Omega Manual chapter 63

Don’t die

The next morning, as the sun rose, they packed up their tent and sleeping bags, threw their luggage into the SUV’s trunk, and continued toward Fuba Port.

Although the direct driving distance wasn’t far, the complex and poor road conditions made it difficult. Trains and regular cars would take a detour. Irey, with foresight, had prepared an off-road vehicle. Despite its old and worn-out condition, it could still steadily traverse gravel and shrubs, carving out a path.

The “uncertainly dangerous” high radiation described in the newspapers didn’t seem to affect their bodies much. It only cast a blue glow over the wasteland’s sky, making the blue sky here appear deeper and more distant than elsewhere.

When the sandstorms were up, Shelley hadn’t had a chance to see the entire wasteland. Now, with the sandstorm gone and the sun rising, the vast wilderness gradually unfolded before them, like a giant painting spreading across the land.

A gust of wind swept across, making the withered wild grass ripple in waves, extending from one horizon to the other. Wild birds, startled by the engine’s noise, took off, flapping their wings, flying over the green grass tips and early buds, soon disappearing from sight.

The journey to Fuba Port took them three days and two nights.

Sometimes, Irey would play a couple of old, low-quality pop songs on the car’s ancient stereo. Other times, he would play videos from five years ago on his phone. Sometimes, there was no sound at all as they traveled at a steady speed across the wilderness, so quiet that they could clearly hear the distant birds singing.

More often, Irey would strike up random conversations with Shelley in the passenger seat.

“Didn’t you used to wear glasses?” Irey asked. “How come you stopped? Can meteor radiation cure nearsightedness?”

Shelley coughed lightly. “Actually, I’m not nearsighted. Someone once said I looked too baby-faced, and wearing glasses would make me seem more authoritative. Since then, I wore non-prescription glasses whenever I appeared in public.”

Irey glanced at Shelley, his eyes lingering on Shelley’s blue, almond-shaped eyes, nodding in agreement. “Good insight. Who said that?”

“An ex-boyfriend of mine,” Shelley said after some thought.

Irey looked like he had been hit by a rock. “Forget I asked.”

Shelley laughed, leaning slightly toward Irey within the limits of his seatbelt, lowering his voice. “We only dated for three days.”

Whether it was the wind’s direction or the cramped car space, Irey almost immediately smelled the increasingly strong floral scent emanating from Shelley. The most wonderful scent in the world lingered at his nose, causing his fingers gripping the steering wheel to tremble slightly.

He discreetly rolled down the window a bit. “What happened to him? Did he die or get castrated?”

Shelley laughed for a long time. Sometimes, he really liked Irey’s way of speaking.

“Something like that,” Shelley said with a laugh, leaning his head back against the seat. “A colleague introduced us. On the first day we met, he asked if I liked kids. I thought he was testing my compassion, so to make a good impression, I lied and said yes. Guess what happened next?”

“What?” Irey slowed down, fully attentive.

“One day, on my way home, I saw him with a five- or six-year-old girl tugging at his clothes, calling him ‘Dad’,” Shelley sighed.

Irey was stunned at first, then burst into laughter, unable to stop.

“Is it that funny?” Shelley shoved him.

Irey still couldn’t stop laughing, intermittently saying, “I just suddenly thought of those tabloids about you, saying your private life is a mess, entangled with married men. But it turns out, instead of a married man, it was a ‘father with a daughter’ who got involved with you.”

Shelley’s cheeks flushed red at this, and just as he was about to retort, he realized something. “Wait a minute, Halton, have you been secretly investigating me?”

The probability of putting one’s foot in one’s mouth twice in a single conversation is low but not zero.

Irey’s smile froze on his face, and he began humming an off-key tune nonchalantly. But Shelley wasn’t about to let it go, immediately lunging to grab his phone.

“What else have you investigated about me?”

Shelley’s pheromones flooded the space as he reached for Irey’s clothes and pants pockets, nearly making Irey lose his breath. His grip on the steering wheel loosened, and the SUV swayed off course.

“Stop! Stop!” Irey shouted, unable to bear it. “I’m driving!”

….

On the third afternoon, they finally drove out of the wasteland, arriving at a more lush hilly area.

Signs of trees and wildlife began to appear around them. A small stream meandered down the hillside, striking the stones along its banks, crystal clear.

Irey parked the SUV nearby. As he opened the door, some small, indistinguishable animals quickly vanished behind the trees, causing a few green grasses and wildflowers to sway in the breeze.

Shelley gazed in a daze at the vibrant colors. “Flowers are blooming.”

“Yes, spring is coming soon,” Irey said, lighting a cigarette and blowing out a smoke ring. He then shaped the smoke into a heart with his hand. “It’s the season of rebirth.”

“You’re crazy.” Though Shelley said this, he couldn’t help but laugh.

By evening, they pitched their tent by the creek, as it was more convenient for fetching water and building a campfire.

After tidying up and placing the sleeping bag in the tent, Shelley paused as he stepped out, his breath catching for a moment.

In the stream downstream not far away, he stood barefoot in the water, his golden hair cascading like a waterfall. The setting sun outlined his silhouette with striking clarity.

His pants and jacket had long been tossed on the shore, leaving him in just a loose, oversized shirt, the buttons undone with his fingers.

The last layer of thin fabric slid off him, and with his slender fingers, he folded it neatly and placed it on the shore.

He crouched down, wetting his long hair with the stream water, droplets sliding down his shoulders. His skin was as white as snow, his well-proportioned figure slightly slender, with a swan-like neck bending slightly, and his full glands clearly visible.

Then he turned his head, his exquisitely delicate face illuminated by the sunset’s afterglow, reflected in the ripples of the stream, enough to make anyone stop and gasp, sinking into this beautiful trap.

But Irey just watched, standing still about five meters away from Shelley, not moving at all.

They stared at each other like that, Shelley reading a certain quiet heaviness in Irey’s brown eyes.

After a few seconds, Irey stood up straight, hands in his pockets, and whistled loudly at Shelley, “Hey beautiful, are you alone?”

Shelley raised an eyebrow, pushing his soaked long hair back with his hand, “And if I’m not?”

Irey took off his shoes, stepping barefoot into the water, walking straight towards Shelley. The splashes followed, and before Shelley could say anything, the tall Alpha hugged him tightly, pressing their lips together with an undeniable force.

Shelley’s lips were cold, Irey’s lips burning hot.

Unlike any kiss before, this one started deep and tender from the beginning.

Shelley, unable to bear it, stepped back two paces but was restrained by Irey’s palm on the back of his neck, holding him firmly in his arms, allowing no struggle or resistance, like a beast marking its territory, claiming ownership.

The scent of tea made Shelley dizzy, his legs weak, barely able to lean on Irey’s arm. The scorching heat from the skin contact warmed him through, radiating through his limbs and body.

He almost forgot how to breathe, his mouth, nose, everywhere filled with Irey’s scent.

After ten thousand years, Irey finally released him. Shelley’s cheeks flushed, breathing heavily, his eyelashes misted with a hint of water, his lips as red as roses.

Irey’s voice was slightly hoarse, “Isn’t it cold to bathe here?”

Shelley rested his chin gently on Irey’s shoulder, squinting like a cat, “Well, you’d come over anyway.”

Irey couldn’t help but curse softly, then reached out to wrap his arms around Shelley’s waist, lifting him up abruptly.

“Halton!” Shelley was startled, letting out a gasp.

Irey, holding Shelley naked, turned him half a circle and pressed him against a flat stone by the stream, nearly making him lose his breath.

He pinned Shelley’s wrist above his head with one hand, lowering his voice with great pressure, “Boss, do you know that intentionally seducing someone has a price?”

It was only then that Shelley realized he might have gone too far.

In the deserted wilderness, no one could save him. He blinked, trying to put on an innocent expression, his throat rolling, “But, um, there’s no condom.”

Irey showed no sign of letting him off, instead pressing even lower, warm breath whispering by Shelley’s ear, “Don’t worry, you have many places to use. Hands, legs, chest, mouth…”

As expected, Shelley was exhausted and spent.

In the past, he never would have thought that non-penetrative acts could be so varied.

Clearly, the tent was right there, yet Irey insisted he stay out under the sky and earth, forcing him to beg with red eyes before he finally stopped.

In this warm, long night, amidst repeated intimate moments, Shelley could occasionally catch a hint of sadness and pain from Irey.

But he didn’t know what to do, only submitting more willingly, just as he had always done.

When the moon rose above, Irey finally, mercifully, let him go, falling asleep first.

Shelley lay beside him, one arm under his head, tired but still curiously watching Irey’s sleeping face.

Just as he reached out to pinch Irey’s nose, Irey’s eyelids fluttered slightly, half asleep, half awake, saying something.

“Don’t die.” Shelley clearly heard him say softly, “Don’t leave me…Shelley.”