Page 21 of Claiming Their Slave
Chapter Seven
The morning light cut through the curtains and spilled across the hardwood floors. Jaxon kissed a still sleeping Ava before quietly climbing out of bed to prepare for the day. He gazed down at her as he dressed, thinking he could get used to her sharing his bed each night.
At some point last night, Wolfe had carried her into his room, briefly awaking Jaxon to instruct him on her morning care, which included removing the bunna plug he’d placed in her bottom hole. It surprised Jaxon that Wolfe had been successful in convincing Ava to wear the plug for an entire night, but he took it as a good sign that she had accepted them as her future mates, despite being brought here believing she was to be a slave.
Guilt hammered on Jaxon’s psyche. He needed to wake her up and apologize for his behavior. He should have known Wolfe would want her too. When one Banded twin was attracted to a female, it usually meant the other twin would be equally as drawn.
He approached the bed and peeled back the covers. She was naked, and he’d delighted in holding her and keeping her warm last night, skin to skin. Now, in the bright light of morning, he thought her even more breathtaking than he remembered. She yawned and stretched, then her eyes fluttered open.
She peered at him with an alarmed look and started to reach for the covers, only to stop herself mid-grab. She settled back on her pillow and said, “Good morning, Master. Should I go prepare breakfast now?”
“Good morning, Ava. No, not yet. First, we must talk.”
A shadow crossed her face for a brief moment, but she soon smiled and nodded, all traces of her anxiety gone. He wondered why she was nervous, yet trying so obviously to submit to the brothers. A few days ago, in the forest, had she awoken naked, she would have covered herself back up and demanded he turn around while she got dressed. She certainly wouldn’t have allowed him, or anyone else, to insert a plug in her asshole, either. Not without putting up a fuss, in any case.
He sat next to her and lifted her into his arms, cradling her to his chest as he gazed down into her pretty blue eyes, which were still slightly clouded from sleep. She stifled another yawn and commenced staring at his chest.
“I owe you an apology, little human.”
Her gaze shot to his. She looked surprised.
“As we continued our journey to my homestead, it became clear to me that I wouldn’t keep you as a slave or even as a servant, but that I would keep you as my mate. As our mate. I’ve been fiercely drawn to you since the moment I first saw you standing on the auction block, Ava.”
She shifted in his arms. “You know how much I wanted to be free. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“When I first bought you, I planned to keep you as a servant and pay you a fair wage. You see, the Banded don’t keep slaves. Not usually. I didn’t want you thinking you were free to leave, because I wanted you as mine—ours—so I allowed you to believe you would remain my slave. I should have been honest with you from the beginning, I should have told you there was a good chance that once you reached my homestead, my brother and I would decide to claim you as our mate.”
She swallowed hard and reached for him, brushing his hair behind his ears and trailing her fingers along his jawline.
“If I ask you to let me go free now, will you, Master?”
He stiffened. “No, Ava. We’ll never let you go, and we’ll kill anyone who tries to harm you or take you away from us. You belong to us. Forever.” He fought down a surge of rage at the very idea of her leaving.
She grew quiet, but she didn’t appear angry or upset by his declaration. Her introspective gaze danced around the room, until she finally paused to stare out the window. The sun had risen fully above the mountain by now, and the sky was blue with a scattering of small white clouds. The nighttime insects had long since stopped chirping, but the birds flitting through the garden below had replaced their songs with a melodious tune of their own.
“Thomas, the old man who’d almost won me in the auction before you showed up, is a cruel man. My life with him would have been one of misery. He beats his slaves bloody, breeds them—even breeds with them—and then eventually sells the children in the market, once they are old enough to work. It’s awful. When I imagined my future in the village, I saw my future children being sold and taken away from me. I couldn’t bear the thought.” She cupped his face. “But you saved me from that, Master.”
His heart broke for her, knowing how frightened and worried she must have been while living in the village. He held her tighter and kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to be afraid anymore, little human. Wolfe and I will keep you safe. We promise.”
“The human villages aren’t near enough to your homestead to pose a threat?”
He shook his head from side to side. “No. I was out scouting to ensure that the nearest human villages hadn’t cut into the forest and grown larger. But, looking at them from a distance, they appear even smaller and more derelict than when I first glimpsed them as a child.”
She exhaled a long breath. “Well, that’s a relief to hear.”
“Did Wolfe explain to you what it means to be claimed by both of us?”
Her face reddened, her eyes went wide, and her lips parted in a tiny gasp. “Yes, Master. He says you will share me from the very first time. It is why he put that object in my…” Her voice trailed off and her blush deepened.
A knock sounded on the door, and Wolfe entered a moment later. His eyes were red rimmed, and he repressed a yawn. Jaxon suspected he’d gone on a night hunt, given how tired he appeared.
“Good morning, Ava.”
“Good morning, Master,” she said, her gaze on Wolfe.
Jaxon noticed the flare of desire in his brother’s eyes at being calledMaster. Even though he’d told Ava she wasn’t to be their slave, but their mate, she had still used the title of respect. He considered for a moment, knowing it wouldn’t be proper for her to call them Master in front of their children, or around his parents or any others. But in the bedroom… that was completely different.
“Ava,” Jaxon said, “outside of the bedroom, you must start calling us by our given names. But in the bedroom, you will call us both Master.”
