Andromeda's Reign

by K. S. Haigwood

  I shrugged. “We’ll shower and then go down and get it. Nobody is going to bother it. It’ll be okay for thirty minutes. Go take a shower.”

  “No, you go first. I insist. You’re always putting me first.”

  I smiled. “I’m happy you noticed. I’ll be out in ten,” I said, and then set my cell back down and went into the bathroom. I wasn’t about to argue with her about that.

  Not bothering to close the door, I shimmied out of my gym shorts and turned the spray on. Grabbing two towels from the shelf, I set them on the table beside the shower, and then just looked at them. I took the one off the top and put it back on the shelf before stepping into the shower. Getting her a towel would only let her know that I still cared. There was no need for her to get the right impression.

  Chapter 22

  Thursday, February 5th 2015 2:07 p.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Andromeda

  Andra waited until Ace turned the shower on, and then she ran to snatch up his cell phone. Her hands shook as she searched for Phoenix’s name, but he wasn’t listed in the contacts. She tried recent calls, knowing Phoenix had called Ace’s phone at least once when he’d needed to talk to her.

  She shook her head and rolled her eyes when she saw that the fourth number from the top read Cock Block. Hitting send, she glanced toward the bathroom one last time before darting for the bedroom door.

  After closing the door gently behind her, she heard Phoenix’s soft voice in her ear.

  “I’ve missed you,” Phoenix said, and she smiled as she leaned against the wall in the hallway.

  “I miss you, too,” she said quietly.

  “May I ask why you aren’t calling from your phone?”

  She glanced at the bedroom door, and then sighed as she let her head fall back against the wall. “Mine is outside. Ace is in the shower, so I used his. I couldn’t wait until we went to get mine to talk to you.”

  There was a heartbeat of silence before he spoke again. “You’re staying in his room again?”

  She blew out a long breath. “No, not exactly.” More silence from his end. She huffed. “We’ve been training all morning and part of the afternoon, and we haven’t satisfied the bond enough. We were both getting weak, so I came up here with him. He’s showering, and then I’m showering. We are going to go down and get my phone after that.”

  “Alright,” he said, but didn’t say anymore, before silence filled her ear again.

  “You’re being awfully quiet,” she said. “Is everyone okay? Is the moonrising wolf locked up?”

  “Yes, and yes. We’re all fine, Mena. I left you a text and called a few times.”

  “I know I said that I would take my phone with me, but it was impossible. I had to go swimming first thing. Cell phones don’t work after they get wet.”

  “I knew you were training, Lupacchiotto. My main reason for calling you was so that I could hear your voice on your voicemail.”

  She smiled sadly as she gripped the phone tighter. “Phoenix,” she said, and her voice cracked a little. He didn’t say anything, so she rushed through what she needed to say. “I wanted to kiss Ace earlier.” She left out the part about her wanting to do more than kiss Ace. She couldn’t break news to Phoenix like that over a damn phone call, but she needed to get this off her chest before it drove her crazy. “I didn’t, but I feel so horrible about wanting to. He wasn’t trying to get me to kiss him, and I don’t think it was the bond making me want to. It scared me. I need you to tell me not to kiss him. I need you to tell me that it’s not okay, and that you will be here Sunday night to make me forget about ever wanting to.” There was more silence from his end. “Please,” she whispered.

  “I wouldn’t hate you if you kissed him, Mena.”

  “That’s not what I wanted to hear, Phoenix!” she growled into the phone.

  He sighed. “I was hoping this day would never come.”

  She shook her head as her eyes grew wide. “I didn’t—”

  “Mena, I always knew that the bond would force you and Ace together like nothing else could. I knew that one day he would fall in love with you. And I also knew that one day you would—”

  “No,” she said. “That won’t happen, Phoenix. I won’t let it,” she finished in a soft whisper. The silence was killing her as she waited for his response.

  “You’re a terrible liar,” Phoenix finally said.

  She frowned. “I should be mad at you for calling me a liar. That’s rude.” Her attempt at lightening the mood of the conversation was failing miserably.

  “But you aren’t mad at me… because you know that I am right.”

  She set her jaw and huffed through her nose. “This better not be another lousy attempt at breaking up with me, because I’m not letting you do it.”

  He chuckled softly. “I’ve already told you that I will never do that again, not permanently. Don’t you believe me?”

  “I want to,” she replied quietly, “but you’re not being very convincing, either.” More freaking silence! “Phoenix, promise me that you will never end things and I will promise you that I will never let anything happen between me and—”

  “I don’t want you to promise me that, Mena,” he said.

  “Why not?” she said, aghast.

  “Because you are not happy, and neither is Ace. And when Ace isn’t happy, I’m not happy, because he tries to think up ways to break us up. I will never want that.” He sighed again before continuing on. “I’m not breaking up with you, but—”

  “But?” she shouted.

  “Calm down, Lupacchiotto, and let me finish,” he said.

  She pressed her lips together to keep from lashing out at him. What the hell did he mean by ‘but’? “Go on,” she snapped.

  “I am removing the monogamy from our relationship status.”

  She pushed off the wall with her foot. “Huh?”

  “We aren’t married, and this isn’t working out like we hoped it would.”

  “That sure sounds like a break-up line to me, Phoenix,” she spat.

  “No, it’s called dating, sweetheart,” he said calmly. “You are just allowed to date more than one person. In my day it was known as courting. But I won’t like it very much if you add more than me and Ace to your courting roster.”

  She snickered, knowing he was trying to make a joke out of a bad situation. “So, what you’re saying… is that you want me to be with Ace, too? To have sex with him to keep him happy, so that you will be happy and, in return, that I will be happy?”

  “I didn’t say that you had to enjoy it, Mena,” he replied. “And it will only be temporary.”

  She laughed. “You want me to have sex with him and then tell him we can’t do it anymore? Somehow I don’t think that will make him very happy.”

  “I’m not doing this to make him happy. I’m allowing this to make you happy. And what I mean by temporary is that there are other witches besides the three sisters. I’m still looking for a way to release you from the bond.”

  She bit her lip, trying to contain her happiness. “Why are you talking to me then? You should be making phone calls to witches, because I can’t wait to be all yours.”

  His smile bled into his voice. “I’m counting the seconds until that time comes.”

  “Make Sunday night hurry up and get here. I’ll be all yours the whole time you’re here.”

  “If that’s all I can have for now, I’ll take it,” he said.

  “I love you, Phoenix.”

  “See you soon, Lupacchiotto.”

  “See you soon,” she said, and then he disconnected the call.

  With a lighter heart, Andra sighed, and then turned to look at the bedroom door.

  Thursday, February 5th 2015 4:20 p.m. CST

  Montgomery, Alabama

  Phoenix

  A tortured cry left his throat as he shot upright in bed and hurled the cell phone across the room. It shattered against the rock wall surrounding the fireplace.


  Thursday, February 5th 2015 2:21 p.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Ace

  Allowing my head to fall forward, I welcomed the pressure and the heat of the water as it beat against my neck and trailed down the center of my back. I thought my plan was going perfectly. Even after my meditation sphere busted, Andra’s emotions hadn’t overwhelmed me with sadness and anger. She seemed happy, even. I made a point to meditate before leaving for the concert. Even though we’d had a good day so far, I knew it would upset her when I left with another girl to go to the concert she was dying to go to.

  Asking Sinna to go now seemed mean of me, but I couldn’t change it—no, I wouldn’t change it.

  My head jerked up when I heard a noise outside the shower. Figuring Andra was sitting on the toilet again, I chuckled, and said, “Sorry. The water felt so nice that I lost track of time. I’ll get out in a second. Did you enjoy your first real day of training?”

  “Actually, I did,” Andra said, and my head whipped around to see that she was stepping into the shower with me, completely naked.

  What plan?

  I couldn’t get my mouth to work right as my eyes slid down her gorgeous body, all the way down to her dainty little feet.

  “You’ve seen me naked before, Ace,” Andra said. “We haven’t touched much today, and I was feeling dizzy.”

  Dizzy. Yep, I was having the same problem, though I was quite sure it had nothing to do with the bond.

  “I didn’t want what happened to us last night to happen again,” Andra continued when I opened my mouth again and nothing came out. “Do you mind if I get wet?”

  There were no sexy innuendoes in the tone of her voice. It was obvious all she wanted to do was use the shower and be close to me, but damn the words she’d chosen to say. Wait… had she mentioned touching? We would definitely have to touch in order to satisfy the bond. I wasn’t sure I could keep up the act of not caring if I was allowed to touch her in here. If I did let go of the act and she rejected me again, I would kill that fucking vampire when he got here Sunday night.

  “Ace?” she prompted.

  No, I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep the act up, not with her naked and slick against my fingers. Tearing my eyes away from her body, I pushed by her and walked around the shower wall. I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around my hips and the erection I couldn’t seem to get rid of for the last week, and then I headed for the bathroom door.

  “Ace!” she yelled, just before I stormed into my bedroom, made a left then jerked my closet door open, sending the doorknob crashing through the stopper and sheetrock.

  “Take your shower, Andra!” I shouted back, as I ripped a pair of jeans from a hanger and yanked them on, throwing the towel to the floor when it got in my way.

  Dizzy my ass. Had she forgotten that I felt everything she did where the bond was concerned? I felt a little weak, but it was nothing close to how bad it had been before our episode last night. She could have waited a few more damn minutes!

  Not bothering to grab a shirt or stop at the dresser for socks, I grabbed my cell from the nightstand, slid it into my back pocket and practically ran out of my bedroom.

  Thursday, February 5th 2015 2:32 p.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Andromeda

  As Ace’s rage crashed into her from what seemed like all sides, she pressed her back against the shower wall and slid down it, crossing her arms over the tops of her knees and letting her forehead fall to them once she was seated.

  Crying wasn’t an option. His anger trumped any emotion she had going on inside her, tenfold.

  Maybe she shouldn’t have been so vague about why she got into the shower with him in the first place. “Who am I kidding?” she thought. “I flat-out lied to him because I was too much of a coward to admit that I wanted him.”

  A sense of calm washed over her in the next moment, causing her to look up from her arms to the shower walls that surrounded her. The meditation. He’d gone to meditate so that she couldn’t feel him anymore, or rather, that he couldn’t feel her. Was he able to stop liking her that easily, immediately after telling her that he was falling in love with her?

  If so, he wasn’t the man she thought he was, the man she saw in him today. That man made her feel things she shouldn’t.

  She loved Phoenix—she was sure of it—but now she thought Ace and Phoenix just might be right; she was falling in love with Ace, too.

  Maybe she was better off without a man in her life for a while. She damn sure couldn’t keep up with two of them.

  Thursday, February 5th 2015 2:40 p.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Ace

  After I meditated, I felt a lot better. I knew I still needed to have contact with Andra, before I left for the concert tonight or I wouldn’t make it through the night without collapsing. Sinna was a strong girl, but I seriously doubted she could carry all two-hundred and twenty pounds of me through a huge room full of people without dropping me and giving me a concussion. She’d probably drop me on purpose if it meant she wouldn’t get all the alcohol I promised her. Oh, and the t-shirt. Don’t forget the t-shirt.

  Deciding it was best to give Andra a little more time to cool off or do whatever the hell she was doing, I made my way toward the backyard to get her phone.

  I couldn’t remember her laying it down before I strapped the weight bands to her wrists, so I figured she had laid it down while I was in the storage shed.

  Heading in that direction, I heard it tweet from a table that was beside the pool chairs.

  I wasn’t planning to read the text, but the screen was still lit up and my eyes were drawn to it, like a moth to a flame.

  Cliché, I know. Just go with it. I read the damn text message.

  The first was from Heath, so I skipped that one and clicked on the second one. That one was from Phoenix, and was sent a little over two hours earlier. I groaned inwardly, maybe outwardly, too. I wasn’t sure, because the previous anger I felt toward Andra was renewed at seeing that he had texted her. Why couldn’t he just fall off the face of the Earth?

  Mena,

  I am finally home and safe in my bed. Wish you were here with me. Sunday night can’t get here quick enough. I’m counting the seconds. I love you, Lupacchiotto. ~ Phoenix

  It was all I could do not to throw the phone in the pool and tell Andra that it must have gotten knocked off when I shifted and ran after them. It would still kinda be my fault if that was the excuse I gave her, but then she would think it was an accident.

  “Screw it,” I said, and walked back into the house and up to my room.

  I expected my bedroom to be empty, that she had gone to her room after she finished taking a shower, but when I opened the bedroom door I found her lying on my bed asleep, with my pillow clutched to her chest and tear tracks on her cheeks.

  Sighing heavily, I lay down beside her and pulled her in close to me. What did this girl want? I thought as the warm tingles of the bond destroyed all my anger and anxiety.

  I put her cell phone on the mattress beside her and kissed the back of her head, before closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.

  At least in my dreams, she would let me have her.

  Chapter 23

  Thursday, February 5th 2015 7:45 p.m. PST

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  Ace

  Andra was still sleeping when I opened my eyes to a dark room and my cell vibrating in my back pocket.

  Shit! The concert!

  I grabbed the device and put it to my ear. “Yeah?” I said sleepily.

  “Listen, jerk, I don’t get all dolled up for just anybody. Are we going or not?” Sinna’s irritated voice shrilled in my ear.

  “Yeah… Give me five and I’ll be down.”

  After ending the call, I eased out of bed and went to my closet. The Salacious Limerick tee was on the floor, but I wasn’t going to be the loser who wore the band’s t-shirt to the concert. I reached up and pulled a plain black one from the ha
nger and pulled it over my head. I tiptoed to the dresser and grabbed a pair of socks, and my boots that were beside the bathroom door, and then quietly shut the bedroom door behind me as I went downstairs.

  I felt like a total shit for leaving Andra at home, but she was the one who said that we weren’t dating. I’d be damned if she would get her cake and eat it, too. Obviously the girl didn’t understand what the term ‘dating’ meant.

  Instead, I invited Sinna—one of the few girls I hadn’t slept with—to go to the concert with me. I knew that when Andra found out she would get the wrong impression. I may be a total sleazeball, but that was exactly what I wanted to happen. I needed her to realize that she felt more for me than the words she allowed to come out of her mouth.

  If all went according to my plan, Andra would come to her senses and be back in my bed before she had a chance to unpack in her new room, especially after she found out that Sinna wasn’t into guys, and apologized profusely for overreacting, which I was also counting on and looking forward to.

  She was so damn cute when she was irritated; even more so after she realized she was wrong.

  Slade was sitting in one of the five recliners, flipping through the channels when I walked into the living room. Sinna was standing under the archway between the living room and foyer, looking at her phone. She wore a champagne-colored spaghetti strap top and black leather pants. A pair of black combat boots completed her ensemble. Her normally long, straight brunette hair was crimped and teased. She looked like a modern-age punk rocker.

  “It’s about time,” Sinna said. “Crude Development started playing twenty minutes ago. I’m going to be pissed if someone steals our seats.”

  “We’re not going to a Cyndi Lauper concert, Sin.”

  She gave me the finger as she continued to look at her phone.

  Slade’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re really not taking Andra?”