My legs felt weak at just the sight of Ajax kneeling in front of me. It seemed like those intense eyes were glowing in the dark and the way the moon shone onto his bare skin made him look like a god. He was all firm muscle, arrogance, and heat. And I could feel the heaviness of his breath every time he exhaled. He was close. So close. All I had to do was run my fingers through his thick hair and pull him in. I already knew that he would let me because he would want to be touched and to touch as much as I did.

But just as I reached up I felt his fingers skim their way up the side my exposed calves. My hands frozen while the rest of my body succumbed to a shiver of pleasure. The warmth of his fingers against the cool night air was wonderful. And as his hands crept upward the pleasure only intensified. My head almost dipped backwards in bliss but I didn't want to reveal how much power he had over me now that I had gotten him like this.

"Tell me what you want," he murmured.

My lips quivered as I tried to form a response. My mind wanted one thing while my body needed another. There were a thousand dirty suggestions that were on the very tip of my tongue. But by some miracle of strength, my mind won out.

"I want you to apologize," I whispered.

If Ajax was surprised by my response he certainly did an impressive job hiding it. his fingers didn't falter for a second. They continued to roam up and down my smooth legs. I could make out the faintest smile in the dark, like I was here to entertain him all over again.

"And what would you like me to apologize for?"

"For everything. I want you to apologize for taking me away from my home, for being so brash about my mother, for dragging Holly into this. Everything." In truth it was the last thing I wanted, but I knew I needed to make this point. and if I had to use my sexuality to do then so be it.

The faint smile grew into a full smirk now. And damn if it didn't make me wetter than I already was. There was something about his confidence that absolutely had the ability to undo me. He knew it too.

"Only I would be blessed with a mate who would argue with me while in heat. The moon goddess matched me with someone of equivalent stubbornness, didn't she?" but he didn't sound annoyed. If anything, he sounded amused, like my words had no seriousness behind them.

"Ajax," I warned.

He slid just a little closer to me. I caught my breath as he leaned in. then, with immense softness, he pressed his lips to my bare thigh in a fleeting kiss. His eyes opened and he peered up at me through his thick eyelashes. "I don't regret bringing you here for Denver. I don't regret any of it. I needed you and we needed to start on this journey together." The fingers on my legs stopped moving and instead, curled into my thighs, holding me still when he dragged his tongue against the seam where my panties met my thigh. "You were made to be mine and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Then you don't get to mark me," I announced but my voice was breathy and soft.

"I'm not sorry for anything that I did to bring you here. But I will say that I'm sorry if I was ever too forceful with anything. And I'm sorry that I didn't take the time to show you everything bit by bit. And I regret not marking you to the moment I saw you."

"Ajax," I groaned, trying to take a step back to put some space between us. Maybe if I had space I could breathe, I could argue enough to get what I actually wanted. But the air in between us only made me conscious of how wet I was and how hard I was breathing.

"Come on, baby girl," Ajax purred, slowly rising to his feet. "You won in Denver. You toyed with me an teased me in that strip club until I couldn't take it. now it's your turn. But I won't keep you from getting what you want, what your body needs. All you have to do is say it."

His hands were firm as he guided me backwards until my legs hit the edge of my bed. Then, he eased me down into a sitting position. Part of me thought it was a wonderful idea. I convinced myself that I would be more level headed sitting. I could collect my thoughts and form rational arguments. Another part of me knew that he had already won. The silk against my skin seemed to set me ablaze and I needed him to soothe it away.

"Let me mark you," he whispered in my ear.

"Ajax," I whimpered, feeling the heat grow. What had started out as a subtle burning was now progress into something more.

"Let me take away the heat, come on," he cooed in my ear.

"I can't let you win," I whimpered.

"Keiko, you will win no matter what. Now, tell me what you want."

And I wanted him to truthfully apologize. Or, at least, that's what I had wanted ten minutes ago when I saw that I had power over him. but now, my mind was filled with images of him on his knees. I could almost still feel his breath on the skin. And when he had run his tongue on that delicate line between fabric and skin I almost crumpled.

Now, he had said he was sorry for his exceedingly bad behavior. He apologized for being rude and thoughtless. And wasn't that enough?

Tonight it seemed to be.

"I-I want you," I stammered out, almost not believing that I was capable of saying such things. I was the stripper. I was the one who seduced, never to let my sexuality get the best of me.

But he had beaten me at my own game.

Ajax let out a groan, like he had been waiting decades to hear those words leave my lips.

"Tell me what you want me to do."

"I want you to mark me," I whimpered, the words feeling surprisingly natural on my tongue. Then, like my body knew what my lips were implying, I tipped my head to one side and pulled my dark hair out of the way.