You can't hire a corpse

Knox's body was shivering, and Azrael, for the first time in his life, was dumbfounded about what to do. He had never spared any effort carrying anyone in his arms.

If someone collapses right in front of him, out of annoyance for dramatically blocking his way and to show his non-existent humanitarian values to the public, he'd just flick his hand and his bodyguards will carry the collapsed instead. Then, he'd go on his way brushing off the incident like patting away the dust on his shoulders.

He lacks sympathy. So, he couldn't understand why a part of his chest felt like a mountain was sitting above it. It was heavy and unpleasant.

"Young master, should we head to the hospital?"

Azrael glared at the driver. Isn't it obvious to send someone who got drugged in the hospital? He was about to answer the driver sarcastically when he felt his shirt getting tugged. He dropped his annoyed gaze beside him and saw Knox looking at him with pleading eyes.

Knox weakly mumbled, "N-Not…the hospital. Please, let's just go home."

He tried to sit straight, but his body was so weak. It felt like all his bones disappeared and he turned into a jelly.

A hot jelly.

Knox hugged himself. He begged Azrael not to take him to the hospital, but the latter only glared at him and shut him up.

Azrael snarled, "Look at you, you can't even stand up straight and you still don't want to be brought to the hospital? If you're worried about the treatment bills, I can cover it. You were drugged! You need treatment!"

Then, the volume of his voice lowered as if he didn't want Knox to hear his following words, "I feel shitty right now. This won't happen if that damned old man – tsk! Fine!"

His eyebrow twitched in frustration after seeing his servant's tearful yet scared eyes. What? Is he afraid of hospitals? Azrael asked himself, but Knox looked like it was more than that. He didn't pry anymore and just shouted at the driver, "Take us back home!"

Knox, "Thank you…"

"If something happened to you or you die in my apartment, I swear, I'll hunt your ghost down and punish you after I sack your corpse and toss it out the sewage."

Knox chuckled lightly, "Sir, you'll be subjected to mishandling of a human corpse and can be a suspect for murder."

Knox glanced at Azrael. Relief washed over his entire body after seeing that face, and now he felt as if the terrible events from earlier wouldn't haunt him again. He made him feel safe, surprisingly.

His boss was concerned, only he didn't know how to express it properly. How he wished he was just drugged instead. He would have preferred it. However, he knew it wasn't a drug that was making his body feel so hot and craving.

He bit his lip in fear. The pheromone perfume Azrael showered on him was covering his own pheromone. He was glad that his boss wasn't picking up the scent, but anxiety still lingered in the corner of his mind.

He was in heat. The suppressants he took no longer work. Is it because he was constantly bathed in the scent of a dominant alpha? Were the overwhelming scents of different alphas in that bar became the catalyst?

Azrael smirked at his remark and scoffed, "I guess you're far from dying. That drug they used…I think you were given an aphrodisiac. How do you feel?"

Knox was pulled out of his thoughts by Azrael's voice. Azrael scooched away, but he didn't turn his back. Instead, he faced Knox and observed him, with his signature posture of crossed legs, elbows above the knees, and cheek on the fist.

'Is he being considerate, or careful?' Knox wondered. The space between them was still only an arm's away, but Knox felt he was given room to breathe. He could smell his pheromones, yet there was still no sign of Azrael picking up his scent.

Once he does, he might be rolling out the car in an instant. Knox answered, "I feel feverish."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital? Or maybe you want to go back to the bar and release that…," Azrael's voice trailed off as his eyes dropped to the hem of Knox's tattered shirt creased above his belt. His eyes moved lower, then he added, "…you're hard."

Knox's flushed face reddened more. His throat was dry and his lips were pressed tightly. When he caught Azrael peeking at his middle region with a nonchalant expression, he coughed many times, then he said faintly, "Don't look…"

He covered them with his hands and closed his legs together. He bit his lips when it throbbed. The coat draped over him wasn't helping at all. It was filled with Azrael's scent, only making him want to sniff him more.

The relaxing smell of his body, and the warmth it brings him like he was being lulled into sleep on a hammock tied under big trees in the middle of an evergreen forest. The silence broken by the rustling of leaves and the sound of the breeze, accompanied by the chirping noises of the small birds along with the low volumes of the crunching of dry leaves scattered by the soft wind.

Azrael's scent gives off a trancelike state of deep relaxation.

Something that Knox never had the luxury to experience. Something that he badly desires – to lie on the grass without any worries, without thinking about his debts, his school, his future, and just simply watching the blue sky.

"Can you walk?"

Knox looked up. They already arrived at the basement parking of their apartment building. He nodded to Azrael and opened the door beside him. Then, he tried his best to walk straight. His eyes filled with embarrassment after he caught sight of his own pants bulging in the center.

He tried to step forward, but it only took him three steps before he wobbled and almost fell. The bodyguard beside him caught him instantly. Knox sighed in relief since the man was a beta. He smiled softly, mumbling his gratitude.

He was about to rely and lean on the bodyguard more, but he didn't expect an arm suddenly wrapped around his waist.

With three layers of clothes in between, Knox's skin still tingled from that simple touch. He jerked away, however, Azrael's arm tightened on his waist more and pulled him away from the beta bodyguard.

Azrael spoke through gritted teeth, "Don't. Lay. A finger on my men."

Knox gasped. His eyes widened and he ran his eyes on the man mentioned who just looked back at him with a straight face. His brows furrowed, and he wondered in his dazed state, 'A secret affair between the boss and the bodyguard…? I thought he didn't like betas. Wait, that's not important…I need to escape before he can smell me.'

Knox struggled, "Let me…go, sir…"

Azrael only pulled Knox closer to him. He didn't let go of his waist, instead, he grabbed his legs and threw him off on his shoulder. Knox screamed at the sudden movement. His vision turned over and his head became dizzier.

Azrael scowled, "You had no problem when my bodyguard touched you but you struggled at mine? Do you want him to help you with your condition? What? Speak! If you want someone to blow you off, you should have said so earlier and I have asked someone at the bar."

Knox couldn't even understand what his boss was talking about. He could only tell that he was upset from the tone of his voice, so he just nodded even though Azrael wouldn't see his head as it was dangling behind him.

Knox muttered, "Sir…let go…"

Azrael just sighed and replied, ignoring his pleas, "If you're here within my premises, you can't do perverted things. So, stay put and I'll call for Kayden to come over."

"No!"

Azrael paused. He turned his head towards Knox's butt and stared at it shockingly. Did his servant just yell at him? His question was immediately answered after Knox hit his back consecutively, accompanied by sobs and shouting the word 'no' repeatedly.

He spanked the two buns in sight and snickered, "What? Did the drugs roast your brain already? Why are you acting like a child?"

He entered the elevator and put Knox down because he started to feel his hardness hitting his chest. Azrael thought that it would only put them in a bind. Knox staggered and sluggishly leaned on the elevator while still cupping his middle region.

Azrael's gaze fell on his flushed face. He reached out his hand to wipe his servant's sweaty forehead, but Knox turned away. He just kept saying no. In the end, Azrael surrendered, "Fine. I won't call for him."

As soon as the elevator opened, Knox used his remaining strength and bolted to Azrael's apartment door. He punched the code as if he owned it, then, he ran inside, slamming the door in his boss' face who stood outside watching the spectacle of his servant itching to rub his shaft as soon as possible.

However, he didn't step inside yet. He called someone, and as soon as his call went through, he wasted no time and commanded menacingly, "OS Electronics. As soon as the documents are signed, change the management and appoint Deputy Director Germaine as president."

The one beyond the phone answered, confused, "But sir, isn't the chairman supposed to be the president?"

Azrael grinned wickedly, "Right. But you can't hire a dead man, Luis. I hate ghost employees."