After a couple of hours of purgatory, the guests finally began to leave, just as Archer arrived. I’d never been so pleased to see anyone in my life.
“Archer!” It came out a little too excitedly, but sue me—he lookedamazingin tight faded jeans and a long-sleeved grey t-shirt that clung to his biceps.
He didn’t come straight to me but wandered around the garden, chatting with people as he went. Tension kept his shoulders rigid. He didn’t like it here. Yet another thing we had in common.
June’s attention was finally off me as she watched Archer, and I wasn’t the only one to notice. Nick moved closer and raised inviting eyebrows. “Want to do something more fun than this later?”
“Thanks, but I’m busy later.”
I should have been a bit more conciliatory given I was here to make friends, but I didn’t want Archer to think I was flirting. Not when he was finally making his way across the immaculate lawn to my side. Archer glanced at Nick, and a curl of smoke rose from his nostrils as he placed his warm hand in the small of my back. Nick paled and fled.
As for me, my knees practically gave out. Possessive Archer was something I hadn’t known I wanted before this afternoon. But oh my God, the only thing hotter than Archer was Archer getting possessive over me.
As I smiled at him, I couldn’t help but see Chris, who was standing close to Archer. Chris’s eyes were narrowed as he studied the way Archer was touching me, and I guessed the fact we were together was about to become common knowledge among the family.
“Ready to get out of here?” Archer asked, before nodding coolly to June and Chris.
“Always,” I replied with more truth than tact. Then I remembered the manners my parents had tried to drill into me and turned to June and Chris. “Thank you for a lovely afternoon. It was so good to meet everyone.”
“Our pleasure. We must do it again,” June said. “Archer.” She inclined her head, while Chris’s stare at Archer could have burned through steel.
“Make that never,” I muttered as we made a quick detour to where I’d left my shopping.
“I’m sure your family are all very nice, but oh my God,June,” I said, once we were safely out of earshot.“I didn’t get to know any of them. It was like she was superglued to me the entire time.”
I loaded my bags into the car boot he’d obligingly opened for me.
“Did you get everything you need?”
“Think so.” I got into the passenger side and did up my seatbelt.
“It’s a bit late now, but it occurred to me when I was driving over here—why don’t you ask your parents to send some of your things from home? It would be a lot cheaper.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want Mum or Dad going through my stuff. I don’t want them in my room, near my treasure, and I sure ashelldon’t want them going through my chest of drawers and finding my sex toys.”
Archer had been looking in his mirror prior to pulling out, but at that he glanced sharply over at me. “Sex toys?” His eyes glinted in a way I recognised from last night. “Would you care to elaborate on that?”
So I did, the whole way home. In my enthusiasm, I forgot completely about June and Chris’s weird invitation to stay with them. “But the purple butt plug is my absolutefavourite,” I wastelling him as he turned into the Court. “I swear to God, every time I sit down wearing that thing, I see stars.”
He pulled into his usual spot and sat there after turning off the engine, his nostrils flaring. “Damn it to hell, Ollie, the kids are home, so I can’t haul you up to my room right now.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that before asking for details of my wonderful vibrating dildos and my very well-used butt plugs.”
He lunged at me and kissed me, whether to shut me up or because he couldn’t help it, I didn’t know. All I knew was that the power, theneedin that kiss had me squirming as I wound my hands into his hair and kissed him back with everything I had.
His hand was resting on my thigh, his fingers playing with my inseam for a moment before he slid his hand higher to press against my cock. I grunted and pushed against his hand as his tongue explored my mouth.God,I wanted him.
Eventually, he drew back, leaving me breathing heavily and hard as hell.
“I’m going to check my forge,” he said. “Alone.”
“Oh, is that what we’re calling it now?” I smirked at him, pleased to have caused that crack in his self-control, however temporary. “In that case, I’m going to go and shout at your demonic doves until my boner disappears. I may be some time.”
Watching him disappear at a fast clip had me feeling powerful for once. I didn’t really think he was going to jerk off, not when we’d be going to bed together in a few hours’ time, but knowing I’d had that effect on him? That feltawesome.
ARCHER
For the first time, I didn’t want to be in my forge. I wanted to be with Ollie, exploring his body while he told me how he used his dildos, before proving to him that they were nowhere near asgood as the real thing. Or maybe I could get him some new ones and watch him use them…
