Ch. 361..365: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 361-365
Chapter 361
No, the way I'm coming apart right now has...absolutely everything to do with this quiet moment, of being alone with Jackson in his dark room and knowing that no part of me his hidden from him right now. That I'm his, if he wants me, every piece of me, body and soul. And Jackson, to my delight, claims me. Eagerly, like I'm all he's ever wanted his whole life.
He gives me a small smile and holds my gaze as he lowers his face to my stomach. Then he dips his head and presses a soft kiss there, just below my navel. I raise a hand and run it through his silky hair, letting it slip through my fingers, just...adoring him.
And there's no need to pass any of these feelings down our bond - because it's all already open. What I feel, he feels. And to me, he gives precisely the same.
That little kiss to my stomach - it's as far as we go, physically, sexually. But the way that we connect as Jackson takes his time working his way all the way up my body, touching every inch of me, caressing my skin, noting every freckle and bend of my flesh, making sure every piece of me receives his scent?
God, I've never felt so connected to anyone in my entire life. So claimed, so wanted, so treasured.
When he's finished, Jackson gathers me into his arms in the quiet dark of his room and quietly slips the little diamond clips out of my hair. "These are very pretty," he murmurs, reaching over to put them on his bedside table. "But...tonight, I like you without. Just you, no adornments."
Thum my assent, agreeing, wanting to just be myself with him tonight. Nothing fancy, nothing extra. Just me, and my Jacks, and his arms around me.
I trace my fingers softly along his spine as he dips his head, pressing a kiss low on my neck, in that soft place just between my neck and my shoulder. And I smile, loving the feel of it. loving him.
And then my eyes drift shut, and I know his do too, right at the same time.
And just like that, quite simply,
We fall asleep.
When my eyes flutter open the next morning, I'm confused for a second, but then I break into a grin. Because even though I fell asleep on my side on the mattress, with my head pressed into one of mom's very expensive down pillows, I've woken up sprawled across Jackson's stomach and chest, just as I did during the Examination.
I smile, letting my eyes drift back shut, nuzzling my face closer to his bare chest and curling closer to him, even though that's a little impossible. Jackson's flat on his back, one arm wrapped protectively around me, the other flung out over the mattress. His mouth hangs open a little, adorably, as he breathes deeply. And I can feel each of those breaths raising, lightly, against my body.
Honestly, I should be waking my with a crick in my neck and sore muscles from such a strange position. But, really, I feel more rested and comfortable than I've maybe ever felt. Which is saying something, considering how much we all had to drink last night.
I'm basking quietly in the warmth of him in the still-dark room - Jackson has his curtains pulled shut, even though I can see a little sunlight peeking through - when I feel him twitch, slightly, and I feel him wake up. I grin at the sensation, which is so new and delightful, and only possible because our bond is so open to each other after last night. We're so connected to each other right now that when my little wolf turns her sleepy head and stretches out her nose, she rests it on Jackson's wolf's paw. His wolf grumbles sleepily and turns his nose towards her so their muzzles nearly touch.
I open my eyes again, and tilt my head up, grinning when I see Jacks peering at me a little blearily in the morning light.
Down our bond, I pass a warm and happy hello, pleased and quiet and comforted.
Jacks, to my surprise, just snarls and grabs me tighter to his chest, turning on his side and taking me with him so that we're laying face-to-face against the pillows. I burst out laughing as he shakes his head, pressing his eyes shut again.
"No," he murmurs, angry. "We're not up. It's not morning. You're imagining it - go back to sleep."
Chapter 362
"Noco, baby," I say softly, laughing and reaching out to stroke his cheek. "We have to get up! There's a whole day waiting for us. And pancakes. And coffee. And little raspberry pastries."
He groans, slipping a hand down my back so that it settles at the dip of my spine, pulling me tight against him so that our bellies are flush. A warm rush pulses through me as I loop my leg over his, because I love that - love how he wants every inch of his skin pressed to mine, just as I want it too.
"No," he mutters, stubborn, shaking his head. But then he pauses, considering. "Well, the raspberry pastries..we can have those. But someone can bring them here, and slide them under the door, and then we'll eat them in bed."
"Okay, baby," I whisper, pleased, still stroking his hair and his face. "Whatever you want."
A little smile grows on his lips when I say that, and his eyes open, moving slowly over my face. "I like this," he murmurs, nodding. "Waking up with you here, in my bed. We should do this...every day."
"You don't mind that I apparently sleep on top of you?" I ask, grinning.
"No, I like that," he answers, his voice all growly and rough.
"You don't mind me passed out on your chest? Collapsing your ribcage in the night, making it all hard to breathe?"
"You are light, like a sparrow," he murmurs, leaning forward to press a kiss to my cheek even as I laugh. "Plus, I liked feeling you there, when I would wake up. The weight of you - it makes you feel...very real. Not like a dream."
"Do I sometimes feel like a dream?" I ask, my voice wandering a little, my thoughts still sleepy and disconnected.
"You've always been a dream," Jackson replies, easy, like it's a fact. "It's only when I have you here, warm against me, that I have proof that you're real. That I didn't just make you up."
I smile, shaking my head, hardly able to take the sweetness of him as I wrap my arms tight around his neck and pull him as close as I can. Jackson growls again, liking it, tuming again and taking me with him so that we get all tangled up in the sheets, so that I'm again laying on his chest and looking down into his face. My hair falls around us, a little, making a private curtain. He tucks one side back behind my ear, wanting to see me.
"I don't deserve you, Jacks," I say on a happy sigh, relaxing against him as I gaze down into his face. "No one does. You're too good and sweet."
"What a ridiculous thing to say," he murmurs, raising a hand to cup my cheek. "When we're all aware that you're way out of my league, Ariel."
I burst out laughing, shaking my head at him. "Jackson!" I protest, smacking him lightly on the chest. "Why would you even think that!?"
"Because you're a brave, talented, beautiful, charming princess who is clever as a fox. And I don't even know what a walk-in closet is."
I burst out laughing at this, tilting my head back and glancing over at the door to the closet, which I'm sure my mom has already filled with clothes. "Minor details, baby," I whisper, turning back to smile down into his face. "Knowledge of interior architecture aside, you're perfect."
Jackson grumbles discontentedly but wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me down so that my face rests again against his chest, where we started. Long moments pass and I feel my mind start to drift back to sleep, completely comfortable. Which is why Jackson's next words startle me so completely.
"I think that Luca..." he murmurs, awake and thoughtful, clearly musing aloud, "makes more sense than I do, as your mate, your match. At least on paper, as they say."
My eyes immediately fly open and I sit up a little, staring into Jackson's face.
"What?" I breathe, shocked, appalled. Because Luca is wonderful, but Jackson - I never, ever want him to doubt our connection. "What...where is this coming from, Jacks!? Why the hell would you say that!?"
He raises a hand to my cheek then, cupping it, looking at me a little sadly. "I saw everything last night, Ariel," he says, his words an apologetic whisper. "Every moment of the fight, and what you did to help him. And what you were like...with him. I saw...the way he made your smile."
Chapter 0363
My heart sinks at the thought of it, of Jackson seeing..that.
Because he's not wrong-last night was incredibly important for Luca and I. Our bond now - it's deeper than it was before, stronger and more significant. And he's not wrong - Luca and I presented our relationship to the nation last night to the world. And even though I have no idea what it looked like from an outsider's standpoint or on television...
I do know that we came across as a strong couple, dedicated and powerful. A perfect match. How could we have presented as anything else, when so much of that is the truth?
But still...while the rest of the nation may have celebrated that - their champion paired up with their Princess - how did it look to Jacks?
"Tell me," I murmur, leaning close and reaching for his face, cupping his cheek in my palm. Jackson leans into it, closing his eyes as he speaks.
"I went to the restaurant, like I said, with the guys I used to live with. It was...fine. It was good to see them, I guess."
I smile a little, because Jackson has friends - friends outside of me and my family, even if he didn't know to count them as such. He cracks his eyes open and laughs a little, shaking his head at me. "Would you come down here?" he murmurs, tugging me close again and turning so that we're face-to-face again. "It's harder to tell when you're looming over me like an owl." "Yes, fine, I'll look up at you like an adoring little mouse," I murmur, pleased that he wants to be more casual about it. Because if he's more casual, it means he's not devastated. Right? "Okay, little mouse," he murmurs, pressing a kiss to my forehead before continuing on. "The whole thing was...fine, for a while. The television showed some screen shots and concentrated on you and your family for a bit - and I liked that."
"You did?" I ask, smiling a little.
"Sure," he says, nodding. "I knew the people on the TV. The guys I was with knew I'd been at the Academy, asked if I knew Rafe and Jesse. I said...a little bit."
I burst out laughing at the understatement here, considering that he's now basically part of the family.
"It felt like I had a secret," Jackson murmurs, still smiling a little. But that fades away when he moves on. "It was....harder. When Luca came out. And then he pointed to you in the crowd, and kissed his glove and held it out to you? And you...smiled like that?"
Jackson exhales all in a woosh, and my stomach sinks with guilt. I'm devastated, suddenly, to have put him through that.
God, what was I thinking? He told me he'd be watching-
"Don't," Jackson murmurs, and my eyes flick back to him. I frown a little - I hadn't even realized that I'd looked away. Softly, he strokes my face. "Don't feel guilty, Ariel. That's not... I'm not trying to make you feel bad."
"I know," I whisper, nodding. "And you should be able to tell me your experiences without worrying about how they make me feel."
He smirks at me, still stroking my cheek. "It's going to be hard sometimes. But I don't...want to keep anything back. I want to tell you the truth, all the time. Is that okay?"
Inod, meaning it, even if it means that it will hurt sometimes. Somehow, it feels the only way through. "Keep going," I whisper.
"The end was...really hard," Jackson says. "The whole bar was on its feet, shouting at the TV, and even the restaurant patrons came over to watch. When Luca went down, I didn't think they could scream any louder. But when you jumped out of the stands? God, the room exploded with cheers, and I thought I was never going to breathe again. The way your pounded on the mat? And called his name? And then he responded, and got up, and won, and it was clearly all because of you?"
Jackson exhales again and rolls away from me for a moment, covering his face briefly with his hand.
"Jacks," I say, even though...well, there's no meaning behind it. I slip my hand out, placing it solidly on his chest, wanting him to feel the corporeal reality of me right now.
Because I'm here. Right here. With him.
He feels the emotions behind my thoughts and turns his head back to me, nodding. "When you're here, Ariel? With me, and I can hold you and look at you? Everything feels different- makes sense, feels possible. It's only when I see you with him - see..well, see how much you love him..."
Chapter 0364
I press my lips together and keep my gaze on his face, not letting myself look away. But also not denying, at all, the way that Luca and I feel about each other. Because I don't want to lie and Luca is..so important to me.
"So what do we do?" I whisper, desperate to make it better. I can't go on with Jacks feeling like this - I don't want to make him feel like this ever, ever again.
"I think... maybe I just don't need to put myself in positions where I see it?" Jacks says, tentative.
"What do you mean?" I whisper.
"I mean," he shrugs, "... think I want boundaries. You have your space with Luca, and your space with me, and...I think I'd like to know as little about the details about the time you spend with Luca as possible. I mean, within reason," he continues, giving a little frown. "It's not like I won't ever be in the same room with you two again, and hugging and holding hands seems....fine. I just.."
He exhales again, deeply, and looks up at the ceiling.
"Tell me," I urge, wanting to know.
"I really..kind of wanted to kill him," Jackson whispers, and I can hear the guilt in the words as he utters them. "And even though I knew that feeling was wrong, and that I'd never do it, and that it would only hurt you..." he turns his head back to me. "It was a visceral, bodily reaction to seeing someone connect with my mate, I think. I don't...like feeling that way."
"Okay," I say, nodding quietly, understanding. "I..um. I don't know how to work that out, precisely. But I will, all right? More boundaries. I promise. I'm sorry, Jacks."
"Don't be sorry, please," he begs, rolling back towards me and taking me in his arms just the way I like him to. "None of it is your fault. You're just...living the life you were handed, Ariel. You can't feel guilty about that." And then he wraps me up so safe, so secure, and tucks his head down against my shoulder as my heart breaks that he felt that way.
I comb my fingers gently through Jackson's hair then, hurmming softly to him, pulling up feelings of comfort and softness and assurance and passing them all down our fully open bond, hoping they help him relax.
"It got a lot better," he murmurs, his words muffled by his head still tucked down by my shoulder. "When you came and knocked on my door."
I laugh a little. "Oh, yeah?" He presses a kiss to that spot on my neck before he lifts his head to smile at me.
"Yes," he says, nodding. "I was...going a little crazy, wondering what you were getting up to with him all night. Partying, and having fun, and...dancing and stuff. All things I can't do."
I laugh a little harder now, shaking my head at him. "You can party, Jacks, everyone can party with as much liquor as we had. And I'm sure you're an excellent dancer."
He scoffs at me, lowering his head again and kissing that same spot like it's his, like he owns it. "I've never danced a single step in my life, Ariel."
"Yeah, but if you tried," I say, a tingling starting in my core as Jackson keeps going. continuing to press kisses to my skin all the way to the edge of my shoulder, and then moving down. "I'm sure you'd be great at it."
He flicks his eyes up at me for a moment before continuing to trail kisses back towards my throat, and then lower. "What makes you think that?"
"Because," I say, my voice a little breathier now, even as I smile and drift my fingers through his silky dark hair. "I've seen you move, Jacks, you're incredibly good at controlling your body. I'm sure you'd figure out rhythm in an instant."
He hums consideringly, but like he doesn't believe it, and my breath comes a little faster as he presses kiss after kiss down the center of my chest, and then down my stomach.
And then I can't stand it not any more my mouth jealous of every other piece of me that's getting attention when it is not. I sit up sharply, grabbing his shoulders, pulling him back up towards me. "Please," I beg, leaning back, pulling him with me.
Chapter 0365
And my mate complies, wrapping a hand around the back of my neck as he brings his mouth to mine, where it belongs, and lays his body out on top of me. My leg hooks up over his hip, where it likes to be, and I kiss my mate rather desperately, with abandon. Half because want him - always want him, franticly want him- and half because I need him to know it.
A groan slips from between Jackson's lips as he presses himself tighter against me. He kisses me again and again, and with each kiss we sink deeper into each other as his palm slides hard against my skin, up over my rib cage to cup my breast for the first time. A shiver passes through me as he does, because even though I've been topless with him for hours now, this is the first time he's seriously acknowledged it.
I tilt my head back at the intensity of it, of Jackson's broad hand against me, of his calloused thumb rushing light across my nipple. He takes advantage, kissing my throat, running his tongue along the length of it. The shivers come harder now, more frequent, as my hips press up against him, wanting him, wanting him badly, losing my mind with it, as I always seem to do.
And all the while, I'm thinking that Jackson - he's mine. And even if he has this ridiculous idea that Luca is the one who is right for me, that Luca makes sense in a way that he does not...
Jackson? He is mine, and I claim him, and see every inch of him as a match for me -
"I don't think that," Jackson says, pulling back a little, frowning down at me. I pant up at him, confused for a second and he shakes his head at me, wrapping his arms around me so that one is tight around my waist and the other moves up between my shoulders, cradling my head and trapping me against him in a way I love. "I don't think that Luca is right for you, Ariel."
I blink at him, a little surprised because usually, we don't do words down our bond. But guess it's so open now that he caught on - that he can feel what I'm feeling, even without words being put to it.
"Wait," I say, confused and honestly a little too much in a makeout-induced haze to think straight, "then what do you think?"
He shakes his head again, staring at me intently, like it's the most important thing he's ever said. "I said that Luca looks like he makes more sense for you, on paper that you seern like the better match, I think that Luca's done a great job of convincing the tabloids that you're a perfect pair," he says, smirking a little now. And I can't help it, I smirk a bit too. "But that when it comes to the reality of you, Ariel? All of your complexities? All of your twists, and turns, and the woman you're growing into, the person you'll become?"
I go a little still in his arms because...what is he saying? Does Jackson really see me this way?
His smile broadens, and then he nudges his nose against mine, wolfish and heated and sweet. "He can't handle you," he whispers.
My face breaks into a challenging grin. "What, McClintock," I murmur. "And you think you can?"
"Yeah," he whispers, instant, with a smug little grin. "I think I can, Clark. I think I'm going to enjoy...handling you."
I groan then, and basically grab him, pulling his face to mine and making him kiss me again. My mate laughs and complies, laying me back down flat on the bed and kissing me hard, and fast, matching my desire and my desperation.
Because that's what I am now, for better or for worse-just.. desperate for Jacks, to feel him, every inch of him.
My body sings, and I let him feel it, when he slides his hand long down the length of my side, dipping behind me and grabbing a handful of my ass. He groans, tucking his head down against my shoulder like he can't handle it, but his body moves forward despite him. Jackson, in a break from his usual restraint, lets his hips shift forward so that I can feel every long, hard inch of him, pressed tight between my legs.
And then, groaning deeply, Jackson flexes his hips just once, sliding the length of his cock against me. And when I feel how thick, and heavy, and ready he is -
I fucking lose my mind.
I wrap both of my legs around his waist then, panting, my head tilted back so that Jackson has full access to my neck, bared before him. He licks me there again, and then presses his teeth against the soft skin, his canines just slightly extended to points. And I know - I know he wants to mark me.