Time Sensitive Target

Part 49 - Desire

"Yeah, I remember you," he smiled boyishly.  "You look different."

"Well... I don't really wear makeup to work, so..." I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks as I flushed. 

"No it's... your eyes, I think. You can see them properly now," he gazed intently for a moment before his glance shifted to something behind me. 

"Your beer's getting warm," Ant's low voice boomed softly. 

"Oh, thanks. This is, uh..."

"Ryan," Ryan extended a hand to Ant, who looked at it for a moment before slowly completing the gesture with his own. 

"Ant," Ant nodded cordially as their interlocked hands raised up and down, then broke precipitously. 

"You stationed here?" Ryan asked politely. 

"No, just visiting," Ant glanced around the bar quickly. 

"Oh, cool. British? Navy?" 

"Special forces," Ant coolly responded. "SAS." 

"Nice. I'm in the selection process for DEVGRU, might be able to call myself a real SOF man too soon," Ryan smiled ruefully. I stood awkwardly, Ant's demeanour telling me to let him do whatever he felt he needed to in this strange show of dominance and possession. 

"Yeah? You must know Jase then, one of the directing staff?" 

"No, I don't think-"

"Jason Hill," Ant's eyes began to glitter in challenge.

"As in Master Chief- that Jason Hill? Yeah he's overseeing part of the selection process- why? You know him?" Ryan looked around briefly in quiet alarm, wondering if his superior was lurking somewhere in the bar. 

"We've worked together. He lives with Paige," Ant's lips straightened into a slight smirk, watching Ryan's brows elevate in surprise. 

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realise," he smiled charmingly, clearly unsettled with the idea that he had stepped where he shouldn't have done. 

"We're roommates, that's all," I explained clearly. I wasn't going to have anyone on base thinking there was more than that between Jase and I, it was bad enough that people mistook us for a couple when we went grocery shopping. 

"I'll uh, see you around then," Ryan smiled and backed off, re-joining his group of friends.

"You may as well have peed on me," I rolled my eyes as Ant and I made our way back to the table. 

"What?" He exclaimed with a spluttered laugh. 

"Oh please, what was that?" 

"I didn't know if you'd be comfortable. If someone approaches you when you're alone you bet your arse I'm coming over and throwing them off," Ant took a generous swig of his beer. 

"He's nice," I jutted my chin defensively, the gentle attention Ryan had showed not entirely unwanted. 

"Hey-" Rob approached, grabbing his jacket from the back of a chair. "I'm going to take off," he nodded his head back to the woman waiting patiently at the bar. 

"Have fun big man," Ant chuckled, smiling after Rob as he placed a hand on my shoulder in goodbye and stalked off to his conquest. "Shall we get another drink and go for a walk?" 

"Sure," I replied, the atmosphere becoming a little too busy and masculine for me to feel comfortable. 

The sun had set, leaving only a thin slither of amber against the kiss of the horizon. We strolled along side by side in the inky violet night, shoes crunching into the sandy gravel. I was tired now, worn out by pushing myself too soon after recovering from an illness. 

"Did Jase tell you we have to leave tomorrow?" Ant asked softly, a hint of shame in his voice as though he presumed he'd be letting me down. 

"Leave? I thought you were staying on another two weeks," I frowned.

"Funeral," Ant cast his glare off into the distance of tarmac and dotted rotors of choppers. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. Someone you were close to?" I suddenly felt incredibly selfish.

"We served together, he was in my unit years ago but we all kept in touch. We called him Peacock; or Captain Peacock; CP... Feathers sometimes," he smiled. "His middle name was Frank and his last name was Thornton, you're probably too young but Frank Thornton played Captain Peacock in-"

"Are You Being Served," I finished. "It was always on in my house," I smiled sadly. 

"Yeah, well, there you have it. Shot in Afghanistan. His funeral is in three days, Rob and I want to be there." 

"Of course you do," I nodded. "Ant," I breathed in and hesitated, the attention of his cool blue eyes against mine making me doubt the words I was about to say. "I'm okay here, you know," I continued without exhaling. "And I'm feeling better, I'm going to be cleared to do proper exercise and some self defence classes soon... it won't be long before I'm discharged from their care altogether," I breathed out shakily, impressed by the babble of words I didn't really mean. 

"You're really okay? Even with Jase?" 

"I'll never be okay with Jase, not totally. But I'm sure we've dealt with the worst of it, we can coexist a little longer," I replied firmly, the resoluteness of mind entirely false. "It's nearly nine o'clock actually, he didn't turn up." Jase's lack of presence brought an unexpected lightness to the evening, but it tinged the experience with nerves. It seemed unlike him to surrender control of me to anyone else so flippantly, especially without it being planned. He'd said he wasn't going to show, but I hadn't believed him. 

"No, he seemed like he was in a gopping mood to be fair, probably just as well," Ant raised his brows. The wind gusted from behind us suddenly, whipping my hair across my face. "Shall we get you back?" He smiled slightly, looking at my mouth. His hand reached forward and released a lock of hair caught in the edge of my parted lips, his eyes tracing up to mine for a few charged seconds. There was something deep, deep in my body that teetered me on the verge of leaning in, only a fraction, to close the gap between us. But his eyes broke away and it was lost. 

"Yeah, it's getting late," I nodded, diffusing the tension in my head. We ambled towards his truck, no other words exchanged between us. The strange rush of energy that had passed through my body had me alarmed and relieved at the same time. I didn't think I would feel impulses again, certainly not like that, but there was no mistaking it. The surge was desire, and it rested uncomfortably in my veins with nowhere else to go.