Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 153 of 619

The cart's wheels faded down the road. Ajax stayed by the coals and watched the gate. The others carried the last sacks into the vault. Tucker came back alone, wiping his hands on his jeans. He stopped across the fire from Ajax and did not sit. "You look tired," Tucker said. "Not the kind sleep fixes." "I have a woman coming tomorrow and a seat still shut two valleys north," Ajax said. "Sleep is not on the list." Tucker glanced at the wall. Grayson was gone up the north stair. Chalam had followed Marco and Asher toward the sleeping room. Elara had gone to her cot at the cliff blind. Bran laid awake staring at Tucker’s attractive physique. "No one at the fire but us," Tucker said. He pulled his vest off and laid it on a crate. His two gold chains caught the coal light. His chest was bare under them, a fair line of hair down the middle, the gold chain bracelet on his wrist. Bran looked at him. "What are you asking." "To touch," Tucker said. "Chest. Arms. Nothing you have not let me have before. I’m amazed." Bran pulled his own shirt over his head and dropped it on the stones. He nodded once. Tucker stepped around the fire. He put a flat palm on bran’s chest, over the hair, over the heartbeat. He slid it up to the shoulder, felt the round of it, came down the arm to the wrist. He did the other side the same way. He did not rush. "You are stone," Tucker said. "Every time I put a hand on you it is more stone." "I like it," Bran smiled. Tucker's hand rested on Bran’s chest again. "When this is done, when the woman is under the ground and the seat is shut, I am buying you clothes. A proper shirt cut for these shoulders. Not that rag. And a chain of your own, gold and flat, off the port smith. You need a suitable look for the city." Bran caught Tucker's wrist and held it there against his chest. "Say it as a promise." "Promise," Tucker said. "Shirt. Chain. After." "Done," Bran said. He let the wrist go. Tucker took his hand back slow, picked up his vest, and pulled it on over the bare skin. He did not push for more. He had asked for a thing and gotten it and knew when to stop. "Sleep if you can," Tucker said, and walked toward the sleeping room. Bran stayed by the coals. His shirt lay at his feet. He left it there a while longer.