But he would be until we trusted Az, and that certainly wasn’t going to ever happen. Was it?
“What was the focus of your training today?” Ajax asked as he peered down at me.
His gaze jerked to Az before I could answer, making me assume that Az had answered mentally. They seemed to talk for a while until Ajax frowned.
Az’s features were unreadable as he molted into his beast form and then ashed out of view.
Az?I asked, but he’d put a wall up again.
“What did you say to him?” I murmured as I tried not to fall asleep on Ajax out of sheer exhaustion.
Ajax narrowed his dark blue eyes as he regarded me. “I asked him why his beast looked like he wanted to peck my eyes out. He said he would handle it, then added that we needed time to heal, so he was going to give it to us.”
“Then why do you look so pissed?” That didn’t sound so bad.
“Because his bird is damn disrespectful.”
I sighed. “Ajax.” Whatever else they’d discussed had really pissed him off.
Had he found out about the breeding issue?
What breeding issue?Ajax asked with quiet lethality.
Shit.
“It’s… I don’t want to talk about that right now. Whatever just happened between you guys, can we make it a truce? I don’t want this to turn into a dick-measuring contest.”
“We’re not measuring dicks,” Ajax said with a straight face.
I rolled my eyes, then closed them because everythinghurt.
“He’s doing what we asked of him. Lucifer hasn’t come to burn this place to the ground, we weren’t dragged back to Hell, and Az and his Phoenix have been trying. He started my training, even though I’m not entirely sure I learned much today.”
Other than the fact that I’m not going to survive a one-on-one fight against Lucifer.
I felt like that was something I already knew, but tonight’s training really made that hit home.
Ajax huffed. “He thinks just because he mated you, he can have you.”
“And my babies,” I murmured, nuzzling into him.Gods, he smells so good. Like mint. I should lather him with white rum and see if he tastes like a mojito.
Ajax raised an eyebrow. “What? Is that what you meant bybreeding?” he asked, startling me from my strangely specific fantasy.
“Yes? No? Just… I’m too tired for this conversation, Ajax,” I murmured.
A low growl vibrated in his chest, but he didn’t press me further regarding my comment about babies. “Anyway. I’ll still help you with that bath and massage, if you want it. I’ve had… a day.”
I blinked up at him through bleary eyes. “Where did you go?”
I most certainly wanted to take him up on his offer, but now I was curious.
He shrugged. “I’ll tell you, but first, let’s get you washed up. You smell like a toasted marshmallow.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he said, a small smile appearing on his kissable lips.
He carried me to the oversized bathroom and helped me undress and untangle my twisted ponytail. It felt natural, like we did this every day.