The Claiming by Cooper
Chapter 219

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 19 Jaxon

Raelyn is hanging on me like a monkey. I've thrown her into the air countless times, especially when I saw Eve get out of the water and saw just how fantastic her body is.

I was partly glad that Raelyn had interrupted out little tease because I was so hard, I thought my dick was going to explode if she even grazed it accidentally. Once I swam away, it took at bit, but my dick was finally starting to soften, and then Evangeline had to go and get out of the water.

I watched as she gracefully pulled herself out of the lake, using the edge of the overhang where she'd been sitting. Even Raelyn swimming back over and practically choking me didn't help my situation. The woman is all grace and confidence and I swear if there was a private spot in this lake, I'd have relieved my painful erection.

I stay in the water longer than I would have, playing with Raelyn and letting my body finally calm down. Geez, if I ever do get my chance with Eve, I need to be prepared. I would hate for our first time together to give her the impression that I'm a two-pump chump. That would be mortifying.

When I do finally get out, I'm not paying attention to anything other than Eve in my peripheral vision. I'm afraid if I look at her, my d*ic*k will instantly respond. So, I'm distracted and surprised when her father steps in front of me.

"Alpha Jaxon." He says, his voice serious.

"Alpha Luke." I say, stopping short and looking at him. He's close to my height, maybe an inch or so shorter than I am.

"I don't need to remind you that my daughter is not yet 18 and unable to identify her mate, do I?"

"No, Alpha. I am perfectly aware that your daughter is still several months away from her birthday. Beyond that, I respect that she wants to win this competition. So even if she replaces her mate during the contest, which is very likely, I'm sure she will wait until the competition is over before making any decisions about accepting her mate."

He looks at me a long moment. "And what about you, Alpha? Will you be waiting until the end of the competition if you replace your mate?" He asks me.

"That will depend on my mate. If she is in the contest and wants to continue to compete, I will wait for her and see what happens. If not, then, I would want to accept my mate as soon as possible so that when I win, she and I can begin to build our pack together right away."

He narrows his eyes at me. "You're very much like your father, do you know that?"

I smile at him. "I'll take that as a compliment." I say to him.

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, he would have too. Just remember what I said, Jaxon. My daughter wants to win, and I have no doubt that she can. Don't get in the way of her winning her pack if that's what she wants."

"I would never dream of taking my mate's dreams away from her. We would just need to replace a way to work together. Which your daughter and I have already discussed." I tell him.

His head jerks in surprise. "You have?"

"Yes, Alpha, we have. We had a lot of time together during our run. I took that opportunity to get to know Evangeline.

And, you may as well know, she has agreed to go on a date with me. I fully intend to have more than one date with your daughter between now and the next contest."

He grits his teeth. "That will be up to her." I nod my head.

"Dad? Jaxon? Is everything alright?" Eve says jogging up to us.

"Yes, Evangeline. I was just making sure that Jaxon and I had an understanding." He says before he pulls Eve to him and kissing the top of her head.

"Where is your sister?" He asks.

"The last I saw, Al was chasing after her into the forest." She tells him.

He sighs a heavy, exasperated sigh. "I'd better go replace her before she gets into something she shouldn't." He shakes his head and turns to head into the forest.

I turn to Eve. "I was just getting ready to head back to the packhouse. I want to shower before dinner. Care to join me?"

"I'd love to. Give me a minute." She runs back to get her towel and say something to Magdalena.

From the corner of my eye, I see Magdalena smirk, looking over at me, but I'm trying to replace my sister. Rowen left a while ago, Teagan is nowhere to be found, probably traipsing through the forest with Alpha Alejandro chasing Makayla, but Raelyn is still hanging out with Harper.

'I'm heading back, are you good?' I ask her in the mind link.

Her head pops up. 'I'm good. Harper wants to swim some more. I'll stay with her and Aunt Hana.'

'Okay, see you at dinner.' I tell her just as Eve comes jogging back up.

We turn and begin walking back to the packhouse. We're quiet at first and I wonder if she's shy after our little adventure earlier.

I decide to just bring it up. "Well that was..." I say just as she says, "So earlier..."

We both stop talking and look at each other before we burst into laughter.

"You first," I say.

"No, you first," she replies.

"I was going to say that that was very enjoyable earlier. The only thing missing my being able to kiss you." I tell her honestly.

"Do you think it was the risk of getting caught that made it so exciting?" She asks me.

"For me, I loved touching you. The risk factor just added to the intensity of the moment."

"Me too."

I stop, looking at her. "So, you liked touching me?" I ask her.

She nods, a pale pink blush spreading across her cheeks.

I step into her space. "Good, because I really liked how it felt when you touched me. So, feel free to do it any time." I tell her.

Her hands go to my bare chest, sliding out to my shoulders and down my arms. Her eyes never leave mine. "Do you like that?" Rather than answer, I pull her against me, letting her feel how hard I am once again. "You tell me."

"Mmmm, that feels like a yes." She says.

I quickly look around, making sure we're alone before I lean in and take her mouth in our most passionate kiss yet.

I bury one hand in her hair, holding her as I devour her mouth, tasting her sweetness, while the other hand holds her too me.

I growl possessively when I hear her soft whimper, her arms around my neck, leaning into me, curling her body against mine.

When I feel my canines extend, I pull back, looking at her shocked expression that must mirror my own.

"Sorry." I say, moving to release her but she holds me in place.

"If you're going to slice my lip open, Alpha, you should at least seal the wound with a kiss." She says and I can see that, while she's already healing, my canines did slice into her bottom lip. Very carefully, I lean forward and suck her lip into my mouth, licking the wound and tasting the blood from where I hurt her.

When it's healed, I release her lip and pull back, this time keeping my arms wrapped around her.

"I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I'll accept your apology for hurting me, as long as you aren't apologizing for being so turned on by me that your canines came out." She says.

"Oh no. I'll never apologize for that. You are one s*ex*y little Alpha and if I'm not apologizing for having the worst hardon of my life, I won't be apologizing for my canines coming out." "Good." She says and we begin walking back again.

When we get back to the packhouse, I walk her to her room.

"I'll see you at dinner." I say.

She bites her lip, looking at mine. I wait and it's only a moment before she takes my face in her hands and kisses me. It's quick, but I'll take it.

"See you soon, Jax." She says, stepping into her room and giving me a shy smile. "Not soon enough, Eve." I say as she closes the door.