Page 5 of Stalked By Axel

Brooke

Something tells me I might have taken it too far this time. I’ve never seen Axel so mad before, and that’s saying a lot considering the lengths I’ve gone to these past months to get a reaction out of him.

At first, it started off as a way to cope with the loss of my father, to feel something other than all-consuming grief. Staying out late, going to parties and drinking alcohol, trying increasingly risky activities, it was all was my way of trying to numb the pain of losing the only family I had.

Despite the chosen family of the Rebels my father had left me, I felt alone. I was seeking companionship but failing to find it, so one night I left a house party early and took a walk on the beach. I knew it was stupid and dangerous, but I didn’t care. It was that night when I finally I felt it.

A soft caress on my skin. A warmth licking up my body despite the chill of the night, heating my body and warming me inside out. When I turned around, there was a lone figure watching me in the distance. It was just us two on the beach, and he made it no secret that his eyes were on me. Even with the distance, I recognized him.

Axel.

My father’s best friend and protégé. The same man I’d had a not-so-secret crush on for as long as I could remember. And he was watching me, following behind, a silent sentinel. This was the first time I’d noticed him, but something told me he’d been shadowing me longer than that.

I want him, as I always have, but Axel has kept a distance safe between us. So I tried to push him, punish him and myself for the rejection I felt over these unrequited feelings. I figured he’d either leave me alone, or maybe he would start seeing me as someone worth pulling close. Tonight, I’d been so sure…

I am jerked from my thoughts when Axel stops, and I straighten up when I realize he’s pulled into the parking garage of my apartment building. I climb off the bike with a sigh, expecting him to take his helmet and jacket and leave me, but Axel follows as well, even switching off the engine.

“Let’s go.”

I blink at the man. “W-where?” He doesn’t respond, instead starts for the entrance, and it takes me a second for my brain to catch up with what’s happening. Is he coming with me to my apartment? Maybe he wants to walk me to the door, but what if he wants to come inside? Oh God, my apartment is a wreck. Scarlett and I did a magnificent job of messing up the place by playing dress-up all afternoon. “Axel,” I call out, running after him, but I’m not fast in heels. I catch up with him just as he’s stepping into the elevator, panting as I follow.

Someone else joins us, but I barely notice them as I angle my head to look up at the man I have loved for years. At six foot four, Axel is one of the tallest men I’ve ever met, with muscles a solid as stone, but I guess that’s what happens when you work with cars for years. My eyes shift to those strong, grease-stainedfingers that I’ve longed to feel on my body, and I do my best to swallow down my need for the man.

Axel is good looking. In a sea of well-built men, he’s the only one my eyes have ever seen. He carries a rough charm about him, and this time, I make no effort to hide the fact that I am staring at him. It’s hard not to stare at the way his shirt clings to his toned physique, fabric stretching across those broad shoulders. His blond hair is a tousled mess from riding the bike without a helmet on. My eyes drop to that strong jawline, chiseled and defined, shadowed with a bit of a stubble that adds to his rugged appeal.

I’ve read that it feels better when a man has stubble. When reading the erotic books I keep hidden under my bed, I always imagine his stubble caressing the inside of my thighs, burning my skin with hot caresses, and I bet it would feel great.

I bet anything his touch would send me soaring. I will those deep-set striking brown eyes to look at me, but he doesn’t spare me a glance, his jaw set tightly as we rise up the floors.

“Axel—”

The doors open on my floor, the loud ding cutting me off before I can get the man’s attention. With a sigh, I follow him out and to my door at the end of the hallway. To my surprise, he doesn’t wait for me to dig into my purse for my keys, but instead pulls out his own set of keys and unlocks the door. Axel has a key to my apartment. How long has he had it? Has he ever used it? For some reason, the idea of Axel letting himself into my apartment sends heat coursing through me and pooling in my core.

We enter the apartment, and Axel locks the door behind us. His silence unnerves me more and more by the second. “If you are going to scold me then I have something to say first.I’m not a child anymore. I can dress how I like and go out for drinks and dance with boys if I want,” I say, taking the offensive approach, which doesn’t have any effect on the giant standing silently in front of me. “Okay, fine. I know it was dumb of me to do what I did tonight, but it’s not my fault that guy got a little pushy. I clearly told him no, but he wouldn’t stop suggesting that I leave with him and—”

“Stop talking, Brooke.”

The words are spoken in a calmness that sends a chill climbing up my spine. I fish the keys out of my bag to unlock the door. Axel reaches out and takes my purse from my trembling finger, placing it on the entry way table. Then he drops to one knee and removes my shoes. By breath stutters at the feel of his fingertips on my bare ankles, and I barely have time to process what his happening before I am spun around to face the wall. “Axel,” I breathe, my heart beating hard against my ribcage. “W-what are you doing?”

“Do you realize what you did tonight, brat?” he growls into my ear, so close I can feel his hot breath brush the back of my neck. “Going to that nightclub in that part of the city, are you out of your mind? Do you realize what could have happened to you if I hadn’t intervened?”

He’s angry. Maybe I took it a step too far tonight, but… “I knew you’d be there.”

“Reckless brat,” he grinds out, and I feel his breath come out in short pants. “You’ve been begging for me to take you in hand for months, haven’t you?”

My heart pounds with excitement at his words, and maybe I shouldn’t be, but I’m more turned on than I ever thought possible. Axel is known to be a calm, steady guy at the motorcycle club, but he didn’t climb the ranks of the Steel Rebelsby being soft. I’ve seen him fight before; he’s a beast of a man when he gets angry. I should be shaking with fright, trembling at the thought of this man being so angry with me, definitely not excited. But he would never hurt me, that much I can always count on.

“Axel…”

“You crossed a line tonight, Brooke. Risked your safety—”

“I was safe! Scarlett...”

My mouth parts on a gasp at the sharp slap to my butt, eyes widening with surprise, but when I attempt to turn around, his hand on my waist holds me firmly in place. He traces his hand over my ass, kneading my right cheek, then the left. “You were not safe, you clueless little girl!” he corrects, delivering another slap, which has my dress riding up. I bite hard on my lip, fighting a whimper as a storm of heat floods my sex. I’ve never been spanked before, never imagined I’d ever find pleasure in something so…obscene.

He pulls up my dress the rest of the way to my waist, leaving me naked before spanking me again, harder.

“Going out dressed like this, with no goddamned underwear. Dancing like that with a stranger, taunting me…” Axel grumbles, and I’m not sure if he’s talking to me or himself.

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