Just One Night [SHORT STORY]

Chapter Seven

Some time later and with some help from Scoop, Jessie found her way outside Archer's bedroom door. She knew she should go inside but she was still apprehensive about what she would do once she entered.

Archer was angry. Angry at her, angry at the world for taking Alex away and it could only be assumed, mad at Alex herself for having left in the first place. Jesse found herself feeling sympathetic for Alex since she was in the same situation, having to pick something seemingly more important over Archer. The main difference however, was that she'd known Archer for a matter of hours. Alex had known him for years and still left him. What could have been so important to make her leave and why hadn't Archer been enough for her?

Gently, Jesse knocked the door, knowing full well that he may not have heard her but pushed to enter anyway. The bedroom was exactly how they left it a few hours ago except that Archer was laying in the middle of the bed in only his jeans. He was bare-chested, his belt buckle undone and he was barefoot, legs crossed at the ankles.

He was cradling his head, his fingers interlocked on top of his loose hair, in a way that made his muscles bulge. Jesse clenched her thighs together as a heat descended to her core that made her shiver. It was intoxicating the way this man made her feel just by being in his presence. In so many ways, it didn't matter that they'd only know each other a couple of hours; she felt like she'd known him her entire life.

"Found a way out yet?" His gruff voice rumbled from the middle of the bed. She didn't answer for a moment as she watched him from the safety of the door. She hadn't taken her hand off the handle and she found her palms were sweating.

Keep it together girl.

"Tell me about her." Jesse said, her voice small and hesitant. She'd never felt so unsure but yet certain of something in her entire life and it terrified her. "Tell me about Alex."

Jesse let go of the door handle and made her way over to the bed, peeling away her jacket as she walked. When she got to the end of the bed, she realised his eyes were closed. Jesse bent down to unzip and kick off her boots.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything." She replied when her shoes and socks were finally off and she stood barefoot at the end of the bed. Before she lost her nerve, Jesse climbed onto the bed and crawled up the thick duvet to lay by Archer's side. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably but she managed to lay beside him, turned on her side. She was surprised when he turned his head and opened his eyes, revealing the startling green that had mesmerised her from the first moment she'd laid eyes on him. Heat rushed into her cheeks but she cleared her throat,

"I want to know everything. About Alex...and your life with her. She was your fiance?"

Archer was silent for a moment before out of nowhere, he reached out and stroked the side of her face with his index finger. Jesse's entire body erupted into shivers at the connection. She almost moaned as his finger traced from her cheek to the side of her exposed neck, before slowly moving away.

"Yeah...she was. Scoop told you about High Witches?" Jesse nodded. "We got engaged before we found out about the Darkness, about what it had in store for us. Before then we only thought the Darkness lived in people like my father."

Archer sighed heavily before looking away from her and up to the ceiling, thinking.

"All she wanted was to be free. She'd been cast out by her family then treated like shit by people who used her for her power. When she finally came to the Guild, she was a mess...and so was I."

Jesse remained silent, waiting for Archer to come to her of his own volition. She didn't want to rush him or make him feel uncomfortable. She wanted him to trust her without any prompt. She needed to find something that showed her that Archer trusted her for the person she was now and not the person he hoped she was.