When she finally recovered from the overwhelming presence of the Alpha before her, sitting there with an intense stare his eyes lightening over time as they lingered, she seemed to recoup herself. Not enough to stop the constant blush on her cheeks, or the aching presence that called out from in between her thighs. Her crumbled frame grabbed onto a familiar arm rest as she heaved her body weight upwards and resumed her own seat. No longer hungry, but now being filled with many mixed emotions.
She watched him eat, as if nothing had just happened between them. When he finished his plate she thought almost amusedly as to why dessert was ever an option for the both of them, they never seemed to be empty enough to take it.
He lead her back up the stairs, stopping at the thermostat momentarily and changing the temperature to a comfortable 72, it having obviously been adjusted earlier in the day to a reasonable 74. No words were said between them as he opened the bedroom door and allowed her entrance. There was no shut of the door, or even the familiar jingle of keys following their footsteps as he walked into the bathroom and inspected the new repair of the shower glass door.
He took note of the epoxy prevalent in the lining of the metal and determined it could wait another day.
"Tomorrow morning, we will bathe together." he said in a calm tone.
"What do you mean 'we'?" she asked in clear concerned brevity.
"I mean, you and I will bathe together.. Consider it a conservation effort."
"No.." she said mutely. "We can take turns."
"No, we will bathe together." he said firmly. "This was your own choice, determined by your own actions." he said resolutely, as if she meant for him to shatter the glass door of the shower.
"I won't bathe..." she said firmly.
"You will." he said in finality. "Unless.. you'd like to challenge me again?" an arched eyebrow leading to immediate flushing of her cheeks.
"Why are you doing this?" she questioned for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"Doing what?" He asking as if unknowing of what she was referring to.
"Torturing me! Does this make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Do you get off on the pain of others?" She asked frantically, a clear frustrated exasperation visible in her demeanor.
"I'm torturing you?" He chuckled to himself with a shake of his head. "Don't you think you're being a little dramatic?"
"Ever hear of consent?" She snipped back at him.
"Well, you certainly consented downstairs at the dinner table." He said as he began to pull at his tie, loosening it as he walked towards the closet to replace it back in its spot. "I can smell your consent dripping off you, in fact." He added as if driving the knife in deeper.
"That was a mistake. It won't happen again." She started back sharply.
"Oh, it will." He said amusedly returning from the closet carrying his used socks in hand and heading over to the laundry receptacle to toss them in. Then beginning to unbutton his shirt so he could too dispel it.
"It won't."
"It will."
"I won't love you." She said firmly, staring at him to solidify her statement.
"You will. Soon enough." He smirked, even though internally it felt as if she had just landed a decent punch directly in his left breast. She as well feeling a a pang in her own heart as the words she spoke finally resonated within her in a moment of clarity outside of her own anger.
Silence took over the room as she resigned from seeking further conflict with him. She found herself looking for her bags, and noticing them missing meaning only that Claire had gotten around to putting her clothes away in their absence. She walked into the closet assigned to her and shut it behind her, her back leaning against the door as she took deep breaths while trying to soothe the struggle of her internal war of emotions.
A few moments had passed and the meditative breathing seemed to resolve her rapidly beating heart enough to give her the motivation needed to change for bed. It was still early in the evening but she was exhausted. Her morning started off with hard physical exercise, followed by a full day of learning, a final meal and then more physical exercise. She was mentally, emotionally and physically drained.
When she finally changed into a pair of fuzzy pajama pants and a loose fitting t-shirt representing her alma mater, she left the closet with her clothes from the day in hand and walked over to the basket to throw them in with his. She then found herself joining him in the bathroom where they each stood at their own sink designated by their personal toiletries placement, and then began to brush her teeth. The only sound in the room was the running faucets while each of them scrubbed their teeth till they reached a point of satisfiable cleanliness.
Following the quiet toothbrushing, they each used their separate mouth washes, his being the bold winter mint and hers being the soothing spearmint. Both of them swishing as they looked upon their own reflections, Elizabeth utilizing the time spent in limbo to run her hair brush through her hair. Once that routine was over they both left, Elizabeth following Jason's lead as he walked over to the bed and began to pull back the covers, she doing the same on the opposite side. Even though the door was open and she was technically free to leave it, it was a hopeless venture, she knew she would ultimately end up right where she was at present and she was too tired to even attempt it.
"Goodnight." she said before he could utter it first, as she climbed into her side of the bed and cocooned herself into the comforter. Choosing to stay as far as possible almost directly on the edge.
"Goodnight Elizabeth." he responded, as he walked about shutting off all unnecessary lights and finalizing other matters around the room to prepare himself for bed, the way his voice rolled smoothly over her name lingering within her mind in constant repetition. Eventually it lulling her off into a deep sleep.
He finally entered the bed, with the same overhead lighting on to give him a dim view of the papers now found in his lap as he began his pen scribbles, it would be another couple of hours before he himself would actually turn in for sleep. While he sat attending to his paperwork, there was a overwhelming feeling of content deep within his chest knowing that she had willingly came to bed and somehow resolved herself to sleep within its contents knowing he would be there.
————————————
A gentle knock at the side of the door frame woke Jason up around 7am the next morning, he immediately snapping his eyes open in high alert at the wake up call. He was never one to be woken up, having an internal clock that did it for him, his upper body shifted only slightly in the doors direction and his eyes relaxed as he stared at the maid who was still standing in the doorway waiting for permission to enter. The reason he had not snapped up to full attention was that his other arm was currently detained underneath the woman who had found her own way to the center of the bed throughout the night. She was nestled comfortably against his body, and was almost certainly the direct reason for him oversleeping.
"Come in Claire." he grumbled in a sleepy voice, his body returning to its previous position with an arm draped over the young woman, his head going back into the contents of her long blonde hair for a few more minutes of relaxation before he was to fully wake and face the day. A deep smell of lavender and freshly turned soil permeating his nostrils, soothing his previous startled awakening.
"Alpha Jason..." she said almost in a whisper, noticing that Elizabeth was still asleep. "I just came to let you know that the stylist is here. They want to take a few pictures and some measurements before you both leave for the day." a couple of gentle steps being taken towards the bed.
"That's fine..." he said, taking one more deep inhale before dislodging carefully his arm from underneath Elizabeth, and taking careful delicate measures to leave the bed without causing her to stir. "Can you bring me a cup of coffee before you bring them in?" he said, still in a husky morning voice, feeling almost as if he was hungover as he rubbed at his forehead firmly.
"Of course..." she said, leaving the room immediately and heading down to brew a pot, disregarding its programmed time. Jason took the time to walk into the wardrobe and disrobe himself of his night clothes, ending up in a three piece black suit with a crisp white shirt, a strong red tie around his neck and an elaborate platinum watch with a matching red face on his wrist. By the time Claire returned with the coffee and the stylist he was dressed for the day, his night clothes placed in the wash basket and him being located in the bathroom, meticulously pulling his hair back tightly into a tight bun.
"Alpha Jason." Claire cleared her throat as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom with his cup of coffee.
"Thank you Claire." he said with a soft smile, and grabbing the mug with much appreciation.
"This is Markus." she stepped to the side and gave view to a long lanky man dressed to the tee from top to bottom, from the perfect fade in his deep red hair with a long wispy length on top to the well tailored shoes at his feet.
"Alpha." he said in a deep tone, not at all what Jason was expecting from his overly polished outward appearance.
"Markus, it's nice to meet you." he said back, giving him only another brief look before running a hand over his stubble shadowed chin and debating on whether or not to shave.
"Keep it, it looks nice." Markus said without being asked. "Give it one or two days, and then shave."
"If you say so..." Jason said looking away from the mirror and back at the two standing before him taking a deep swig of the hot beverage provided by the maid.
"Alpha." Markus said taking lead of the conversation. "I have the basic parameters of what you would like for the wardrobe, but I will need take pictures of your current clothing inventory, as well as I will need to take pictures of Miss. Elizabeth along with some measurements. Also, I have not been provided a spending cap."
"There is no cap." Jason said back to them, with a leading hand to guide them away from the door so they could let him pass. "I just want everything polished and put together."
"Well, then I have no concerns." Markus said in the same deep tone as he rubbed his two hands together in excitement. "We're doing everything?"
"Everything." Jason said in response.
"This is going to be fun." he said back. "No cap. No limit." it was as if he was a kid in a candy store. "And I'll be purchasing for every occasion?"
"Anything that would come to mind." Jason nodded, with another swig of coffee as he placed himself on one of the chairs in the room.
"And you're sure there is no limit?" he questioned in scepticism.
"No limit." Jason responded without looking at him, but being clear this is the last time he would be saying it.
"Perfect. So when do we get started?" he asked with hands up in air in energetic anticipation.
"Take the pictures of my wardrobe. Then we will wake her..." Jason responded.
"Sounds good to me." Markus said whipping out his phone and heading to Jason's closet.
"Markus." Jason said firmly.
"Yes, Alpha?" he stopped in his footsteps and turned back to look at Jason sitting there with his coffee.
"Burn everything in that one when you're finished." he said in the same firm tone, with his eyes flickering over to Elizabeth's almost bare closet.
"Everything?" he questioned ensuring he was hearing the command clearly.
"Yes, it's from her old life." Jason said back succinctly. "There needs to be a separation."
"As you wish." he replied with a quick nod and then returned to his task at hand, snapping what seemed to be hundred of pictures of Jason's wardrobe and accessories.