Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother
Chapter 229: _ Error, Do Not Unlock!

Chapter 229: _ Error, Do Not Unlock!

Axel stood there for a moment, hands shoved into his pockets like he didn’t just ask me to sleep in the same room with him as casually as one would comment on the weather.

Then his eyes flicked over me slowly and attentively as if he was checking for damage.

"Do you need anything?" he asked softly.

I paused, peeking down at myself. My hair was plastered to my skull, my clothes damp from the drizzle that had caught me on the way here, and my entire body had the scent of earth, wet leaves, and mild panic.

So yes, I needed a lot of things. Starting with a new identity.

"Maybe..." I cleared my throat, trying to sound breezy. "A new towel. And um, a change of clothes?"

He nodded, already turning. "You can wear anything of mine. Unless you don’t want my scent on you."

My breath ceased. What did he just casually say?

Okay. That was not playing fair. Axel knew exactly what he was doing.

"I don’t mind," I said, too quickly. Then I winced.

"I mean—I don’t not mind. I mean... your scent is—uh—it’s fine. Nice even. Good. Smells like... whatever."

Why was I like this? He said just one sentence and I couldn’t form a coherent one.

He gave a little smirk that made me want to fling something at him.

"You should shower. Wash all that rain and dirt off." His eyes trailed my body from the top to bottom.

The thing was, I was barely covered in fabric and that look in his eyes was the type that made me feel like I wasn’t even wrapped in anything.

Like a garnished Christmas chicken set in the center of the table, ready to be devoured. Oh, Axel... what the hell are you doin?

I cleared my throat to shake off the awkwardness. "Yeah. Okay."

I stood there. He didn’t move.

I blinked. "You... you’re not going to leave?"

He cocked his head, like I’d asked him if unicorns were allergic to strawberries. "Leave?"

"Yes!" I motioned toward the door, flailing like a windmill. "So I can undress?"

His brows lifted a little. "You’re going to be my wife."

Wait. WHAT?

He was still on and about this wife thing. Rosa was going to be his wife, not me. However, since we’ve decided to be selfish tonight, I might as well enjoy the moment while it lasted.

"So?" I gawked.

"So what’s the difference?" He leaned casually against the dresser. "Sooner or later, I’ll see all of you anyway."

My jaw unhinged. This man did not just say that.

"Axel!" I squeaked, covering myself with my arms as if that would protect me from his x-ray fiancé vision. "Are you saying you plan to sit there while I—while I strip?"

His grin was slow and lazy. "Watching you undress might help ease some of the tension in my bones, you know. A man is tired and stress, love."

"I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!"

I spun away from him so fast I nearly slipped on the tiled floor. My heart was doing somersaults. My brain? MIA. That comment should’ve been illegal. There should’ve been a police siren. I wanted to protest. I should’ve protested.

But instead, I stood there, shaking a little with my back to him, and arms glued across my chest like an armor of modesty.

Behind me, I heard the sound off footsteps. Then I felt him. Warmth. Proximity. He was too close. Way too close.

"Do you want me to undress you myself?" he asked, voice a low murmur that skimmed along the nape of my neck like a secret.

I swerved, prepared to yell something indignant, but I didn’t get the chance.

His hands cupped my face gently, reverently, as though he’d been waiting centuries to do it. And then he kissed me.

Soft at first. So tender that I felt like nothing could ever be handled so tenderly without caving in on itself.

Then, he went deeper. Like a question that didn’t need an answer and I lost my senses.

I don’t know when my arms dropped or when the towel slid from my shoulders or when his jacket slipped down my back. But the next thing I knew, I was bare.

Completely.

And he was still kissing me. Still so achingly careful, as though I was made of spun sugar and stardust.

I let out a tiny gasp when I felt the cool air nip at my skin. Reflexively, I tried to cover myself, but Axel caught my hands gently in his.

"Don’t. You don’t need to hide from me." He murmured.

My cheeks burned hot enough to roast chestnuts. "I’ve never... this is all new to me."

"I know," he said, brushing a kiss across my temple. "And I’m not going to take what you’re not ready to give. Not tonight. Not ever. I’m a patient man, María José. Until after our wedding, I’ll not claim you that deeply yet."

He paused, kissing my neckline and moaning along with it. "You deserve all the appropriateness and I’ll give it to you. I won’t take your innocence until I’ve paid all my dues on you. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t take it in all the other ways possible."

I was still trying to wrap my head around the sweetness of his words or the impossibility of the existence of such a lover boy like him when he scooped me into his arms with such ease that it startled a tiny squeak out of me.

I clung to his shoulders like a koala, half mortified, and half melting.

"You’re carrying me?!"

"I am," he said, smirking. "What, you want to crawl instead?"

"That’s not what I meant..."

But it was too late. He was already pushing the bathroom door open with his foot and stepping inside.

The bathroom was warm and dimly lit, the kind of cozy that enveloped you like a smoke. Steam rose gently from the shower, fogging up the mirror. The tiles beneath his feet gleamed faintly, and I smelled sandalwood soap, fresh rain, and Axel.

He set me down on a small stool by the sink, then reached over and adjusted the water. I watched with wide-eyes, trying not to think too hard about the fact that I was very much naked and this was very much happening.

He turned with a soft towel slung over one shoulder, and knelt before me like a knight about to take a vow.

"I’ll be gentle. Tell me if you feel uncomfortable. At any point." He muttered.

Saying that like that almost sounded like the romance heroes from the books. Like he was ready to claim my innocence which he had just given a timeline.

I swallowed and could only nod.

He started with my hair.

He tilted my head back gently and ran warm water through the strands, careful not to tug at it. His fingers worked giftedly through the knots, massaging my scalp in slow, rhythmic circles that made my eyelids droop.

I wasn’t expecting it to feel so good.

Like being cradled by trust.

Then he lathered the shampoo, fingers gliding through my hair, rubbing gently behind my ears, down the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes, letting the water cascade down my back and letting go of everything.

For a man who despised love, Axel knew just well how to wash a woman’s hair. It raised all the jealous bells in my head; how the hell did he learn to do that?

Oblivious to my thoughts, he rinsed me slowly, then moved to my arms, lifting each one and rubbing them down with a soft sponge. Every touch was respectful. Every motion he made in this love bath was unhurried.

Like he was taking all the time he had in the world. I was enjoying it in quite the opposite way.

"You’re so quiet," he murmured.

"I’m scared if I speak I’ll combust."

He chuckled. "Don’t worry. I’ll catch the ashes."

My lips quirked. "That’s morbid."

"I thought it was romantic."

He moved lower, rinsing the curve of my back, then carefully sliding the sponge down my legs. I gasped when his knuckles brushed my inner thigh, and he paused instantly.

"Too much?"

"N-No." I cleared my throat. "Just... surprising."

"I’ll be more careful."

"No, it’s..." I met his eyes. "You’re doing fine."

He nodded, a faint smile curling up his lips. "Your body rivals your gloriousness, María José, mi Amo. It’s absolutely beautiful."

"Ah..." I moaned, lips parted as the sound slithered out of my throat.

Axel planted kisses on my back like it wasn’t wet with soapy water. "It’s so soft. So untouched. So brand new."

The ecstasy his words evoked was too hard for my naive self to handle. I began to feel some type of heat between my thighs. At the same time, I could feel slimy fluid running down them all the way from my most intimate part like a hungry man glimpsing a pot of soup.

We didn’t speak for a few moments. Just the sound of running water and the whisper-soft swipes of his sponge against my skin that could be heard. And though the situation was wildly beyond anything I’d ever imagined, it didn’t feel dirty or wrong.

It felt like care. It felt like him showing me I could be touched without being taken. Loved without being broken.

God, I love him. I love him so much, I can’t breathe.