Page 76 of Pretty Lies & Ugly Truths

Giddy with excitement and high off the adrenaline, I move to straddle his waist, ripping the mask from his face before planting my lips on his, kissing him hungrily. He meets me thrust for thrust, plunging his tongue in my mouth as we both wrestle for control.

Wrapping my thick ponytail around his fist, he yanks my head back, wrenching his mouth from mine. His other hand slips under my dress, grabbing the flimsy lace of my panties and tearing them from my body.

“Now get up here and sit on my face,” he commands.

When I don’t move fast enough, a loud smack rings out as he slaps my ass. My legs try to tighten in an effort to get some relief, but his broad torso forces them wide.

“Move,” he barks, and this time, I don’t hesitate.

I crawl over his body to hover above his mouth. He reaches up, hands latching on to my inner thighs, pushing my knees apart until I have no choice but to sit firmly against his face. For a second, I wonder how he can breathe, but when his tongue brushes my clit, all thoughts leave my brain.

I lean forward, hands gripping his hair, my bare knees grating across the cool sand as I begin to ride his face, shamelessly chasing my pleasure. I’m already so close that when he plunges two fingers deep inside me, I come with a scream.

I don’t have time to come down from that high before he’s removing his fingers, lifting me off his face and onto my hands and knees before thrusting into me from behind. He sets a fierce pace as he fucks me hard, and it takes no time before I feel another orgasm building.

His body comes down to cover mine, one hand gently cupping my throat as he nibbles and sucks on my neck. His thrusts come faster and faster until he begins to lose his rhythm, rutting into me like an animal. His teeth bite down on the juncture between my neck and shoulder as he stills, cock buried deep inside, and that perfect mix of pleasure and pain is exactly what I need to take me right over the edge with him.

He sits back on his knees, pulling me up with him as he rains little kisses across the tender mark on my neck.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asks, concern in his voice.

“No. It was perfect.”

He helps me up, and we walk hand in hand back to the house, stripping off our sandy clothes to rinse off in the outdoor shower. It’s early fall, but the weather is still mild enough to be comfortable. I step under the warm spray, and Archer joins me. Night has fully fallen, but the full moon provides just enough light to see by.

“I found you,” he says, brushing the hair back over my shoulders, “so you know what that means.”

“I do,” I answer, placing a kiss over the vibrant red rose tattoo, the only pop of color that decorates the black and white landscape of his skin.

He steps back, an intense expression on face, all signs of teasing gone. For a brief second, I wonder if I did done something wrong, but then he speaks, and my heart melts into a puddle on the shower floor.

“Maggie, I know this may be too soon, but from the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were mine. I didn’t think I was worthy or deserving of love or happiness, but you’ve helped me change that. I still don’t think I’m worthy, but I vow to spend the rest on my days on this Earth trying to live up to the man you see in me—if you’ll let me.”

Streams run down over my face, a combination of water from the shower and the tears that spill from my eyes.

“I love you so much. Please say you’ll be mine. Please say you’ll be my wife.”

“Yes,” I choke out on a sob, jumping into his arms, knowing he will catch me. Our kiss starts slow before that fire reignites and the urgency to be joined as one becomes too strong.

Gripping me under my thighs, he backs me up against the stone wall, pulling back just enough to line himself up with my entrance before sinking into to me in one, long stroke.

He doesn’t think he’s worthy, but that couldn’t befurther from the truth. Archer is one of the best men I know, and sure, our relationship didn’t start in any conventional kind of way, but I wouldn’t change a fucking thing.

As he makes love to me by the light of the moon, I vow to spend the rest of my life loving this man, ensuring he knows how worthy he truly his.