** double update read 56 first**

My fingers left Asra's shoulder to trace over the healed scar on my skin. It sent a shock of fire down my body like a thunderbolt. Asra tensed beside me, growling softly. Shakily, I removed my fingers from the scar to look towards him.

"What was that?"

"If you touch it, it sends a... message." He smirked.

"I can tell." I whispered. "Will it always be like that?"

His eyes followed my lips as they moved, causing me to smirk at his divided attention. He cleared his throat, trailing them back to meet my gaze.

"Not as strong. Once we complete the bond, it will lessen." He winked.

I hummed, thoughts of completing the bond plagued me. A part of me wanted to get it over with, so it no longer loomed over my head. Just like a plaster, I wanted to rip it off with one clean swipe. But the other part was scared. This was the man I was supposed to be with for the rest of my life, a concept I still found hard to believe. He was a beast, an animal, and I feared what may come of my new mate-ship by his side.

"What's wrong?" He wondered.

I must've dazed off.

Blinking way too many times to appear sane, I shook my head and smiled softly. His eyes narrowed, a small frown pursing his lips.

"What's going on in your head? You day-dreaming?."

I cursed, apologising. "I didn't mean to. It just happens sometimes and-"

"It's not a bad thing, Tulip." He smiled. "As I told you before, I find it... endearing."

I flushed, dropping my eyes. "Yes, you have said that."

"So, listen to me." His hands tightened on my waist.

I squirmed slightly in his hold, his fingers digging into my waist. His eyebrows rose at the gesture and I narrowed my gaze at him, sending him a clear warning of what would come if he even dared. Slowly, I watched as a wicked smirk creased his cheeks, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. I tried to pull away but his fingers were in deep, clutching onto me like a vise.

"Don't. You. Dare." I glared.

"Oh, I dare, Tulip." He grinned.

And then all hell broke loose.

His fingers dived into my waist, causing me to squark like a bird in an attempt to escape him. Nervous laughter bubbled out of me as he continued to tickle me. My writhing attempt of escape was doing me nothing but making me lose more breath.

Asra pulled me close as I embarrassingly squealed and laughed for him to let me go. I tried to get a spot on him, but he was as solid as a rock. I found not a single ticklish spot in my pathetic attempt to escape. With my body desperate for oxygen and a stable non-jello ability, I wracked my brain for an answer. When it came, I knew it was my only way out.

Freeing one of my arms from Asra, I was quick to cup the mark, teasing it with my fingertip. He froze as the amazing, core-clenching pleasure warmed my body. Still not breathing from the intensity of the mark, I pulled myself free before letting go completely. Once the buzzing fire stopped, I looked up to find Asra stuck with a most noticeable tent in his pants as he glowered at me.

"Come any closer, and I do it again." I panted.

His eyes narrowed. "That's not fair."

"Neither is tickling." I scowled, my chest heaving.

A smirk spread across his face as he ran his greedy gaze along my breasts again, and I huffed before turning around. My eyes fell to the huge shower, and I felt my entire face lighten up with a giddy intrigue.

"Can I shower in here?" I wondered.

"Of course." He nodded despite the sudden change of topic. "Towels are in there."

I followed his arm to find him pointing at a cupboard and nodded my thanks.

"Can I stay and watch?" He asked, crossing his arms.

My immediate answer was no. I knew it before I even looked back towards him. But there was a fire within me, one that demanded payback for my ticklish demise. He enjoyed a taunt; he enjoyed a tease, so with that in mind, I was determined to get my revenge.

"You can stay, but you cannot enter the shower." I crossed my arms and lifted my chin.

His eyes widened, his face contorting with a brief sense of disbelief. "Really?"

"Well yeah. I need to know how this shower works." I winked before turning around to grab some towels.

He remained dumbfounded and only when I made my way over to the shower did I let the grin spread across my face. Clearing my throat, I cast him a look over my shoulder before pulling my pyjama dress down to my ankles. I felt the heat of his gaze without even turning, the burning of his want coursing through me.

A sudden intrusion had me pausing from entering the shower, a tension in my mind that I knew belonged to him. Spinning around, I crossed my arms.

"Out of my head." I warned.

"I am just trying to figure out your game in this, Tulip." He shrugged as he left my brain alone.

I giggled. What a weird thing to say. How could someone even be inside someone's brain? Just so unusual. To a human, anyway, perhaps to other creatures, it was normal. I wondered if vampires and witches and all the other creatures of the dark could mind-link too? Or if it was a pack thing? An Alpha thing? Just a wolf thing, maybe?

"Tulip?"

"Hmm?" I asked, meeting his gaze.

His small laugh startled me more than his melting gaze. "Nothing, Tulip. Enjoy your shower."

I shrugged it off, nodding and entering the huge cubicle. It was cool in here, my skin pebbling with goosebumps. Eyeing up the many showers, I did not know which one I even wanted. We had showers back in Evermore, of course. They were just less electric and more... pump from the ground that took ages to warm up.

"Which one do I even use?" I whispered to myself.

"The one to the right is usually my favourite." Asra hummed.

I cast a glance to find him perched on the sink vanity, his broad shoulders taking up most of the space between the wall and mirror. Swallowing nervously, I eyed the one before me. One appeared to have the temperature, and the other had different settings. I chose a temperature first, going for slightly warm to test it out. My hand settled around the other nozzle and, with a quick turn of my wrist, the large and square nozzle right above me turned on.

I squealed, not expecting the sudden onset of cold water, and lept out the way. Asra's deep baritone laughter vibrated through the room, and I shot him a glare as I huddled into myself. Not exactly the sexy, teasing shower I had in mind. Sticking my hand out and turning the knob on the wall, I waited until I found a desirable temperature.

Stepping beneath it, the soft rainfalls of water took me away. The shower head itself was so large that not a single piece of my body remained unbathed. I think I may have to shower more often in here to make sense of all the different settings.

Running my hands through my hair, I made sure everything was good and wet before opening my eyes and searching for shampoo. I washed my hair leisurely, kneading my fingers through the knots that had appeared over the past few days. I oohed to myself as the rich scent of honey took over my senses, not taking Asra for a guy to have such a scent.

Rinsing my hair, I went for another round; the foam lathering my head more than the second time round. Soon I was onto conditioner in a matching bottle, and whilst it settled for a moment, I took hold the first soap I saw. I was unsure about all these different bottle systems, but I could at least read the labels to understand what they were for.

All that was actually in the shower was one bottle of each kind, so it wasn't hard for me to mess up, I guess. There was a loofah hanging from a hook, and I sniffed it before deeming it clean and using it to lather my armpits with suds.

"Do you have something I could shave with?" I asked, rinsing the conditioner from my hair.

Asra paused, blinking back at me. "Sure."

I grinned, thanking him. He rifled through his drawers and threw me a fancy-looking razor, so I got to work on the less sensual task of shaving and smoothing out my body. I preferred a sleeker look to my legs and armpits, but kept my pubic hair fairly fine. I had learnt from the past that completely bald made me way too itchy for my sanity. The lack of hygiene routine and products did not help...

Once satisfied with my bare skin, I soaped up the loofah once more. The bubbles distracted me and I forgot about my audience until I heard a sudden noise. My head shot towards Asra, finding him clutching the edge of his vanity as various tooth products lay scattered on the floor. I trailed my eyes along the length of his tense, veiny biceps and taut shoulders before dropping my eyes down his still-bare torso.

The glass dividing us had fogged slightly, but I could still see how difficult he seemed to deal with his... less than soft situation. A wicked grin erupted on my lips as I ran the loofah around my neck, gently washing at the mark. My head arched at the intimacy, my thighs clenching as my toes curled.

I have never felt pleasure so much like it. Nothing ever came close, and it was just a touch.

Asra was restraining himself when I removed my hand, his hand grabbing at his crotch. As he touched himself through his clothes, I licked my lips. I should've found it disgusting, or offensive, perhaps, but the fact he was struggling had my body burning with excitement. I actually had power over him.

Rinsing the soap from my body and hair, I kept my eyes firmly locked on him until I turned the dials off. Stepping from the shower, I wrapped myself in a towel before doing the same to my hair. Asra was fast to leap from the vanity once I was covered and grab me by the face. I stumbled slightly as he smashed his lips to mine, a grumble of hunger shooting across my tongue.

I moaned, arching my neck into him when his hand moved to trace the bite mark. "Asra..."

"You're a teasing little minx." He growled, sucking the water from my skin. "How hard it was for me to hold back..."

I hummed, enjoying the way his lips felt along the quickening of my pulse. Despite the horny, lust driven haze, I had nothing but respect for the man. He had stayed where he was, kept his hands to himself until I covered and never pushed me to do something. It was perhaps a low bar to jump over, but I have never been so appreciated.

Pulling away from me, Asra pecked my lips once more before turning around. I watched patiently as he reached under the sink and pulled out a basket with supplies inside. My eyebrows furrowed, seeing the various arrays of things inside. I recognised a toothbrush and paste, but the rest was a mystery.

"This is for you. I had it prepared a while ago," He admitted, placing it on the vanity.

My heart swelled with warmth as I ran my hands through the products. I did not recognise any of them, other than what appeared to be moisturiser, but then there were too many versions of it for me to comprehend. I appreciated the gesture. A beast probably never used so many products with their freakish healing skin.

"You got me all these?" I whispered, finding one that appeared to be hair oil.

"I admittedly had Piper help." Asra shrugged. "I take it you don't know what many are. I don't either."

We laughed in sync, and I peeked at him from the corner of my eye. He was watching me curiously, gauging my reaction. I raised my head and smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you." I smiled. "Perhaps I should ask Piper what they all are..."

He snorted, nodding. "I will send her on her way."

My head cocked. "You are leaving?"

His tongue darted out to wet his lips as he scratched at his neck. "Yeah. You need some girl time, I think. I have to sort something out first... I will meet you down for breakfast, though?"

I nodded, swallowing down the nerves. "Okay. Breakfast is..."

"Half an hour." He smirked. "Have fun."

Pressing a kiss on my temple, I watched as Asra swiftly left the room. The front door clicking loudly through the room was the last piece of him before he left me completely alone. Humming, I turned my attention back to the products before me, pulling out one that said body moisturiser. May as well see what they are all like.