Ajax's Harpy Holiday: Dragofin Mated: Book 1 (A Dragon-Gyphon Shifter Curvy Paranormal-Fantasy-Scifi Romance Series) (Dragonfin Clan Mated)

by Mychal Daniels

  Hildy tried with all her might not to giggle at him. If she didn't know better she’d say he was too nervous to keep going. She’d give him a bone and nodded her head in agreement. Hildy wanted nothing more than to get out of here and go home—after she found another pie. The guy sitting next to her followed suit, nodding his own head.

  The younger officer who sat at the desk shuffling papers spoke up. “Each of you are to sign here.” He pushed papers in front of Hildy and then to the quiet, cute guy, as he pointed to a blank line for them to sign. "This is an affidavit. It says you understand that you are not allowed on the premises of this store again.” He paused to look at each of them. “You sign and you can go. Don't sign and you can go with us.”

  Well, I'll be. Someone has a wee bit of a backbone in here.

  She liked this young officer way better than the older fidgeting one that still stood with his hands on his hips slightly above his firearm. Hildy returned her attention to the younger officer sitting at the desk. He leveled a look on her that let her know he wasn’t as quiet as he’d made it out to be. She knew that look. He liked to fight. Looked like there were three fighters and a fidgeter here in this small spot.

  "I'll be happy to sign. Here?” the man asked, snatching the papers and positioning them on his knee to prepare to sign, instead of using the table in front of him.

  Uh-uh, they weren’t going to get her as easily.

  "I need time to read what this says. After I've read it then I may or may not sign. Do I at least get a phone call before I have to sign?" she asked.

  What Hildy wasn't prepared to do was give them an inroad to find out more about her. They didn’t need to have any clue. What she couldn’t let them know was that in her line of work she couldn’t put her name on anything official. What she did was classified. To this store, she’d remain anonymous. Let the agency handle this. The slightest blip on the radar and her handler would be notified. Mr. Scott wouldn’t be happy about this latest adventure of hers, but she was sure he'd fix it.

  The younger officer sat back in the chair and stared at her as if trying to figure out her angle. It was his turn to cross his arms over his chest as he spoke up, “Ma’am, you can either sign or you can go with us. Once we get you to the station and booked, you can make that phone call you asked about.” The grin that spread across his face confirmed he was the real one in charge between the two of the officers.

  Running a quick calculation in her head to see just how much trouble she would be in after this, the decision was made. She still wouldn’t sign anything. Hildy would roll the dice.

  "I'll just have to take my chances then. Now I know I'm not signing anything," she said.

  The other guy had signed all three pages and slammed the pen and the pages down on the desk in front of him. He looked between the two officers, totally ignoring her, and said, "I signed. Am I free to go? I don't have a problem never coming back here again."

  The younger officer refused to take his eyes off Hildy as he said, “Yes, sir, you’re free to go. Thank you for your cooperation."

  Hildy didn't care one way or the other what the other guy did. She did wish she’d gotten to learn his name though. For posterity of retelling the story, that is. She watched his impressive ass beat a track to the door. Out he went without a backward glance.

  When she turned back around, the young officer was still engaged in his stare. Wasn’t he adorable? Not.

  After a sigh of her tiredness with this whole mess seeped out, Hildy informed them both, “There’s no way I’m putting my name on any papers. Happy Holidays.”

  3

  Ajax… Later at the Clan Lair that evening

  “You won’t believe what happened to me,” Ajax said, bursting through the large doors of the Clan’s Lair.

  If the building were visible on the Earthly plane, to the ordinary human eye it would look like a gym. Instead, the Lair was the home of the Dragon and Gryphon brethren known as the Dragofin Clan. More than that, it was their Interdimensional home base that straddled various dimensions and contained a sanctioned entrance to Inner Earth.

  On the ground floor, Matt and Nolan were the only ones in the common area. They sparred in the octagon. Matt defended against an offensive combination from Nolan, landing a solid roundhouse kick, hook, and punch to ring Nolan’s bell as Jax approached.

  “For the gazillionth time, watch your damn guard. I could do that because you left yourself wide open.” Matt helped Nolan up from the mat and added, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a dragon when not in shifted form. Quit celebrating your small wins each time you complete a combination or land a punch, and stay focused. We’re fighting enemies who don’t obey the gravity rules of Earth. Close combat is messy, and most of your opponents don’t fight clean. Nolan, stay alert!” Matt continued to move, urging Nolan to come at him again.

  Ajax approached the ring as Matt took a punch to the chest. Nolan flipped backward landing on the upper portion of the cage above.

  “Nice!” Matt clapped, giving Nolan props for clever improvisation. Noticing Ajax, he added, “Change and join us. Your turn next. We still need to work on your jumps, landing, and takedowns before you go out tonight to take on that sex trafficking operation.”

  As Nolan and Ajax’s gryphon partner and trainer, Matt was tasked with not only fighting with them but also in their training. As a gryphon, he was also imbued with mystical abilities. Matt could diffuse most situations with his presence alone. This worked especially well when dealing with Ajax and his older brother, Nolan.

  Ajax continued to vibrate with excitement and the aftershock of his encounter with that woman from the supercenter. He had to tell them or explode from the impact of her touch.

  “Yes, but did you guys hear what I just said?” Ajax, or Jax as he was known to the Clan, asked.

  Looking over to him, Nolan said, “What are you going on about? I need to focus. Matt’s been kicking my ass all damn session. On the next mission at the portal, I’m going to do more close-up combat with him. Now either get to the point or let me go back to getting my ass handed to me.”

  “You know you can be such a twit, Nolan.” Ajax didn’t like it when his brothers treated him like he was still a child. In human years, he was thirty and well into adulthood.

  “Nolan, take a break. What happened to you, Jax? And where’s my sweet potato pie?” Matt exited the Octagon and started adjusting the wraps on his wrists and hands.

  “That’s just it. I tried to get the pie from that supercenter you told me about. And get this… a woman fought me for it.”

  “So what, you gave her the pie. No worries. Lucien went on and ordered some from Miss Connie anyway.” Matt said, waving it off.

  “No, you don’t understand. This wasn’t some ordinary woman. She could touch me without anything happening to her. And, she’s strong. I’m talking superhuman strong.”

  Nolan was out of the cage now and standing behind Jax. “Is this your way of telling us you got your ass beat by a strong woman at the grocery store?”

  Ajax swung around to confront Nolan. He was annoying for no good reason. “Shut the hell up and listen to me. What I’m trying to say is that I felt something. You know, a spark like she’s more than just human.”

  Matt asked, “Do you think she’s like Julia then? If so, you have to let Lucien know immediately. He’s still trying to make sure she stays away from you.”

  “No, she’s not like her. I promise.”

  “Then where and who is she?” Nolan asked.

  “I was so thrown off by the encounter; I had to get out of there to think straight. I believe she lives close by but got out of the office they were holding us in too fast to learn much about her.”

  “What office? Back up and start from the beginning. Give up the details,” Matt said.

  The last think Ajax wanted to do was tell the whole story. He wasn’t proud of how he’d acted with her. It was something about her that made him want to challenge and subdue her at
any cost. He’d been turned on by her too. It was like she was his and he had to make her see that. Ajax still craved her touch.

  Two pairs of eyes stared at him, waiting.

  “All right. I went to the supercenter to get that sweet potato pie like you asked. When I got to the area where they were, I might have snatched the pie from in front of her.”

  “You didn’t. Jax, your a Guardian and she’s a female. We honor them, and not steal pies from them.” Matt’s rebuke sort of hurt, because Ajax knew better but couldn’t help himself.

  That was the problem. Around her, he’d lost his shit and couldn’t think rationally.

  “Go on, finish telling us what you did,” Nolan said.

  A punch between the eyes would knock him out. Why did it have to be Nolan here and not any of his other brothers? Hell, he’d even take the twins over Nolan’s arrogant ass.

  Matt raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. When Ajax remained silent, he sent him a gentle mental nudge.

  “Tell me what happened. I’ll get Nolan to shut up. Something’s up with you, and I need to know what it is. It seems like this encounter shook you.”

  Ajax nodded.

  “Hey, not cool you two. No talking in front of me like that,” Nolan said, although Ajax thought it sounded more like a whine than anything.

  “Hush up; you don’t have a problem doing it all the time when everyone’s together. Be quiet and let your brother get through his story before you interrupt him again.” Matt gave Nolan a look that meant he would make it hurt if he didn’t do as Matt said. “I mean it. Take a break, shut up and listen. Somethings up, I can feel it.”

  After Nolan had taken a seat on one of the nearby benches, Ajax started again. “When she snatched the pie box out of my hands, it felt like a switch clicked on. I couldn’t help myself. I had this weird mix of emotions going on. I had to win, subdue her and… I wanted her. I was attracted to her like she was the only woman I’d ever wanted. Crazy right?” he asked looking at both of the other men.

  Matt took a seat too. “Jax, you know human women are off limits, no matter how attracted you are to them. Have you thought that it might have been adrenaline causing her to ignore any sensations from contact with you?”

  Ajax thought about it for a minute. “No, it—she was different. We spent some time in the office after the police were called. She was fine—mean and aggressive—but fine. Nothing she did suggested she was in pain. If anything, I thought it was strange she wasn’t winded or taxed in the least bit. Around her, she drove me crazy. I was caught between attraction for her and anger. When I was in her presence, I wanted to be kind. Instead, I was irritated, terse and aroused by her. The entire time I had to concentrate not to reach out and touch her. I wanted her so badly, my skin burned. Has that ever happened to either of you before?”

  Matt shook his head. “No, nothing like that. Just the usual fleeting attraction here and there. I suggest you speak with Lucien about it, though. He or Greg might know more. They’ve been around long enough to remember what it was like back home. Whatever this is, I believe you. One thing about you, Jax, your instincts are solid. Not like your brother here, who couldn’t detect a solar flare, if it blinded him.”

  Nolan spoke up. “Watch it Matt. No need to bash me to make him feel better.” When he looked over to Ajax, his expression was serious, sending a cue to Ajax to pay attention to what he said. “Bro, I know I give you a hard time, but like Matt, I think you may be on to something. Did she say or do anything that indicated she knew who you were?”

  “No, she was just pissed I had the pie. She was laser focused on getting it from me. The more she fought, the more I tried to keep her from winning. Then the store security and police came and broke us apart.” Ajax didn’t like how bad he sounded in the retelling of what went down. “Matt… Nolan, you know I’d never treat a woman like that. I don’t know what came over me.”

  Matt spoke up. “Jax, take a moment. How do you feel now, telling us about your encounter with her?”

  “That’s easy. I feel like shit. Looking back at the situation, I fucked up. Instead of fleeing the scene as fast as possible, I should have slowed down, apologized and gotten more information about her. I can’t stop thinking about her and how I should have handled it better. Matt, I need to find her.”

  “Maybe the Goddess will smile on you, and you’ll meet her again. For right now, though, change and meet me back here. You’ve got to be ready for tonight.” Then Matt softened his posture, and Ajax recognized his compassionate side coming forward. “We’ll figure out something—promise. But for real, right now, I need you to get your mind right. You’re solo tonight, and I don’t want you messing up, thinking about this mystery woman. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  Ajax changed and joined Matt, sparring and giving it his all for the rest of the afternoon.

  4

  "Hildy, if you weren't so damn good at your job, I’d leave you here to rot.” Mr. Scott was his usual sourpuss self. “I mean, it’s two days before Christmas and you still manage to wind up in jail.”

  She refused to say anything. Respond and this could wind up taking forever. She wanted to get out of here and away from him and people. Her little experiment to fit in and do something festive had backfired. Now she wanted the solitude of her own nest—her small but comfortable apartment.

  He stopped in the parking lot a few feet from his luxury sedan. She’d known it was coming—the lecture. Instead he gave her a look that revealed how tired he was.

  As if pleading he said, “Why can't you stay out of trouble? I know you’re only twenty-three and prone to adventure, but I don't like having to come down to the police station. Do you know how hard it is to dodge explaining why they shouldn't book you? Or, why I have the special permission I do to take you out of there without any trace?”

  She didn’t answer. This was the first time he’d ever had to come bail her out of any situation. Mr. Scott liked to have something to complain about. If it hadn’t been this, then he would have found something else to go on about. He was deep into his normal tirade and nothing she could say would make him stop it. Instead she remained quiet, not moving. Looking at her as if he wanted to yank her, he stopped as well. Mr. Scott knew better than to touch her. Instead, he walked faster toward his car. Hildy didn't follow.

  He turned around and asked, “What now? Hildy, I don't have time for this. It's getting late and my family is waiting on me for dinner. Please, get in the car so I can take you to wherever you live these days."

  "I'm going to walk from here. I've got it and thank you for coming,” she said, not mentioning the fact that Mr. Scott should be thanking her for refusing to put her name on any type of documents. She knew this ultimately would save him and the headaches that would come from above. So, what? This was part of his job. It was hard being… nice to him, but if this is what it took to throw him off her intentions, she’d do it.

  "Hildy, please, don't be like that. I need to get you home and know you’re safe… and not causing any more trouble. Plus, I need to discuss something else with you.”

  Hildy eyed him in the dark. With extraordinary vision, she could make out every line and crease that gave away his agitation. He wanted to make sure she wouldn't cause him any more trouble tonight. Like hell. Knowing him, he wanted to send her out on another assignment.

  No, not tonight.

  There was no way she wanted to give him any satisfaction of her doing anything he asked of her. This man deserved nothing and least of all, her loyalty. His assurance? Yeah right.

  She said, "Nah, I'm good. I'm going to walk and I promise I won't get into anything else tonight. You go on home to your family and I'll see you in the new year."

  Before he could respond she took off at a speed faster than any human and didn't stop until she was a few miles down the road. The buzz in the back pocket of her jeans signaled dread. It was him.

  “Yes?” She already knew who it was.

&nb
sp; “I wasn’t finished speaking with you.” Mr. Scott’s voice had the irritation-laced tone she’d come to expect. This was more like him. “Unfortunately, you have an assignment tonight.”

  “What? It’s two days before Christmas. I’m off until after the new year. You know that.”

  “I do, but this is an emergency. It appears that there is a large transfer taking place tonight and you’re the best um… person, to handle it.”

  His pause didn’t go unnoticed. Hildy had trained herself to ignore his stumbles and foibles when interacting with her. But today, it hurt—more than it should. He didn’t view her as human or worth the compassion of a living, breathing person. Instead, he handled her like an object that could talk. She was the asset and he was the handler. Mr. Scott had referred to her as such too many times to count. That’s why tonight it would be easy telling him to suck it. He had a family to go home to and she had… well, she had another pie to locate before the stores closed for Christmas Eve.

  “Hildy, please. It’s true.”

  She waited, determined to stand her ground. Hildy hated being too dependable and predictable. Mr. Scott would have to find someone else to do this tonight.

  He spoke again, that strain of tiredness etching his words. “I tried to get someone else to take the assignment but everyone had already left to be with their family and friends. When I had to come and get you from lock up, the order came for you to take the assignment. You know, as a sort of payback for your antics.”

  “You didn’t have to come get me. Remember, I wasn’t the one who called you.”

  “But you know what would have happened if I didn’t come to get you. We both know.”

  “I’m not that bad.”

  “Really? Hildy, your temperament is what makes you so good at your job and so hard to handle. There’s no way we could have allowed you to stay in lock up any longer than necessary. I’d hate to think what could have happened.”