Jaxson rose, and the heat of his presence warmed my back as he drew close. With deliberate control, he slowly coaxed me around and cupped my cheek.
Reluctantly, I met his gaze. The fire from earlier was gone, and in its place was something else. He pressed his lips to my neck and kissed me softly, sending a cascade of shivers across my flushed skin.
Delicately, he traced his mouth up my neck. “Either you want me as your mate, or not.”
I tensed as the tables turned. I looked away, my heart pounding in terror. I wasn’t ready to answer the question I’d asked.
I slipped away. “I’m sorting things out, Jaxson.”
Buttoning his trousers, he nodded and walked over to the black counter. The man was covered with scars and blood, sweat and the scent of my body. A testament to what he would go through for me.
Silence stretched between us until finally, he spoke.
“It was Billy.”
“What?” I asked, confused.
Jaxson shook his head absently and sighed. “He and my sister, Stephanie, were true mates. We failed to protect her, and she died. It broke him, Savannah. And in the end, he betrayed the pack. That haunts me. The threat of a bond so deep that you would throw away everything you stood for.”
With sorrow emanating from him as strongly as his presence, he glanced my way. “I’m alpha. I don’t know that I can risk that. Everything is so fragile as it is.”
I could feel the pain twisting inside of him, and I could see it in his eyes—haunting visions of a past he was helpless to change.
My body was drawn to him, pulled forward by the need to heal and to help and comfort. I reached up with my fingers and brushed his cheek. “I know you, Jaxson. I know you would never betray the pack. It’s who you are, and there’s no changing that.”
I kissed him softly on the lips and hung my head on his shoulder, thankful we didn’t have to answer any questions about what we were today.
After a moment’s silence, Jaxson lifted me up with effortless grace and quietly carried me to his shower. Stripping me of my clothes, he washed my body, and the blood and water flowed down the drain—like our fates, spiraling together into inevitable darkness.
Once he’d laid me on his bed, he turned off the light and left me to snuggle in his sheets alone.