The Claiming by Cooper novel Chapter 238

The Claiming by Cooper Book 4

The Contest by Cooper (Jaxon & Evangeline)

Chapter 38 (Jaxon)

Okay, so Eve has a point. My sister seems perfectly fine with Nolan. More than fine, actually. My usual protectiveness seems unnecessary, but I suddenly have a bit more understanding of Alpha Luke and his reasons behind being protective of his daughter.

After the tour, I steal Eve away from the group, getting her in the forest for a few minutes of alone time. I press her against a tree and k*iss her, making sure to put every moment I’ve missed her into the k*iss.

“Is it terrible that I’m worried I won’t be able to sleep tonight if I’m not sleeping in bed with you?” she asks when we finally pull apart. 

“Honestly, I had the same thought. My bed doesn’t smell like you, and it’ll feel huge and lonely.” I say, keeping my forehead pressed against hers, my eyes closed as I take in her scent and just enjoy our closeness.

I feel her f*ingers toying with the collar of my shirt. “I could always sneak into your room.”

I open my eyes, seeing hers looking back at me.

“Are you planning to be naughty Evangeline?” I ask her, my voice rumbling at the thought of my mate sleeping beside me tonight.

She shrugs. “I sleep better beside you, Jaxon.”

“I’ll leave my door unlocked. Come in whenever you want or can get away.”

“Yeah?” she asks.

“And if I’m asleep, just crawl in beside me. I’ll leave room for you. But we’re only sleeping. We both need our rest for tomorrow. I have a feeling Nolan is going to make us work as hard as Ezekiel.”

“I hope so. I’d hate to feel like I wasted a week of training,” she says, making me smile.

Later that night, when she sneaks into my room and crawls into my bed, we spend some time kissing and t*ouching each other, enjoying the feel of our naked bodies pressed against each other again. But, soon enough, we curl up together and fall asleep. I set my alarm to give her plenty of time to get back to her room and shower before training.

When I walk her to my door, I press her against it, devouring her mouth and her taste before stepping back and checking the hallway. Once I see that it’s clear, I send her back to her room in nothing more than my t-shirt. I watch until I see her duck into her bedroom before closing my door and heading to the shower.

While I got less sleep than I would have liked, the sleep I get with Eve lying beside me is much better than the sleep I get on my own.

When I step out into the hallway, ready for training, my sisters, Eve and Magdalena all come out at about the same time. Only Jordan and Eve look awake. The others look half asleep.

“Good morning, ladies,” I say cheerfully, knowing my sisters hate it that I’m a morning person.

Rowan and Teagan grumble as they pass me, Magdalena looking about the same. “Good morning, Jaxon,” Jordan says, kissing my cheek as she passes.

“Mmm, honeys*uckle,” she says, giving Eve a side-eye.

Eve blushes but doesn’t look away from her. “I think he smells like sandalwood,” she says, taking the hand I offer to her.

Jordan snorts. “Yeah, he usually does.”

Eve and I follow them down the stairs, joining the warriors and other ranked members that are joining the training session today. I note that many of the omegas are joining the class too. I’m glad Jordan opened it up to everyone.

Less than an hour in, I realize that this week is going to be as brutal as last week, at least for me. Eve and my sisters seem to be having a bit of an easier time.

We spent the first 30 minutes stretching and when I say stretching, I don’t mean the easy shit. Nolan practically wanted us doing splits by the time our stretching was done. My mate is very flexible, I already knew that, so for her, this was easy. For me, not so much. My inner t*highs felt like they’d been beaten with a cane before we even started sparring and let’s not even talk about my groin. At this rate, I won’t ever be able to give Eve those children we briefly talked about. 

Then, we had to do the same kick over and over. Have you ever done repetitive motions that your body isn’t used to? It causes your body to cramp, your muscles complaining at the cruel workout you’re giving them.

So, an hour in, my groin feels like it’ll never work again, my inner t*highs feel like they are in shreds and my right outer t*high feel like I’ll never get it out of this cramped position that it’s in. And, oh goody, now it’s time to switch l*egs. How the f*uc*k am I supposed to walk after this?

“Come on, Super Hotty, you’ve got this,” my nimble, incredibly flexible mate says as her l*eg swings high enough that she could actually get it over my head and never t*ouch me. My l*eg is barely high enough to come even with her face.

“My body wasn’t made to do this,” I grunt. The only positive is that I’m not the only one. Most of the men and some of the women are having the same struggles that I’m having.