CHAPTER 5 - COME WITH ME NOW

Qiang watched him quiver in his grasp for a few seconds, just to make sure he hadn’t irreparably damaged his organs. He hadn’t hit that hard, but he thought it was better to make sure of it. Soon enough, Shen started breathing again, and with no blood or vomit anywhere, he assumed that everything would be alright. Nice. At least he wasn’t going to die.

But now… what should he do with him?

Going back into the VIP section didn’t look like a good option after the scene they had made there… maybe it would be better to just take him home.

He took his phone out of his jacket’s pocket and entered his chauffeur’s number - the same one that had dropped him there an hour ago, - but, at the last second, he thought better of it and deleted it. He didn’t want the chauffeur nor anybody in the clan to know about the existence of that omega. Even less his brother. Nobody ever knew the identity of his “conquests”, except for those from the strip club he ran with his brother, and this one wouldn’t be the first one.

He dialed another number, but this time that of a regular taxi. He gave the driver the address and not even three minutes later, the taxi appeared at the end of the alley. He casually tugged on the redhead’s body, but the latter, seeing where they were going, began thrashing around, trying to get away.

“L-let me go, you son of a bitch!” Those were words drenched in impotence, uttered in a thin voice through the persistent pain in his stomach.

Qiang didn’t answer, he just kept pulling him along without caring about how anxious was getting the other in the situation. The omega kept resisting, now trying to hit the brunet’s ribs with his elbow. To Shen’s surprise, he was let go so he could straighten up. The redhead was puzzled, but that didn’t stop him from shooting Qiang a rage-filled glare, who, in turn, limited himself to watch him with a cold and emotionless stare that made his hair stand on end.

“Start walking. They’re waiting” he ordered.

“What? Hell no! I’m going home!”

Huang Shen took a couple of steps backwards with the intention of leaving. However, the alpha had other plans and so he shot his arm out to take him around the shoulders, bringing him back towards him in an action that, if seen from the outside, would seem to be friendly if it wasn’t for the strength of his hold.

“You’re not going anywhere. You’re coming with me.”

“The f*ck are you talking about!? You couldn’t catch me dead going with you anywhere!”

“That can be arranged...”

The redhead was petrified. That this stranger had uttered such words so casually made his blood run cold. Nevertheless, Shen was able to react, pushing the other’s arm away with a hard slap that made the alpha even more mad. Suddenly, Qiang grabbed him by the forearm, tightening the grip of his fingers in warning.

“If you f*ck with me again, I’ll cut your balls off.”

Shen swallowed hard. He knew nothing of this man, but there was something in those grey eyes that told him he was capable of that and even more. And worse still, of enjoying it. He clenched his teeth in rage and, for the first time, he chose to try his luck and stay by his side, in complete silence, but without dignifying him with a look at his face. He knew damn well that ignoring an alpha was a great way of hurting their pride.

Xiè Qiang didn’t touch him again, but he didn’t stop making sure the omega would stay with him and wouldn’t run away. He didn’t care the other wouldn’t look him in the eye provided that he followed him.

“Let’s go” he rushed the other, as he started walking.

The shorter man watched the car parked a few meters away warily, and the alpha noticed.

“Calm down, it’s just a taxi. I’m not kidnapping you.”

Huang Shen stopped in his tracks. Hearing the thoughts in his head out loud was even more terrifying if possible. On top of that, nobody could prove it to him if what he was saying was true.

“Where are we going?”

“My house”

The omega tensed up. Nope, there was no way he would be moving now.

“I’m not getting in there. I’m not going to your house.” He firmly stated.

The alpha exhaled a drawn out sigh.

“Well, it will be fun to hear you scream...”

A cruel smirk spread on his face as he reached down his hand to hover over the other man’s groin, without touching, but with the intention of making it clear that he wouldn’t hesitate a second to fulfill his earlier threat.

Seeing that the stranger’s words weren’t in vain, the redhead got scared and bowed to his request, grudgingly getting into the back seat of the taxi and sitting as far away as possible from the alpha.

With a satisfied little smirk, Xiè Qiang closed the taxi door.

.

.

.

Silence. The only sound that could be heard was the rattle of the taxi wheels. Nobody spoke a word. Not even the driver who, upon sensing the tense atmosphere between his passengers, decided against uttering a word.

On the back seat, Xiè Qiang wasn’t shy as he oggled Huang Shen’s face, studying him. The omega had delicate features, as did any other of his nature, but that frown that he appeared to have tattooed on his face took any kind of fine beauty away. It gave him a more hardened look, and he had to admit that it did suit him. He cooly let his eyes rover down that slim neck, noticing immediately how tensed up it was. The brunet found it amusing and it drew a smirk from him. He found that intriguing. He was used to seeing people react that way around him, but never from an omega he was trying to “conquer”, if that was the correct term.

Huang Shen felt the other’s eyes stabbing him without shame, an act which inevitably enraged him even more. He watched the taller man from the corner of his eye, analyzing every inch of his skin and he felt his blood boil. He couldn’t take it anymore. He hated feeling watched, and the moment he saw the alpha’s smug grin, he went off.

“What the f*ck do you think you’re doing?! Stop leering at me like a f*cking pervert!”

Realising how abruptly he had broken the silence, Shen sent a quick glance at the driver through the rear-view mirror just to make sure he was driving along like nothing had happened, ignoring the situation going on on the back seat, and probably assuming the yelling to be just a lovers spat or something of that nature.

“Relax, I was just watching you.”

Qiang’s smirk grew into a dark smile, but without losing that teasing edge that, from that moment on, Shen swore to hate. However, the brunet couldn’t deny that he liked that outburst, so violent and so unlike those of Shen’s nature. It wasn’t as if he was the first omega with an attitude that he’d met, but without a doubt, he was the “worst” one: his face was tinted red with pure rage, in juxtaposition to his white knuckles clenched with tension; the redhead was truly distressed by that comment and the whole situation in general.

“I don’t give a shit. If you do that again I’ll-”

“If I do it again you’ll what?”

The mafia boss made the redhead shut up with just a cold glare and his authoritative tone, cutting his words short and leaving them hanging from his lips. Huang Shen clenched his fists and teeth, filled with rage. He turned to the window so he didn’t have to see that hard and cold face that oggled him as if he were a piece of meat. God… Being looked at in that manner really turned his stomach, and knowing that they were going to his house made it even worse. No doubt he would try to escape at the slight opportunity.

Xiè Qiang finally took his eyes away from the omega and, copying the other, turned to the window, focusing on the lamp-lit streets. There were still some minutes left for them to arrive home, and the alpha wondered what the f*ck would he do now with the other man. He had always heard that the moment an alpha met his destined, they were dominated by their heat and their duty became to be mated to and to mark one another. And that would have been the case if the omega wouldn’t have rejected those beliefs by suppressing his heat, denying any possibility of mating.

In reality, though, it wasn’t as if he believed such nonsense, even less when there was somebody else that made his heart beat. Well, maybe there were other people in the world more suited for his alpha nature, but that didn’t mean a permanent and instant connection. He knew that, and he agreed with that, but, on the other hand, he had dragged the omega along just because he had been provoked by the omega’s heat and rejection… and for what? He really didn’t care, he had done it just because it had bothered him and just because he could. Although… maybe there was something about those fierce and scared eyes that had truly grabbed his attention.

The boy was beautiful; it didn’t matter how much his crude personality distorted his features. He just was. A pretty and fierce face tied to a body that could bend and twist red hot on the stage, but with a shitty and insufferable attitude. A very curious and explosive combination indeed.

Finally, the taxi stopped.

“We’re here.”

Huang Shen’s eyes widened in shock when he saw where they had stopped: the buildings on this side of town were damn tall, several feet taller than what he was used to seeing in his neighborhood. On top of that, they were sleek and pristine, and the people living there seemed to be wearing clothes he would never be able to afford. F*ck. What kind of job did this smug asshole have? There was no doubt they were in one of the richest neighborhoods in town. One he had never stepped on.

“Get out,” the alpha ordered him. He cursed himself when he got back to reality for getting distracted instead of using the moment when the other was paying to make his escape. Even though, in reality, he had no idea where to go.

Without saying a word, he got out of the taxi, looking around trying to find a bus stop or an underground station. Nothing. It seemed like the rich didn’t use public transport...

“Have a good night, sir.” were the driver’s parting words as he sped up to be lost amongst the city lights.

Impressed by the building’s size, Huang Shen couldn’t stop himself from staring up into its heights. Qiang ignored him, he wasn’t the first to be left speechless when he brought them here, and he wouldn’t be the last.

The alpha went to the door and opened it in complete silence, giving his back to the omega, confident he wouldn’t escape. And so he didn’t; he didn’t escape, but he didn’t make any attempt to follow behind him either.

“Come on in,” he said, but Shen didn’t move any closer. “I told you to come in,” he repeated, to no avail.

Slowly, with infinite patience, Qiang got closer to the dancer with the intention of making him go in in not a friendly manner but, as he did it, when he inched closer, Shen rised his arms in defense and yelled.

“Don’t you dare touch me!”

“Come in, then.”

This time around Huang Shen did obey, and hesitantly, he walked in front of the alpha until both of them were inside the building and the door closed behind them. A few steps forward and they reached the elevator, and Qiang used the building’s security key to activate it. When the elevator doors opened, Shen watched it warily but he got in nevertheless, only to quickly press himself against the opposite wall the alpha was resting against. Xiè Qiang couldn’t help but smirk, but he made no move towards the dancer. Instead, he put his hands in his pockets and waited for his floor, after all, it being the last one, they would be there for a while.

Suddenly he felt his right hand vibrate; it was his phone. Someone was calling him and he thought he knew who it was. He took it out of his pocket and read the caller ID: Xiè Chen.

Just as he expected, it was his brother calling.

He didn’t answer. He just locked it and pocketed it under the omega’s inquisitive stare. Luckily, the phone didn’t ring again. Good. He didn’t want to speak to him and, on top of that, he could imagine the motive of his call: he had come back from his long business trip to Macau and wanted his attention; talk to him and smooth things out in a crude attempt to become again a pathetic family. The best way to go was to ignore him, as he had done many times before. Besides, he had more pressing business to attend to.

Finally, here came the ding indicating their arrival at the penthouse, and Qiang exited the elevator, using his security card to block it, making it so that he wouldn’t lose the other man in the maze of floors if he changed his mind and pressed a random button trying to escape.

“Let’s go,” he insisted, and the other got out of the elevator, cursing under his breath.

Huang Shen followed a few inches behind the alpha, frowning, his heart beating out of his chest and his fists clenched, ready to punch him if it came to that. He just wanted to get away from there, go home and never see those grey eyes ever again. He didn’t know what the other man’s intentions were, but if he tried to fulfil his f*cking alpha role and finish what he had started hours earlier at the club, Shen would make everything he could to stop him. He didn’t want to mate with him, he didn’t want to mate with anyone for the rest of his life, and, of course, finding his supposed “destined partner” was nowhere in his future plans.

When the apartment door opened, the alpha entered with visible reluctance, something that puzzled Shen. But, of course, he didn’t ask the reason why.

From inside the apartment, Qiang looked at him from the corner of his eye, waiting for Huang Shen to enter and, when he did, he closed the door behind him.