Male canine-type beastmen are passively triggered into heat.
Su Heng had never experienced this feeling before.
The uncontrollable bodily reactions left him bewildered and afraid, yet some strange sensory pull seized his reason, luring him to explore.
He wanted her to touch not just his ears, but other places too.
He wanted to lick her fingers and lips, bury his face in the hollow of her neck, and bite the skin on her nape.
He wanted to press her beneath him and mark every inch of her body with his scent—
These shameful thoughts crowding his mind shocked him. Su Heng had to close his eyes, struggling to ignore the face of the young woman hovering above him.
But with his vision limited, his other senses grew even more acute.
Every movement of her fingertips wandering over his ears, every moment her breath stirred his hair when she leaned down—each made him tremble. His hands unconsciously clenched, gathering the hem of her skirt into his palms.
Sensing the tug on her skirt, Jiang Ying paused her stroking of his beast ear.
And because of that pause, she belatedly realized that the beast ear under her fingers was growing hotter and hotter.
Even though a canine beastman’s body temperature ran much higher than a human’s, this was far too hot.
“You’re burning up. Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” Jiang Ying asked worriedly.
The doggy in her arms nestled between her knees, panting lightly, and gave no answer.
He truly seemed to be suffering.
Was it the new environment causing him stress?
She’d heard that stress could weaken a dog’s immune system, making them sick more easily. Could he have a fever?
Jiang Ying recalled some dog fever care tips she’d come across before: you should check if the inside of their ears and their paws feel hot, and also see if their nose is wet or dry.
Anxiously, she gently squeezed Su Heng’s other beast ear, wanting to confirm his condition.
That action proved too much for Su Heng to resist.
Uncontrollably, he threw his head back, exposing his most vulnerable part to her.
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down without rest, and he couldn’t stop a noise that was nearly a choked groan and soft panting from escaping his throat.
It was the courting sound a beastman makes during heat, but to human ears, it sounded like strange gurgling noises.
Jiang Ying’s heart ached even more. “Does it hurt a lot?”
She was growing anxious. The hand that had been testing the temperature of his cheeks slid downward, grasping the hand that was clutching her skirt. Gently but firmly, she interlaced their fingers.
“So hot.”
Heat quickly filled the spaces between their fingers, and she could even sense the faint sweat seeping from his large hand.
It was damp and slightly sticky, but oddly, she didn’t dislike it.
Everything about the little dog was endearing to her.
Even the sight of him now—weak from fever, buried in her arms, trembling all over in misery, with fragmented whimpers rolling from his throat—struck her as somehow adorable.
Ah… how could she feel that?
Jiang Ying quickly felt ashamed of her strange state of mind.
“Poor little dog,” she murmured to herself, bending closer to Su Heng. She cupped his face with both hands, letting him rest his head on her lap and tilting it up toward her.
Then, with gentle movements, she lightly touched the tip of her nose to his.
It was dry, a sharp contrast to his sweaty palm.
The moment their noses touched, that spot of skin grew warm as well.
“It really does seem like a fever. Are you really nervous about the new home?” Her fingertips traced along his cheek to find his forehead, and she leaned down to press a soft kiss there. “Don’t be scared. Your big sister is right here. I’ll go out and buy you some—”
Before the word “medicine” could leave her mouth, Jiang Ying suddenly felt the world spin.
After a bout of dizziness, she found herself pressed down onto the soft bed of quilts by Su Heng, who had reversed their positions.
The nearly crazed beastman loomed over the girl, panting rapidly. His previously tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open.
His ash-gray pupils were faintly tinged with red, as if something dangerous lurked beneath that murky hue.
Driven by instinct, Su Heng grabbed her wrists and raised them above her head, pinning them against the plush fabric.
She was so pale. His hand clamped tightly around her wrist, the two colors layered together, continuously stimulating his visual nerves.
The pulse in her wrist throbbed beneath his palm, brimming with vitality yet not accelerating from panic, giving him the illusion that the girl beneath him was completely accepting of… him.
The sensation of his first heat was too intense. In a daze, he inhaled her scent and couldn’t help but press his knee against her legs.
Just moments ago, his head had been resting on them.
Now, he longed to part them.
A raspy, muffled whimper seeped through his tightly clenched teeth. His fiercely predatory gaze bored into the girl beneath him, slowly drifting toward her slightly parted lips, which were opened in surprise and confusion.
He wanted to bite them.
He leaned down, pressing closer to her.
Jiang Ying couldn’t see, so naturally she had no idea of the animalistic desire in his eyes that threatened to swallow her whole.
She only felt a sudden burst of hot breath spraying across the tip of her nose, tickling her. She wanted to reach up and scratch it, but with both hands pinned by him, her instinctive struggles were completely futile.
This feeling wasn’t very comfortable, but it wasn’t unbearable either.
She figured it was just a normal reaction when a dog was sick, and she shouldn’t get angry with him.
It wasn’t until that increasingly ragged breathing gradually descended to her collarbone that she was still worrying about how to make her doggy feel better.
When Su Heng buried his face in the hollow of her neck, she only cringed a little because it tickled.
She didn’t refuse him.
So, believing he had her permission, the doggy wrapped his tail around her waist and gently teased her with its furry tip.
That made Jiang Ying even more ticklish. She called his name to stop him, squirming beneath him to avoid his mischievous tail.
The desire surging in those ash-gray eyes grew more intense. Su Heng trembled, using the last shreds of his reason to restrain his excitement and restlessness. Cautiously, he extended the tip of his tongue and licked her neck.
The beastman, having gained a brief moment of pleasure, finally released a satisfied sigh and loosened his grip on her wrists.
She burst into giggles from the tickling, seizing the chance to pull her hands free and push at his shoulders. “Tickles… alright, Su Heng, stop messing around.”
The sharp canine teeth on either side nearly pierced her skin.
Hearing her call his name, Su Heng’s consciousness was slightly jolted awake.
He swallowed hard, panting lightly, and with great effort pushed himself up.
The heavy, suppressed sound in his throat made him seem even more miserable.
“Su Heng?”
She didn’t quite understand the situation and couldn’t see his expression, so she tried to keep communicating. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re sick; I just want to make you more comfortable.”
As if to prove her words, she raised her arms, wrapped them around his neck, and pulled him down, just barely embracing him against her.
So heavy. And everywhere, so hot.
Only his mechanical arm, propped beside her and brushing against her waist, was icy cold.
Jiang Ying pressed the much cooler skin of her arms against his neck, then turned her head to press her cheek to his.
She clung to him like an octopus, bearing his full weight and sharing her body heat with him.
The voice beside his ear turned muffled and buzzy.
She coaxed him with a sweetened voice, “Does that feel a bit better?”
That finally brought Su Heng fully to his senses.
His Adam’s apple pressed tightly against her shoulder, bobbing awkwardly.
It felt good.
But even more so, it left him unsatisfied.
And that certain part he was desperately suppressing seemed… even more painfully aroused.
She only thought she was hugging a sick little dog, but he was an adult male going through his first heat—how could he endure such contact?
Su Heng took a deep breath and summoned all his strength to rein in his reason. With difficulty, he firmly pushed her away and braced himself to stand up.
“I…”
He paused, swallowed to ease his dry throat, and said, “I don’t… have a fever.”
“Ah.” Jiang Ying sat up in confusion, trying to gauge his position by the direction of his voice, and turned her head to face him. “But you were really hot just now.”
Looking down at her innocent expression, a certain part of his body stirred again.
Su Heng fell silent for two seconds, then resignedly sat back down.
“A canine beastman’s body temperature is naturally high,” he said.
Seeming to sense her doubt, he added, half-truthfully, “It just seems even higher when… my emotions are stirred.”
Jiang Ying let out a clueless “oh” and asked, “So the unfamiliar environment makes you uncomfortable and stressed?”
“…No.”
He didn’t get stressed that easily. He wasn’t that type of sensitive, clingy canine.
Her invisible yet focused gaze was far more unbearable than if she could actually see him.
Su Heng couldn’t withstand her “line of sight” roaming over his chin and Adam’s apple. He turned his head away and said in a hoarse voice, “I’m not uncomfortable.”
A little dog had no reason to lie about his health.
She accepted his answer, forming a new guess.
Not stress, not illness—maybe the doggy was just too happy, and that stirred his emotions?
It seemed he really liked her.
“That’s good, then.” Jiang Ying brightened up, reached out to pat his head, and said, “I love you most, Su Heng.”
“…” Again, that tone reserved for coaxing a little dog.
A bittersweet feeling crept up his nose, and Su Heng couldn’t understand why he felt so let down.
He straightened his back and fought the urge to nuzzle the hand now moving away from his face. Only then did he slowly meet her expectant expression and mumble from his throat, “…Mm.”
“Such a good boy.”
She rubbed his cheek a little more and added, “I’m going to wash up now. We’ll sleep together soon.”
Watching her back disappear into the bathroom, Su Heng finally heaved a sigh of relief.
But it didn’t last long.
Soon, the continuous sound of running water seemed to bring the rising steam from the bathroom outward, and his entire body began to feel restless again.
That damned instinct written in his genes tried to take control once more, compelling him to stand guard outside the bathroom door.
As time passed, the anxiety caused by this separation became increasingly evident, and his innate danger perception toward flowing water only amplified his agitation.
Not to mention the unrelieved urges from his ongoing heat cycle.
Under the sway of all these factors, Su Heng could no longer stop himself.
He lightened his steps, walked up to the bathroom, and stopped a few paces from the door. With every ounce of his reason, he maintained a respectful distance and leaned silently against the wall, keeping watch.
The bathroom door was shut tight, but the sounds inside still leaked out.
A beastman’s hearing was exceptional, and he heard every sound beneath the flowing water.
The sound of the glass door sliding.
She had turned off the showerhead and reached out to get something.
After a moment, she asked, “How often should a dog take a bath?”
A reply came from her phone: “Depending on the breed and size of the dog, different intervals can be chosen. On average, in summer you can bathe your dog once every one to two weeks, and in winter you can extend it to once every three to four weeks.”
“Ah…” She seemed to sense something was off and asked again, “How often should a canine beastman take a bath?”
This time, the voice assistant’s answer finally let Su Heng outside the door breathe easy: “A canine beastman’s bathing frequency can be the same as a human’s.”
Having gotten her answer, Jiang Ying placed her phone back on the counter.
The hair mask on her head had already been absorbed, and she closed the glass door again.
The water continued to run.
Once more, he felt as though he were enveloped in warm mist, wrapped in her scent from head to toe.
This sensation drew him in, driving him to lose control, yet also made him resist and feel afraid.
He shouldn’t have developed a strange fondness for a human girl, and he definitely shouldn’t be… so brazenly succumbing to heat in response to her.
As Su Heng suppressed his increasingly heavy breathing, he felt ashamed of his instinctual desires.
Especially when he realized a kind of pleasure had nearly taken over all his senses.
He covered his face and forced a muffled, hoarse groan from his chest.