Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 126 of 619

The sleeping rider was tied in the back room. Chalam sat with him. Ajax stepped into the hall to think about the ride to the walls, and Tucker was waiting there with his shoulder to the wall and one thumb hooked in his belt. "Got a minute," Tucker said. It was not a question. Ajax stopped. "Talk." Tucker held up his hand. The ring sat on his palm that changes a Man’s identity. Tucker said. "I'm giving it to you. For Marco." Ajax waited. "He's been carrying the dead man's face all morning," Tucker said. "He needs a minute where he's just him. I want to give him that. And I want something back." "What." "You. Alone. Long enough for a proper kiss." Tucker's mouth moved into something close to a smile. "Ring's the price. Take it or don't." Ajax weighed it. Marco could use the ring and his mental powers to benefit the group in the future. "Vest off," Ajax said. Tucker's eyebrow lifted. "You said a price," Ajax said. "That's mine. Vest off. I want to see what I'm paying for." Tucker laughed once, low. He unbuckled the vest and hung it on the peg. The two flat chains caught the lamp. He set the ring on the small table between them and stepped back so Ajax could look and flexed his biceps. Ajax put his hand flat on Tucker's chest. He moved it to the shoulder and down along the arm. Tucker flexed hard under his palm. The muscle rose hard and warm. "Good," Ajax said. "Take the ring first," Tucker said. "So you know I mean it." Ajax picked up the ring and put it in his pocket. Then he took Tucker by the back of the neck and kissed him. Tucker kissed back without hurry. He tasted like the coffee he'd been pouring downstairs. His hand found Ajax's jaw and held it there. Ajax pushed him against the wall and kept him there through the next kiss and the one after. When Ajax stepped back, Tucker was breathing through his nose. "Worth it," Tucker said. "Put your vest on," Ajax said. "We ride at dark." Tucker reached for the vest. Ajax went down the hall to the back room. Marco looked up from the chair beside the sleeping rider. His face was his own again, tired around the eyes. Ajax laid the plain gray ring on the table between them. "I bartered with Tucker for this," Ajax said. "It's yours now. No one wears it without me knowing." Marco nodded once. He did not ask how Ajax had gotten it. He looked at the ring, then at Ajax, and went back to watching the rider breathe.