Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 354 of 619

Ajax left Aldric bent over the first tooth and walked back through the cold yard. His arms ached from the ride and the hunt. He wanted sleep. Grayson met him at the barracks door, silver chain glinting in the lamplight. Grayson had ridden beside Ajax since the first day, never once as a servant. He guarded the gate now, but he still spoke to Ajax as an equal. He looked him over and frowned. "You're stiff," Grayson said. "You'll be worse by dawn." He tipped his head toward Ajax's room. "Sit. I've done this before." Ajax stopped. "Done what?" "Worked a man's back over." Grayson did not explain further. He never did. "You need your arms for the ship days. Go." Ajax went. He pulled off his fur and sat on the edge of the bed. Grayson came in with a small clay pot of oil from Tarron's shed. He warmed it between his palms. "Down," Grayson said. Ajax lay on the bed. Grayson poured oil across his shoulders and pressed in with the heels of his hands. He worked hard, thumbs digging along the ropes of muscle. Ajax grunted. The knots gave slowly. Grayson moved down the arms, then had him turn. He rubbed oil across Ajax's chest, over the hair and the old scars, pushing deep into the muscle. His hands were steady and rough. The room was quiet except for their breathing. Ajax watched him work and did not look away. Grayson slowed. His hands stilled on Ajax's chest. He raised his eyes. Ajax met them. For a long moment neither man moved. The lamp hissed. Then Grayson bent and kissed him. It was not quick. Ajax pulled him down by the chain and held him there. The kiss went on, and neither broke it. Ajax tasted the oil on him. When they finally parted, Grayson stayed close, his hand flat on Ajax's chest. "That's new," Ajax said. "Don't make it a speech," Grayson said. He sat back on his heels. “Everyone has needs….even you.” Ajax rose on one elbow. Grayson had refused to kneel from the first day. He had sworn to the gate, not to Ajax. Every other man in the house had taken the kiss and the mark. Grayson had stood apart from all of it. Until now. "You swore to the walls," Ajax said. "Not to me." "Still true." Grayson wiped his hands on a cloth. "This is mine, not the house's. Keep it that." Ajax understood. Grayson had given something he gave no one, and he would not have it counted as an oath. "Then it stays here," Ajax said. Grayson nodded once and stood. He capped the oil pot and set it on the shelf. At the door he paused. "Sleep," he said. "Aldric wakes you when the coat's off the bench." He left. Ajax lay back, loose and warm, and turned the moment over. His last man apart had crossed to him on his own terms. The house was whole now, gate and all. He closed his eyes and slept.