LOGINAjax's POV What I saw didn’t make me feel any better. This was obviously the master bedroom, but all it had was a bed. The few things on the wall seemed generic and looked more like a real estate agent had put them up to sell the house, rather than them being picked with any sort of care. But all my focus was on the floor.Ryden was on his back, Guy on top of him, his bodyweight pinning him down while he kissed Ryden, whether Ryden wanted it or not. Ryden was whimpering underneath him, trying to push him off but seeming like he wasn’t able to put much effort into it. Even my entrance hadn’t stopped Guy from what he wanted, whatever it was. He hadn’t even noticed me.Fury burned through me and I grabbed Guy by his shoulder, yanking him off and not caring that I sent him slamming into the wall. He deserved it. Once I was certain Guy wasn’t going to give me any immediate trouble, I went to Ryden, helping him sit up. He was struggling to focus, his words slurring and the worry that was p
Ajax’s POVI slammed the book down on my desk, not even remembering the title. I’d read the same passage four times and was thoroughly sick of it.The fact I couldn’t recall a single word didn’t help. It didn’t shake the dread that had coalesced inside me, that I couldn’t shake no matter what I did. I’d run three extra miles, checked on Bram who seemed to be having his own problems, and all the while wondered if Ryden was sleepingsoundly in his bed, unconcerned about his bodyguard going crazy.I knew he was asleep, at least, because I could hear his snoring through the thin wall of the condo. Each noise reverberated deep in my bones, adding to the symphony that was everything else and driving me crazy.Usually, when I got like this, I called Bram or Mack, spilled everything to them and asked for help. But I’d already waxed and waned over Ryden twice this week and since it was such a sensitive subject, I wasn’t comfortable doing it more. They were my buddies, but falling for a client
Instead, I was standing pressed against Ajax, in his arms, feeling warm and protected. Slowly, like I was drawn to him, I lifted my head, wanting to see his green eyes, wanting confirmation that he was alive and well like I was. He was, and he was looking at me with the same intense gaze. It was like it was earlier, except the amusement was gone and in its place was a double-dose of heat and protection. I swallowed thickly, trying to get my suddenly clumsy tongue to work.“I owe you more than one now,” I managed.Ajax swallowed, and I was close enough I could see his Adam’s apple bob. I wanted to touch his skin, wanted to taste it, wanted to lick him all over and take my time. Before I realized it, my hand was touching his jawline, and I was stroking my fingertips down it before going to his mouth, and I had just put my fingertips on the softness of his lips—but suddenly I was touching air, Ajax standing a foot back.“Okay,” Ajax said, false cheer bright in his voice. “Let’s go get th
Ryden’s POV“Moby Dick was a whale and a boat,” the professor declared. Sure, he didn’t simplify it quite that much, but after hearing Ajax use ‘blah blah blah’ to describe half of what our professors were going on and on about, I found I got a lot of entertainment out of mocking our particularly boring professors during lecture. “Ajax?”I jerked out of my thoughts and turned to look at my bodyguard, who looked entirely unimpressed. There were eight of us sitting around a table, and everyone was staring at him, clearly waiting for an answer to a question that had been asked that I had not heard. Go figure.Ajax shrugged and raised his chin defiantly, although if you looked deep, there was a hint of insecurity in his eyes. “I didn’t care for the book, so I don’t know.” A pause. “I’d rather read the manual for a fridge.”Someone snorted, I didn’t see who, and the disapproval on the professor’s face deepened. He looked like someone had peed in his Cheerios, or whatever the Americanism
I started the car, adjusting the radio in consideration of the fact there was now a second person in the car and it wasn’t just me listening to whatever the fuck I wanted in an attempt to not think about what had gone on inside. Play it cool, I told myself. Cool.“Hey, I had a question about the reading we have on Hemingway.”Ryden hummed acknowledgment but didn’t look my direction. I was torn. Had Guy hurt him, and I needed to go rip him in half? Or had Ryden done something with Guy, and he was still a bit sex-drunk? His hair looked normal and I couldn’t see any hickeys, but it was dark.I dragged myself away from that train of thought before I let the jealousy fester more.“Is it the whole chapter or just certain pages?” I had no idea what I was asking, really. I had already done the reading, but I hadn’t been able to come up with anything else.“The whole chapter,” Ryden answered. He still wouldn’t look at me.We were most of the way home before I tried speaking again, because at t
Ajax’s POVI’d found a new method of torture: having to sit in the driveway of the guy who’d been hitting on your client and waiting. Waiting while you had no idea what was going on, if Ryden had finally realized what Guy wanted, if they’d kissed. If they’d done more. As a bodyguard, it gave me the creeps. I hated being this far away from my client, especially when they were one-on-one with someone we hadn’t done a thorough background check on, but Ryden had been explicit in his orders. I had to remain inconspicuous, and inviting me on what Guy probably figured was a datewas definitely not that.I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, staring at the light next to Guy’s door. It’d only been an hour and I was going crazy, wondering what they were up to. Out of desperation, I grabbed my phone and dialed my best friend. Bram had gotten a new assignment at the same time I had, but if I was lucky, he’d be free to talk. Plus, I knew he was sharing the assignmentwith Mack, another goo







