Chapter 324 - 286
Chapter 324: Chapter 286
The Beastman’s large, hot palm could easily cover any part of Gu Ning.
His palm was slick with moisture, and Gu Ning couldn’t tell if it was his sweat or her own.
Most likely, it was hers.
Hearing his sigh, Gu Ning said nothing.
She didn’t dare.
She looked down and gulped.
In the darkness, she could only vaguely make out his silhouette, but it was enough to make her want to pack her bags and flee into the night.
The Beastman’s physique and her small human frame were a serious mismatch.
’Looks like I’m still not mentally prepared enough.’
’But... I can’t just get halfway through and leave my partner high and dry.’
Gritting her teeth, Gu Ning lay down stiff as a board.
"Come on!"
Hearing the resolve in her voice, as if she were marching off to battle, Alex chuckled.
He leaned over, propping himself up beside Gu Ning. He peppered her face with kisses and said again,
"You’re so small."
’So what do you want me to do about it?’
’The key and the keyhole are a serious mismatch, and I’m starting to panic...’
Alex soothingly kissed every inch of her face, his lips finally settling on hers. His industrious hands divided their labor, each finding its way to where it was supposed to go.
Gu Ning couldn’t stop whimpering and gasping. One moment she would arch her back, the next she would kick her legs and throw her head back, neck stretched taut as she gasped for breath.
Her calves began to cramp again, and her consciousness soon floated up to the ceiling.
Alex attempted to pick the lock—
[...]
—Failure.
The moment Gu Ning showed any sign of discomfort, Alex immediately pulled back.
His industrious hands could only resume their tilling.
To help the little female relax, Alex struck up a conversation.
"Vine submitted an application to join the team, didn’t he?"
Gu Ning clutched the sheets, taking a long moment to find her voice. "...Yeah."
"We’re on a tight schedule. He has other assignments, so if he wants to come with us, he needs approval from either Andrew or you. However..."
He trailed off, but his hands didn’t stop.
Biting the bedsheet, Gu Ning felt like she was dying.
And on top of it all, she had to concentrate on their conversation.
"However... what?" she asked, tears spilling from her eyes as she choked back a sob.
"You approved his application to join the team, didn’t you?" Alex confirmed again. His voice sounded steady, but it had grown husky.
Her eyes filled with tears, Gu Ning gave a muffled sound of agreement.
The next moment, the alpha wolf quickened his ’tilling,’ and she was completely undone—
"Tomorrow, Admiral Andrew will ask you why you approved his application. You can’t give the real reason—the one I’m about to tell you—or he won’t agree."
Alex licked his fingers, his eyes flashing with a rare, feral light as he gazed at the little female, who had melted into a boneless heap. In a tone that sounded perfectly rational to Gu Ning, he said, "The Admiral arranged our team’s roster. Vine is on it, but his current assignment is to remain in Zone 15, unless you take him away for another reason."
Gu Ning caught her breath. "What reason?"
Alex leaned down and kissed her. "A relative. Or a mate."
"Ah..." ’How did we end up circling back to this?’
In the darkness, Alex could clearly see the little female’s expression. A corner of his mouth lifted. "If you want him as an escort, you can put it that way. It’s a good compromise. You don’t have to be that specific, just express your fondness for him."
Gu Ning thought for a moment and mostly understood what Alex was getting at.
Vine was still on their team, but every member had their assigned tasks, and Vine had to obey his superiors’ orders. If she approved his request to leave with her, his application was effectively a mating proposal. Even if she didn’t agree to be his mate, she would have to give a similar reason for the transfer.
In fact, for Vine to drop his other assignments and apply to follow her was, in itself, a courtship gesture.
This was what Alex wanted Gu Ning to understand.
After the recent incident with Vine, as long as the little female thought this through, she wouldn’t do it.
During these past few days of Gu Ning’s "bleeding period," he had been worried about affecting her mood and body, so he had only asked about her interactions with the team. He hadn’t pried too much into emotional matters.
Prying like that would be imposing on a female; after all, he wasn’t an unreasonable male.
That was why he felt he should use a gentler approach.
Gu Ning’s heart was soft, as soft as the flesh he was touching at that very moment. But when it came to males, she had to clearly recognize their intentions and understand their temperaments before choosing whether to accept them. Otherwise, any beastman could just come wagging his tail, which would only create more trouble for her.
"I understand," Gu Ning sighed. "I’ll handle it properly, Captain."
Alex pressed a kiss to her lips. "Then let’s continue."
Gu Ning: "..."
’My muscles are so sore, I don’t want to continue.’
Alex’s tone was soft and coaxing, with a hint of a plea. "Let’s try again, alright?"
Before he could get closer, Gu Ning shot upright, pushing against his chest with both hands.
"I’ll do it!"
This time, it was Alex’s turn to lie back.
After much struggle...
The lock-picking failed again.
Her bold ambition extinguished, Gu Ning gave up, burying her face in the blankets and crying out of sheer frustration.
Lying beside her, the alpha wolf’s body was as taut as stone. His powerful endurance was beginning to crack after indulging the little female’s repeated attempts.
He didn’t know if other males suffered this kind of fatal torture their first time with a female, but right now, he felt he needed an Inhibitor.
Otherwise, he felt he would go berserk, like a Mixed Breed.
He had known since the first time he’d masked her scent that his body was a mismatch for the little female’s.
He had made every preparation.
But this was harder than he’d imagined; he still wasn’t mentally prepared enough.
After crying for a while, Gu Ning heard no sound from Alex. She poked her head out from the covers and lit up her terminal—
Alex slowly turned his head.
Sweat poured down his handsome face, and his eyes held a ferocity she had never seen before.
"..."
Gu Ning’s hand trembled. She clutched the blanket tighter, swallowed, and forced a laugh. "Should I try again?"
Alex heaved a long sigh, reached out a long arm, and scooped her into his embrace.
Gu Ning trembled.
"Don’t be afraid."
Alex’s breath, hot as fire, washed over her back as he said hoarsely,
"I won’t go inside."
[...]
—A hasty conclusion.
Exhausted, Gu Ning fell into a deep sleep.
Alex carefully changed the sheets and bedding, then brought some topical ointment and applied it to the raw, red skin on Gu Ning’s legs.
Once that was done, he lay down beside the little female, holding her and sighing until the middle of the night.
The silence spread from the bedroom to the empty living room, only to be broken in the hallway.
Barto leaned against the door, guarding it with his eyes closed and arms crossed. His drooping fox tail twitched anxiously as he periodically sprayed the surrounding area with a specially prepared scent neutralizer.
"Can you stop spraying that stuff? The smell is already overpowering."
Leo paced anxiously by the door. Only when the god-awful whimpering from inside the room finally died down did he run a hand through his hair and slide down to sit against the wall. By the faint glow of his terminal, he continued to work on his mate application, on which he had only managed to write two lines.
After a long while, he had only managed to add a single line; he just couldn’t squeeze out any elegant courtship phrases.
So, he turned his gaze to Vine, who was standing against the wall like a stone post, and walked over to clap him on the shoulder.
Vine cracked his eyes open slightly. "What?"
Leo tilted his head and whispered, "You wrote a mate application for Little Ningning, didn’t you?"
Vine ignored him.
"I know you wrote one," Leo said, nudging him again with his elbow. "Let me take a look. For reference."
Vine: "Piss off."