10.
A JAX
When the phone rang, I rolled over and slapped at the side table until my hand landed on it. I opened one eye just enough to answer the damn thing, but all that came out was a garbled grunt.
My friend chuckled before he said, “You sound downright perky this fine morning.”
“I hung out with my brother and some of his friends last night, and now I’m feeling it,” I admitted as I gingerly sat up and turned to put my feet on the floor. “What’s up?”
“Your brother?” Hammer asked.
“Yes, I have a brother, and no, he wasn’t spawned from a volcano in hell or whatever the latest bullshit origin story you gossips have come up with for me.”
“I know you have a brother, dumbass. I’ve met him.”
“Right. That makes sense.”
“But I started the volcano thing just to see if it would take off,” Hammer said before he laughed again.
I ignored that for now but filed it away for later retribution before I asked, “Why are you calling me at the ass crack of dawn?”
“Carry your hangover to the shower and deal with it. I’ve got news.”
That instantly perked me up, and I asked, “What is it?”
“I got a job request from an old contact of mine, and it’s more up your alley than mine.”
“What’s the pay?”
“Downright shameful.”
“That bad?”
“No.That good.”
“Dangerous?”
“A bit. As much as I’d like to take care of it, I talked to Pita and we weighed our options. With the girls being away at school where we can’t watch over them every second, I’m not comfortable getting in the middle of this.”
“Shit. That’s big. What’s the job?”
“I’ve got a father who is worried about his daughter and her children. She’s in the middle of a divorce and has some information on her soon-to-be ex that is pretty damning. The federal prosecutor needs her to testify, but her ex has made it clear that she won’t live long enough to do that if he has his way.”
“That changes everything.”
“I thought it may.”
“Her father can’t protect her any better than the prosecutor can?”
“Well, it’s out of her father’s league, and he knows it. The prosecutor thought he could, but yesterday was the second time that her cover in witness protection was blown, so he’s got more problems than he can handle all at once.”
“Damn. Sounds like a complete clusterfuck.”
“He’s just moved her again , but there’s no telling how long she’ll be safe this time.”
I thought about the progress I’d made with Sandi so far. It had taken a few days, but she’d finally started talking to me without covering me in food or drink, which had sadly happened four times after the initial salad incident. But once I was able to get her to listen, which required everything but a human sacrifice and a voodoo shaman, she started to thaw.
So, for the last two weeks, I’d done everything in my power to woo the damn woman, but I didn’t mind at all. She was worth it - even though she was as prickly as a cactus and could flay the skin off of me with just her words. I’d started to enjoy our banter almost as much as I knew I’d enjoy finally getting her naked again.
However, I’d come to realize that getting her in bed with me wasn’t really the ultimate prize - having that woman testing my patience every day for the rest of my life was my end goal. When I mentioned that to her, she’d laughed so hard that she pulled a muscle in her side, so I hadn’t brought up the subject again.
This was going to put a kink in my plans, but if I’d learned anything in the last few weeks, it was that honesty was the best policy with Sandi and disappearing without a word because I didn’t know how to explain my job to her would never be forgiven again.
Without thinking, I asked, “You talked to Pita about this before you decided to take the job?”
“Well, yeah,” Hammer answered, as if that was the dumbest question he’d heard in a while.
“Do you talk to her about everything?”
“Of course I do.”
“Even the stuff that’s not all that . . . um . . . easy to stomach?”
“Let me put it to you this way, son . . .” I scoffed, but Hammer ignored me and continued, “You talk shit out in your head, right? Make a list of what needs to be done, work out the different angles of what might happen and how you’d handle them, and all that good shit, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Pita is my inner voice. I don’t just work shit out in my head, I talk it through with her, and she gives me feedback. Sometimes, it’s not exactly what I want to hear, but I trust her even more than I trust that inner voice.”
“Hmm.” I wondered what it would be like to have someone in my life who was a sounding board like that. I had friends I could talk to, but I’d never even consider running shit by them because they didn’t care what I got up to being as how it was my risk and my business. But I wanted someone to care. For once in my life, I wanted someone to help me weigh the risks and make me their business. “Fuck.”
“You just realized that the woman you’ve been pussyfootin’ around is the one, didn’t you?”
“I think I already knew that.”
“If you didn’t, then you wouldn’t be lingering away in the spare room at a clubhouse of a club you don’t belong to, would you?”
“How do you know that’s where I’ve been staying?”
“Tiny might have mentioned it when I talked to him a few days ago.”
“It suits my knight in shining armor persona and all. You never know, maybe I’ll drop my Nomad status and become a Texas Knight for real.”
“Shit. That would mean you’d have to stick around, and until now, you haven’t found a reason to do that.”
“I won’t be sticking around here anyway, although things with my brother have gotten . . . comfortable, so I’ll probably be back to visit now and again.”
“Good to hear. What about the woman?”
“Sandi’s a nomad too. She works as a traveling nurse so she’s not stuck in one place for too long.”
“Well, isn’t that convenient?” Hammer asked sarcastically. “Are you going to grow a brain and tell her that you’re leaving this time?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Good. I’ll send you the contact information.”
“I’ll start working on a plan while I’m in the shower and have this young woman safe with me as soon as possible.”
“And her two kids. Don’t forget them.”
“How young are they? Do we know?”
“Irish twins, from what I gather. One is just a few months old, and the other isn’t much more than a year old.”
“Good. They can’t talk yet. Not only will that work in our favor, but I get along best with those kinds of kids.”
“Only because they can’t tell you how ugly you are.”
“The last time I saw Pita, she said I was handsome,” I reminded him.
“Don’t get a big head about it, man. She says that to our cats too.”
◆◆◆
SANDI
I woke up slowly and sighed when I realized that it was happening again. Hot flashes were bad enough during the day, but they were brutal at night. I was so hot that I was sure it couldn’t be physically good for me, but I knew there was really nothing I could do other than flip off the covers until it passed and I started freezing my ass off.
The roller coaster of menopause was not quite as painful as PMS and cramps, but it was definitely just as inconvenient.
I had just settled my head back into the pillow when I heard a sniff and realized that it wasn’t a hot flash making me so fucking hot, but another body.
“Dammit, Ajax! What the fuck are you doing in my bed?” I yelled as I threw an elbow and then pushed myself up and put my feet on the floor.
“Atilla, I was just getting comfortable. Lay back down with me until your alarm goes off.”
“How did you get into my house?”
“I came in through the door.”
“I took away your key!” I yelled as I spun around to look at him. “How did you get in here?”
I could see his face in the soft light coming in through the window on his side of the bed and studied it as I wondered why in the hell I wasn’t livid rather than just mildly irritated.
Ajax was a handsome man, of that there was no doubt, but he had a hardness to him that I just couldn’t explain. Even when he smiled and laughed, it seemed like he was holding back at least a small part of himself. I found that mysterious and sexy as hell.
Without opening his eyes, Ajax said, “I broke in. I’m a criminal, honey. That's what we do.”
“Why?” I asked. In a pleading tone, I said, “I was just starting to trust you, Eric. Why do you have to go and fuck that up?”
Ajax’s eyes opened, and he smiled at me before he said, “Because I needed to talk to you and thought it couldn’t wait, but then I saw you laying in bed and the only thing I could think of was how much I wanted to touch you and have just a few moment’s peace before the shit show I’m about to cause begins.”
“What shit show?” I asked with narrowed eyes.
“As much as I hate to leave, I have to, but that’s not what I want to do at all. I finally got you to talk to me again and planned to stay here until you decided to give me another chance, but duty calls. I don’t have a choice but to go.”
“You don’t have a choice?” I asked.
“I do, but it’s in the best interests of my new clients for me to move quickly, so I’ve gotta leave.”
Suddenly, I wasn’t nearly as mad about him breaking in as I had been just a minute ago, and I asked, “So, you came over to say goodbye rather than disappear again?”
“Yeah. I wanted to explain to you what the job entails and let you know that I’ll keep in touch as much as I can, but I’m not sure how soon I’ll be able to come back.”
“I’m not going to be here much longer, anyway. My job ends on Friday, and then I’ll be at a new one Monday after next.”
“New Orleans?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a place to stay yet?”
I sighed before I explained, “The house I was going to rent fell through, so I’ll just stay in a hotel until I find a long-term Airbnb.”
“Stay at my house.”
“What?”
“New Orleans is my home base, babe. I thought you knew that.”
“You’re from New Orleans?”
“I wasn’t raised there, but it’s where I prefer to be.”
“You own a house there?”
“I do.”
“Why did I think you had a house up north?”
“Because I do. I’ve got a couple more on the coast.”
“Which coast?”
“Both of ‘em.”
“Really?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What the hell, Ajax? Why do you have houses all over the place?”
“I might be a nomad, but I like my creature comforts.” Ajax rolled toward me and ran his fingers up my arm before he said, “I could just say that real estate is an excellent investment, but in reality, I like knowing I have a home. There’s a problem with those houses, though.”
“What’s that?”
“They don’t have you in them, and I’m not sure I want to live somewhere that doesn’t have you nearby.”
“What?” I asked as my heart started to race.
“I didn’t stutter, Ratched. I’m saying that I can’t imagine living without you, and I don’t want to.”
“But I’m . . . What are you . . .” I shook my head, puzzled, and then focused on Ajax again before I asked, “Are you saying that you want to . . . What the fuck are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I’ve never in my life tried so hard to make a woman like me, and I’m hoping that if I keep working at it, then you might love me someday. I feel like leaving is gonna fuck that up, but this case feels like something I can’t pass off, and it’s not just because of the money.”
His tone of voice and the earnest look on his face drew me in. I laid down so that I was facing him again and reached for the covers now that I realized it wasn’t a hot flash that woke me up, but a hot man. Once I was settled on my pillow facing him, I asked, “What do you mean?”
“There’s a woman who’s got some info on the man she’s divorcing. Apparently, he’s got the power and the means to shut her up, and he’s willing to do just about anything to make sure she doesn’t work with the prosecution to bring him down.”
“And you’re going to help her?”
“I want to, but that’s gonna take me away from what I’m trying to do here and . . .”
“If I told you that we could put a pause on your sucking up to me long enough for you to go do this and then you can pick up where you left off, what would you say?”
“I’d say that I believe you’re the one for me even more than I did just yesterday.”
“Really?”
“You may think I’m just some dickhead who walks around with his head up his ass while he does everything in his power to piss you off, but let me set you straight on a thing or two, Miss Ratched.”
“You can try,” I teased.
“You don’t want to be tied down to any one place anymore than I do, and even though I’m not sure why exactly, I’ve got a hunch, especially after I finally got you to talk about your ex.”
“What is your theory?”
“You wanted adventure and something more than the chilly, snow-covered hellscape we call Michigan, but your husband was content to stay there. When you finally realized that the two of you had become better friends than you were lovers, you decided to take a page from your son’s book and go on an adventure.” When I scoffed, Ajax smiled and said, “Of course, his adventure could also be called indentured servitude to the military, but you get where I’m going. He’s seeing the world - a world you had only read about until you set your mind to finding your own path.”
“I lived that and still couldn’t explain it half as well as you just did,” I conceded.
“The last thing you want is to be tied down, so you utilized that gorgeous brain of yours to find a job that could take you anywhere you want to go - namely to warmer climates while Jack Frost wreaks havoc in your hometown.” I burst out laughing at the imagery, but I couldn’t say that he was wrong. I was still giggling when he continued, “But you need a man who understands that you want to roam. What better man than a nomad like me? Every time I ride my motorcycle, I wear a cut that proclaims that to the world.”
“You don’t want to settle down?”
“Sure. I’ll settle down wherever you happen to land, and then I’ll settle down again in the next place. However, there will be times that I’ll have to go away, but I’d like to think that you’ll keep the home fires burning wherever you may be so I can find my way back to you when the job is done.”
“Are you going to take off without a word again?”
“Never.”
“And while you're gone, will it be radio silence or will I occasionally get a text or a call to let me know you’re okay?”
“I will definitely stay in touch.”
“Will I wake up to find that you’ve broken into my house to lie down with me again?”
“Wherever you are is my home, Attila. That’s what I’m trying to tell you, but you’re not getting it.”
“I think I may be,” I whispered as I moved closer to him until our bodies were touching from knee to shoulder and we were nose to nose. “Maybe you should give me a demonstration of what I can expect to happen on those times when I wake up with a nomad in my bed.”
“Gladly,” Ajax said before he gave me a punishing kiss and then rolled us so that he was lying on top of me, held up by his elbows on either side of my arms.
I could feel his cock nudging at my clit and gasped before I asked, “How did I get naked?”
“I cut your underwear off while you were sleeping,” Ajax said with a grin.
“What?Why?”
“Well, I needed a quick glimpse of that pretty pussy of yours to tide me over until I talked you into letting me see it again. I was really hoping that you’d wake up horny like you did while I was staying here before I fucked up and ran away.”
“I should have never told you that morning sex was my favorite.”
“Ratched, you didn’t have to tell me since, more than once, I woke up to you bouncing on my dick.”
“So eloquent,” I scoffed.
“Tell me you didn’t enjoy it.” When I just stared at him, he asked, “Cat got your tongue?” When I still didn’t answer, he laughed and said, “Well, if that’s the case, then I think the cat should get mine, don’t you think?”
“Huh?” I asked as he pushed up onto his hands and held himself above me. When he sat on his heels between my knees, I smiled, but the second he slid his hands underneath my ass and sucked my clit into his mouth, that smile turned into a groan.
“Holy hell, you’re good at that,” I whispered as I relaxed and let myself enjoy the feel of his hands kneading my ass as he feasted on my pussy. During the weekend we’d spent together, I’d found that sex with Ajax was a marathon, not a sprint, although the hard and fast quickies like we had enjoyed that afternoon in the kitchen were just as rewarding.
Just like the times he took me in the shower or the time he’d found me doing laundry and fucked me against the washing machine.
“Focus,” Ajax growled before he pinched my thigh.
“You focus!” I ordered. As if throwing down an imaginary gauntlet, I asked, “If I can let my thoughts trail off, then that must mean you’re not doing something right.”
His laughter vibrated my clit, but before I had a chance to really enjoy that, he pushed two fingers into my pussy and hooked them up so that the pads of his fingers touched a place deep inside me that I had never known was there before I met him. As he slowly massaged that little bundle of nerves, he focused on my clit as if it was the most important thing in the universe. I had to admit that right now, I felt like it was.
I was so focused on his mouth and fingers that it barely registered when he took his hand off my thigh. The snick of a lid opening and then closing didn’t even phase me. However, when he easily pushed his finger into my ass, I gasped and knew that was the sound of the lube that he’d purchased that weekend we’d spent together.
He took his mouth off my clit long enough to tell me, again , “Focus, Attila!”
“I can’t . . . That’s just . . . You’ve gotta start moving one or the other or both because I’m . . .” My words trailed off and ended with a shout when what I had originally thought was a finger started vibrating in my ass while he pressed on that spot deep inside me and sucked my clit between his lips and hummed.
I went off like a rocket, writhing beneath him as I tried to get away, which wasn’t possible since my hands were gripping the hair on the sides of his head. One orgasm faded just seconds before another one started to build, and I rode that wave over and over again until my voice was hoarse from screaming and my body was limp and pliable as I begged him to stop.
Of course, being the obstinate man I’d come to know, he didn’t stop. He just changed things up a bit and pulled his fingers out of my pussy as he lifted my leg up and flipped me to my side. Before I could get my bearings, he straddled my lower thigh and lifted my other one over his shoulder as he pushed his cock in to the hilt with a loud grunt.
He held me in a way that let me feel everything he was doing to me, and with his finger strumming my clit while the vibrator still hummed in my ass, his cock was almost too much for me to bear. The stretch and pull as he thrust deeply on every stroke felt fantastic, but when he started pulling the small vibe in and out of my ass in rhythm with his hips, it didn’t take long for me to crest again.
This time, Ajax took the plunge with me, and the second my body started to clutch at his, his hips started to stutter and he let out a long groan as he stilled. I was still trying to catch my breath as he gently pulled the vibrator out at the same time he pulled his hips back. My eyes closed as I felt him get off the bed and heard him walk to the bathroom.
I was half asleep as I listened to the sink turn on and then off, and my eyes fluttered open when Ajax lifted my leg and cleaned up the mess he’d made with a warm cloth.
“You’ve got time for a nap before your alarm goes off, babe, but I’ve gotta go.”
“Not yet,” I whispered as I reached up to pull him down for a kiss.
“Sleep, Sandi. I’ll call you when I can, okay?”
“Bye, Eric.”
“Not goodbye, Ratched. I’ll see you soon, but until then, I want you to dream of me.”
“I always do.”