Chapter 6
Chapter Six
F inn
A strange sort of agitated restlessness colored everything Finn had done over the weekend. He couldn’t relax, often getting up to pace his apartment and the whole time, he thought about Ivor and all his ‘in the face’ sexuality. It wasn’t that Finn felt he wasn’t as sexy; it was just the other preternatural’s magic was sex.
And Ajax might be human, but he had more raw sexuality than any other human Finn had ever met. Finn spent half the weekend watching videos of the man singing. It was like he couldn’t help himself. His moves were slow, but he still managed to pump those hips to heavy, rocking beats—his utter sensuality blatant in both his body and powerful voice. He commanded the stage in a way that kept a person mesmerized, a way that said he owned that venue. That commanding presence was there in the man himself, yet he seemed softer in person, more approachable.
Too fucking approachable.
By the time Finn drove back to Ajax, he was a bundle of nerves—something entirely new to him. He wasn’t one for worrying or anxiety. He took life as it came. So now he felt like he wasn’t in his own skin, like he’d somehow disassociated from his normal self. He’d been like this since right before meeting Ajax, and it had only grown.
He didn’t like it.
Just as he wasn’t sure how to feel about the pure need to be back around Ajax. He wanted to be in the house with the man somewhere close by.
And he definitely wanted Ivor away from him.
When he parked and got out, Ivor opened the front door, greeting him with a wide, white-toothed smile. He had dark brown skin and long, thick black hair he was currently wearing loose. He stood as tall as Finn, but was built leaner, with a wiry, toned frame currently in tight jeans and a gray Henley. He reminded Finn of Xavier with his elegance, not to mention the hair. But that’s where the comparison ended. Ivor, unlike Xavier, was an open book, his genuinely friendly personality always on display.
“Hey, Finn, enjoy your weekend?”
“It was fine. How’s Ajax?”
“That very sexy man is inside singing like an angel. I wouldn’t mind hanging around here more than two days at a time. He’s a feast for the eyes and the ears.”
Finn had to resist the urge to growl at his friend, but did throw him a fierce frown.
Ivor cocked his head and studied Finn closely. “I take it you’re not immune?”
He sighed because he was kind of being a dick, and Ivor was a good friend who didn’t deserve the repercussions of his mixed-up thoughts. “I’m well aware. Have you seen him on stage?”
Ivor nodded. “Been to two concerts. I’ve been a long-time fan. The stuff I’ve heard this past weekend is so different—but just as good.” He shut the door behind him and lowered his voice. “Did you know that the human Callan is with is his true soulmate?”
Finn nodded, thinking of his demon friend and his new human mate. “Wild, isn’t it? It’s the same for Bain and Alaric. Gotta wonder how long Xavier has known that humans can bond with us for life.”
“I’m so intrigued. Just knowing this has opened up, well…everything. Anyone could be my soulmate. I wish I had some way of knowing, but incubi don’t have a signal as far as I know. Not like Callan and his horns. I wish my parents were alive to ask. I haven’t even seen another incubus in many years.”
“It’s the same for me. No parents, no others like me around here. Surely there’d be some way to tell, but I have no answers for you, my friend.”
“I don’t even know if my kind could live with one mate. Any mate I have would have to be okay with me feeding from others.” A sort of bleak sadness flitted through his expression. “It would be nice to not be alone so much, though.” He cocked his head, sending his long hair to slide over his shoulder. “You prefer being alone, don’t you?”
“I did,” Finn answered, then admitted, “But seeing our friends so happy has me rethinking that.”
“Same, though as I said, I see no way past the feeding thing. Having a true partner for me is probably not something that could happen.” He tucked his hair behind his ear. “Anyway, it was all quiet here. Just music and me getting a kick out of guarding Ajax Craig himself.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice even more. “But damn, he can’t cook.”
Finn had to chuckle because he’d come to that conclusion himself. He hefted his bag of clean clothes higher on his shoulder and walked up the steps. “So, see you next weekend?”
“Yeah. Look forward to it. I just have to grab my things then I’ll be off.” Ivor opened the front door, and the sound of Ajax’s guitar filled the air with a haunting melody.
The music chased away Finn’s restlessness instantly, and he halted in the entryway because for some inexplicable reason, he felt like he’d come home. This was a rented house, and he was on a job, so that made absolutely no sense. Until he realized that just being in the same place as Ajax could be causing the feeling. A need to see him filled Finn, and he barely held his patience as Ivor grabbed his bag out of the guest room and then took his time leaving. Finn wanted to shove him out the door.
But he didn’t.
Once Ivor was gone, Finn slowly followed the sound of the music, finding Ajax in his favorite spot in the nook at the back of the house. He was strumming his guitar and humming, curled up in the big, beige chair in the corner and dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt. This one was a deep green that complemented the eyes that lit up when Finn stopped in the room’s doorway.
“Hey, you,” Ajax said softly, a smile tilting his lips. “Enjoy your weekend?”
“I did,” Finn lied. “Just wanted to let you know I was back. Everything going okay?”
“I got a lot done over the weekend, so all’s good with me. Wrote some killer lyrics.”
“Can’t wait to hear them,” Finn admitted. He started to shuffle his feet but forced himself to stay still. He wanted to stay in this room with Ajax and just breathe him in. As it was, he couldn’t stop his gaze from running over the man, like he’d been away longer than two days.
Fuck, his feelings were confusing the hell out of him. So, he gave Ajax the dorkiest salute ever and left to patrol the grounds.
That night, he walked into the living room to find Ajax sprawled onto the rug in front of the fireplace with one of those sexy, bare feet propping up a leg. His T-shirt had ridden up, leaving his flat stomach exposed. He’d closed his eyes and draped one arm over his head, which threw his biceps into an intriguing curve.
Did the man have no inkling how unbelievably sexy he was?
Finn stood, leaning against the wall, unable to take his gaze off the rock star, who kind of reminded him of a sloth. He always moved so slowly, and he seemed to drape himself over furniture and often just stretched out on the floor. He had this inherent provocativeness that had Finn’s body staying highly alert.
“Why don’t you sit and play with me?” Ajax asked, opening one eye to look at Finn.
Play with him ? He wanted nothing more.
“How’s your knowledge of bands?”
Finn shrugged as he settled on the couch, his heavy body sinking into the cushions. “Okay. Not that good, actually. I listen to mostly game soundtracks.”
“I love game soundtracks. Games, too, though it’s been a long time since I played any.”
“Why’d you ask about my band knowledge?”
“Another kind of game I play while on the road with the band. I’m the reigning champ.”
“How does it work?”
Ajax stretched, his biceps flexing. “We play the openings of songs and try to guess the band quickly. Before anyone else.”
“There’s just two of us.”
Ajax ran his fingers over his exposed stomach absentmindedly. Finn’s gaze stuck there as he imagined tracing that same path with his tongue. Tracing it up to explore the serpent tattoo on his ribs.
“Then we’ll just challenge each other. I’ll show you.” He picked his phone up off the floor and messed around with it a moment before a song started. “Know who this is?”
Finn listened, easily recognizing the melody. “I know the lyrics and the title. ‘Dust in the Wind.’” He wracked his brain. “Sorry. Blanking on the band.”
“Kansas. What decade had your favorite music?”
“I actually liked the seventies, so let’s stick with that, though really, I won’t be good at this.”
“Want me to guess first then?” He sat up and held his phone out. “You can use my app. Try to challenge me.”
Finn stayed in the seventies since it was before Ajax was born, but no matter what he played, the man barked out the band within a couple of chords.
Led Zeppelin.
Black Sabbath.
Steely Dan.
Ramones.
Chicago.
He even tried to trip Ajax up with disco and the softer music of The Carpenters, but he got every single one right. So Finn moved to the eighties, then the fifties and sixties. Didn’t matter. He dropped the phone on the cushion beside him. “Holy shit, you know your music.”
Ajax chuckled. “My parents played music all the time, and they had eclectic taste, so I was exposed to it all.”
“Are you still close to them?”
“Very. Even bought them a new house I had to work hard to persuade them to take.”
“Are they in New York, too?”
Ajax nodded. “I’ve always lived there, though I’m in the city and they’re about an hour out of it. I see them as much as I can, but I travel most of the time.” He rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand. A strand of wavy brown hair fell over one eye. “What about you?”
“I never knew my parents.”
“I’m sorry. What happened—if you don’t mind me asking?”
Finn shrugged. “Have no idea. I was found wandering a shipyard when I was seven years old. No memories before that.”
“That must be so hard. Did a family take you in? What happened?”
“I grew up in different orphanages. So I was…moved a lot.” That was an understatement, but he was surprised he was sharing this much.
“I’m sorry again.”
“I kept up the habit after I finally ran away from a place at fifteen. Traveled and didn’t really settle until I moved here and took this job—” A sound outside grabbed his attention. He closed his eyes, and sure enough, his senses sent him a warning. He jumped to his feet. “Something’s up. Stay here, and I’ll be back.”
Ajax sat up and nodded, his expression concerned.
Finn strode to the front door. He wasn’t particularly worried about some crazy fan, so he didn’t turn to vapor once out of Ajax’s sight. He headed in the direction where he felt something happening, and soon the sound of crunching leaves met his ears. He jogged that way, spotting a couple of teenaged girls helping a third over the fence. He stopped behind them, crossed his arms, and cleared his throat.
One of them shrieked and spun around, leaving the third dangling on the fence.
Finn lifted an eyebrow.
“We heard Ajax Craig is here,” the shrieker said in a rush. “We just wanted to see him.”
“You don’t think whoever lives here deserves their privacy?”
“We weren’t going to bother him,” the third said as she dropped and landed on her ass with a grunt. She brushed off the seat of her jeans as she stood.
“So you planned to what? Peek in the windows?”
“Told you this was a bad idea,” the last one murmured.
“Come with me,” Finn ordered. “You should be ashamed of yourselves. If he were here, he’d deserve his privacy.”
“You’re saying he’s not here?”
“I’m saying that the people who live here don’t need you climbing their fence. It’s time to leave.”
He led the dejected teens to the gate and made sure they weren’t watching as he keyed in the code, then watched them leave. He knew fame came with a price, but he still couldn’t understand why people believed they had a right to just barge into someone’s life like this.
He’d seen it before, of course. Ajax wasn’t his first famous client. There’d been that last job with the diva who’d never been without his phone. He’d welcomed the invasion of his privacy.
Ajax was so very different. In so many ways.
When he got back inside, Ajax was moving around in the kitchen, the scent of sautéing onions in the air, so Finn walked down the hall that led to the kitchen. Ajax appeared in the doorway and leaned slowly against the jamb.
“Was someone out there?”
“Yeah, some teenagers. One actually seemed properly ashamed so there’s hope for her.”
“So, my whereabouts are out,” he said softly, then sighed as he walked back to the onions. “It always happens, but I thought I’d have more time. How did you know someone was inside the fence?”
Finn walked into the kitchen. He couldn’t very well tell him he could sense them climbing the fence. “Just a gut feeling. Comes in handy with my job.”
“I bet.” Ajax grinned as he used a wooden spoon to stir. “Dinner won’t take long. Hopefully it’s better than last night’s. Your friend, Ivor, was polite, but it was seriously bad. This one smells better already.”
Turned out it smelled way better than it tasted. Bland was the only description Finn could come up with as he tried a third bite of the chicken.
“This sauce actually tastes like nothing. How can something with all those ingredients taste like nothing?” Ajax scowled and shoved his plate away. “Okay, that’s the third recipe I tried off one site. And the chef is popular. I can’t understand why. I followed the recipe exactly.” He shook his head. “This is what I get for doing recipes with easy in the title. I’m sorry, Finn.”
Finn picked up the salt and sprinkled a liberal amount over the food. “It’s still nice that you’re trying. Still a hot, filling meal.”
“That tastes like paper. How about I order us something else?” Ajax pushed away from the table and carried his plate into the kitchen. “You’d have to meet them at the gate.”
“Ajax, I don’t mind eating this.” He put a little more salt on it. Then grabbed the pepper.
“I’m going to have a sandwich. Flavorless food gives me texture issues. And tomorrow night, I’ll use a recipe from a different chef. Something that doesn’t have easy in the title.”
“You really don’t have to cook for me. Most clients don’t.”
“I wanted to learn while I was here anyway.” He’d built himself a thick roast beef sandwich he brought back to the table. He moaned when he took a bite of the sandwich, the noise going straight to Finn’s groin.
He abruptly stood, ignoring Ajax’s startled look and took his plate to the sink. “I’m going outside to make sure we don’t have any more trying to climb the fence.”
“Okay,” Ajax said slowly.
Finn felt the man’s eyes on him as he walked out of the kitchen.