25. Delilah
Chapter twenty-five
Delilah
S tepping out of the room, I was now fully dressed and as ready as I could be for my day with Archer. I ran my hands through my hair. God, what am I doing? This is literally a death sentence, and here I am, welcoming it with open arms.
Soon, I heard footsteps, and Archer’s hand made it to the small of my back.
“Stop overthinking things,” he muttered, and I scoffed, trying to ignore the heat that ignited in my body at his touch alone.
“How, Archer? My bodyguard is probably going on a rampage trying to find me. We’re already too late to even think about joining the group.”
“Kimiko is handling your guard for the day, and as for the group, you didn’t really think I was on this trip to learn, did you? I outbid this penthouse to be alone and spend more time with you now. We’re spending the day together. End of discussion.”
I crossed my arms and looked over to him. “You offered a higher price than Killian Russel for a room for two weeks?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t easy, but it definitely wasn’t hard.” He grabbed my hand, and I rolled my eyes as he dragged me out of the room into the hall.
“Where are we even going, Archer?”
He pressed the button and sighed. “I don’t know, Princess, but I feel like brunch should be good right about now.”
I groaned as we stepped into the elevator. “You kidnapped me to take me to brunch?”
He bit his lip, and I could see a smirk on the edge of his lips. “You like to complain and protest a lot... you know that?”
I scoffed, “I do not!”
He gave me a knowing look, and I looked away from him as he began to laugh.
Eventually, we ended up in a cafe and took a small booth in the corner. After ordering, I couldn’t help but stare at Archer as he did the same to me.
“You’re unpredictable, Lockwood,” I said, and he smiled.
“I could say the exact same thing about you, Russel.”
I kept my expression the same and sighed as I continued, “I hope you know... for my entire life, I’ve been trying to either ignore or get away from you.”
“I’m quite aware of the extremes I had to go through for you to notice me, Princess...” he whispered.
I bit my lip. “Archer... you patronized me, threatened me, mocked me, and at times even made me cry or even afraid of you. All for what?” I asked, and he looked away. From what I could tell, his shoulders seemed tense, and his hands were fidgeting slightly.
“Surely we’re aware of the stereotype about a boy bullying a girl just because he likes her.”
“We were in kindergarten, Archer. We didn’t even know what liking someone meant or felt.”
“You could use that against me as I try to justify my actions, but I think the feeling I got around you or the fact that you stayed on my mind for endless hours at a time would back it up,” he muttered.
I sighed, looking out of the window. “We can’t be together, Archer... you know that.”
I felt his hand grab mine and gazed back over to him.
“Delilah... I know you feel at least something. You have to after everything we’ve been through.”
“Of course I do, Archer. You’re the first boy I’ve literally known—”
“Exactly. Let’s try to forget about our parents for just a moment and realize that this is our life. Let’s focus on us. We can make it work.”
“How?” I asked, beginning to feel overwhelmed, and he shook his head.
“We’ll find a way no matter what it takes. If you want to wait, we can, but there is no way in hell I’m taking no for an answer, because I can easily say I’ve been fighting for fifteen years for you. If anything, we can fight together,” he urged, and I couldn’t help but smile. He looked like a kid in a candy store, and I didn’t have the heart to deny him.
Considering his words for a moment or so, I felt conflicted. Knowing this would end in ruin but anxiously wanting to take the risk. The consequences of that risk outweighed the benefits, but despite his flaws, part of me wanted to see where this would go, to see if the butterflies in my stomach would flutter away the longer I was with him or if they would only continue to grow.
Rubbing the back of his hand, I puffed out a small breath. “We keep this a secret, and we start things off slowly. We are in now in the talking stage of our relationship.”
“Keeping it a secret, got it.” He nodded enthusiastically, and I narrowed my eyes.
“Archer…”
Our food was being brought to the table, and he chuckled as the smell of fresh croissants filled my nose.
“I’m sorry, Princess. I could’ve sworn that was all you said. Now shush; our food is here.”
I rolled my eyes at his antics, and we ate in comfortable silence, only sometimes speaking in small conversations.
We had finished eating, and I pulled on my jacket as he paid. We made our way to the door, and Archer spoke behind me.
“Just one more thing.”
“Wha—?”
I went to move, but I flinched as he’d already turned me around and placed a kiss full of passion on my lips. I sighed heavily and put my hands on his arms as his hands cupped my face. His lips moved sensually against mine and I could feel him pouring his emotions into the kiss as he tightened his hands around my face. My knees buckled slightly as he devoured me.
Softly moaning into the kiss, I could feel him starting to deepen it, but we heard a throat being cleared behind us. Pulling away, we looked to see the waitress waiting to get by with a tray of food, seeming annoyed. We moved out of the way, and I apologized with a growing blush while Archer stood by my side, not looking apologetic at all. I nudged him with my elbow as the woman passed, and he smirked.
“Hands to yourself, Russel.” He winked as he walked to the door, and I groaned heavily as I followed him out.
We spent the next few hours wandering the city, and occasionally, we almost got caught by our group leaders, who were coincidentally in the same area we had been in.
We returned to the hotel, and I walked into a guest room, wanting to slip into something more comfortable. I pulled my shirt over my head and jumped. I pulled it to my chest as Archer walked through the door.
“Archer! The door was closed!”
“We’re dating now. We should start becoming more comfortable with each other...” He spoke as if we had not had an entire conversation about starting slow only hours ago.
I groaned in frustration as he sat at the edge of the bed. “That is not what we agreed on!”
“Well, it’s what I agreed on,” he retorted.
I yelled in annoyance. “Archer! Leave the room.”
He thought about it for a moment, and I watched him as he stood up and approached me… ever so slowly.
Eventually, he stood right in front of me, and I found myself becoming breathless. Abruptly, he grabbed my shirt and tossed it to the side, not breaking eye contact once.
My heart raced in my chest, and I stared up at him wide-eyed. Being this close to him while we were both shirtless was quite a situation to be in—a situation I didn’t mind too much as I got to enjoy seeing him subtly flex his biceps. What was I angry about again?
He placed his hand on the side of my face, and not a second later, I squealed, grabbing onto his shoulders as he picked me up and held me in his arms. Pulling me flush against him, I blushed profusely as my arms and legs wrapped around him.
“Forgive me for my abruptness, Princess,” he murmured, the words rolling off his tongue with a hint of mischief, making it clear he didn’t actually mean it. The smirk tugging at the corner of his lips was anything but apologetic.
He wasn’t sorry for moving so fast, not in the slightest. And the worst part? I didn’t really want him to be.
Before I could protest or even gather my thoughts, he tilted his head, leaning in closer, his breath warm against my skin. He was daring me to challenge him, to push him away, but my body betrayed me, leaning into him instead.
“You’re insufferable,” I whispered, my voice laced with frustration and desire, as he hovered over my lips, teasing me instead of putting me out of my misery.
“Only for you...” he uttered, his eyes looking at me with the same intense need.
Running my hands through his hair, I was eager to close the distance when I heard a voice, causing me to freeze.
“Well... this is just... a bit unexpected,” the voice said by the door, and I could only stare wide-eyed at Archer, who held the same look of confusion. Fear quickly replaced the palpable tension in the room, and I almost shuddered in terror.
Slowly, we both turned to see Benjamin at the door with Marshmallow in his arms, who was just ecstatic to see me.
“Imagine my surprise when Kimiko informed me that you were not in your room, and I had to go through other means to come up here.”
I just stared at him. I couldn’t blink or move. God, we’d only been together for three minutes, and we already were caught.
“Oh, my apologies. I’ll be waiting in the living room. Please, carry on.”
He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him nonchalantly.
I looked over to Archer as he looked at me, and I could tell we were thinking something along the same lines.
We’re screwed.