“We should get on the bike again,” he said. “You want to go for another ride or head back to the house?”

  She wanted to taste him, but that wasn’t on offer. Still, the need to know what he tasted like was boiling inside her.

  Ajax didn’t seem like the type to back away from anything, so why was he backing up from her now?

  Still, slowing down was probably the right choice, to be honest. She’d probably agree with him when she calmed down.

  After all, getting involved with anyone was a bad idea. For now, she’d just lie low at Dragonclaw and try to keep her hands to herself.

  “Okay, let’s head back,” she said, taking his hand and standing up.

  Even that touch was electric, but as they walked to the bike together, Olivia promised herself she would stay strong.

  They still had a mission, after all.

  8

  Ajax frowned as he stepped through the front door of the guesthouse he and Olivia were sharing at Dragonclaw.

  It had been two days since their night out on the motorcycle together, and there still hadn’t been any news from the double dragons about what they had found in the mines.

  That oddly familiar teal poison.

  They’d loaded it off to one of their labs for analysis, so Ajax still hadn’t told anyone about his suspicions.

  Even if he did, he didn’t know what they would think. If they would even believe him. He wasn’t even certain he was right.

  What bothered him more lately was that Olivia seemed completely content to stay locked up in their house in near-complete isolation, watching TV and reading books.

  As a general loner, he could understand where she was coming from, but this was getting a little ridiculous. She’d barely left her room to go outside for two full days.

  And when she had, it felt like she strategically chose times when she could avoid him.

  He understood why.

  That night under the stars had been magical, and the feelings that had welled in him when his lips had almost touched hers… well, he’d never felt anything like them before.

  But he’d already given up on the idea of taking a mate. And Olivia seemed to be the last person who would want one.

  He’d done extensive research on how to find a mate, but all the research had helped him conclude in the end was that mating wasn’t for a creature like him.

  Women didn’t want something like him.

  Something that craved violence and only got hungrier as it fed.

  Unlike the other basilisks, he was truly savage inside. That was why he’d merely been resolved to focus on taking dangerous missions where he could be useful.

  And feel alive.

  But damn, he’d felt alive in that moment when he’d been about to kiss her.

  It had almost felt right, but then he’d known it would be wrong.

  She was there for a mission, nothing more.

  Besides, if the possessive monster in him got ahold of her… he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to let go.

  Still, even if he knew how things had to be, he hated the tension between them, though he had no idea how to resolve it.

  Even now, he was tense, still drawn to her. He found himself thinking about her, wondering what she was thinking, and always worrying about her well-being.

  Mate, his basilisk growled.

  Shut up, Ajax thought back.

  Thoughts like that did him no good.

  When he got to the living room, he found her sitting on the couch in sweats and a hoodie, watching some TV show and munching on a granola bar. He was surprised she’d even left her room.

  By her side sat several wrappers from her prepackaged spree that she seemed to think constituted a balanced diet.

  “So this is not just a mission but also a chance for a vacation for you?” he asked, leaning over the couch and cocking an eyebrow at her.

  “Yeah,” she said, casting him an annoyed look before turning back to the TV. “I work hard and deserve to relax how I like. Now stop interrupting me please.”

  Ajax let out a grunt. “No.”

  She sat up slightly and looked over at him. “What?” Her tone was irritated. About the kiss? Or about him interrupting her?

  “This is not a vacation. A vacation is fun, not just watching TV alone.”

  She just shrugged and turned back to the screen.

  Dammit.

  Why did she have to be so stubborn? It was endearing and infuriating at the same time.

  He paused, leaning over the couch and watching with her for a second. “Let’s get some real breakfast at the ranch house. After, a few people are going for a horseback ride on the mesa. We should join them.”

  Olivia shook her head. “Horses don’t agree with me.”

  “Okay, then some others are going Christmas tree shopping later in the afternoon. We should join them,” he offered, already guessing her answer.

  She shook her head. “Nah, you can go, though, if you want.”

  Ajax rubbed his eyes, praying for patience. She had to be the most stubborn person alive. More stubborn than Diesel. Still, watching her glare at the TV, he couldn’t really think that she was enjoying herself, inside doing nothing like this. She didn’t seem happy at all.

  Plus, it was clear that she held back in any setting that didn’t have to do with work.

  Maybe she just… needed a little push.

  Smirking, he realized the perfect way to do it, so he leaned down and lifted one side of the couch to dump her—as gently as he could—onto the floor.

  She looked up at him with a shocked gasp as her body fought gravity and then tilted, despite her attempts to grab at the couch. She rolled onto the ground on her butt, then stared up at him with flames of rage in her eyes.

  “What the hell was that for?” she yelled at him. Then she looked down at the ground next to the couch and scowled. “You ruined my protein bar and my freeze-dried apples. What’s gotten into you?”

  Ajax returned her glare. She wasn’t the only one that could be stubborn. “We’re going into town.”

  Olivia cocked her head. “With the others?”

  “No. Just you and me,” Ajax said.

  Her eyes went wide for a second. Then she shook her head. “No way, not happening.”

  “Yes, it is. We’re going to get you a real meal. Then we’re going shopping, and that’s final.”

  Olivia looked taken aback, and for a second, interest flickered in her gaze. Then she slumped slightly. “Nope, I need to stay here and wait for updates from the double dragons.” She fell back on the couch. “Besides, this is how I vacation.”

  He gave her another stern glare. “You really want to watch another show you’ve seen already? I dare you to tell me it’s really that enjoyable.”

  She looked at him, taken aback, and he held her gaze. Then she gulped, seeming to realize that resistance was futile. “Where would we be going shopping?”

  “Somewhere you’d like,” Ajax said.

  “I want to know where,” she retorted.

  He shook his head. “Only people who join me for a real breakfast get access to that information.”

  Olivia glared at him, her sparkling brown eyes narrowing. Ajax just stared back, refusing to be cowed. Tension flared between them, thick and magnetic.

  He had her hooked. He knew it.

  He shrugged, feigning disinterest. “Or I can just get you another protein bar, and I’ll go myself. Your choice.”

  “Fine, I’ll be ready in ten minutes,” she said, getting up from the couch and shooting him a glare as she made her way up the stairs.

  Ajax just chuckled and shook his head. Olivia was the most beautiful, fascinating, confusing human he had ever met.

  It really was too bad he couldn’t be her mate.

  9

  Olivia paused as she stared down at the huge, brightly lit glass case of knives in front of her.

  She didn’t think she had ever seen so many in one place, and that was saying something, given how many shifter missions she had been on.

  All types of handles and blades in a multitude of different finishes called to her.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ajax watching her, the side of his mouth turned up in a self-satisfied grin.

  Fine, so he’d read her well. So what? It didn’t mean she’d forgive him for remorselessly tipping her and her precious snacks off the couch and then insisting she go out with him.

  Except that now that she was out, she was a little glad he’d been so insistent about it.

  No one else had ever had the audacity to go against her like that.

  Breakfast this morning had been delicious, served in a small, homey café in town, and now they were at the local western goods store, shopping around the various items and novelties the shop had to offer.

  After taking a good look at all of the knives, she leaned back up and cocked an eyebrow at him. “How did you know I like knives?”

  “Easy. You always have one on you,” he said, giving her a cocky smile.

  Olivia looked down at her leg where there was, indeed, a knife hidden beneath her pant leg. She never went anywhere without it. Years of working with the double dragons had taught her that you could never be too prepared.

  And that you could cut yourself out of just about every sticky situation.

  She frowned. “Wait, how did you know?”

  Ajax laughed. “I can hear it clink slightly when you walk.”

  “Ah,” she said. “So your hearing is really good, then, because no one has ever said that before.”

  “A basilisk thing,” he said. “We can also read vibrations in the earth.”

  Not someone to sneak up on, then. Noted.

  Ajax’s eyes narrowed as he peered at her. “Still, why do you carry around a knife when you have other, more powerful weapons?”

  She guessed he meant her anti-shifter gear. She turned back to the display case. “A knife was what saved me from the first wolf attack that night when I was working as a security guard. Besides, most shifters heal too fast for normal bullets to be effective. Knives create wounds that are harder to heal from because they slide through organs without resistance, unlike bullets,” she said, tapping the glass with one finger.

  He stared at her for a moment, seeming genuinely impressed. Then a smirk raised the corner of his gorgeous lips. “So you could have done some serious damage to me that first day we met?”

  “Absolutely,” Olivia replied with a laugh.

  Ajax glared at her playfully. “I’ll have to be careful. Never know what you might have up your sleeve.”

  “I guess I’m full of surprises too,” she said, grinning up at him, genuinely enjoying their exchange.

  His eyes met hers, and heat sparked. “You could say that.” Then, before the moment could continue, he cleared his throat and walked over to a rack that held a wide variety of Stetsons and other Western-style hats.

  “What? You getting a new hat, cowboy?” she asked, walking over to join him.

  He cocked an eyebrow, amused, and shook his head, then grabbed a cream-colored one and fitted it over her head.

  It was a good thing she had her hair in a casual, low ponytail today.

  “If you’re going to be here on the ranch for a while, you might as well have an outfit or two,” he said, eyeing her in the hat.

  Olivia bent down slightly to look into the mirror. She actually didn’t look half bad with the hat on, to be honest.

  She stood back up and eyed him skeptically. “Me? What about you? All I’ve seen you wear is jeans and leather jackets.”

  It was in fact what he was wearing today, hilariously enough. Black jeans and his black leather jacket over a faded red T-shirt, which contrasted nicely with his eyes.

  Olivia really wasn’t going to complain, though. She loved the way his legs looked in those jeans, though she was really beginning to like a lot of things about him, if she were being honest.

  His straightforwardness, his stubbornness, the way his eyes watched her so carefully and astutely, almost as though he could see right through her. That insanely muscular body.

  He snorted. “I have ranch clothes; I just prefer my leather jackets. And no one tells a basilisk how to dress.”

  “And I thought no one could tell me to go outside. I guess we’re both expanding our horizons today,” Olivia said smugly, turning and grabbing an armful of clothes and shoving them into his arms. “Let’s have a competition.”

  Ajax looked down at the various articles of clothing in his arms and frowned. “Competition?”

  Olivia walked around, grabbing a variety of things for herself, including an extremely ostentatious belt buckle. “We’ll see who can dress more like Clancy.”

  “That fancy bastard?” Ajax’s eyebrows narrowed. Then he looked around the store seriously. “You’re on.”

  Olivia laughed at that, then rushed for the changing room excitedly. She hadn’t had this much fun in… well, forever. Cutting loose for her meant going out for takeout, not competing with a hot guy over who could imitate the most over-the-top gunslinger dragon.

  Right as she pulled open the door to the changing room, she saw Ajax grab one or two extra things, then shoot her a confident smirk as he headed toward his own room.

  Oh, it was so on now.

  She set the stuff down on the stool in the room, then eyed it, wondering what she should try on first.

  Probably the jeans.

  Olivia thought she had grabbed the right size, but who could tell? A place that sold knives and clothes wasn’t likely to be particular. When she got them on, she realized they were a bit tight, but she did like the way they accentuated her curves.

  Next came the work shirt. She pulled it over her shoulders and buttoned it up, then looked in the mirror and laughed at how much fun she was having. Then she put on the cream-colored Stetson, a Western-style necktie made of turquoise and silver, a pair of bright, sparkling cowboy boots, and a belt with a gleaming buckle the size of Texas.

  Yup, with all of this on, she really looked the part.

  Not even Clancy could outdo her.

  When she opened the door to step out, she found Ajax standing outside, checking himself out in the mirror, and she could barely contain the urge to burst out laughing.

  He looked like the hottest yet somehow most awkward rancher she had ever seen. He was wearing blue jeans with a black button-up work shirt and cowboy boots. On his waist hung a belt with a buckle shaped like a gold bull’s head, which he wouldn’t stop readjusting in the mirror.

  Olivia had to admit that she definitely preferred his combat boots and leather, but he also made one hell of a cowboy, all tall and dark and handsome.

  His eyes widened when he saw her. Then his gaze moved over her body almost as if he were drinking in every last detail.

  For a few seconds, he just stood there, blinking.

  “Speechless? Does that mean I win?” Olivia asked, posing and turning in a circle.

  Ajax slowly nodded, and for a second, she saw bare thirst in his eyes as he drank her in as if he had just crossed a desert and not seen water in days, and she was some kind of mystical spring.

  “You look…” Ajax trailed off, composing himself and putting a hand under his chin.

  She cocked an eyebrow. “Ridiculous?”

  His brows lowered. “No. Stunning. You are always beautiful, but now especially. Those clothes definitely suit you.”

  Olivia snorted and looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment. “Get real.”

  “I am being real,” he said, his face deadly serious. “You should keep them as a souvenir and wear them around Dragonclaw. You’ll fit right in.”

  “Will I?” She turned back, taking another look at herself in the mirror and then glancing back at Ajax. He really wasn’t the type to lie, and even if he were, his eyes definitely didn’t because he hadn’t taken them off of her since she had exited the changing room.

  He wanted her, despite his abrupt withdrawal the other night. So why had he pushed her away?

  She still wasn’t sure.

  On top of that, Olivia wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of wearing the clothes to “fit in.” What was the point in getting close if she was just going to leave soon?

  Either way, it was about time she got out of these clothes. She felt more overdressed than she ever had in her life.

  “Don’t put them back,” she heard Ajax say from the other side as she got changed.

  She paused. “Why?”

  “Because,” was his usual cryptic response.

  When Olivia stepped out holding the outfit in her arms, Ajax was waiting for her, back in his usual attire. He walked over and took the clothes from her and began to walk toward the cash register.

  “What’re you doing?” she asked.

  “Buying these for you,” he said, giving her a look over his shoulder that made it seem like it was obvious.

  Her mouth fell open. He had been serious about her having them? She’d thought he’d been joking.

  “You really don’t have to. I doubt I’ll ever wear them again when I leave.”

  Ajax’s eyes darkened for a second, then returned to their normal shade of red as he shrugged. “Just wear them for me, then.”

  Why did that feel oddly intimate?

  Ajax rubbed the back of his neck. “At the ranch, I mean. Until you leave.”

  She smiled up at him, appreciating everything he’d done for her already. Though she knew it wasn’t, the whole situation felt a bit like a date.

  And she didn’t mind that.

  Ajax turned back to the register and paid for the clothing but then turned around so fast to leave he nearly ran into her.

  Suddenly, they found themselves nose to nose, the tension rising. The heat unbearable.

  The pull between them felt like it was about to break her.

  “You ready to go to our next location?” he asked, breaking the tension and turning to leave, leading the way out into the sunlight.

  She sucked in a relieved breath. “Yes, of course.”