His Isolated Omega Luna

Chapter Twenty Five

Lucas decided he should probably check on Axel and Cassandra after an hour or so, when they still hadn't emerged from the bedroom.

He tapped politely on the door a couple of times but got no response.

Lucas pushed down the handle so he could move the door open just a crack. What he saw caused him to let the door swing wide, his expression melting with tender affection when his mouth lifted up into a mushy smile.

They had both fallen asleep wrapped around each other on top of the covers. Axel was on his back with one arm holding Cassandra close, and the other was resting on Cassandra’s thigh where she had one leg angled over Axel’s hips to pin him down.

Cassandra and Axel looked so settled there together, the air around them filled with the gentle release of their warm breaths while they slept.

Lucas just watched them for a while. He couldn’t remember Axel ever being so happy. The way he had put everything he had into making Cassandra feel safe and protected made his heart swell with pride. Lucas hoped nothing would ever threaten the peace they had somehow found in each other.

Cassandra lazily murmured Axel’s name against his chest, and Axel subconsciously curled his arm around her in his sleep and nuzzled his face into her soft hair.

Lucas gently pulled the door closed again and decided to leave them to rest. The last few days had been exhausting and he knew Axel hadn't slept properly since their first meeting. Now Cassandra was safe in his arms, he had drifted off almost effortlessly and that told Lucas all he needed to know about the cause of his brother's insomnia.

Axel just needed to feel Cassandra next to him to be completely at peace.

Lucas might have actually considered that rather adorable if he let himself admit it.

He fished around in a nearby drawer for a pen and paper so he could scrawl a quick note to let them know he was going into town on another mindless job-hunting mission. Axel never told him if there was anything going down at dispatch, so he decided to start there anyway. It was the perfect place to be able to watch out for Cassandra, and Lucas was sure it would be easy to fall in to a routine like that.

Lucas flicked the catch on the front door when he left and locked them both safely in the apartment.

***

Axel awoke first with a start when the muffled wail of a siren dipped in and out of pitch on the street outside. He groaned uncomfortably, a crick in his back sending a sharp twinge of pain down his spine. His body had been arched into Cassandra at such an unnatural angle, he had to stretch out a little just to ease the discomfort.

Axel looked down at the woman still sleeping beneath him and smiled. Cassandra's cheeks were flushed and marked with lines where the soft skin of her face had been pressed into Axel’s side. He reached up one hand and gently traced the creases with a fingertip until he reached the corner of Cassandra’s mouth. Axel ran it across the moist curve of her lips and Cassandra stirred at the delicate touch.

Axel couldn’t help but to bent his head and kissed the damp skin of Cassandra’s throat, pushing one hand under the front of her shirt and slipping it gracefully inside so he could feel the warmth of Cassandra’s body spread across his palm.

Cassandra looked up at Axel after a few seconds and blinked at him through the blue haze of half-closed eyes.

“Hey, sleepy head,” Axel murmured against her jaw. Cassandra rubbed her eyes and sat up and Axel reluctantly withdrew his hand.

“What time is it?” Cassandra yawned.

“Not late,” Axel answered casually, carefully sweeping a stray lock of dark hair from Cassandra’s face. He could see the daylight trickling through the gaps in the blinds. “I’m gonna get up and take a quick shower,” Axel said, peeling off his t-shirt. “I think you drooled on me.”

Cassandra blushed, her eyes opening wide. Axel couldn’t be sure whether it was because of what he said or because Axel was now half-naked by her side.

“Oh, God... sorry. I didn’t realize I was so tired,” Cassandra muttered, forcing herself to look away from the tanned planes of the broad alpha chest that was now so dangerously close, she could feel a little burst of slick forming and her eyes widen in panic.

Axel laughed and balled up the damp material in his hand. He playfully knocked Cassandra onto her back and rubbed the makeshift weapon hard into her stomach. They were both writhing and laughing like maniacs on top of the covers when Axel suddenly stopped.

The alpha quickly straddled Cassandra and pinned both of her arms firmly above her head to stop her from moving and risking a knee her stomach.

The room seemed infinitely quiet while they just stared at each other.

Cassandra was looking up at him with an expression that almost took Axel’s breath away. Her dark lashes were casting a shadow on top of both her cheeks, still pink from embarrassment. It made them look long and seductive when her blue eyes finally slid open.

Axel sensed his gut twist with the dull burn of something powerful rising up the middle of his chest. It consumed his senses and gripped at his throat from the inside.

There were so many things he wanted to say to Cassandra, but every single one of them seemed to be stuck fast. When he eventually spoke, his voice sounded small and broken.

“Cas, I want to ask you something…” Axel muttered through the silence.

Cassandra blinked hard but she didn’t say anything.

Axel released his grip on Cassandra’s wrists and put both hands on the pillow at either side of her head. He was leaning forward enough for Cassandra to see the wild thrum of an irregular heartbeat pounding against the skin of his chest. “But I don’t really know how to say it,” He continued shyly.

Cassandra was watching the light flicker behind his eyes. Axel wanted to know how this one person could have flooded him so completely with new and terrifying emotions.

“Anything, Axel,” Cassandra encouraged. She settled back against the squashed pillows and stretched up one arm to brush a feather-light touch across Axel’s shoulder. She moved her hand in small circles over the curve, pressing down more firmly with every swirl of her palm. Axel shivered. “You know you can ask me anything.”

“Cas. I… you know I think that… well, I think I - ” Axel stumbled over the words. He couldn’t even seem to manage to put together at least one coherent sentence. He sounded so pitiful, he wondered why Cassandra bothered to humor him at all, but when Axel looked back down he saw Cassandra was biting back a smile.

“Yes, Axel,” Cassandra said softly and giggled, putting her index finger gently to Axel’s lips to silence him. “I know.”

Axel relaxed enough to hold Cassandra's hand fixed against his mouth. He felt a sudden burst of confidence knowing Cassandra knew how much he wanted to keep her and she was still there anyway; lying beneath him with their damp skin almost touching.

Cassandra hadn’t run away or made excuses or demanded Axel leave her alone, and looking down into the depths of those beautiful eyes the only conscious thought in Axel’s head was how much he longed to dive into them and be lost to the fathomless abyss of blue.

His heart filled with hope that maybe Cassandra wanted him, too.

Axel gently nibbled at the fleshy tip of Cassandra’s finger where it was still pressed against the curve of his bottom lip. Axel sucked it in up to the first knuckle and then pulled it out slowly.

“Will you let me prove myself to you?”

Axel took Cassandra’s finger in almost down to the base before he dragged it out again, separating each movement with a long glide over his tongue. On the last one he sucked so hard, his cheeks hollowed out when the whole digit disappeared inside his mouth.

Cassandra gasped at the sensation when Axel swirled the tip of his tongue around it where it was still wedged between his lips. Cassandra inhaled a shallow breath, watching her wet finger finally slip out of Axel’s mouth.

“Axel, please,” Cassandra gave him a fond smile and rolled her eyes. “It’s not the fourteenth century.”

“Well, what can I say?” Axel shrugged, carefully releasing Cassandra's arm. “I’m really just an old-fashioned romantic and I don’t want to make assumptions, but don’t ever tell anyone I said that. 'Specially not my little s**t of a brother.”

“Axel? What are you trying to ask me?” Cassandra narrowed her eyes a little, studying the alpha’s face in the dim light. Axel was hoping Cassandra was going to give him the answer he had wanted to hear since the moment he realized he had found the other half of his heart.

“I’m saying I want to make this official, Cas,” Axel sounded stronger, but there was a desperate childlike uncertainty behind that steady gaze.

The fear Cassandra might refuse him was so intense, Axel couldn’t even think about it.

He quickly locked all the painful insecurities inside a little box and shoved it right to the back of the top shelf in the darkest recess of his mind.

“If you’ll have me.”

“Axel - ”

“Well, I can’t exactly ask Gabriel for your hand,” Axel pulled his mouth into a thin line. “He might chop it off.” Cassandra frowned, but her eyes were still smiling. “I know this might sound stupid…” Axel continued, fidgeting nervously with the crumpled remains of his t-shirt.

Once he had made the decision to pour his heart out to Cassandra, there was no stopping him.

Cassandra seemed more than prepared to just listen patiently to Axel with her head tilted to one side.

“But I can’t take this anymore. I can’t sleep. I don’t eat. Everything is just you and I need to understand what this is, Cas. I have to know if one day you might want to be with me… like really be with me.”

Cassandra was just staring at him.

The confession was so unexpected, the omega had absolutely no idea how to respond.

“Oh, God... please say something!” Axel said, his expression almost made Cassandra burst into laughter if not for how genuinely concerned he seemed.

Cassandra stroked her fingers all the way down Axel's arm until she reached his hand. “I think I would like that, Axel.” She whispered, at last. “I think I would like that very much.”

***

Gabriel hadn't been idle since he left his apartment that morning. He had hurriedly arranged a meeting with an old business associate who had opened up a new place in the center of town. He hadn't spoken to him for some time but Cassandra’s stubbornness had now forced his hand and desperate times called for desperate measures.

Gabriel was sitting patiently in the waiting room and admiring the faultless shine of the gold plaque gracing the wall outside his office.

Raymond Frederick Osbourne.

Gabriel smiled to himself.

He had definitely come to the right place. He was certain he would be able to persuade this man to take a vested interest in keeping a watchful eye on Cassandra and make damn sure that no one, especially someone as worthless as Axel Harrison, would ever be able to claim his sister.