"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, but went with him anyway. I felt like I should've been scared of him; he had dragged me out of the botanical gardens without saying more than a few words. I should've been scared of how I was feeling as well. My body was scorching, yet I didn't feel sick. If anything I felt wonderful, even though it felt like my body was not my own. But I still trailed along behind him.

"To my car," he answered, his voice gruff.

I was vaguely aware of the transition in Ajax. The softness and sweetness that floated around him had dissipated into the air. He wasn't shooting me easy smiles and trying to flirt with me in his sideways fashion. He was serious and the way he held onto my sleeve and pulled me along spoke to the urgency of the situation. It was another thing that should've made me uneasy. It didn't.

Instead, I found the power and dominance incredibly sexy.

Still I knew there was something that wasn't sitting quite right. This body was not my own and neither were the actions.

"I don't want to go to your car," I protested, but didn't physically resist him in any fashion. In fact, I had to use all of my mental strength to keep myself from rubbing up against him like a feline. There was just something about him in this moment that made me want to touch him and it was so intense that I almost couldn't resist it.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, ignoring my statement entirely as we continued down the sidewalk, now almost back at the café already. But there was genuine concern that was shown through his rough tone.

"Hot," I admitted, "And a little dizzy."

"Alright, it's still in the beginning stages then." Relief was so clear in his voice, "I'm going to take you to my car and you're going to come with me to my hotel, okay?

"I don't want to go to your hotel," I whimpered, but stumbled along as we made it into the parking lot.

At that a woman pulled up her husband. I saw the way her eyes flicked nervously between myself and Ajax. She whispered something to her husband and the pair stepped aside, watching us from the distance. Clearly, she thought I needed to be saved.

But I didn't. I didn't want to admit it to myself because I had been an untouchable woman for so long, but I wanted to go to his hotel room. I wanted to feel his mouth on mine and run my fingers through his auburn hair even though I barely knew him. There was something in him, something about him that I wanted so intensely. After all the men I had rejected in favor of staying in and studying, Ajax had broken the mold somehow.

He let out a frustrated noise at my defiance and tugged me towards a large, angular SUV. There was no real aggression in the way he moved and that comforted me a little, but the fact that I wasn't feeling right and he was trying to get me in a car was enough to make me nervous. Well, as nervous as my dizzy, warm brain would let me get.

"Keiko, I need you to trust me, okay? Think about it, we'll get in my car and I'll drive you to my hotel. There, I have a mountain of snacks. Everything from chips to chocolate bars. We'll just hang out and eat junk food until you feel better. I don't want you walking around the city like this."

"I don't want food. I want this heat to go away," I complained, contorting my body in an effort to alleviate the feeling.

"We don't have much time, please get in the car," Ajax pleaded.

"No," I argued, but my head tipped back and I let out a little breath at the sound of his voice.

Ajax let out a disgruntled noise and stepped towards me. His arms wound around my waist, pulling me close to his body so I had to lean back to look at him. And being so close to him made my heart race. But the heat that was swirling through my veins only intensified at the proximity. It almost felt like my body wanted him. I bowed my head, wondering what it would feel like to run my lips over the smooth skin of his neck.

His lips were so close to my ear it made me shiver. I felt the way his hands gripped at me through the hoodie I was wearing and it almost made me moan out loud. "Listen to me, Keiko. I'm going to help you into my car. You feel that heat, don't you? Soon, it's going to consume you and your body will only allow sex to calm it down. You only have ten minutes before you're lying on your back on the sidewalk, begging for a stranger to take you. So, you can either come with me and I can help you through this or you can hope for the best by yourself because I'm not going to be able to control myself for much longer."

As he spoke to me I shut my eyes and listened intently. He was so close I could almost feel the way his lips moved to form words. I knew how dark and severe those green eyes got and felt the strength of his arm around my waist, keeping me locked against him.

"How are you going to help me through this?" I mewed.

Ajax let out a sigh of relief. To him this was progress. "I'll stay with you through the entire thing and you will tell me whatever you need. I haven't exactly had experience with someone directly- I've only heard stories- but I'm sure that we can get through this."

I said nothing, but my hands were now gripping the shoulders of his clothing and I had to actively suppress a moan.

"Keiko," he whispered, sounded strained, "Please let me take you to my hotel."

The way he said my name made my knees weak. Yes, oh yes, I wanted to be with him. I wanted to be alone and naked. I wanted this stranger to have all of me.

"Take me," I breathed in his ear.

"I felt the way his arm tightened around me and heard a hiss or air slid between his clenched teeth. Then the intimidating SUV behind me chirped as it unlocked and he released my waist.