Ace withdrew from the bed, to her horror she was just realizing how utterly naked he was, her eyes traveled the length of his body. The veins bulged in his arms, his abdominal rippled with taunt muscle, and Alex's gaze was drawn to the slope of his V-line, "Like what you see?" Ace's body was covered in the blackest ink, in the slivers of light, it shimmered almost blue. They started from his wrists, covering his arms, and chest to the harsh swirl of an ancient symbol encasing his navel.
"What do your tattoos represent?" she asked ignoring his question.
A look of seriousness crossed his face, "After everything that just happened, your first question is about my tattoos?" when she did not retract her question he let out a sigh, "That story is a long and complicated one that I do not think you are ready to hear."
Cryptic, that was all this man immitted was the aura of secrecy, what must it be like to always have such a heavily placed wall up? To be one of the greatest rulers in the region, it must come with the job, but it just seemed ridiculously lonely. Alex bit her lip wrapping the blanket around her tighter against her body, "You should probably put some clothes on," she suggested.
Ace raised a brow at her, "You act like you've never seen a naked man before," he taunted.
"I haven't till tonight and I must say that I've seen enough male nudity to last a lifetime," she sighed, her eye lids feeling heavy.
"Interesting," he stated, but walked over to a dresser on the other side of the room, she could not help but peek at the firm backside he presented to her. Ace slipped a pair of black silk pajama pants on, they hung off his narrow hips.
Alex held back her urge to laugh, "Do you own any other color of clothing?"
"No," he deadpanned.
Well, she mussed to herself, "Where do we go from here?" she asked plainly.
The atmosphere had shifted once again, there were so many things that had changed in such a short amount of time, it was a lot to take in. Alex had come here with the single intention of saving her village, now she was sitting on the Alpha Lord's bed, wrapped in his blanket. The room was stifling, the heat radiating between the distance of their bodies was almost too much to bare, what was happening? Alex assumed that the shifting ceremony had shown that they were compatible or had her wolf challenging Ace's had the opposite affect? There were still so many things that she did not understand about this life she was thrust into, she cursed her lack of education, before it had never hindered her but here, she felt uncultivated. As a purposed mate to the Alpha Lord, she would more than likely be expected to be, well, more than what she was now. There was so much self-doubt going through her mind it was starting to make her a little irritated. Alex had not asked to be the mate to anyone, Ace knew what he was getting when he bid on her, so all her shortcomings should not embarrass him in the future.
"I am sensing a lot of different emotions going on right now," Ace stated.
Alex rolled her eyes, "Nah shit, what gave it away?" she snapped at him. The man before her crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned against the dresser. Always lounging, clam, and collected. She bit the inside of her cheek once again, realizing that since being here she had developed a bad habit, he seemed to have brought out the worse in her.
"Your face is very expressive, every emotion that you are feeling flashes across it vividly, we will have to work on that."
Alex found herself raising a brow at him, "Oh will we?" Ace only nodded, then continued to giver her a very intent stare, she found herself crossing her eyes in his direction, "I am yours to direct, master." Ace's jaw clenched and she watched as it ticked, had she said the wrong thing?
"We have a busy day tomorrow, a lot of things to go over and discuss, sleep now and meet me in the library this afternoon." He announced stiffly, his hands returned to the pockets of his pajama pants smoothly, like they just belonged hidden in their own world.
Alex looked towards the window and realized that sun had already began to rise and she stifled a yawn. "Am I to sleep here?" she squeaked.
Ace had already made it to the door, turning his head he gave a brief nod, "You are my mate, you will sleep in my quarters. I will leave you to rest but tonight we share the same bed."
Alex had no response to that and thankfully Ace did not wait for one, he left with a soft click of the door. Her head fell back into the pillow with a thud, how was she supposed to sleep now with all the thoughts swirling around in her mind? Alex was laying on top of Ace's feather duvet, but she could not bring herself to slid underneath it, instead she just cuddled further into the blanket Ace had draped over her after the Shifting Ceremony. It was so soft and warm, a deep maroon with the same black tribal marks that coated Ace's own body. Alex had not realized it before, but now, it seemed the blanket symbolized something much deeper. With the spicy tang of Ace surrounding her, Alex found her peace, and sleep claimed her finally.