In a swift motion, he slips one of his arms under my thigh and grabs onto the shelf behind me. It’s a completely different angle now, one that presses him directly on my clit.
“Oh,oh,” I pant, nearly feral as I’m brought to the precipice of my pleasure.
“That’s it, love,” he groans and picks up speed. Each thrust is clumsier than the last. “Come for me. I want to see how pretty you look when you do.”
All inhibitions gone, I give him what he wants, rubbing myself against him while his name falls from my lips. It goes on for minutes, but as I’m about to come down, he leans down and takes my covered nipple into his mouth and bites hard. Another smaller orgasm rolls through me as he lightly sucks, turning the pain into pleasure.
My hand drops from the shelf and I wrap fully around him, relaxed in his arms as he uses me to find his own pleasure.
When he tenses against me and lets out the deepest, sexiest groan I’ve ever heard, I know he’s coming. I watch with fascination, imagining what it would be like if there weren’t layers of clothes between us.
It takes both of us a couple of minutes to catch our breaths, not bothering to untangle from each other. Eventually, he reluctantly lowers the leg he’s holding and makes sure I’m balanced before I release the one around his hips.
Silently, he fixes my nightgown and sweater before grabbing a few tissues off the nearby desk. He’s soft and hesitant when he reaches toward my center, wiping me off, but turns away from me to clean his own mess. There aren’t any more words spoken between us, and I’m thankful he doesn’t push to talk about what happened.
He holds my hand as we walk out of the aisle toward the stairs.
Remembering why we came, I’m about to ask about the books when the loud smack of a book hitting the cement rings out from behind me.
Flinching out of Archer’s hold, I quickly turn and look around the low lit room.
“Hey,” he murmurs and steps into my field of vision. “Whatever you’re seeing, it’s not real.”
“I didn’t see anything. I thought I heard a book fall,” I say quietly.
“Nothing fell.” The amount of patience in his voice is comforting because I’m beginning to feel annoyed with myself now.
“Can we leave?” I ask.
He nods and takes my hand, not letting go again.
I’d never admit this to him, but the ride home made me feel better. The cold air seeped through the heat charm, but I found comfort in the sharp bite of it.
It gave me a moment to let the tears fall and float away. Even if Archer suspected I was crying, I would be able to blame it on the slap of the freezing wind.
Aware that it could be the last time I did a lot of things, like riding on the back of his motorcycle, I didn’t want to end the night with him having to comfort me.
It is clear to me now: as selfish as it may be, having this one night with him would be worth the pain that is to come with the curse.
Now that we’re standing outside my bedroom door, my teeth are lightly chattering and I’m still biting back tears.
He’s watching me, unsure of what to do now that we’re back in the confines of the inn.
Breaking the silence, I ask, “Was there anything you actually wanted to show me?”
He bites back a smile and shrugs. “There were books Icouldhave shown you.”
Rolling my eyes, I shake my head and look away, not wanting him to see the amusement in my eyes. Feeling his gaze on me, I avoid meeting his eye and stare down the dark, long hallway.
“Can we talk tomorrow?” he asks in a low whisper.
I open my mouth, trying to find the words, before closing it again. My shoulders drop and I wrap my arms around myself, defeated.
He lets out a sigh and shakes his head in disappointment, but there’s not an ounce of surprise.
Without another word, I turn on my heel and lock myself in my room.
Quickly, I make sure the window is open for Hexate, and I crawl into bed.
