Jagged Embrace

Chapter 40 - Ander

Ander stared at his laptop screen and listened to the shower running. She was still unsettled by their conversation in the SUV and had been distant all evening. Most notably, she made sure not to touch him or be within three feet of him. Tonight was his night with her. It had been all he had thought about since Knoxville, and now she was appalled by him. He tried to compartmentalize for the past hour, but it had not been as successful as it usually was, and it left him in an odd state. He was not quite detached, but most of his emotions had been neutralized.

"We get the green light yet?" Will asked as he opened another beer.

"No, we have not received the order to engage yet," Ander replied monotone.

"Fuck, I hope we don't have to sit here and wait. I can't do that again," Will grumbled and plopped on the bed.

"Is that why we stopped in Savannah?" Ander asked.

"Kinda. Maeve mentioned the trolley tour and that fancy house we looked at. I mean, before, when we were talking, so I thought we could stop for a day so she could do that stuff, since we had to wait anyway."

Ander tilted his head to the side. Will had stopped so Maeve could go sightseeing? That was not the answer he had expected. He thought Will had his own agenda, but it had been about Maeve.

"Oh, hey, tomorrow's your birthday, and since we don't have the order to engage, we should go out."

Tomorrow was his birthday? Ander stared at the date on his laptop. Will was correct. He sat back in the chair. He had no idea what activity he wanted to do for his birthday. The shower turned off. That was not entirely true, but the activity he desired was unwanted and off limits. He shifted in his seat.

"Perhaps we should wait to see if we get the order," he answered. Maeve's closed eyes and rosebud lips flashed in his mind. He shook his head. His words disgusted her, and he doubted that she would look at him with that expression any time soon.

"The full moon isn't for a few more days. Even if we get the call, we can make it a working celebration," Will told him with excitement.

Ander sighed. Will would be stubborn about it. The bathroom door opened and Ander stopped breathing, caught under her spell again. Her long, damp hair hung down her back, and she wore her purple nightgown. Ander forced his gaze from her ample, rounded hips and the swell of her breasts. He wanted to lay with her so badly it made his bones ache. His earlier words echoed in his mind as regret weighed on him. He pulled out his knife and began absentmindedly twirling it around from hand to hand. He refused to force his company on her.

"Tomorrow?" Maeve's surprised tone broke into his thoughts. "Why didn't you say something before? I don't have any time to prepare now."

Prepare? What would there be to prepare?

"I figured we could go out to celebrate," Will told her.

She nodded in agreement. Ander did not want to go from bar to bar all night.

"Although, that doesn't mean we're bar hopping all night, Will," Maeve said with warning in her tone.

"I didn't say all night, just most of it," he replied playfully.

She smacked his arm and laughed. "It's his birthday, not yours. He doesn't like bars, you know that."

"Well, that's where you find women, just saying."

Ander's stomach clenched, finally understanding what Will wanted. He wanted Ander to find a female to copulate with for his birthday so he could, in turn, do the same with Maeve. Maeve's back stiffened at Will's words.