2. Mission Accomplished

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 took out my laptop and got to work. Ten minutes in, Ava stepped out. She had a towel wrapped around herself. Her hair was still wet and for some reason, that turned me on. 

"Come here," I said and she bit her lip before walking over to me. 

She stood in front of me nervously and I took a whiff. My nose crinkled as I smelled the faint stench of that place and of Gonzalez.

"Again," I told her. 

She looked a bit confused. 

"Go shower again," I clarified. 

"Yes, Master," she whispered and went back into the bathroom. 

I continued my work. This time, she took twenty minutes to bathe herself before she stepped out. 

"Come here," I told her. 

She shuffled closer to me and I took a deep whiff. The smell of that place was almost gone but I could still smell Gonzalez. Both my wolf and I hated the smell of another man on her. It simply wouldn’t do. 

"Again." 

Her lips parted in shock but she nodded. "As you wish, Master," she said and went back to the bathroom. 

I sent her to shower again two more times before tears rose in her eyes. 

"What is it, Ava?" I was alarmed. Why the fuck was she crying? 

"Do you not like my smell, Master?" she asked in a small voice. 

Oh, fucking hell. Of course, she didn't know why I was making her do that. She was a human. Her sense of smell was not as strong as a supernatural's. "Of course I do. It's Gonzalez's smell on you that I don't like. My wolf and I  cannot stand the smell of him on you." 

Understanding dawned on her face. "I will do my best to get rid of it, Master," she said and went back into the bathroom. 

The next time she stepped out, I could see that she had scrubbed her skin raw. She had red marks all over her body. She came close to me and I took a whiff. 

The faint smell of Gonzalez was still present. 

"It's still there," I let her know. She looked disappointed as she turned around to walk back to the bathroom. I felt kind of bad. 

"Ava," I grabbed her hand. She looked back at me questioningly. "If you do not mind it, I could bathe you. It will spread my scent all over you and his smell would be masked. Only if you don't mind." 

She chewed on her lip and her face turned red. "I... I would like it, Master." 

"Go on in. I'll join you in a minute." I needed a moment to calm the fuck down. I didn't know what the fuck I was thinking when I made the offer. I was soon going to have my hands all over her. I prayed to the Moon Goddess to give me some self-control. 

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

I took her hand in mine and led her to the shower area. I turned on the shower towards the warmer side — enough to warm her up quickly but not to the point that it’d burn her fragile skin.

She was naked and I was fully clothed. I could feel that she was getting self-conscious about her nakedness and I wanted to change that. It wasn't fair. So I stripped out of my clothes. She kept staring at my body with an appreciative gaze. Her eyes fell on my dick, which was quickly getting hard. 

"The most beautiful woman I have ever seen is naked in front of me. I'm going to bathe her and she is looking at me with appreciation. I cannot not react, Ava. But that doesn't mean that anything is going to happen," I told her and she relaxed a bit.  

She looked down at herself and her lips tugged down. I suspected that she had body image issues. We would work on it soon enough. Her hands slowly shifted to cover herself but I could see that she was fighting the urge to do so. Masters didn't usually like it when their slaves hid their bodies from them.

I didn't buy her to be my slave, though. I bought her to free her. Equality was a part of that package.

She had clearly gotten used to the life of a slave over a very long time. And knowing Gonzalez, he would've had a shit ton of rules for Ava and would’ve punished her for the smallest of mistakes. Unlearning was often more difficult than learning, so I decided to take it slow.

No rules and no structure could make her doubt every single thing she did and give her anxiety. The best course of action was to give her a new set of rules and then slowly take them away until she became a free-thinking, independent individual.

And for that, I needed her to trust me and be comfortable around me. Which shouldn't be hard. My wolf was confused but deep down, I knew she was my mate. How? I don't know. I just knew.

"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, and because I was a possessive bastard who didn't like that she had the scent of another male on her. I also wanted her to know that I could touch her without attacking her or without it leading to sex. Intimate touch could be non-sexual. I wanted her to know that.

She nodded. "Yes, Master," she whispered. 

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

Next, I took the soap in my hands and rubbed it until my hands were all soapy. I wanted to touch her, feel her, so I didn't use a washcloth. 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 underwater 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. Well, plausible mate.

"Close your eyes," I said and took the face wash, applying it with a gentleness I didn't know I was capable of. 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. She only smelled of me, soap, and herself.

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

"Why don't you step out and dry yourself? I'll be right out," I told her. 

"Yes, Master," she replied. 

"Rule number one. You will call me by my name. Nikolai," I told her. I wanted to hear her say my name. 

Her breath hitched and her lips parted in surprise. "Yes, Nikolai," she said so softly that I hardly heard it, even with my enhanced hearing. Fuck. I wanted to hear her moan my name. Patience, asshole.

But she didn't step out. It seemed like she wanted to say something but was hesitating. 

"What is it, Ava?" I asked.

"Could… may I… bathe you too?" she asked hesitantly. "I would like to return your very gracious favour." 

Fuck my life. My original plan was to jerk off, get rid of this painful boner, and then have dinner with her. But there was no way I was going to pass up on an opportunity like that. 

"Yes," I replied. 

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

I stayed hunched 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 ever done. She got down to her knees and then washed my legs thoroughly.

My dick was throbbing by that 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. She looked nervous. That much seemed enough for her. 

"It's fine. I'll finish up. Go dry yourself off and wear one of my shirts from my bag, alright?" 

She looked at me in disbelief. She looked like she wanted to see if it was all a game. 

"We will have dinner once I'm done," I said and, unable to help myself, I bent down to place a soft, small kiss on her lips. 

She gasped and nodded before she left the shower stall. I saw her use the towel to dry off before she stepped out. 

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 damn attracted to her? Why was I so fucking horny when it came to her? Why was she turning me on unlike any other woman has ever been able to? I hated not knowing. Who the fuck didn’t know if a person was their mate or not?

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

Ava was kneeling on the floor, zipping up my bag. She was wearing a white shirt of mine that made her look tiny and cute. She quickly stood up and turned around to face me. 

"I owe you an apology, Master," she said quietly and bowed down. "You gave me a task. I failed you." 

"How?" What the hell was she talking about? 

"I failed to remove another man's smell and you had to bathe me yourself. I am sorry for the inconvenience, Master." I saw her lips tug up a bit. It was barely there but it was an improvement. But then there she went, calling me Master again. I could accept the fact that I liked it. But I also wanted to hear her say my name.

"What was the rule?" I  arched my brow.

"To call you by your name. Nikolai." She bit her lip. 

I nodded. "Good. Use it. And you did not fail me. You did your best and that is always going to be enough for me. And trust me, this was not an inconvenience. On the contrary, it was a pleasure." 

"Thank you. But you like it when I call you Master," she said, her eyes on mine, a slight blush rising on her cheeks. So my little Ava had caught that.

"Do you?" I cocked my head. She needed to start making her own choices. She nodded.

"Words, Ava," I reminded her.

"Yes, I really like calling you Master." I could hear the desperation in her voice for me to let her call me Master. I liked it.

"You will only do so when we are alone, never when anyone else is around," I told her seriously, making sure she understood. The last thing I wanted was for her her to feel like a normal human slave. She wasn't a slave. And from what I could feel, she wasn't a human either. 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 shocked me. Was she my mate or not?

Towards the end of dinner, her eyes started drooping and her shoulders slumped. I looked down at her plate. It was almost empty and she was playing with the rest of her food. She probably wasn't used to eating that much.

"Let's sleep, Ava."  We could talk later too. I took off the towel and wore a clean set of boxer briefs for her sake instead of sleeping naked like I usually do.

I slid inside the blanket, turned off the main light and switched on a dim, yellow light, in case Ava was scared of the dark. I turned around and saw that the bed was still empty. Ava was looking around.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "Get in bed."

"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. I wanted her to be mine and that was good enough.

Taking small steps, she walked closer to the bed, looking at it like a kid would look at a toy that she really wanted but never got before. My heart squeezed tight when she slowly sat down on the mattress and it sank in slightly beneath her weight. A small smile spread across her lips as her hands felt the soft bed. It made me realize that I took a lot of things in my life for granted. It felt good to know that one day, Ava would use things like these without giving them a single thought.

I pulled open the blanket for her, silently waiting for her to get in. She chewed on her bottom lip and looked at me with a shy gaze. I smiled. She looked fucking adorable all shy like that. She slid inside the blanket and I heard her heartbeat quicken at our proximity.

"Can I hold you?" I whispered quietly.

She answered my question by wiggling closer to me. Her left arm touched my right arm and like a fucking teenager, I got excited that she willingly touched me and wanted me to touch her. Hold her.

I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to me. That's when I realized that the t-shirt she had worn had ridden up, probably when she wiggled closer to me. She turned on her side and her small hand rested on mine before she gently grabbed it. I wanted to pump my fist in the air and celebrate that. She moved again and her ass was pressed up to my front and an involuntary groan escaped the back of my throat. That was how I wanted to sleep every night. 

She was so innocent. She didn't even know the allure she had. 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 would be her salvation.