Pretty Lies & Ugly Truths (Ugly Truths #1)

13. Archer

13

Archer

I flip the omelet in the pan, turning down the heat as I try my hardest not to burn it.

I am certainly no chef. Living alone for so long, I rarely cook for just myself, instead opting for takeout or something I can grab and go. However, I figured Maggie would be hungry, and I wanted to make sure she was fed.

So, here I am, at too damn early in the morning—in the kitchen I rarely use—cooking us breakfast.

If there is one thing I have learned about Maggie over the past few weeks, it’s that she is the quintessential morning person. Whereas I am more of a night owl, she is up every day with the sun, which is why I’m starting to get concerned. It’s after ten, and I haven’t heard her moving around yet.

Worried something might be wrong, I’m about to go up to check on her, when I hear her coming down the stairs. I continue cooking, my back to the doorway, but I spin around when I hear her sharp intake of breath.

My eyes roam over her, making sure she’s okay, trying to gauge how bad she’s hurting. Only, it’s not pain I see on her face—it’s hunger.

It seems my Little Rose is hungry, and not just for the breakfast I’m cooking.

What I’m doing is a bad idea. I should turn away, go upstairs and put on a shirt, anything to stop this, but I am so tired of fighting it.

It nearly killed me to walk away from her last night, not when I could tell she wanted me to make a move, when I could feel the way her body vibrated under my touch, and God, those fucking noises she made…

They drove me damn near out of my mind. I barely made it to my room before I pulled out my straining cock and fucked my fist until I came all over my hand like a goddamed teenager, the sounds of her needy little cries still ringing in my ears. Still, it did nothing to dispel this tension that has been brewing since I first laid eyes on her.

I have nothing to offer her, and this could never be anything more than physical, but as her hooded eyes rake over my naked chest, slowly lowering to where my sweatpants sit low on my hips, I can’t find the will to care.

Maybe my brother’s right. We are two single consenting adults. This arrangement was never going to be more than temporary anyway. Once her apartment is ready and I make sure the threat is eliminated, we will part ways.

Maybe, we can both carve out a tiny slice of happiness—if only for a little while .

Reaching out, I turn off the burner and lean my hip against the counter, allowing her to look her fill. Her little pink tongue darts out to wet her lips, and my hands clench so tight on the counter, my knuckles crack.

It takes every ounce of strength to keep myself from throwing her down on the counter and eating her for breakfast instead.

“Hungry?” I rasp. She lets out a small sound, her head snapping up to meet my gaze. A beautiful pink blush colors her cheeks, and I’m unable to stop the smirk that takes over my face.

“Umm…what?”

“I said, are you hungry?” I gesture to the breakfast I was cooking.

“Oh—yes. Starving, actually,” she replies.

I plate her veggie omelet with extra spinach—it’s supposed to be high in iron, and I figured she might need that since she is losing blood.

I make us both coffees, hers with the salted caramel creamer I know is her favorite, and we sit next to each other at the bar top counter to eat.

She takes a few bites before turning to me.

“Oh, I meant to ask you yesterday but—you know, I kind of got distracted. I was wondering if the police have found anything out about the guy who attacked me?”

I cough as I choke on a bite of food, and she reaches over to pat my back.

Taking a large sip of hot coffee, I take a minute to think of a decent response. I can’t exactly tell her that he’s probably in the belly of an alligator right about now, but it doesn’t feel right to lie to her either. So, I give as much of the truth as I can.

“His name’s Kyle Palmer. Apparently, he’s a real shitty bastard. You don’t have any connections or known relatives up in Massachusetts, near or around the Boston area, do you?” Genuine surprise flickers on her face.

“No.” She shakes her head, the corners of her lips turning down in a frown. “Not that I know of, but like I said, I don’t know much about my birth family. As far as I know, I’ve never even left this state. Why do you ask?”

“Because that’s where he’s from. He was involved in a lot of criminal activity up there, doing some pretty shady shit for one of the largest families in the Irish crime syndicate, the McGregors.”

“What!?” Her head rears back, eyes wide as a mix of shock and fear bleed the color from her face. “What the hell is he doing here then? And what would he want with me?”

That’s the million-dollar question.

I have been wracking my brain for days trying to figure that out, but I can’t come up with a single thing that makes sense. The best I got is what Becks theorized: Maggie’s birth mom got herself into some sort of trouble, and someone plans to use her daughter as leverage.

“I’m not sure. You said you thought your mom was on drugs. Do you think it’s possible she got mixed up with the wrong crowd? Maybe she owes someone some money. They may be trying to use you to get back at her.”

“Maybe…but how would they even know about me? Like I said, I haven’t seen her in years. ”

I shrug. “Trust me, people in that world have a way of finding things out.”

She narrows her eyes, and for a second, it looks as if she wants to ask me something. As much as I don’t want to tell her about my past, I know if she asks, I wouldn’t lie to her.

In the end, though, she stays quiet, and I don’t know if I’m relieved or disappointed.

We both turn back to our plates, and I watch as she moves her food around with her fork, no longer eating. Instead, she chews her lip with a blank expression on her face, and I don’t like it.

She startles when my hand comes to rest at her nape, and her brilliant green eyes lack their usual luster. My thumb strokes along her pulse point as I lean in, holding her gaze, making sure she can see the sincerity of what I’m about to say.

“Nothing and no one is going to hurt you—and I will not stop until we figure out what this is all about. Do you hear me? You are safe with me.”

Her eyes drop to my mouth and linger there.

I know I should pull away—nothing good can come from this—but I just can’t. Every cell in my body is begging me to take her. Claim her. Make her mine. Ruin her for any other man.

That last thought gives me pause, but only for a moment, because when she looks back up at me, her eyes filled with such naked hunger, I come completely undone.

My lips crash to hers, sucking on her plush bottom lip before taking it gently between my teeth. I run my tongue along the seam of her mouth, and she lets out the most delicious moan before opening for me.

My hand tangles in her long, silky ponytail as I wrap it around my fist, using it to tilt her head back to deepen the kiss, but it’s still not enough. I can’t get fucking close enough.

She lets out a little noise of protest as I break the kiss, but only long enough for me to grip her under her hips and pull her onto my lap. Her arms and legs wrap around me as she straddles me on the barstool.

There, that’s better.

She brings her mouth back to mine as she begins to move her hips, her pussy rocking on my hardening cock. Her head falls back as I nibble and suck my way down the slender column of her throat.

My hands slip under her sweatshirt, gliding up over her sides until my thumbs reach just underneath her breasts, and I let out a groan when I realize she isn’t wearing a bra. I cup her in my palms, and she shivers as I thumb her nipples.

I want to see her.

I watch her face as I drop my hands, reaching for the hem of her sweatshirt, making my intentions clear. When she nods, I pull it over her head, leaving her bare from the waist up.

I take a moment to fully appreciate her. Her eyes are bright, cheeks flushed, her lips all swollen and puffy. My gaze travels to her throat, the sight of her pale skin decorated with my marks makes me fucking feral with the need to possess her .

Her perfect round breasts sit full and heavy, tipped with soft pink nipples. I swear, she is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on. A goddamn goddess.

Why someone so perfect would allow these stained hands to touch her like this, I don’t know, but for now I decide not to question it. Instead, I choose to fall into this temporary bliss as I worship her.

“You are so fucking stunning,” I tell her before leaning down to take one of her perfect nipples into my mouth, licking and sucking one, then the other, until she’s a writhing, whimpering mess. She’s so responsive to my touch, and I love it. I bet I could even make her come this way alone.

I continue to lavish attention on her breasts, her hips rolling faster as she grinds her pussy up and down my hard length, seeking out that friction she needs to come.

“Oh God…” she moans when I slip my hand between us, rubbing her over her leggings.

Keeping firm and even pressure, I stroke her clit as she continues to ride my hand.

I greedily drink down her delicious little noises with my mouth before biting and licking my way back down her neck and across her chest.

Her legs begin to shake, and I can tell she’s getting close.

“That’s it, baby. Take what you need. I want to see you come for me.” I say before leaning down to take her nipple into my mouth, biting down gently on the hardened nub as she falls apart in my arms.

“Archer!” she cries, throwing her head back as she screams my name. I watch in awe as she rides out her pleasure.

“So. Fucking. Stunning,” I praise.

Her dazed eyes open at the sound of my voice, and she straightens slowly, a look of wonder and awe on her face.

“Oh my God. That was…I mean, I’ve never…” she trails off with a shake of her head. I open my mouth to ask never what? but I don’t get the chance as the blaring sound of my phone ringing interrupts me.

My plan is to just ignore it, not yet ready to let her go, but I can tell by the way her arms come up to cover herself that the moment is ruined.

Reluctantly, I release her, and she scrambles off my lap.

I dig my phone from my pocket to see it’s my cockblock of a brother—Jayce.

“What?” I bark into the phone, my voice coming out sharper than intended, but in this situation, I think it’s justified.

“Damn, dude… What crawled up your ass this morning?” Jayce responds.

Never pulling my eyes from Maggie, I watch as she collects her shirt from the floor and clutches it to her chest, looking anywhere but at me. Now that won’t do.

I grab her wrist before she can get away, pulling her into me.

“This isn’t over,” I mouth to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before finally letting her go. She blinks those big green eyes at me, and fuck, all I want to do is just kiss her again, but the sound of my brother’s annoying voice breaks the spell.

“Uh…Archer? You still there?”

“Yea. I’m here,” I respond, watching Maggie’s retreating backside as she flees the kitchen and runs up the stairs. “But you have shit timing, you know that?” I say tersely, rearranging my erection before heading down the hall to my office.

“Shit, man—I’m sorry. You need me to call you back?” He acts apologetic, but I swear, the bastard is laughing at me. “Please tell me it’s your sexy little house guest.”

“That’s none of your damn business.”

“I’ll take that as a yes then. Good for you. I’m glad you’re finally taking my advice and?—"

“I’m assuming there was a reason for this conversation,” I cut him off, really not wanting to rehash that whole conversation right now.

“Right. I thought you would want to know the guys are done with Maggie’s apartment, and the stuff you ordered was delivered and should be installed by the end of the day. Also… Beckham told me to tell you the guys should have the security system done by the end of the week.”

What should be good news settles in my stomach like a lead weight. If what he says is true, then that puts her one step closer to going back home and out of my life, because no matter how much I might want to keep her, at the end of this I will have to let her go.

In my head, I hear the ticking of a doomsday clock, counting down the minutes we have left. This thing has only just started, and it already has a deadline looming over it.

The sad truth is, I’m not sure either one of us is going to walk away unscathed.

The smart thing to do would be to put those walls back up, to keep my distance until this is all over. I remind myself that she’s too good for me. She would be better off without me in her life, but the truth is, at this point, I don’t know if I’m strong enough to let her walk away.

Now that I’ve touched her, kissed her, watched her come apart in my arms, can I really go back to just watching her from the shadows? Stand by while she dates other men, falls in love, gets married? The thought of another man’s hands on Maggie makes me homicidal, and I know if I were to truly let her go, I would have to cut all ties, or all her dates would suspiciously wind up missing.

“Thanks for letting me know.” My voice comes out flat. If he notices, he thankfully doesn’t say anything.

Hanging up, I pull up the camera feed for the guest room. Maggie is sitting on the edge of her bed, staring absently at the wall. I watch as her fingertips trail over the spot on her forehead where I kissed her, and a wide smile slowly takes over her face before she flops back on the bed.

She lays there, her scarlet hair sprawled across the cream comforter, a sliver of the skin of her belly showing from where her sweatshirt has ridden up. My muscles tense as I fight the urge to go up to her room and finish what we started, but my thoughts from earlier are now fucking with my head.

I know it’s not a good idea to take this any further…at least not until I get my head straight. She deserves more than that.

Needing to get out here and clear my head, I grab my keys to leave.