Chapter 2. Rules

Nikolai

'Arrange for a dress by tomorrow morning and have the room service send in some food.' I mind linked Vladimir.

'Yes, Alpha.' He replied.

I removed my shoes and entered the bathroom and saw Ava standing straight, her hands at her sides and her head bowed down. She stiffened further when she heard me come in.

She is scared of me. And the only way to get rid of your fears is to face them.

I took her hand in mine and walked her to the shower area and turned on the shower on the warmer side??enough that it wouldn't burn her fragile skin but would warm her up quickly.

"Undress me." I told her softly. I wanted her to feel comfortable with me. Deep down, I know she is my mate. How? I don't know. But she just is.

Her hands trembled as she slowly undid my jacket buttons before pushing it off my shoulders. I helped her take it off my arms and threw it aside.

She took a shaky breath as she stepped forward and undid my tie, throwing it over my jacket.

Next, she started undoing the buttons of my shirt. Her hands fumbled as she did. She was deathly scared of what she thought was about to happen.

"Rule number one." I spoke as I stood still while she undid my buttons. "Know that I will have your best interest at heart. You have to trust me or else this won't work."

She pressed her lips together and a frown marred her forehead as she nodded and continued concentrating on undoing the buttons.

"I need your words Ava." I told her as she undid the last button.

"Yes, Master." She said softly. My dick jolted at her calling me that. But sadly, that will have to go.

She hesitated before she reached the belt buckle, undid it and pulled the belt out of the loops.

"Rule number two. You will call me by my name. Nikolai." I told her.

Her breath hitched and her lips parted in surprise. "Yes Nikolai." She said so softly that I hardly heard it, even with the enhanced hearing.

Slowly, she undid the button of my pants and pushed it down. I stepped out of them and kicked it aside. The last remaining clothing I had on was my boxer.

Her lower lip trembled as she hooked her thumbs in the elastic of the boxer by my waist.

"What was Rule number one?" I asked her.

"To know that you have my best interest at heart. And that I should trust you." She whispered.

"Good girl." I praised, causing blush to rise on her cheeks. "Go on."

Slowly, with unsure hands she pulled down my boxer. I stepped out of it and kicked it aside too.

She immediately stepped back, looking terrified of my cock. This is the first time in my entire life this has happened and I have to agree that I didn't like it.

"I'm going to bathe you. I want to remove the touch of every person who has touched you. You are only allowed to know and remember my touch." I told her so she knew what to expect. "After which, I want you to bathe me. I want you to know that I'm not going to hurt you. I want you to feel for yourself that you are safe with me. I want you to feel the strength beneath the skin and know that it will be used to protect you. Because that's what I do. I protect what time mine." This will decrease her fear.

"Yes, Nikolai." She whispered.

First I took some shampoo and washed her hair thoroughly, massaging her scalp and then rinsed it off. I could feel the tension releasing from the body as time went on. The more I touched her without inflicting any sort of pain, the more relaxed she got.

Next, I took the soap in my hands and rubbed until my hands were all soapy. I wanted to touch her, feel her. I started with her shoulders, then her hands and then her chest. I didn't let my hands linger anywhere. I washed her flat stomach, her back, her voluptuous ass, her legs, and then between her legs, drawing a beautiful gasp from her mouth.

I rinsed off the soap from my hands before I rubbed her body under water again, rinsing off the soap. Again, I didn't linger anywhere. I wanted her to know I wasn't taking advantage of her, only taking care of my mate.

"Close your eyes." I said and took the face wash, applying it on her face with gentleness I didn't know I had. I applied it on her neck too, before rinsing it off.

I was satisfied with the way I had cleaned her. I made sure to cover every square inch of her beautiful body. I washed away every single touch and every other scent from her body. She only smelled of me, soap and herself.

When she opened her eyes and looked at me, I saw a sparkle. She knew she was in good hands.

"Your turn." I told her.

With more confidence than what I had seen in her yet, she took the shampoo and stood on her toes to reach the top of my head but it's going to be impossible. She only reached my shoulders. I bent down to her level and she quickly scrubbed my hair before rinsing it off.

I stayed bent until she washed my face as well.

I finally stood upright after she was done. She took the soap and rubbed it on her hands. She placed them on my chest, cleaning it first. I stood still as she rubbed her hands all over my body, circling around me to rub my back as well. It was one of the most difficult things I've done. She fell down to her knees and then she washed my legs thoroughly.

Hesitantly, her hands touched my ass and she softly rubbed it, washing it. My dick was throbbing by this point.

After she was done, she stood up and circled me, standing in front of me.

Her eyes fell on my fully erect dick and she bit her lip.

"It's not going to hurt you." I smiled lightly, wanting to ease her fear.

I was all hot and bothered and she looked deathly afraid. And I fucking hated the thought of her being afraid of me.

"The most beautiful woman I've seen in my entire life is rubbing my body. I'll have to be crazy to not react. But that doesn't mean I'm going to fuck you. Yet." I said truthfully.

She was still frozen.

"Look at me." I said when her hand was frozen mid air.

Her eyes snapped to mine.

"I'm not going to hurt you." I told her. I didn't know how to make her understand. "If I did not have good intentions, you would've known by now, wouldn't you?"

She chewed on her delicious lip.

But I don't want to force her to touch me if she doesn't want to.

Her hands clenched into fists and a tear trailed down her cheek.

I gritted my teeth. Maybe she wasn't my mate. She didn't even want to touch me. She was repulsed by me. Of course she is. I bought her. But I also saved her from the other horrid possibilities. But I wasn't going to say I am better than others. I'm as bad as they got.

"Get out." My eyes slid shut in disappointment. I couldn't deal with this rejection.

Her eyes shut close and more tears fell down. "I'm sorry." Her hand forwarded but I caught it before she could touch me. I wanted her to touch me because she wanted to, not because I told her to. Fear wasn't the way I wanted to go forward with her.

"I said, leave, Avalyn. I'll be right out." My voice sounded rough because of the hurt my wolf was feeling. Fuck. She looked terrified.

She jumped and rushed out, closing the door behind her.

I'll deal with it once I'm done here.

I jerked myself off as I stood under cold water. I placed my hand against the tiled wall and tried to calm myself. Why was I so attracted to her? I hated not knowing it. Who the fuck does not know if a person is their mate or not?

I want to fuck some manners into her but I'd rather punch myself in the face than hurt her like that. Why am I so fucking horny when it comes to her? Why is she turning me on unlike any other woman has ever been able to?

Shaking my head, I turned off the water and stepped out, rubbing myself dry with a towel before I wrapped it around my waist.

I walked out and almost tripped over Ava who was kneeling just outside the door. She was facing away from me and was bent over, her ass in the air, her cheek touching the floor.

What the fuck! Fucking Emilio bastard! I knew he was cruel but it could be some other Master she had before him too! I fucking hated the thought of anyone else except me touching her.

"Get up!" I forced myself to be calm. I didn't want to scare her with my anger. I wasn't angry at her. I was angry at her previous Masters who have messed with her this bad. I want to show her I wasn't like her other Masters but so far, I have done nothing to prove it otherwise.

"I'm sorry Master, please punish me. I want to be the perfect slave for you, let me serve you, let me make you happy, let me submit to you." She was crying now.

"I'm not mad at you, Ava. Stand up." I sighed, my anger dissolving just like that. She doesn't deserve my anger, even though it's not towards her. She doesn't deserve my mood swings. I need to control myself better around her.

I usually have a tight control over all my feelings and emotions but with her, I feel like I'm at her mercy. Like one word out of her mouth can lead me to slay hundreds of people.

"Let??s have food." I pulled her to the table. where the food had already arrived. I pushed her plate towards her. Her eyes widened at that.

"I want your plate empty." I told her firmly. The only good thing those poor excuses of Masters did was feed her well. But then again that would have been for their own benefit- so she had enough mass on her bones to look pleasing to the eye and have the supple body she has.

"Yes, Master." She said. I saw her lips tug up a bit, it was barely there but it was an improvement.

"There are few things that need to be changed Ava." I started after our dinner.

"Yes, Master." She whispered. There she goes, calling me Master again. I can accept the fact that I like it. But I also wanted to hear her say my name.

"What was rule number two?" I arched my brow.

"To call you by your name." She said softly.

"Good girl. And you will follow it." I said.

"But you like it when I call you Master." She said, her eyes on mine. So my little Ava had caught that.

"Do you?" I cocked my head. She was going to make her choices now, not follow my every command. She nodded.

"Words, Ava." I reminded her.

"Yes, I like calling you Master." She said. I could hear her desperation for me to let her call me Master. I like it.

"You will only do so when we are alone, never when anyone else is around." I told her seriously, making sure she understood that. The last thing I wanted her to feel is that she was a normal human slave. She wasn't a slave. And from what I could feel, she wasn't a human. She almost felt like one, but that was because her wolf was too weak.

"Yes, Master." She smiled slightly. I wanted to see her smile, I wanted to hear her laugh. And I wanted to be the reason for both of them. That revelation shocked me. But I ignored it.

I could see her getting tired, her eyes were drooping and her shoulders slumped.

"Lets sleep, Kroshka." We could talk later too. I took off the towel and wore a clean set of boxers for her sake instead of sleeping naked like I usually do.

I was about to lie down on the bed but I saw her kneeling again. She was about to sleep on the fucking floor. Anger surged through me. Just how deep was this ingrained in her?

"Get up." I growled, my anger spiking. Fucking shit. Why the fuck can't I talk nicely to her? Why do my emotions control me when it's her?

She stood up immediately, and was looking at me with wide scared eyes. I was furious right now but not at her. I was getting more and more reasons to kill Gonz??lez now, and to end the entire Mont?a Pack with him.

"You sleep on the bed!" I pointed towards the place next to me.

"The bed?" She squeaked, her eyes still wide.

"Yes. Next to me, where you should be." I told her, meaning every word. Fuck her not being my mate. She is whoever I want her to be. And right now, I want her to be my mate.

When she slowly came near to the bedside, I pulled her on the bed beside me, pulling her in my hold, my hand going under the shirt to rest on her stomach and her ass pressed to my front. I groaned at the feeling. This was how I should sleep every night. Nikolai junior was raising for attention again and Ava was wiggling against it.

"Stop moving." I groaned, my fingers digging in her smooth milky stomach. She went still and after some time I felt her relax and then fall asleep.

So innocent, she didn't even know the allure of herself. I was going to free her from her cage and then tie her down to me, in hell. She was becoming my obsession and I will be her salvation.

I barely slept during the night. Ava's ass that was flush against my length had kept me hard throughout the night.