by Amelia Jade
“It’s not gibberish,” Arianna said. Two sets of eyes swiveled in place to look at her. She smiled weakly. “It’s just not complete either.”
“Complete? What do you mean?” Ajax asked.
“Unless I miss my guess, it stands for Coleforn Shipyard.”
Flint’s eyebrows rose speculatively. “While that does work, that could just be coincidence.”
“Perhaps,” she said, though it was clear she didn’t believe that. “But then again, Coleforn Shipyard has been in the news the past year for any number of conspiracy theories. I’ve scoped out the place down by the docks myself, and it definitely doesn’t look like a normal shipyard. There’s been no connection to shifters though, so I didn’t think anything of it.”
The two men sat back as they contemplated this bit of news.
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
Flint responded first. “I think the two of you need to go investigate this Coleforn place,” he said simply.
“The two of us?” Ajax asked. “What about you and your men?”
Flint shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. We keep a low profile. Breaking and entering would reveal our existence to whoever these people are, and that would hinder our ability to get people out of town if need be.”
Ajax frowned.
“It’ll be fine, Ajax,” she said. “We’ll go check it out tomorrow, simple as that.”
The big shifter looked like he wanted to argue with her, but he let it go. Arianna wasn’t sure how she felt about the protective side of him. It was nice that he wanted to do that, but she didn’t think it was necessary. She’d survived doing this sort of thing for half a decade now. Snooping around the docks was nothing new to her.
“Well, with that decided, I think our evening of excitement is over. Don’t all of you?” Flint asked before telling the driver to return them to the club.
***
Arianna was still trying to figure out things with Ajax when he pulled up in front of her apartment building later that night. He had offered to drive her home so that she didn’t have to take a cab. Always one to save money, she had accepted. The drive had been awkward and tension-filled.
“You live here?” he asked.
“Hey, it ain’t much, but it’s home,” she protested, pushing the door open, giving them both a clear view of the building.
Big black bars were fixed in place and some sort of fabric hung over every window. Many of the lights were off, though a few glowed brightly. A trash can lay crumpled on its side, its contents spilled across the overgrown pathway that led to the door. Grass and weeds shot up between the cracked pavement so thickly that in another year or two it seemed likely that no signs of pavement would remain.
“May I walk you to your door?” he asked from the driver’s seat as she slipped out of the truck down to the pavement.
“Uh, sure,” she said with a shrug, but she didn’t wait for him.
Ajax caught up with her as she was opening the door inside.
“I can take it from here,” she said, holding the door open with one foot.
“Are you sure?” he asked, eyes peering around, trying to pick out any trouble.
The hallway inside was empty. Brown paint was peeling from the walls and the orange, red, and yellow stone-patterned carpet smelled like mold. The nearest light fixture hung free from the ceiling, and there was a big dark spot in the hallway where the next one was missing completely. Yellow caution tape hung limply in front of an elevator that hadn’t worked for as long as she’d lived there. It looked like shit, but there was nobody around.
“Yeah, I do it every day. I think I can find my way,” she told him.
“Okay,” he said, but he didn’t move.
Arianna frowned. “Is something wrong Ajax?”
His eyes stopped dancing around inside the apartment and fixated upon her, startling her with their intensity. The big brown orbs were filled with worry and sorrow, and…something else. She couldn’t quite place it, but the sudden glimpse into his soul was heart-stopping.
“Not…anymore,” he said, the last word seeming forced. “I just, um.” He paused, clearly searching for words.
Oh my God, he’s embarrassed! She had no idea over what, but Ajax was turning a little red. Could he actually have a crush on her? Was he working up the courage to kiss her?
The thought of kissing Ajax sent her heart into overdrive, blood surging through her body like a wave as it awoke a desire in her she hadn’t known existed. The image of her arms wrapped around his neck, his big hands pulling her waist tight against him made her short of breath, her lips falling open slightly as she continued to stare into his eyes.
“I’m really sorry for putting you in danger tonight,” he said in an awkward rush, red creeping into his cheeks.
She faked a frown. “I mean, other than going for a short unexpected flight, I don’t recall being in much danger. You were the one that the bunch of other dudes wanted to beat the crap out of,” she teased, poking him in the ribs.
He winced. “Ow.”
“Oh come on,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“You had a front-row seat,” he shot back. “Did you not see the kick I took there?” Before she could answer he pulled his now-ripped shirt up, exposing his side.
“Holy shit Ajax. You need to go to the hospital!” she yelped.
His entire side was black and blue, from just above his waist all the way into his armpit. It likely extended farther, but his shirt was blocking her view. It looked incredibly painful and maybe even indicative of internal bleeding. The last thing she wanted was him dropping dead on her.
“What?” she asked, noticing the odd look Ajax was giving her.
“A hospital? For a bruise?” he said skeptically.
“You could be bleeding internally…” She trailed off as he shrugged. “Do you just not care?”
“Ari,” he said, using the shortened form of her name again. “I’m a shifter. Do you not recall any of your conspiracy stuff on us? I can tell you that our healing prowess is likely understated. It hurts, but it’ll be gone by the time I wake up, I promise.”
She reached out, tentatively running her fingers across his bruised and swollen side. “Are you sure?” she asked, pulling her hand back from where it was beginning to brush across his abs without her realizing it.
Get yourself together girl. He doesn’t want anyone like you touching him like that…does he?
Ajax hadn’t pulled away from her touch. Hell, he had been the one to expose his skin to her. Could it be that maybe he was a little bit interested in her?
Arianna pushed her glasses up on her nose, partly out of habit, partly to buy some time while she tried to figure out what to do. Ajax was just now lowering his shirt, his eyes big, brown, and looking directly at her.
“I—” she began, before trailing off as he turned to face her.
“Yes?” his voice was innocent, almost eager.
Licking her lips, she gazed up at him, trying to find what it was she was trying to say.
What was she trying to say? You’re handsome as hell and I really want to kiss you and hope that you sweep me off my feet?
She blushed at her own internal dialog, spinning away from Ajax to try and hide her face as heat blossomed in her cheeks. From experience, Arianna knew a blush like that carried well down her neck and across her chest.
“Everything okay?” Ajax asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
Instinctively she reached up to cover it with her own hand. Why it seemed instinctive Ari had no clue. She’d never even hugged the man before. So why would an intimate touch of his hand seem normal to her?
What the fuck is going on?
She needed to get inside, to clear her head. Something was screwing with her brain, making her thoughts fuzzy and trying to constantly distract her.
“I need to get some sleep,” she mumbled, turning to go inside.
As she did though, Ajax put his arms out to hug her. That hadn’t been her
intent, but before she knew it, Ari found herself enveloped in his arms, pulled tight to his big, firm chest. She inhaled deeply, the thick scent of the woods mixing with the metal of his spilled blood. It wasn’t unpleasant, but she made a mental note to try it again when he was cleaned up.
She did marvel at how each individual muscle seemed to stand out. Both sides of his chest were clearly identifiable under her head. She could feel all of his abs, and even his—
Arianna’s eyes flew open as she realized what that muscle was. She froze, telling herself not to do it.
Don’t. Don’t you dare woman.
Her hips moved slightly to the side.
What did I just say? Seriously. I said DON’T do it. That meant keep yourself still, or even better, pull away from him. It did not mean to press yourself against his cock.
Fingers shook as she slowly unclasped them from around his neck. Arianna shouldn’t have done what she just did. That was taking a step—no a leap—beyond what she was ready for with Ajax. No matter how handsome and kissable he might be.
“I need to go,” she said, awkwardly disentangling herself from him.
“Uh, yeah. I should too,” he responded, much to her relief. She had thought he would protest, that he might call her out on what she had just done.
But he didn’t. He watched her as she went inside. When Arianna peeked over her shoulder before she rounded the corner to take the stairs to her third-floor apartment, he was still there, still watching her. He didn’t wave, but he smiled.
She flashed him a big, schoolgirl-like grin before fleeing out of sight and back to her apartment. The memory of his cock, contained as it was by his pants, was still fresh in her mind.
It would be a while before she got to bed that night, she thought with a grin.
Chapter Seven
Ajax
“Fuck!” he swore, hopping slightly on one foot as he gazed at the mangled ruins of his pinky toe. “Not again,” he sighed, reaching down with his right hand. Pinching the broken joint between two fingers, he closed them like a pair of pliers and pulled until the bone set itself straight again.
Ajax waited thirty seconds for the bone to begin to knit, and then he resumed heading downstairs for the delicious breakfast his hotel served. It was far from the first time he had mashed his toe to pieces, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. That didn’t stop it from being painful.
“Maybe I’ll wear regular shoes next time,” he grumbled. The flip-flops he was wearing hadn’t prevented him from catching the toe on an outcropping of marble from one of the big columns on the main floor of the older building. Designed to look like a modern-day Greek Parthenon, it had all sorts of places where he could hurt himself if he wasn’t careful.
The annoying part of it all was this was likely to only be the second worst he felt all morning. The difference was that this had been avoidable, while what he had to do next, was not. Things were getting a little too heated, and Ajax needed to ensure that he didn’t drag anyone else into harm’s way with him. Namely Arianna. She was tenacious and proud, but in the end, she was only human. If other shifters or military forces were involved, she wouldn’t stand a chance.
All throughout his breakfast of Eggs Benedict, fresh bacon piled high, and two pieces of toast slathered in honey, Ajax tried to figure out just what he was going to say. Every bite he tried to come up with another sentence. Every time he swallowed, he tossed the words out to start over again. Half an hour and two plates later, he still didn’t have a clue what to say.
“I am so screwed,” he said, closing the door to his room behind him and leaning back against it until his head knocked heavily on the door.
Never one to back away from a challenge, he flopped down on the bed, pulled on some socks—careful not to catch his still-healing pinky—and took out his cellphone, opening up Arianna’s contact file. He stared at it for a full thirty seconds until the screen went dark, then tossed the phone away and finished getting dressed.
Feeling more awake and professional, he sucked up his courage and hit the green button to initiate the call.
It rang twice, and he almost hung up. Before he could, he heard the pop that indicated someone had answered.
“Hello?” Arianna’s voice came through the speaker.
“Hey, it’s me,” he said blandly, impressed with his opening line.
“Oh, hey me,” she replied, before trying to cover up the snort of laughter at her own joke.
See, that’s wit. Why couldn’t you be that smooth?
Ajax chuckled as well, letting himself relax for a second before he got serious.
“Listen, Ari, we need to talk about what happened last night.”
“Oh?” Her voice sounded nervous and tight all of a sudden.
You moron. Now she thinks you’re talking about what happened at her place. Get it together, and stop misleading her.
He did need to talk to her about that as well, but he wasn’t ready just yet. No, right now he had to make it all business.
“At the club, I mean,” he corrected. “That was dangerous, and we were lucky that they were on our side.”
“I know,” she said immediately, the sense of relief at the clarification of the subject palpable even through the phone.
“Anyway, I’m sorry for calling you while you’re at work. I should really have told you this last night,” he said awkwardly.
“Told me what?” Her voice was now suspicious.
“I, ah, I wanted to thank you for all your help so far. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere with this. But, ah...” he was stumbling, and bad. He needed to just get it over and done with. “I think from here on out I’m going to be doing this alone. At least the stuff out on the streets, looking for Benjamin.”
Silence.
“Arianna?” he asked tentatively after a few seconds.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean, I think you should stay at work, do what you do. If I get information that doesn’t make sense, I’ll come to you for help. But other than that, you need to stay out of it.”
Uh-oh. He could hear her seething on the other end.
“I need to stay out of it?” she growled. “I need to? Who are you to tell me what I do and do not need to do?”
“Oh come on,” he protested. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. I meant for your own safety. I...” he paused. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to protect you,” he said at last.
“Protect me?” she snapped. “Again, who says you need to protect me? I’m a grown woman, Ajax whatever-your-last-name-is. I know what I’m getting myself into.”
“Do you?” he responded angrily. “Because I don’t. I have no idea what the hell I’m getting myself involved in. So if you know, then please, by all means tell me. All that I know is that if those shifters last night hadn’t been friendly, you would be dead. I couldn’t have saved both of us; there were too many. What if our enemy comes at us like that? What do you expect me to do? There’s just as good a chance that we would both die as you would. So by coming along, you’re endangering the both of us.”
As soon as he finished speaking he regretted it, but it was too late.
“I am not some damsel that you need to protect like a knight in shining armor. Nor am I an imbecile,” she replied tartly, the bite in her voice now worse than when she was snarling at him. “I am well aware that this could go south in a bad way, very quickly. But like you said, you wouldn’t even know where to be looking if it weren’t for me. Now you want to leave me behind? This is my story!”
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” he said gently. “You have the brains for this. I have the muscle.” He was trying to reason with her.
“Which is why we should do what we said we would yesterday. Go check it out as a team. That’s how teams work, Ajax. They do things together, all the individual parts forming something greater than their individual sums.”
Ajax tried not to laugh. He was well aware of th
at. In fact, that was how he ran his Crew back home. Using their individual strengths to make the team as a whole a better unit. He knew how to do it, and he had proven success with it.
But none of the bears back home were Ari.
“No, you’re going to stay at work, and you’re going to keep searching for more things. I promise if I find something I will let you know and keep you up to date.”
“Don’t bother,” she replied.
His heart felt like it had been stabbed. She wasn’t mad or insulted anymore. Just…disappointed. That feeling was ten times worse than having someone mad at you. That he could just shrug off. But to have her disappointed in him? That hurt, and it cut deep.
She continued speaking. “If you can’t trust me to come along now, then I won’t be able to trust you.”
The line clicked, letting him know she’d hung up.
“Dammit!” he swore, only just narrowly preventing himself from tossing his phone across the room.
He did push himself off the bed toward the table near the foot of the bed. He gave that a solid kick, sending it flying into the wall where it shattered like kindling.
“Ow!” he yelped, cursing himself for his stupidity as pain from his foot let him know he had freshly re-broken his pinky toe once again.
“What a fucking start to the day,” he ranted.
At least the breakfast was good.
***
He was doing the right thing. Wasn’t he?
Ajax rubbed his eyes as he walked down the busy street. The harbor front was alive with activity. Everywhere vendors hawked their wares to the passersby, while down alleys trucks of fish and other seafood were offloaded into the basements of restaurants that had signs in the windows proclaiming how fresh and local their meals were.
Flags waved on every corner advertising dozens of different places around the earth. Beggars stood or sat, worn hats held out for anything they might get, before store owners hustled outside to shuffle them away. Cars beeped and honked at the traffic, trying to speed things up as a big transport truck briefly blocked the road while pulling out from a terminal, loaded with a big container full of goods, destined for some far-off warehouse.