Chapter 4

4

AVA

O ne week spent in the home of one of the most feared gang leaders in the country has been like heaven. The statement sounds utterly insane even in my own mind, and I can't help but giggle at myself. But it's true. Axel Corbyn, leader of The Crows, has taken care of me so carefully with the same hands I know he has used to end other people's lives. That should terrify me, but I don't feel anything except totally safe with him. Something about him calls to me, soothes me, makes me feel like this is exactly where I was always meant to be.

For the first time in my life, I feel happy.

"Whatcha doing, Ava?" a familiar, friendly voice calls out, distracting me from the pot I'm stirring.

I glance over my shoulder, smiling when I see Nick saunter into the kitchen. It became clear very quickly that although he and Jace have their own homes, they're here more often than not. They're Axel's most trusted men, and I've come to understand, close friends too.

Jace is dark and brooding but has been nice to me, and Nick is the definition of golden retriever . I spend most of my days with Axel, but if he has to go off to work—which currently involves a lot of hunting people down to keep them away from me, I've learned—Nick stays with me. He's the closest thing to a friend I've ever had. I wouldn't use the word friend for what Axel is to me. I'm not sure a word exists for that. Soulmate, maybe?

"Cooking dinner," I answer Nick, offering him a smile. They're all usually far too busy to cook from scratch, surviving off take-out and freezer meals. There was hardly a lot for me to do under my father's roof, but I was allowed to cook. With blunt ass knives and a ridiculous level of supervision from creepy guards, but still. It helped distract me from reality back then, and I want to contribute something here.

Nick whistles, pausing to peer over my shoulder at the pot. "Shit, Ava, you're putting my frozen pizza cooking skills to shame here," he jokes, grinning. "Smells amazing, though. How the hell did Axel get lucky enough to claim you? Don't suppose you've got a sister hiding away somewhere for me?"

I snort with laughter and bat him away with the end of a spoon. "Stop it, Axel will threaten to cut your tongue out again," I laugh. Nick lives to wind Axel up by pretending to flirt with me or asking him how he tricked me into liking him. He's never serious about it, though, and I think that's the only thing that's kept him alive.

"He'd have to catch me first," Nick fires back with a grin, and I keep my mouth shut when I see Axel sneaking up behind him.

When a huge hand clamps down on Nick's shoulder, he jumps and curses, making me laugh so hard my stomach hurts.

"What are you doing so close to my girl, Nick?" Axel growls, yanking him away from me.

"What are you doing trying to give me a heart attack, man?" Nick says back, slapping a hand over his heart dramatically. We all know fine well that Nick sees me as nothing but a friend, but I can't deny that Axel's possessiveness makes my blood heat. Nobody in my life has fought for me the way Axel has, and he's only known me for a week. It feels like we've known each other for years, though. Like we were always meant to meet. Like I was made for him, and I just had to wait to find him.

"Trust me, a heart attack is pleasant compared to what I'd do if I found you even an inch closer to her," Axel says, but the threat is gone from his voice, and when I glance between them, Nick is grinning from ear to ear and Axel's eyes are fixed on me.

"He's only winding you up," I tell Axel, shaking my head at the banter between them. Axel threatening to murder someone would terrify anyone else but Nick. If I've learned anything about him, it's that he lives to test Axel's sanity. It's one of the reasons I've found such a quick friendship with him.

"If he wasn't such a good shot, I'd have kicked his ass out years ago," Axel grumbles, loud enough to make Nick cackle as he grabs a drink from the fridge. I can't hide my smile as Axel comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, leaning down to kiss the side of my neck. My entire body lights up at the press of his lips, and I nearly splash pasta sauce everywhere.

"Be nice," I tease, but it comes out all breathy and shaky as Axel nips my shoulder.

"Axel, don't distract her, I'm hungry!" Nick shouts from somewhere behind us, and Axel tightens his grip on me, making me squirm.

"He's right," I gasp out, trying to ignore the way I can feel Axel harden against my ass. "Dinner's ready."

I glance over my shoulder, catching the heat in Axel's eyes as he reluctantly pulls away. Quickly, I dish up the pasta dish I made and set out bowls on the island. Nick grabs his immediately, thanking me profusely, but Axel ignores the food to continue staring at me with that breath-catching darkness in his eyes.

"Take your food and go," Axel says to Nick, not once tearing his gaze away from me.

"What?!" Nick protests, but he's already pushing to his feet. "Fine, I'll take Jace's up to him too."

"Axel, what…" I breathe, as Nick hurries out of the room with two bowls in his hands, pausing in the doorway to shoot me a wink before he runs off. "Aren't you hungry? Don't you like what I made?"

"Hush," Axel interrupts, cutting off my paranoid train of thought. "The food looks and smells amazing, Ava. But first, I'm hungry for more than pasta."

"Oh," I whisper, heat rushing through me all at once.

With quick movements, Axel clears the dishes from the central counter so it's clear. I gasp loudly as he grabs me, his hands cupping my ass and lifting me to sit on the counter. He leans over me, making me fall back onto the marble, but he wraps his hand around the back of my head to cushion my fall. That thoughtfulness makes butterflies explode in my stomach, and I can practically feel myself falling more in love with him.

"I'm starving, angel," Axel says, his voice going gravelly with need. "Spread those pretty thighs and let me eat my fill."

I've barely seen him all day, and I was hoping to ask him questions about how his missions went over dinner, but my brain is scrambled by the way Axel slides his hands up my thighs and pulls them apart. My knees fall to the side, and the flowy maxi skirt I'm wearing bunches up around my hips as Axel hooks his fingers in the waistband of my underwear and pulls them down.

The day after I arrived, a bunch of clothes all in my size appeared in Axel's room. I have no idea how he got my size without me telling him, but the clothes are all beautiful and far nicer than anything else I've worn. Axel has spoiled me rotten, and apparently, he doesn't plan on stopping any time soon.

"Axel!" I gasp as he groans, staring directly at my pussy where I'm spread out for him. "I haven't seen you all day. How…how was your day? Did the—" My questions are cut off as he bites the flesh of my thigh, making wetness flood me. I'm so turned on I can barely think.

Axel chuckles softly as he reaches the apex of my thighs, hot breath puffing over sensitive skin. "My day is much better now, angel."

Before I can answer, his mouth is on me, and I lose control of my tongue. All I can do is moan and gasp and cry out his name, loud enough that I'm sure wherever Nick and Jace are in this house they can hear me. I can't stop, though, not when Axel is eating me like I'm the meal he's been craving all day.

"So fucking delicious," Axel moans against me, licking from my entrance to my clit, running the flat of his tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves. My hips rise off the counter, my body pushing closer to him in silent need. "That's it, Ava. Ride my face. Good fucking girl."

Oh God .

My body moves of its own accord, lost in the fog of need, chasing the pleasure winding tight and hot low inside me. When he sucks on my clit, I'm gone. I shatter on the counter, my hands grabbing his hair and tugging as I come on his tongue.

When he raises his head, his pupils are blown, black nearly overtaking the blue. I need more. I need him.

"Ava," he says, his breathing as ragged as mine, as though what he's just done to me affected him too. There's an unspoken question in the way he says my name, and I nod furiously.

"Please, Axel," I beg, uncaring about the fact I'm pleading. I love the way it unravels him, the way his jaw tenses and his eyes darken. "I need you."

His hands go to the front of his pants, unzipping his trousers. He pauses before he takes himself out, the outline of his cock straining against the fabric of his boxers.

"You need me to fuck you, angel?" he asks, his filthy words making me shudder. "Need me to fill up that perfect, needy little pussy until there's no denying who you belong to? Need me to claim you right here, spread out on the kitchen counter where anyone could see you, huh?"

I know that nobody will dare to walk in on us, but the way he says it, like he's daring them to come see what he does to me, makes me even wetter.

"Yes," I tell him, desperate.

"Fuck, you're perfect," Axel groans, and I gasp when he finally shoves his boxers down, revealing his perfect cock. My thighs try to close, to clench together to relieve some of the pressure building in me, but his big hands grab my legs and push them wide. "You're mine , angel. Mine to stare at. Mine to touch. Mine to fuck."

As he says it, he grips my hips and slides inside me. My eyes flutter shut as my back arches, my body stretching to accommodate him. I feel so full but in the most amazing way.

"You feel like heaven, angel." Axel pulls out and thrusts back in again, starting to fuck me properly. With every stroke, the hot coil of pleasure inside me tightens until I swear I'll explode. My nails scrabble at the worktop as Axel owns my body so completely I know every word he said is true.

I am his in every way possible.

"Oh, God, Axel!" I pant as he adjusts the angle, pulling my body closer to his so my legs dangle further over the edge of the counter. With every thrust, his pelvis rocks against my clit.

"That's it, angel, come all over my cock," he encourages, and I can't fight the bliss crashing into me.

As I come, Axel leans over me, pushing as deep as he can go, and slams our lips together. I feel him come as I do, which only drives my own pleasure higher.

For a long minute, neither of us move. Axel's weight and warmth on me are comforting, and I feel bone-deep contentment I've never experienced before.

He plants a sweet kiss on my lips, like a promise passing between us, and stands. We clean up quickly, and when my stomach growls, I blush bright red, making Axel laugh.

"Come on, angel. Let's get you fed now, huh?" he says, instructing me to sit on the sofa while he heats our pasta before coming to join me.

It's so normal, so domestic, that it makes my heart grow. I want a life like this. Full of the feeling he gives me.

But in order for us to get that, we'll have to fight for it.

"So," I start, stabbing a piece of pasta, "what's the update?"

Axel sighs, but to his credit, he doesn't keep secrets. "We're working on eliminating all the threats to your safety."

You shouldn't find the fact he's hurting people for you hot ! I think, but damn it, I do. Knowing Axel would go to the ends of the Earth to keep me safe is a heady feeling.

"This is delicious, angel," Axel says, but when I just pin him with a look, he gives in and gets back to the question at hand. "There's just one more serious threat left to deal with. The leader has hated me for a long time, and this situation has pushed him over the edge. We'll find him before anything happens. I won't let anything hurt you."

As much as I hate knowing there's still someone out there who's after my head, I trust Axel to keep me safe.

I smile up at him, meeting his eyes. "I know you will."