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“Ah.”
Feeling the air around him swaying, Renato burst into a small exclamation. Something like a cool breeze or a humid dawn fog brushed past his skin heated by fatigue and alcohol. His shoulders reflexively shrank from the cold energy sweeping over his sensitive skin.
“Can you feel it?”
Renato only nodded at Khalid’s question. He couldn’t smell the scent just like usual, but the pheromone revolving around him just like the flow of a river was vivid.
“I’ll release a little bit more. Please tell me right away if it’s painful.”
After saying so, Khalid released some more of his pheromone. At the same time, he suppressed the flowing pheromone as much as possible so that it wouldn’t run wild. It was the first time Khalid had given a pheromone shower to another person except when receiving control training, so he was very cautious.
This was something to be careful about even if the other person was an Alpha or an Omega, let alone Renato who was a Beta. Just as Khalid’s pheromone was an unknown world to Renato, it was the same for Khalid. A pheromone shower with Renato was something he didn’t know yet.
So he kept hesitating. He didn’t know how far or how much he could do, and he was afraid that Renato might get a pheromone shock if he made a mistake.
Following Khalid’s hesitation, his pheromone also repeatedly touched Renato’s body, then drifted away just like a wave that subsided after surging up.
“Why do you keep

”
Those tantalizing touches eventually made Renato grumble. The pheromone tickled his ankle and then disappeared, slightly touched his cheeks and then moved away, making him somehow feel restless. Unable to feel more even though he wanted to, Renato became impatient.
“A little more, please. Hmm?”
Renato covered Khalid’s face with both hands, made eye contact and begged him to do more. Because of that, Khalid’s arm that was hugging his slender waist hardened.
“Seriously

”
At Renato’s urging, Khalid murmured like a sigh. It was very difficult for him to control the pheromone that escaped. Renato, who asked for more with a face full of dissatisfaction without even knowing that there might be a problem, was a little provoking.
“You might regret it, though?”
Khalid gave a gentle warning, then released the pheromone he was holding back. The air briefly shook, the pheromone scattered all over the place rushing toward Renato.
“Ugh.”
Feeling the pheromone climb up his ankles, Renato curled his toes. Goosebumps rose on his entire body, and his feet felt like being immersed in cold water. It was a different sensation from what he felt at Marquis Kyle’s banquet and the Prince’s Palace’s bedroom. Khalid’s pheromone was softer, yet more violent than back then.
“Haa

”
Renato groaned when the pheromone wrapped around him like a living creature. He didn’t know if the pheromone was surging up or if he was drowned in it.
Renato grabbed Khalid’s shoulders as if grabbing onto a lifeline. Feeling that wasn’t enough, he soon hugged the man’s neck and rested his face on the crown of Khalid’s head. He thought he would sink into the pheromone just like drowning in water if he didn’t do so.
“Huu.”
While Renato clung to him, Khalid moved his arm up and firmly supported his back. A small breath escaped from his lips, which were closed in a straight line when he felt a slight tremor transmitted through his palm.
“Are you okay?”
“Nngh, yes

”
Hearing Renato’s answer, Khalid felt troubled. He wanted to check Renato’s face to see if he was really okay, but Renato was holding him so tightly that he couldn’t. After thinking a bit, he turned his body while holding Renato. The bed shook when the two changed their positions.
“Huh?”
Renato blinked, feeling a soft touch on his back. He felt a heavy weight on his body before he could even realize the change in position.
“It seems better than what I was worried about.”
Khalid carefully looked at Renato beneath him. Fortunately, Renato didn’t have any signs of shock. He thought it was okay to try marking if the reactions were at this level.
“From now on, I will pour my pheromone on you, Your Imperial Highness. It can be a little painful.”
Having made a decision, Khalid placed his forehead on Renato’s and whispered in a low voice. Then, he drew out his entire pheromone. Immediately after, the air violently fluctuated like a tsunami.
“Ugh

!”
Feeling a large amount of pheromone pouring over his body, Renato took a deep breath. He felt suffocated for a moment. He couldn’t see or smell it, but he instinctively knew it. The fact that Khalid’s pheromone was swallowing him up.
“Ah, wait, ugh.”
In bewilderment, a moan escaped from his gaping lips. As the pheromone penetrated every corner of his body, his skin stung as if being pricked by a thorn. Unable to overcome that dizzying sensation, Renato tightly closed his eyes. His hair stood up, and a shiver ran across his body.
“Haa, stop

”
Renato twisted his back, not knowing what to do with the sensation he felt for the first time. He realized that Khalid’s pheromone he had felt so far was nothing.
Is this how it feels to be hunted by a predator?
Renato thought he was currently being preyed on. Like a ship swept away by a raging storm, like a flower scattered by a violent typhoon, he was helplessly swallowed up by Khalid’s pheromone.
“Huu, agh.”
His body shuddered and his back trembled. His arms floundered like those of a drowned person, then clenched the sheet in his hands. He couldn’t endure this if he didn’t grab onto anything.
“Is it very painful?”
Khalid looked down at the struggling Renato and generously poured out his pheromone. A brief pheromone coating that was enough to feel the scent could also be called marking, but it wasn’t sufficient to prevent other Alphas from approaching. He had to pour out his pheromone to the point of soaking Renato. Once he started, he couldn’t stop until Renato’s body was completely coated with his pheromone.
“I just need to do a little more

”
Khalid tenderly whispered, then lowered his lips to touch the tear-filled eye corners and the heated cheeks that seemed about to burst. Perhaps because of the heat on his body, Renato’s flesh scent was stronger than usual.
Smelling the body odor that strangely stimulated his hunger, Khalid clenched his teeth. The urge to bite and swallow Renato who was panting beneath him rose up. After barely enduring his ferocious desire, he ran his hand through Renato’s dampened silvery hair. Then, he feathered kisses on the sweaty forehead.
“I, I’m tired, can’t breathe, haa

”
Renato let out a shaky breath, feeling the small kisses soothe him. The man’s red lips appeared in his clouded vision. Seeing them reminded him of how those lips once breathed into him and opened up his clogged throat.
“Kha, Khalid.”
Renato called Khalid’s name in a clinging voice and raised his head. Then, he pressed his lips against the man’s lips in front of him. In an instant, Khalid’s movements completely stopped. The pheromone pouring toward Renato also faltered.
Not realizing that, Renato was anxious when the man’s lips didn’t open. In a haste, he stuck out his tongue and pressed it on the man’s lips. At that moment, a large hand roughly gripped the round back of his head.
“Ah, nngh

!”
A moist heat rushed into his small mouth which opened in surprise. Subsequently, a sweet breath flowed in. Having obtained what he wanted, Renato hurriedly gulped down Khalid’s saliva and breaths like someone who met an oasis in the desert.
More, a bit more.
Feeling it was still not enough, Renato pressed the tongue invading his mouth with his lips and sucked it. Khalid let out a muffled grunt in response to the strange stimulation. Renato shuddered at the groan that resembled a beast’s growl, and the moment his body trembled, his eyes also flashed with piercing pain. Just now, Khalid strongly bit Renato’s lower lip.
“It hurts, ha, ugh, nngh.”
His protest about the pain disappeared into Khalid’s mouth. Renato groaned when the hard, moist flesh swept the roof of his mouth and dug into his throat. An unbearable sensation rose to his head, making him dizzy.
“D, don’t, nngh, hic.”
Having reached his limit, Renato pushed Khalid’s shoulder with his trembling hands. It was a weak touch, but it worked to stop Khalid. His movements filled with intense desire for Renato abruptly stopped, and his lips parted away.
“Nngh, ha, huu

”
Renato, who was barely released from the kiss, gasped for breath. The saliva he couldn’t swallow was dripping down his lips, but he didn’t even have the mind to wipe it.
This is dangerous.
Looking down at Renato who was panting from exhaustion, Khalid gritted his molars. His throat loudly reverberated like a beast with delicious food in its front.
The wish to sink his teeth into the slender neck exposed through the disheveled sleeping gown, and the desire to bite and gnaw at the soft, smooth skin just like ripe fruit swelled from within him.
Goddamn it.
Khalid uttered a low curse and pulled back from Renato as if escaping. He felt that he would truly become a beast that lost its reason if he didn’t do so.