Chapter Twenty-Nine-Jaxson
I was just ladling out the second bowl of stew—mama’s recipe, slow-cooked with love and enough garlic to scare off a whole nest of Vamps—when I heard it.
Soft footsteps. A breath too careful.
If I didn’t have supernatural hearing, I might’ve missed the tiptoe creak of her coming down the stairs.
But I did. And more than that, I could smell her.
That warm, sweet, citrus-vanilla blend that always hits me low and hard. Wildflowers, magic, and pure lust.
Evie. My Evie.
I turned, bowl still in hand, and nearly dropped the damn thing.
There she was, padding into the kitchen like temptation incarnate—barefoot, tousled, and wearing a pajama set that was doing something unholy to my restraint.
The soft shorts barely covered that thick, plush ass I wanted to bite, and the long-sleeved tee clung to curves that made my mouth go dry.
“Hey,” she said, voice soft but steady.
That one word lit up every nerve ending in my body.
“Hey,” I croaked out like a fool.
That was all I could manage.
Every damn time I laid eyes on this woman, I turned into a tongue-tied idiot.
A six-foot-six, Alpha-dominant Werewolf with the communication skills of a sock.
“You hungry?” I asked, gesturing with the bowl before setting it on the table.
She gave me a wicked grin. “Always, Wolfman.”
I barked a laugh—couldn’t help it—and set both bowls down before walking to her.
I didn’t ask.
I just reached for her hand and pulled her against my chest, wrapping her up in a hug that felt like home.
She melted into me like we’d done this every day of our lives.
“Thank you, Jaxson,” she whispered, her cheek pressed against my chest. I felt the words more than heard them.
“For what, Darlin’?”
“For being here. For taking care of me. For believing in me when I wasn’t sure I could believe in myself.”
“Evelyn Castor, I will always be here for you.”
She tipped her head back and looked at me, and what I saw in those whiskey-brown eyes just about leveled me.
Vulnerability. Hope. Maybe even love.
“Do you mean that?” she asked quietly. “And do you still want to mate me?”
My heart squeezed so hard I had to breathe through it.
I cupped her face gently, rubbed my thumbs along the apples of her cheeks.
“More than I want air. I love you, Evie Castor,” I confessed.
“You do? Because, um, I love you too, Jaxson Reid.”
I wanted to throw my head back and howl to the whole damn world. She loved me. And everything was better for it.
“Dammit, Evie, the things I want to do to you,” I growled and nipped her earlobe between my teeth, and she damn near swooned.
“Yes, please.”
“Oh, I will, Darlin’. But all the delicious things I plan on doing to you tonight? They require strength. Stamina. Hydration. So here’s the plan.”
Her lips parted, eyes wide, body leaning into mine like she already knew what I was going to say.
“You’re gonna sit your sweet ass in my lap, let me feed you every last bite of this stew,” I said, voice low and rough, “then I’m carrying you upstairs. And I’m gonna fuck you right. Claim you deep. Make sure you never doubt who you belong to.”
Her breath hitched, and my own control frayed like an old rope.
“Because I already know, one hundred percent—Evie Castor, I belong to you.”
She made a soft sound in her throat that had me half-hard instantly.
I pulled out a chair and sat, patting my lap. She didn’t hesitate.
Just climbed on, curling against me like she’d been born there.
And I fed her.
Bite by bite.
Perfectly tender beef, buttery carrots, soft peas, and the best damn broth you ever tasted.
Her eyes fluttered closed every time I brought the spoon to her lips, like she was savoring more than just food.
After the last bite, I wiped her lips with my thumb and kissed her, slow and lingering, before standing with her still in my arms.
She gasped and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“You’re really carrying me upstairs? I’m too heavy—”
I cut off that line of nonsense with a swat to her sweet ass.
“Darlin’, I told you already. Strength and endurance.” I grinned and kissed her nose. “I got both. And for the record, you’re not too heavy. You’re fucking perfect.”
By the time I kicked the bedroom door open, she was already tugging at my shirt like it offended her.
I tossed her onto the bed and followed right after, crawling over her, nosing at her neck, taking in her scent like a starving man.
She arched for me—legs open, body ready, eyes wild with want.
“Clothes,” she panted. “Off. Now.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I made quick work of them both.
My shirt hit the wall.
Her top hit the lamp.
I didn’t even remember how her shorts came off, but they were gone, and she was spread out like a feast.
Gaia help me, she was so wet, so ready.
“Need you inside me, Jaxson,” she begged, pulling at me. “Now. No teasing.”
That voice?
That sweet, commanding need?
It flipped some kind of primal switch in me.
My Wolf howled inside, clawing to claim.
I lined up and pushed in deep with a guttural growl.
Her gasp punched straight into my soul.
“Fuuuck,” I hissed, barely holding on as her heat gripped me, tight and perfect and mine.
She was everything.
Soft and fierce. Sweet and sinful.
And she was mine.
I drove into her hard and deep, setting a pace that had her eyes rolling back and her hips lifting to meet me.
Her fingers scratched down my back, her mouth chanting my name like a prayer and a curse.
Every stroke, every slide, pulled a broken sound from her throat—and I ate them up like candy.
Her magic flared—blue and red and silver and wild.
It sparked along my skin like fireflies made of power.
The bond between us snapped taut, and I felt her—really felt her—body and soul.
“I’m close,” she whimpered. “Jaxson, I—oh Gaia—”
“I’ve got you, Darlin’. Come for me. Let me have you.”
Her walls clenched, a cry ripped from her throat—and that’s when I bit.
I sank my fangs deep into the slope of her neck, right over the thrumming pulse that screamed mine.
Her climax exploded.
Her back bowed, legs shaking as her power surged around us in a blinding wave of aqua flame.
I followed her over the edge, roaring her name as I came, grinding deep as I spilled inside her.
Our matebond sealed with a rush of magic and heat and pure, unrelenting rightness.
She was mine.
I was hers.
Forever.