A roiling ache washed down him as he felt the alpha’s release searing deep inside him, taunting particular results if he wasn’t careful.
But Gao Tu’s mind had already left his body. He was left floating, tethered only by Shen Wenlang’s demanding kiss. His head was held like a precious treasure, cushioned by wide palms; the sound of his name rumbling out of Shen Wenlang again and again.
A shift of his hips was all Gao Tu needed to cum squeezing the perfect knot made just for him. He tightened his legs, holding them in place, as if either could slip away. Gao Tu didn’t want to move, he didn’t want to disturb the utter peace soaking into his bones. His desire to draw out the moment where stress wasn’t crushing and his heart felt light, was his largest wish he prayed Shen Wenlang would listen to.
Exhausted, but happy, Gao Tu held on tight as Shen Wenlang finally broke to inhale like it was his first ever breath. Then, as if he sensed exactly what Gao Tu needed, he looked down at him with a ruined smirk and gestured with his eyes.
“Sit up, I’m taking you home with me.”
*
The hushed buzz that circled the office wasn’t surprising. The sudden absence of the company’s president and his closest secretary was completing a puzzle consisting of two pieces. The broken tea pot and scattered files they left in Shen Wenlang’s office likely worsened the rumors.
Eyes followed Gao Tu closely as he carried out his morning routine. Checking emails, queuing up files for shareholder meetings, fielding calls, he sank back into the perfect security role with practiced ease. His newly purchased high collar suit coat hid what the gossip fed on - a spurred purchase by the unlimited credit card that was forced into his hands.
Speculation and prying imaginations filled the void, but Gao Tu didn’t mind. Spending five days straight holed up in Shen Wenlang’s penthouse left little for him to think about. After answering every whim of a rut filled alpha, drenching himself in iris pheromones that seemed to be permanently part of his skin, worrying about any other opinion felt trivial.
Except for the one that pinged on his computer screen.
My office. Now.
Tiny irritating twists tangled around Gao Tu’s stomach as he stood. When the carnal clouds around Shen Wenlang’s mind had finally lifted the previous day, they had slipped into a tense silence. Brushes of their hands were static on their skin, and catching glimpses of the other’s eyes felt like getting caught in a wicked act. They lacked words to address what they did, but Gao Tu’s phone still lit up that night with a pouring of terse check ins and reminders, chiming even after he fell asleep.
Being back in the same place it all started felt lighter than Gao Tu expected. All traces of their tryst had been cleared away - all, except the reddened mark made by his own teeth that disappeared and reappeared each time Shen Wenlang’s arm moved to type.
“Close the door.” The alpha’s eyes never left his screen, engrossed in his work with an increasingly tight jaw.
With a nod, Gao Tu turned, carefully closing the tall door for the softest click he could manage. His fingers hadn’t left the handle before his back was covered by Shen Wenlang’s broad chest. Arms wrapped around his waist, drawing him in closer, hands secured to his stomach.
“Tutu…” Shen Wenlang’s breath ghosted over the shell of Gao Tu’s ear, triggering his eyelids to flutter as he shivered. “It’s nearly been twenty-four hours, do you want to kill me?”
A smile flickered over Gao Tu’s lips. Warmth radiated from the alpha, nestling into him along with a heavy blanket of comforting pheromones. “I wouldn’t dare, president Shen.” He hummed, his smile extending at the sound of a growl running down his neck. “Did you need to see me? Or, is it another rut?”
“Don’t use the perfume.” Expertly dodging the question, Shen Wenlang’s fingers fiddled with the clasp of Gao Tu’s belt. “You smell good already.” His groan pressed tight into the back of Gao Tu’s neck, his hands yanking the black belt out of Gao Tu’s pants loops like it offended him.
Internally gloating with pride, Gao Tu reached behind, grabbing Shen Wenlang’s head. The change in angle was taken immediately, the alpha latching to his lips like it was the source of life.
The kiss was tender but hungrier than ever. Gao Tu could almost believe he did indeed starve the alpha somehow, and he would soon reap the consequences.
“Wenlang,” Gao Tu sighed, leaning back into the strong frame. “I haven’t locked the door.”
Managing to pull himself away, Shen Wenlang set off a snipped laugh. “Lock it, don’t lock it, I don’t care.” He nipped at Gao Tu’s chin, tilting his head for a better look. “They need to find out sometime that you’re mine.”