Jagged Embrace

Chapter 78 - Maeve

"So, we're not going back to the cotton mill tonight?" Maeve asked Ander as she sat in the chair and kept her distance.

He was polite enough, but she knew he was upset. Waves of frustration and irritation flowed off of him and moved through her, even several feet away. She hadn't meant to have sex with Will again after training, but he was difficult to resist, even when every part of her ached. When his powerful hand wrapped around her throat and he claimed her mouth, her resolve melted away as it always did. She hadn't wanted to leave the bathroom without him trying to avoid the tense interaction with Ander, but when the water turned freezing, she couldn't take it and exited the shower.

"No. Will thought it best to wait until after I rested," Ander responded in a toneless voice.

She pulled her teeth over her lip. "Will told me you were going to start training me with knives?"

Ander's eyes moved away from his laptop and locked on hers. She flushed from his heavy gaze.

"Yes," he told her in the same mechanical voice.

The hurt and anger covered every sharp line on his face. Maeve was caught between pulling her legs up to curl up and trying to touch him. Her gut told her if she just touched him, Ander wouldn't be so upset anymore. That made no sense. As upset as he was, that would only add fuel to the fire.

"When are we starting?" she whispered.

His jaw worked as he turned his view to the wall. "Tonight, we can begin tonight."

"I didn't mean we had to do it right away-" she began.

"It is best to begin as soon as possible. Did Will tell you of his plans this evening?"

Maeve scrunched up her face in confusion. Plans for tonight? If they weren't going to the cotton mill and Ander was training her, what else were they going to do?

"No."

"I see."

"What else are we going to do?"

"We are going to train and go over the differences between draugrs and revenants. Will is going to drink until he passes out." Ander's words were so mechanical they almost didn't sound human.

She hadn't heard that tone from him in weeks, and it was directed at her. Will seemed okay. Why was he going to drink until he passed out? She knew he'd been upset earlier, but she thought that after having sex with him three times today, he'd be in a better place. After six weeks, she still understood nothing about him. Maybe either of them. She blinked away the moisture in her eyes.

"Okay." Her hand strayed to her necklace and clasped it.

Ander turned to face her and his expression immediately softened. "He needs time away, not from you or I," Ander began and then stopped. "He needs the silence and solitude it brings. It is not a reflection of his emotions toward anyone."

Maeve felt wetness in her eyes again. Partially because it seemed like one of the only ways Will found peace, and because Ander once again tried to explain Will's actions so that she wouldn't be hurt. She didn't trust herself to speak, so she nodded.

The bathroom door opened and Will strolled out in his boxer briefs, the telltale smile plastered to his lips again. Did he really need to get drunk? He appeared so relaxed. He swooped her up from the chair and took her mouth with his. His desire flooded her again and took her breath away. Will carried her to his bed, and she worried he'd try to take her again with Ander sitting right there.

He laid her down and didn't pull his mouth away from hers until her head rested on the pillow. A gentle, loving look crossed over his face. Her eyes widened. He looked like Will, but also like someone else at the same time. Someone who she'd never seen before, someone who more than cared about her. Someone who loved her? She couldn't allow herself to have thoughts like that, despite the flutter in her stomach. He touched the side of her face and slid his hand to cover her heart before he stood and padded to the mini fridge. Maeve laid there, feeling unsure about him, about Ander, about everything.