His Isolated Omega Luna

Chapter Twenty Nine

“No.” Gabriel said, after a thoughtful pause. “No, it has to be this way. It’s complicated, Lucas. Cassandra is just different and she needs someone to watch out for her, and that someone has to be me.”

Lucas shoved his coffee cup aside and leaned over the table so he could make damn sure Gabriel was prepared to listen to every single word he was about to say.

Lucas knew he was running out of time.

“Well - no offense, but you haven’t exactly been there for her until you found out about Axel. My brother has done nothing but care for her and try to keep her safe. He has put everything he has into trying to show Cassandra exactly how much he wants to look after her and you just choose not to see it!”

Gabriel’s indecision was making Lucas all the more determined to try and win him over, his impassioned voice starting to tremble with every sound that passed his lips. He was quite anxious to head back to the apartment. The focus of the conversation had left him surprisingly nervous about leaving Cassandra and Axel alone together for too long. The intensity of Axel’s reaction to the omega’s scent a few nights ago made him wonder just what it would take for his brother to lose it like that again.

Lucas couldn’t imagine how much regret Axel would have if he let his s****l urges take over. He would never forgive himself if he hurt Cassandra.

Lucas trusted his brother completely but for that one small treacherous spike of doubt. None of it had been helped by all the things Gabriel said.

“I’m not gonna lie,” Lucas said suddenly. “We both have our suspicions about Cassandra and I know exactly what you're hinting at. What I don’t understand is why you would send her away when she never really knew why. It tortured her, Gabriel,” Lucas added quietly. “She thought you were ashamed of her.”

Gabriel couldn’t prevent a choked noise of dismay spreading out into the air between them. Lucas saw his face crumple.

“What?! God, no! I would never want her to think that,” His eyes sparkled at the corners. Lucas knew it was regret. “I guessed she was different as soon as she presented, and my father…” Gabriel stopped suddenly, turning his face away to stare mindlessly out the window. He struggled to focus on anything he could on the street beyond to distract himself from a painful memory. “I feared for Cassandra. People knew about her and I wanted to protect her. I know in my heart that was the day she started to become so afraid, and I'm truly sorry for that. You don’t know how much I've thought about her over the years.”

Lucas nodded sympathetically. Much of what he learned in the past half-hour was helping him to understand why Gabriel had been so desperate to persuade Cassandra to go home with him.

“Do you know what an A-type is?” Lucas asked slowly. Gabriel’s eyes shot straight back to him, gripping his coffee cup a little tighter.

All the hostility seemed to suddenly fall away from his face. He smiled when he ran his tongue along his bottom lip.

“Is that what they call it?”

“I guess so. Axel has this old alpha lore book he got when he was young. I always thought they were just a myth, but when I look at Cassandra… I can see it, you know?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Axel never mated because he really believed in it. I used to tease him mercilessly about it, but when he met Cas he said he just knew. Knew she was the one.”

“One, what?” Gabriel asked, picking up his coffee and gulping a large mouthful while he waited for Lucas to explain.

“Sort of like a true mate, I suppose, but there’s a much deeper connection. It’s not just physical but emotional as well. In the book it hints at the possibility there may even be a spiritual link between what they call these pair-bond couples, but I wouldn’t know about that.”

“Yes, I've heard the term but I can’t pretend to really understand much about it… and Axel really believes this?” Gabriel asked in astonishment. Lucas answered him with a simple nod. His lips were pressed tightly together to try and show Gabriel how serious he was. “I thought he just wanted to use Cassandra, like she didn’t matter and…”

“That’s not what’s going on here, believe me,” Lucas interrupted. “He worships her, Gabriel. If you give Axel a chance to prove he has no other motivation than love, I'm sure he won't disappoint you.”

***

“Cas, I want you so much...” Axel was looking up, his head leaning against one of Cassandra's hands where it was resting on his shoulder. Axel was still on his knees, seemingly unaware of just how desperate he sounded when he came close to trying to express the depth of his feelings for Cassandra.

There were no words to explain the way his stomach fluttered and his pulse throbbed under his skin whenever he looked into Cassandra’s eyes. When Axel held her close, he couldn’t even remember the life that went before and everything else seemed so unimportant.

“But if you really want me to stop, I will,” Axel continued and stood up slowly, shaking the water from his hair while he secured Cassandra in his arms and pressed one palm against the dip in her back. Axel could sense his future mate shiver in response, holding his gaze when he hesitantly slipped both hands under the waistband and curved them over the smooth rise of her ass. “Do you want me to stop?”

Cassandra just stared right back. Axel took her silence as enough consent to keep caressing her. A lustful smile gradually curved up one side of his face. "You gonna lose the shorts?” Axel asked, blowing a warm breath against Cassandra’s cheek when he tugged at the elastic. He let it go with a playful snap, moaning when it smacked against wet skin.

Cassandra studied Axel’s mouth, her only response was a small shake of her head.

The omega in front of him looked so scared, Axel just wanted to circle his arms around her and make all the fear go away.

Axel knew in his heart Cassandra really wasn’t ready for more and had to reassure her. Axel leaned in and rubbed his mouth along the line of Cassandra’s neck while he continued to stroke her. “Cas, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want.”

“Axel. I think I want to. I just… ” Cassandra still looked so fragile standing in front of Axel with the water running over the pale curves of her body. She couldn't even finish a simple sentence when Axel was holding her so close like that.

“It’s okay, give me your hand.”

“What?”

“Your hand, here.” Axel whispered. He reached up and took hold of Cassandra's wrist, gently pushing up the fingers so her palm was flat. He let it rest over his heart and Cassandra swallowed loudly, eyes growing wide at the texture of Axel’s damp skin where it shifted under her touch.

“Axel.”

“Shh. Hush, Cas... touch me,” Axel encouraged, stroking his thumb along the side of Cassandra’s hand. “I want you to touch me.” Cassandra held her breath and let Axel guide her palm across the rough weathered skin that covered his chest, and along the line of light hair that stretched all the way down his stomach. Axel felt some resistance against his hand when Cassandra’s fingers traced the strip of darker skin in the center. He stopped and released her wrist. “Too much?”

“Maybe...” Cassandra was trying to keep her voice steady, but she knew Axel could smell her arousal. Axel was still smiling when his eyes trailed over Cassandra’s body, back to her face and gave her a reassuring smile.

“You want me to help you out, Cas?” Axel murmured between Cassandra's lips, when the desire to feel omega skin rub against his own started to smother his senses and make him bold and dangerous.

Cassandra looked down, but she gave a small nod in reply so Axel took that as a yes, and pushed his hips forward. “God, Cas… you don’t know what you do to me…” Axel purred against damp skin while he dug hard into the responsive flesh beneath his fingertips. “I could stay like this forever.”

Cassandra closed her eyes and let Axel move his hips in determined circles, forcefully rubbing their bodies together. The alpha bent his head to suck a mark against her throat and Cassandra instinctively tipped her head back and presented the exposed skin where it curved gracefully over her shoulder.

Axel could feel the heartbeat pulsing against his tongue as blood coursed through Cassandra's body.

Axel knew he was close to losing control again.

The alpha curled his lip to expose the sharp points of his teeth and grazed them lightly over the pounding vein while Cassandra moaned softly at the intensity of the sensation. She tilted her head for another kiss, but as soon as their lips met she heard Axel gasp into her mouth and yank both hands out of her shorts.

Axel lifted one up to examine it and Cassandra could see it shimmering in the dim light where the tips of Axel's fingers were coated with translucent slick.

“Oh, God... I’m so sorry…” Cassandra cried, holding one hand over her mouth in distress. She had released a thick trail of slick that was pooling at her feet, soon washed away by the small rivers of water that were running down her back. The omega made a strangled gasp of alarm when she realized her body had reacted so naturally to Axel without her even being in heat.

Axel could see Cassandra was getting upset, so he reached for the cloth and gave her a small smile. He turned her around and bent down to clean the inside of her thighs and smoothed it down the back of her legs in silence while Cassandra closed her eyes at the shameful display, cursing her weak omega body for betraying her again.

Cassandra’s cheeks burned, but Axel was patient and gentle when he dabbed away the last traces of discolored water.

“Cas, it’s fine - you couldn’t help it...” Axel soothed her, rinsing out the cloth and gesturing for Cassandra to grab the towel and hand it over. Axel carefully wrapped it around Cassandra’s waist and threaded one edge through the other to secure it around her body. “'Kay, you can lose the shorts now,” Axel smiled. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Axel helped Cassandra out of the shower and pulled her by the hand to lead her back through to the bedroom so she could dry off and get changed, he then closed the door behind him.

The alpha’s heart was racing, heavy beads of sweat starting to drip down his back when Axel thought about just how close he came to biting.

It was getting much harder to stop himself from sinking his fangs into Cassandra’s neck.