Chapter 13 Heat and Hesitation
HEAT AND HESITATION
Archer
Archer Bellamy: Fuck being CEO for at least an hour, maybe two
Bank Account: I don’t even know anymore.
Heart: My cock is doing all the thinking…
The last wall of restraint I’d been clinging to finally cracked. The taste of sugar on Penny’s tongue, the slide of her body against mine, the moan she made when I fisted her hair—those became my foundation, an entire base to build from.
A pinprick of regret tried to break through, but desire bulldozed it.
“We shouldn’t do this,” I muttered against her throat, the words stripped of conviction. I pursued her neck, urgent and breathless, without a shred of sanity left.
On the edge of the bed, she straddled me and tore at the buttons of my shirt, getting it halfway down my arms.
“You’re so right. But I can’t stop thinking about you, Arch.” Her fingertips fluttered down my pecs and abs. “And I definitely shouldn’t do this.”
She pushed me back, my shirt under me, trapping my arms—the perfect hostage.
No complaints from me as her mouth trailed down my chest, across my abs, every kiss another temptation the farther south she went.
I lifted my head and watched through half-lidded eyes while she lingered below my navel at my happy trail.
“You undo my belt and there’s no going back,” I warned.
“Promise?” Her bratty eyes locked with mine, an eyebrow quirked. “Maybe we need to get it out of our systems.”
“What are you proposing? One time now…?”
“Exactly. Enough to last us for now. I’ll accelerate my plan to look for another job where it won’t matter who I’m fucking.”
She turned logic into dust with one sensual look. I swallowed, sweating the idea of not seeing her in my office every single day. Yet, the thought of being the CEO who broke the rules didn’t suit either.
“I have a better solution. You’re fired—for the next few hours while we fuck it out of our systems.” A sound plan. Reasonable arguments if ever brought up in court. At least that’s what the sex-starved part of my brain thought. “Hired again the minute we step foot into the ski lodge.”
“Works for me,” she grinned, reaching for my belt. “I’ve never been fired before. I don’t think I’ll regret anything I did to get terminated.”
“Enjoy it while it lasts.”
Metal clinked, leather hissed free. She bit her lip, unbuttoning and unzipping me, ultimately unleashing my manhood. I came out large and hard, ready to celebrate the end of a very long drought.
Her eyes widened, a sharp inhale cutting the air. “Oh, my. You’re beautiful, Archer.”
“He’s showing off for you.” My glorious cock twitched eagerly toward her mouth like the first steel beam on a new high-rise, ready to be screwed in place.
With a flick of her tongue, she tasted the pre-cum at the tip, adding swirls around my head. She massaged one hand low on my velvety balls. The other glided up my shaft, and I bit my lip. The urge to finish before we’d barely begun was too much.
“Fuck, Penny.” My teeth clenched.
Restraint snapped. My hips bucked into the heat of her mouth. She sucked, cheeks hollowing on repeat until I almost exploded. I sat upright and jerked away from her ministrations on a groan.
“Stopping?” She pouted.
“Hell no. I told you, no going back. Stand up,” I growled my orders.
We finished undressing each other. I freed my arms, and she worked my pants to the floor. Her hands traced up my thighs like she’d been waiting years to map every muscle. I slid her black dress over her head.
My gaze swept her body head to toe. Somewhere, HR wept. I didn’t care in this moment. Not when she looked like every fantasy I’d ever tried to outwork—curves, sweet and sexy, soft in all the right places. The air between us charged like an electrical storm.
“I like the way you look at me, Arch—like no other man ever has.” She reached behind her and undid the clasp of her nude lace bra, letting it fall. Perky, dusky peaks greeted me. I licked my lips.
“Take those off, too,” I demanded. The last thin barrier shimmied down her legs, revealing a perfect dark landing strip at the apex of her thighs.
“I don’t want to think about you with any other man,” I growled, gathering her back into my arms and laying her gently onto the bed.
“Good, because I can’t remember anyone before you.” Her laugh melted into a moan when my mouth crashed over hers in a kiss meant to claim and keep.
I explored down her body with nips and sucks, memorizing where she flinched, where she trembled, what stole her breath. With any luck, I’d be back to visit those places again one day soon.
“Open for me, baby.” Her legs spread wider, welcoming me. Through her folds I found the key to her undoing. My tongue traced her clit relentlessly, my palm holding her down.
Once she begged and whimpered, I added fingers, one at a time, each one stretching her, making sure she’d be ready for me. Then, the final touch—two fingers curved inside, massaging her special spot.
“Oh, Archer. I’m coming for you.” Her legs gripped my head in a shaking vise. I held my breath until my lungs ached, burying my face deep, tasting her honey as it came in wave after wave, sweet and so satisfying.
My name on her lips in repeated moans, I worked back up, along her skin, lingering at her pebbled nipples.
“Did you enjoy that?” Pretty sure I knew the answer.
“Mm. More? Condom? I have an IUD, but just in case…”
“Wallet. Be back.” I kissed her forehead and went searching, but my leather bifold turned up empty. I groaned. “Shit. Guess I never restocked.”
“Okay, man-whore,” she teased, the toe of her foot tracing along my thigh while I stood there gaping at my empty wallet.
“I’m not. Honestly. I’m at the tail end of a very long drought.”
“The end?” She sat up, head tilted.
“Yeah. Break the curse for me, Pen.” I sounded like a desperate man, begging. I fucking was.
“I’d be happy to help you with that problem.”
She got up and found her purse on the floor. The contents spilled across the nightstand until she found a foil packet.
“Emergency stash. Size XL okay?”
“What do you think?” I smirked.
She tore one open with her teeth, slid it on me with confident, deliberate strokes that blurred my vision. “What if you’re too big for me?”
“Trust me, I’ll make it fit,” I rasped, every muscle strung tight, anticipating the finale. “Lay back down.”
She pulled me with her, reaching down between us, guiding me to her entrance. She wet my tip through her slick seam, the sound obscene and perfect.
I teased there, sliding just the head in and out.
“Beg me for every inch.”
She squirmed and arched and pouted, but I held firm, amazed at my control.
“Beg, Pen.”
“Please,” she whimpered. I pushed a little more. Heat nearly blinded me.
“Mm. Beg again.” My jaw clenched.
“More, please.” Her hips bucked.
“Fuck.” I pressed farther in, stretching her tight walls, holding my breath.
“All of it now… Mr. Bellamy.” Her sultry tone did me in.
I thrust until I filled her, then stilled, letting us both get used to the feel of each other. Her eyes held mine, full of unsaid words, and I knew this wasn’t conquest—it was collapse. Every wall I’d built came down, leaving raw need and greed to have this woman all to myself.
“Move Archer. Penetration is my thing.” Her hips urged, nails raking down my back, sparking fire.
We started slowly, then found a pace that blurred time. Her body arched to meet mine on every pulse. My name broke on her voice.
There was no boardroom, no policy, no world outside this room. Only the impossible truth—that one time with her wouldn’t be enough.
Pressure built; restraint burned away. She cried out, clutching my shoulders as if I was the only solid thing left.
Control shattered. My pace turned demanding. Her breath dissolved into gasps. Everything so right with her, the inevitability almost weakened me.
“So fucking sexy. Play with yourself for me, baby.”
She obeyed, hand sliding between us, moaning. Her eyes glazed, lips parted. “So close.”
I slowed, wanting us there together, squeezing every second we had out of this borrowed time.
I flipped her gently. “Hand on the headboard. Keep touching yourself.”
“Yes, God, yes.”
I thrust back into her from behind, groaning at how tight she still gripped me. Long, steady strokes. My hands bruised her curvy hips, holding on. Her moans drove the last of my restraint.
“Good girl. Don’t stop playing with yourself until you come for me.”
Her whimpers built to cries. She trembled, pulsing around me. “Archer, oh God—”
I lost it at her climax. My hands joined hers on the headboard. I drove deep, groaning with my own, spilling into the condom, shaking the bed until I collapsed against her. Sweat stuck us together, breaths mingling.
My body stopped, but my mind didn’t get the memo—like one time with her and she’d rewired my brain, rewritten the history of everything that had broken me. I’d always trusted structure—angles, measurements, plans. But my growing passion for her was the one variable I didn’t bargain for.
I rolled us to our sides, wrapping her close. Our breathing calmed, but her quietness gnawed. Had we gone too far across the line? I kissed her cheek, temple, eyelids, whatever I could reach—anything to assure her—trying to ignore the worry at the edges of my mind.
“Everything okay?” I whispered, needing to know.
“Mm. Even better than that.”
“Good. I’ll be back.” I kissed her temple. In the bathroom, I couldn’t help grinning at my reflection while cleaning up. Who the hell was this guy? Happy Archer.
I returned with a warm cloth and tended to her gently. She watched me, eyes shining, then tugged me back into bed. We curled together, her back to my chest, my arm locked around her waist.
For a few stolen minutes, nothing else existed. Her breathing evened out, slow and content, and I let myself drift weightless, satisfied, alive in a way I hadn’t been in years. The emptiness that had once followed sex—the ache of something missing—was gone. She filled every hollow space I had.