Mated To The Alpha Of The North
Chapter 51

Jax

I carried my mate up the stairs and straight into the washroom, depositing her in the walk-in shower and taking a step back after making sure that she was steady on her feet.

Next, I quickly stripped off my shorts, pleased to see that she had copied my movements with only a slight blush gracing her face as she removed her own clothing and chucked it somewhere in the bathroom behind me, but I only had eyes for her so its final destination was lost on me.

My wolf and I felt immensely gratified at her comfort level around us deepening, eliciting a bone-deep level of satisfaction as I marched into the tiled enclosure and reached around Willow to turn the dials to an agreeable setting, guiding her away from where the stream of water would soon emerge.

I observed her as she swiftly unwound the thick plaits of her dark hair, leaving the long locks cascading over her shoulders in gentle waves and spilling down past her middle like a river of melted dark chocolate that I nearly sank my fingers into right then.

Yet, I somehow managed to struggle against the invitation for now and opted for tracing my rough hands over the soft lines of her form, only allowing myself to enjoy the simple luxury of massaging the honey scented soap into her silky tresses after the rest of her was sparkling clean.

When the water had warmed, I carefully washed her body while she stood fixed in place, silently admiring my trim physique as I meticulously scrubbed away any sign of Zeke from her body.

The condensation filled the walled space with moisture and hints of the vanilla bodywash that I had used to brush the dried cerise stains from her arms ahead of stroking more desirable areas when I cleansed them later.

The aroma of Willow’s arousal permeated the air, growing in intensity to a near fever pitch as my calloused hands sailed over her sensitive skin.

It was an uphill battle to resist Willow’s enticing figure for long as I moved to run the soapy sponge over her rounded h**s, paying particular attention to her voluptuous a*s and ample breasts as I made sure to thoroughly caress every tempting inch of her body before urging her backwards under the flow of the water to rinse off the residual soap.

Though I honestly believed in that moment that I might have taken tackling the pair of bears again over withstanding Willow’s alluring shape for a sheer second longer. My wolf and I were well beyond the stage of captivation.

In fact, he was continuously pressing me to complete the mating bond and mark Willow with our claiming bite now that she had accepted us, flaws and all.

However, I was well aware that she had recently been through an ordeal with Zeke managing to slither his way back into her milieu and that was not even mentioning the fact that Ronnie was still waiting for us both downstairs.

I was still kicking myself that he had been able to get so near to her again, but I was extremely proud of my mate and sister for chasing his a*s off before anything too detrimental could happen.

The mere thought of Zeke was thankfully enough to kill my excitement for the time being, spurring me to finish the task at hand, knowing that we had already been absent for too long as it was.

I was pleasurably shocked when Willow had offered to return the favor, but I knew then that the fragile hold I had over my self-control would snap if she had touched me with even a tenth of the sensuality that I had indulged in when washing away the remnants of the b***d from her smooth, porcelain skin previously.

“I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of the night locked up with you in this room, love, and that is exactly what would happen the minute you touched me with those soft hands of yours.”

I responded, pausing momentarily to brush a brief k**s across her lips before going on, “Unfortunately, I have a security threat to address with Asher and Reese, and I know you must be famished and past exhausted by this point, sweetheart. I am sorry everything got thrown so off course tonight, but I will make sure no one disturbs while you are resting later after you eat some food.”

“You are not going to join me?”

I felt tiny fissures threatening to develop in my heart at the vulnerable look in her eyes and the slight tremble in her voice, rushing to reassure her before the self-doubt that I saw blossoming in her eyes could take root.

“I need to check in with Asher and Reese about the breech, but as soon as I am done, there is not a force powerful enough to keep me away from your side. I am having them both come here so I do not have to leave the lodge again. I made you a promise earlier, and I intend to keep it.”

While we had been talking, I had efficiently washed the remainder of the violence off my bronzed skin and herded my weary mate out of the shower before reluctantly wrapping her tantalizing figure up in a soft, fluffy towel.

I glanced down as I finished reiterating my oath, taking in the look of adoration and pure conviction shining through her brown irises and up directly into my soul with her scorching gaze.

“I would rather stay with you, if that is okay.” She whispered in a small voice, practically killing me with her lack of confidence in me.

My wolf howled in the back of my head, but I pushed him further into the recesses of my mind as I retorted, “Sweetheart, I will never say no to having you cuddled up all snug in my lap. Let’s go get dinner with Ronnie over with so I can take care of business with the other alphas and we can have the place to ourselves again.”

I punctuated my last statement with a playful nip to her lower l*p as I grabbed a generous handful of her a*s and squeezed before taking her small hand in my own larger one and guiding her out the door into the bedroom, living for the soft, breathy gasp that escaped her lips in response.

I hurriedly threw some clothes on while Willow dressed herself in a similar approach, not bothering to pay attention to what she was pulling on, but I felt a sense of contentment as she selected one of my own excessively big shirts on her instead of one of the new items that I had had Ronnie pick up for her.

Finally, I reclaimed her hand as we made our way down the stairs to rejoin my sister, subtly adjusting my hard on in the process.

I was grateful when I realized that Ronnie had cleaned up the kitchen while she was waiting on us, and I felt the tiniest bit of remorse for making her wait so long while I had attended to my mate.

“There you two are! I was about ready to take off, but I wanted to double check that it is safe for me to walk back into town by myself at this time of night.”

She peeked at the clock, her eyebrows raising higher on her forehead as she took in the late hour. I had not realized how late it had gotten either. I subsequently took a minute to finally respond to Reese through our mind link.

He was pissed that I had been ignoring him ever since he had given the all-clear, but Willow would always come first. He agreed to snatch Asher up on his way over so that we could address any immediate dangers tonight before conducting a full investigation tomorrow.

I tuned back into what was happening around me afterward, realizing that both females had already dished up the food and taken a seat at the table while I had been otherwise engaged.

“Ah, perfect timing it appears. This all looks delicious, thank you sister.” I stated, serving up my own plate and joining them at the table.

“Mmm, this is amazing, Ronnie. Thank you so much for cooking tonight. You have to let me repay the favor sometime soon.”

Ronnie did not reply, but her lips ticked upwards in a smile and her cheeks colored a bit as we devoured the rest of the spaghetti in silence.

“Asher and Reese will be on their way shortly. One of them will walk you home until we fix the blunder with the safety measures.” I said at last, answering Ronnie’s earlier question.

Nonetheless, I was happy that she had evidently decided to ignore my rude behavior recently, my last order included. I watched as she rolled her emerald eyes at me before launching into another conversation with my mate, paying my command no mind.

Luna knows I had been acting like a damn fool since Willow had appeared in my life.

Regrettably, I did not see that changing until we had finally cemented our bond, and that day could not come soon enough in the eyes of my wolf and me.