The Mark of a Beta

twenty- six

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. At least, that's the case for me. If someone hands me a box of chocolate poptarts, I'll love them forever. Apparently, that's not the way to Axel's heart. You know what is?

Violence.

From the moment after I punched that fucking loser, Clay, Axel has not been able to take his hands off me. Not for the rest of breakfast, and not when I drank another cup of coffee while chatting with Cole about how I used really great form while punching Clay. Also, Axel hasn't said anything to me since breakfast. He only stays by my side and offers his presence.

I can feel his pride ringing out through the bond, but it's muted. He's holding back from me, and I'm not sure why.

Axel's silence has always confused me. Why would things be any different now?

I'm once again practically bouncing off the fucking walls from the caffeine, and I wave goodbye to Cole and Madelyn as I head upstairs to take a shower. Axel follows behind me.

Shit, did I misread something? Axel is being really quiet, and I have no idea what he's thinking. He follows me into my room. When he locks the door behind us, I'm immediately assaulted with the full force of Axel's emotions.

Fucking hell. I see why he muted his emotions earlier.

This guy is horny as hell. I watch his mouth part as he runs the tip of his tongue over his elongated canines, and my dick hardens. His eyes are glowing a vivid green, and he smirks while removing his rings one by one.

My chest heaves with the force it takes to continue breathing. When Axel drops the last ring on top of a drawer and stalks over to me, I stumble back a few steps. My back hits the wall and I jump at the contact.

Axel chuckles.

"There's no escape for you now," he says, his voice rough like gravel. I swallow hard and look up at my mate.

In a flash of movement, my wrists are restrained by one of Axel's large hands. His other hand spreads wide against my chest as he runs it up and down the surface. He uses his pointer finger to flick at one nipple through my shirt, then the other. The pebbled tips harden from his touch alone.

"F-fuck," I curse at the sensation. I try to wriggle my wrists out of his hold so that I can touch him back, but he doesn't let me.

"Shhh," he whispers, then runs his hand down my abdomen and down to my crotch. He applies a light pressure to my cock, and I squirm in his hold. "Take what I give you, and nothing more."

At this point I can't contain myself. My pelvis thrusts into his hand on its own accord, and Axel stops stroking me. He releases my wrists from his grip and I fall back against the wall.

"Strip," he commands.

I stumble over myself trying to remove my clothes as fast as possible. I know where this is leading, and I'm fucking ready. I want to be fully mated to this man more than anything.

Axel heads into the bathroom and turns on the shower. That's probably a good thing because I'm sweaty as shit. When Axel undresses after me and folds his clothes neatly on the lid of the toilet, my heart beats in a funny, irregular rhythm. I'm nervous, excited, horny, and so, so happy.

I head in the shower first, and the warm spray of water feels so good on my clammy skin that I sigh in relief. When Axel's chest presses against my back, I lean against him, allowing the water to cascade over the both of us.

He turns me around and presses a firm kiss to my lips. The water makes our lips and bodies more slick. The feel of his cock rubbing against my abdomen spurs on my movements as I place my hands on his cheeks and kiss him back with all the energy I can muster- and with caffeine raging through my blood, that's a fuck ton!