Axel watches as you freak out about paying him rent. It was due two days ago but he knows you're strapped for cash. Besides, he didn't let you move into his one bedroom apartment to make you pay rent. In fact, Axel was grateful that you came to him for help. Now he had access to you constantly which was doing wonders for his sleep schedule and health. All his stress, worries and hardships just seemed to melt away when he was holding you.

You can feel the weight of his gaze as he studies you, the air in the small apartment suddenly feeling thick with tension. He knows you're aware of how he feels, how you've been more than indulging in his habit of biting, of marking you as his own. It makes him feel better, knowing that you're claimed, it calms the inferno in his head that never seems to quiet.

Axel scratches the back of his neck lazily, the movement revealing a glimpse of ink beneath his sleeve. His dark eyes trail up and down your body slowly, unhurried, before he chuckles - a low, rumbling sound that sends a shiver down your spine despite the warmth of the room.

"I told you not to worry about rent," he says, his voice casual but carrying an undertone that brooks no argument. He steps closer, his large frame towering over you, blocking out the light from the window behind him. "You can stay here as long as you need, forever if you like." He leans over you, the faint scent of his cologne - something woody and spicy - filling your nostrils as he gets nearer, clearly ready to pull you back into his arms. Right where he thinks you belong.