by Amelia Jade
“The government? What does the government have to do with this? They didn’t splurge on anything,” Number Four said arrogantly.
Ah, a private outfit then. Excellent.
They arrived at another door. It wasn’t far; they had only passed two side doors as they went. The door hissed open, and Ajax was assaulted by the brightness of the room ahead of them. The lights in the corridor and his cell had been white, not yellow, and rather bright, but they were nothing compared to the blinding brilliance of the spotlights in the room beyond. It stunned him and he didn’t move right away, prompting Number Three to jab his baton into Ajax’s back again.
He cried out and fell to one knee as the electricity raced through his muscles.
“Ajax?”
His head snapped up at the sound, eyes focusing on the room ahead of him.
“Arianna?” he rumbled, eyes searching the room.
“Ajax!”
It was her. He couldn’t see her—she was out of sight—but he’d recognize that voice anywhere. She sounded distressed.
“Shut up!” Number Three snarled as he appeared in front of Ajax, wand poised over him.
Ajax growled and rose to his feet.
Number Three stabbed him with the baton. Ajax couldn’t see his face, but he knew the man likely had a grin in place, expecting the big shifter to fall to the floor. Instead, Ajax’s lips pulled back as he bared his teeth in a snarl.
His hand shot out, wrapping around Number Three’s hand and baton all at once. When the guard tried to pull back, Ajax casually forced him to stay still. Then he pulled it closer, jabbing the baton into himself harder.
“What? That?” he asked, looking down at the stun stick. “Come on, you didn’t really fall for that little cry of pain routine, did you?”
He squeezed his hand as hard as he could, shattering the stick and the guard’s hand as he applied the full pressure of his shifter-enhanced grip.
“Idiot,” he snapped.
Then he attacked.
The stun batons weren’t pleasant, but to an enraged Ajax—who knew the woman he had gotten into this, the woman he was coming to care for—was in trouble, they were just a tickle. He had faked the earlier pain to lure them into a false sense of security.
It had worked. The others still tried to hit him with their sticks as he whirled, smashing bones with every blow. Number One got too close and Ajax reached out and casually slapped him, the force of his blow twisting the guard’s head until bone snapped. He dropped limply to the floor.
“Oh no you don’t,” the shifter growled loudly, his blood up, full battle-rage descending over him.
One of the guards was fleeing down the hallway. Ajax grabbed a fallen baton, took aim, and launched it down the hallway after him. He thought it was going to miss, but at the last second, it slammed electric end first into the guard’s tailbone. The scream that echoed up the hallway was deafening.
“Your turn,” Ajax said as he spun to see Number Three still on his feet, holding the mangled remains of his hand in front of him as he shook.
A flat palm lashed out, breaking the man’s nose with ease and sending bone fragments straight back into his brain. Ajax figured that was enough, but to make sure he picked the man up and hurled him twenty feet in the air into the room in front of him. The guard hit the wall head-first with more than enough force to kill him upon impact.
Ajax looked around, noting that Number Four was still on his feet. Gliding forward, Ajax closed the distance before the man could blink. He snatched the baton from the man’s hand and then hit him hard in the stomach right away with his other hand. As soon as the guard’s mouth opened to gasp for air, Ajax stabbed the baton forward, forcing it into the man’s throat. Electricity shot into his system consistently. Ajax held it there until he began to smell burning. He dropped the man to the floor as blood began to gush from his throat.
“Arianna?” He growled loudly, stepping into the room as his voice filled the space.
“Over here!” she shouted.
He spun to the right, going rigid at the sight in front of him.
Arianna was strapped to a bed with all sorts of electrodes and leads connected to her. Standing beside her, with something held to her throat, was a man in a white coat. His hands were gloved and he had a surgical mask over his mouth, though the rest of his face was exposed.
His eyes were wide with terror and as Ajax watched, his hands shook.
“Doc,” he said calmly. “You do not want to be here right now. Put it down, and step away.”
“Ajax they put something into me!” Arianna shouted. Her voice was no longer panicked, he noted. It was, if anything, angry. Understandable, he knew, but it was rather unusual in situations like this.
“Just move away, doctor,” Ajax said, trying to play the voice of calmness.
His eyes were focused forward, but his ears were listening behind him, waiting for the sound of alarms or more booted feet.
“You promise you won’t kill me?” The doctor’s voice was nervous and shaky.
“I promise. Just move away from the woman.”
His eyes darted back and forth between Ajax and Arianna several times before he nodded uneasily and removed the surgical knife from her neck.
“Is anything going to go wrong if I remove all of this from her?” Ajax said as he took a step closer to Arianna’s side.
“What? No,” the doctor said. “But you mustn’t do that.”
“Why not?” Ajax asked dangerously.
“My experiments!”
“Will she be harmed if they are removed?” Ajax repeated.
“No, no, of course not, but—”
The doctor’s voice ended in a scream as the baton Ajax had been holding behind his back hit him in the stomach, sending him to the floor in a heap as he instinctively curled up. The only issue with that was it meant he curled around the baton. Mercifully the doctor either passed out, or his heart gave up as he lapsed into silence after a few seconds.
“Hey,” he said in a completely different voice as he reached Arianna’s side.
“Hi,” came the soft reply, and then, “what took you so long?”
He snorted. “It’s your fault. Should have told me we were playing hide and seek.”
Arianna laughed.
They spent a few quick moments removing the IV lines and other equipment that had been affixed to various parts of her body.
“Get me out of here,” she said as she struggled to remove the last lead. There were still thick leather straps holding her in place.
With a gleeful growl he ripped them straight from the upright table they had laid her upon. Arianna stumbled into his arms with a solidness that caught him off guard.
“Everything okay?” he asked her.
“Yeah,” she said, not sounding particularly sure of herself at first.
Ajax raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Ari said again, her voice stronger, more confident this time. “Yeah, I think I am.”
She stood up on her own, taking a few tentative steps to get her balance.
“Easy,” he murmured, staying close by.
“I got this,” she told him confidently after a moment, pushing him firmly back.
Ajax stared down at his chest where she had touched him. Something was…different.
They didn’t have time to diagnose things though; they had to go. Now. Grabbing Arianna’s hand, they dashed back down the hallway. The doctor had had a swipe card on him, and it served to open up door after door as they fled into the complex. Neither of them knew where they were going. They were just hoping for blind luck. They encountered several guards, but none of them were able to draw guns or batons before Ajax was upon them.
“Ajax!” Arianna shouted, sliding to a halt and pulling hard on his arm as they flew past another passage.
He looked down at the fingers wrapped around his bicep.
“Yes?” he asked, shaking off the feeling that something was amiss once a
gain.
“Look!” she said, dragging him back to the crossway of corridors.
There, part way down was a standard red Exit sign. The pair dashed toward it.
“Okay, this is likely to set off a fire alarm, so we’re going to have to run, and run fast once we’re outside.”
Arianna nodded.
“Oh hell,” he swore, pulling her close and mashing his lips against hers briefly before pushing through the door.
Alarms did begin to sound, but it didn’t matter.
“Holy shit,” he said softly.
They weren’t in the middle of some compound. Ajax had figured they would have to find a vehicle and drive off somewhere to finally escape, or something even more complex. Much to his surprise though, the door opened up onto the sidewalk in the middle of the city.
“Come on!” he shouted, tugging Arianna after him. Together the pair bobbed and weaved, disappearing into the city crowds as best they could. It was made more difficult by the white gown she was wearing, and the fact that he was well over six and a half feet tall. But they managed.
***
“Did we really just manage to pull all of that off?” she asked as the door closed behind her.
“I think so,” he replied with a half-laugh.
After their escape into the city, they had taken a taxi to Arianna’s place. Like him, she had left her wallet and any identifying markers behind besides cash when she had sneaked into the facility. When Ajax had discovered that, he had felt pride beating inside of him. She was smart.
From there, they swung by his hotel, collected all of his things, and then proceeded to walk, cab, walk, cab and even at one point take the bus as they moved around the city to get a new hotel. Ajax paid cash for the room, giving a fake name.
“What do we do now?” Arianna asked, walking around the room in a daze.
“I’d like you to rest and relax,” he said just a little bit forcefully. “I don’t know what they did to you, and what any of the side effects may be.”
“I told you,” she said, stepping closer. “They injected me with something, but then they got angry and kept saying that it still wasn’t working over and over again.”
“I know,” he said, taking her outstretched arm and raising it over her head, forcing Arianna to twirl slowly on the spot. When she was facing away from him he let the arm drop and stepped in close, putting his two arms around her, holding her tight. “But that doesn’t mean that you haven’t been through a lot.”
“Mmm,” she said noncommittally.
Her hips moved gently against his. Ajax froze, trying to fight down the kneejerk reaction to that sort of pressure against him.
“Everything okay back there?” Ari said in a much, much different voice.
“Just fine,” he replied, his voice strained.
“You sound tense,” she all but purred, taking charge of the situation much to his dismay.
And enjoyment. You’re trying to be a gentleman, but don’t lie. You want this as much as she does.
“Not at all,” he said, a lie they both saw through with ease.
“I think you are,” she told him.
Arianna spun in his arms, her big eyes looking up at him.
“Would you like some help with that?” she asked.
He swallowed. Hard.
Chapter Ten
Arianna
Was this really happening? She didn’t know; it felt like she was floating on a cloud, like nothing that could happen was real.
Her fingers splayed across his chest, feeling the muscles that covered a heart that she figured had to be racing at least as fast as her own. Blood had to be flowing from it into the rest of his body, just like hers. Igniting the fire between his legs…just like hers.
Both of them bit their lips in delight as her hands dragged slowly down his ruined shirt, feeling each crevasse between his abs.
“Wait,” he said firmly as she encountered his belt.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, confused. Did he not want this? Did he not want her? She had been so sure of it, so positive that he had been interested in her. They had kissed. And it had been good too. Was this not the logical next step?
Arianna stepped back. Or tried to. Ajax’s grip on her shoulders held her firm.
“I said stop for me, not for you. I want to make sure you want to do this,” he said gently. “Escaping from a situation like we just did can do funny things to the mind and body. Make it seek life after a close brush with death.”
“Ajax,” she said, repeating his name several times. “You’re missing one key part in all this,” she told him.
“What’s that?” he asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“You’re cute when you do that,” she told him before continuing. “The thing is—and I appreciate you’re caring, it’s very sweet of you—but I wanted to do this before things went sideways today.” She blushed furiously at the admission. “Last night, when you hugged me, I, umm, I felt you,” she said emphatically, her mind spinning as she tried to figure out why she was still talking. “There’s something about you,” she said, switching topics. “It pulls me in. And I like it.”
She pulled her hands from his grip, pushing them down past his belt and across the big quad muscles on his legs. Then she slid them up his inseam until she found what she was looking for. Fingers tentatively brushed against the bulge of his cock, barely contained within his jeans.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked slyly, looking up at him and giving him a promiscuous wink.
“More than sure,” he replied throatily, his hands cupping her chin, tilting her head up toward him.
Arianna was stunned by the seriousness of what lay in his eyes. She could see the burning desire, his arousal awakened by the touch of her hands on him. That was plain for anyone to pick up. But beyond that, deeper in the brown of his eyes, she saw an utter sense of serenity, as if his entire world was not only at ease, but ecstatic with the knowledge of what was about to happen.
It was more than she had expected from him. Arianna would have been okay with just a simple dalliance with him. She wanted more, craved more, but she was realistic. A shifter like Ajax likely had women hanging off him. He could choose from any of them at any time he pleased. Why would he spend so much of his time with her?
She still didn’t know the complete answer to that, but there was no doubt in her mind as she gazed deep into his soul that Ajax wanted to spend his time with her. That he cared about her, far more than should be possible for someone he just met.
But she realized that wasn’t what scared her. Her eyes closed as his lips touched hers, their bodies melding together while she continued to stroke his cock through the covering of the denim fabric. No, what scared her was that she felt her own emotions reaching out to embrace that feeling.
Arianna wanted him. Physically and emotionally, in a deeper—no pun intended—fashion than she had ever wanted someone before.
“I think I’m falling in love with you,” she whispered through their kiss.
Shit.
She froze immediately. Those were not words she had intended to speak aloud. Ari cursed herself silently, knowing that he was likely to be scared off by such an admission, that he would go running in the opposite direction. Nobody wanted to deal with someone so clingy and emotionally unstable that they could fall in love after a few days. That was just ridiculous.
“That’s a relief,” Ajax murmured, much to her complete shock. And delight.
“What?” she asked, not sure what to do next. “Why?”
He laughed, kissed her hard, then opened his eyes to look into her. “Because I’m falling in love with you. I didn’t want this to be a one-way street,” he teased.
His lips covered hers before she could respond. After a moment, Arianna decided she would use her actions to respond. Words could be saved for later. Right now, she had other things on her mind.
“Your clothing is a little shredded,” she mu
mbled between kisses, freeing one of her hands from his cock to poke at the shredded holes in his shirt.
“Says the one wearing a white sheet,” he teased back.
“White is the new black,” she replied, tugging on his shirt.
The material ripped far more easily than she had expected, simply tearing from his frame as he stood there. A confused look passed over his face, but was gone so quickly she wondered if she had imagined it.
“Much better,” she told him, kissing the smooth muscles of his chest now that they were revealed for her to see.
“Is.”
Kiss.
“That.”
Kiss.
“So?” It took him several tries to get the sentence out as she returned her attention to his lips, enjoying the gentle scrape of his stubble against her face. It was so…manly. She hated that description of it, but there was just something so hot about a man with two days’ worth of stubble on his face.
“Mm-hmm,” she replied, running her own hands across his cheeks and into his hair, using the finger-length locks for grip as she held him close.
Without warning Ajax ripped the flimsy gown material from her body and picked her up, whirling her around until her back slammed into the wall, something cracking under the force of her impacting it. She sat there, naked and exposed to him in a way that made her feel sexy and vulnerable all at once. It was intoxicating.
“Oh,” she gasped as his hands curled under her rear, fingers spread wide. His hands were so big that he could hold her aloft like that, and yet his pinky finger could still reach between her legs, caressing her ever so lightly and stirring the fire inside of her up several more degrees.
A shiver ran through her body at the casual display of strength as Ajax didn’t even tremble, burying his head in her neck, teeth biting gently on the tender exposed skin. She moaned at his touch, feeling her body react to him and prepare itself for what was to come. His fingers slid easier between her legs as she began to ache for him inside of her.
She needed to undo his belt for that to happen. It was a difficult reach, made worse by the constant swirl of his pinky around her swollen clit. Each time it made contact she shuddered slightly, losing focus on the task at hand.
