34. Preston
THIRTY-FOUR
preston
FROM MY LIVING room window, I watched as snow flurries drifted across the city, coating the buildings below in a soft white blanket.
It had started the moment I stepped out of the Elysium, and by the time I’d arrived at the Towers, my tuxedo was soaked through.
I’d quickly stripped out of the restrictive clothing, leaving it discarded in a pile on my bathroom floor, and changed into a pair of lounge pants and a t-shirt.
It wasn’t like I’d be going back out, and the Winter Ball wouldn’t be over for at least another couple of hours.
I didn’t expect the guys anytime soon, not when they’d all been making plans to hit up an afterparty.
Serena had already sent a text, checking on me, but I’d lied and told her I was fine and was just going to pass out.
Yeah, right. With the way my mind was reeling, I wouldn’t be sleeping at all.
I lifted the glass of whiskey and took a long sip. It wasn’t something I usually chose to drink, but it reminded me of Archer. He’d been drinking it tonight; I’d tasted it on his tongue when he kissed me, and somehow swallowing it now eased the ache in my chest a little.
Maybe that was just the effects of the alcohol, but I’d take it. The alternative was a little too painful.
The glass was cool as I rested my forehead against the window, looking at the cluster of buildings that surrounded the Elysium. I couldn’t see them clearly from my view, only the general area, but I could imagine what was happening inside at that very moment.
Archer smiling and laughing, entertaining the masses like he hadn’t just destroyed me outside. Would he be affected at all, or had I slipped from his mind the second he walked back inside? Would his date insist on going back to Archer’s place—and would Archer let him?
No, I thought. He wouldn’t do that. I needed to stop being so goddamn paranoid. Everyone always said how mature I was for my age, but that wasn’t the case now. I wasn’t used to feeling insecure, but then again, I also wasn’t used to wanting more with someone I was sneaking around with.
But he’d said he would’ve left with me in a heartbeat if he could’ve. That had to mean something. Or were they just empty words?
I’d turned away from the window, heading toward the kitchen for a refill, when someone began to bang on my door.
Not just knocks, but some serious pounding.
There could only be one person trying to leave dents in my door, and I’d told Daire not to bother. No doubt he wanted to make sure I wasn’t trying to jump out of a window, but I didn’t want to deal with anyone right now.
When the banging started up again, I set my glass on the counter and made my way to the door, cursing under my breath.
“Daire, for fuck’s sake, I’m fine. You didn’t need to leave the?—”
I swung the door wide to see the last person I expected standing there, and my words got caught in my throat.
With his hands on the frame and his bow tie undone and loose around his neck like he’d pulled it free in frustration, Archer lifted his eyes to mine.
My heart stopped.
Stunned didn’t even begin to cover it.
“What…what are you doing here?” I sputtered. “What about the?—”
I didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence, because Archer reached for me, grabbing either side of my face. A second later, his mouth was on mine, stealing all my breath.
For a moment, I thought I was dreaming. But as my fingers curled into the strands of his hair that were still wet from melted snow, my brain finally kicked in. He was really here.
Which meant Archer had left his own event to show up on my doorstep.
Holy…shit.
I wanted to ask him why, how, but Archer was insistent, kissing and sucking on my lips like he’d never gotten a chance to before.
He walked me backward into the condo and kicked the door shut behind him. Then he dropped his forehead to mine, breathing heavily. “I couldn’t stay. Not without you.”
My heart lurched, and if he hadn’t had a firm hold on me, I was sure my knees would’ve given out. His words were everything I’d wanted to hear, and I had to swallow back the emotion threatening to overwhelm me.
“Take me to your room, Preston.”
I entwined our fingers, walking us further inside, leading him to the one place I’d always imagined him—my bedroom.
We slipped inside like thieves in the night, and the second the door shut, it was as if the entire world faded away.
Archer was here.
Here at my place.
Here in my room.
Here with me.
He’d left the biggest event of the season to come to me, and deep in my heart, I knew that had to mean something.
“Archer,” I whispered, drawing him in close enough that our toes touched. “What about?—”
“Shh.” He put a finger to my lips. “There’s nothing right now but you and me.”
My heartbeat was so loud I was surprised he couldn’t hear it in the silence of my room. How many times had I imagined him saying something like that to me? Too many times to count. It was like a dream, one I never wanted to wake up from.
Archer drew our hands up, studying our fingers where they were joined, then brought them to his mouth and pressed a kiss there.
“Will you do something for me tonight?”
Anything. That was what I wanted to say. But I couldn’t seem to find the word, not when he was looking at me like I was everything he’d ever wanted.
“Let me love you.” He cradled my cheek, then leaned in to brush his lips across mine. “Let me show you all the ways I love you.”
I sucked in a ragged breath. “You… You love me?”
“More than I ever thought possible.”
My eyes blurred and I blinked, trying to keep focus. I didn’t want to miss anything, not the way his eyes softened or the crease at the corner of them as his lips curved against mine. He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen, and he loved me.
“Am I dreaming?”
Archer chuckled, stroking his thumb over my cheek. “No, you beautiful boy. This is not a dream.”
“Are you sure?” I turned my head to press a kiss to his palm. “Because it feels very similar to some of the dreams I’ve had in here.”
“Oh? And how do they usually go?”
“Well…” I brought my eyes back to his. “I tell you I love you, and then…”
“And then?”
“Then I wake up.”
Archer’s fingers tightened around mine, determination replacing the softness from seconds ago. “Tell me.”
My pulse skipped erratically as I stared up into the most perfect face I’d ever seen, and it was like my future flashed before my very eyes.
A year from now… Five… Ten…
And in every single scenario, the person I saw beside me, the person I wanted beside me, was Archer. “I love you.”
The second the words left my lips, Archer’s mouth was on them, stealing them for his own. He let go of my hand to reach for me, and as he angled my face for a deeper connection, I grabbed his wrists for something to hang on to.
The kiss was tumultuous, a meeting of not only our mouths, but our hearts and souls.
I could feel the difference in an instant—the warmth, the passion, the intention behind every sweep of his bold tongue as it claimed every inch of my mouth as his.
That’s exactly what I was, his , and somehow I knew that I always would be.
Archer kissed the corner of my lips. “Still think you’re dreaming?”
“No.” I put a hand to his chest and closed my eyes, concentrating on the steady thump of his heart. “But if I am, don’t let me wake up, okay? Not yet.”
“Promise. Will you undress for me? Let me feel you against me.”
I nodded and took the end of his bow tie, drawing it from around his neck. “Only if you do too.”
He tugged the ends of his dress shirt free of his pants and unbuttoned as I pulled my t-shirt over my head. Then we both removed our pants and fell onto the bed in a naked tangle of limbs.
I scooted up the mattress, my head hitting the pillow as Archer shifted over me. The exquisite pressure of his body pressing me into the soft sheets had me thrusting my hips up into his.
“So responsive.” Archer trailed the back of his fingers down my ribs to my waist. “I love the way your body moves for me.”
“Only you…”
He did it again, this time drawing his fingers up my side, and my cock lurched at the gentle touch. Archer smiled against my mouth and gently rocked over me.
“Yes, just like that.”
I wound my arms around his neck and bent my legs to plant my feet on the mattress, putting Archer where I wanted him most—between my thighs.
His thick, heavy cock lay alongside mine, and I could feel every pulse as the warmth of his arousal dripped against my skin. I rolled my hips up, connecting our bodies in a sticky slide as I dragged my dick across his and held him tight.
Everything about tonight felt different. Every touch, every emotion, felt heightened because of the words that had been said, and when Archer’s gaze found mine, I knew he felt it too.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Better than okay.”
He nipped at my lip, then he began to kiss his way down my neck to my chest. I reached for his head and threaded my fingers through his hair, and when he scraped his teeth over one of my nipples, a loud curse left my mouth.
Archer’s eyes flashed fire as he flicked his tongue over the spot he’d just teased and watched for my reaction.
The second he touched me, my hips jackknifed off the bed, rubbing my cock against him.
“Archer.”
He teased my nipple, nipping and biting the skin around it as he continued to watch me. “That’s another thing I love. The way you say my name.”
I tightened my thighs around him and grunted. “Told you.”
“Yes, you did.” He planted a kiss at the center of my chest and aimed a devilish grin my way. “So let’s see if I can make you shout it tonight instead.”
Oh hell, I knew he could. He just had to keep looking at me like that and I’d be able to get myself off. But I had a feeling Archer had other plans in mind by the way he dragged his tongue down the middle of my body to flirt with my navel.