Chapter Thirty-Four
ARCHER
I’m horny as hell.
What the fuck is it about pregnancy that turns my already-high sex drive into feral need every time my girl is around? Like magnets, every inch of my skin flares in response to her proximity, and the feeling won’t let up until I’m touching her in some kind of way.
When I’m on the ice, I’m thinking about getting home so I can see her. If she’s staying at her place that night, I’m scrambling for reasons why I need her in my apartment.
This away series in Dallas is going to be the death of me—five days away from Darcy and more sneaking around as I hide text exchanges and phone calls from her brother and the rest of the team.
The one saving grace? The boys know Abbie is out of the picture, so no one expects some random chick to turn up at a bar one night, claiming to be my girlfriend. The downside? They’re all going to expect me to leave the bars with one, maybe even two girls on my arm.
Because that’s what Archer Moore does.
Even though I haven’t actually done it since last October, when I finally realized if she wasn’t Darcy, I couldn’t go through with it.
I get all the reasons why Darcy wants to wait on telling her brother and stepdad.
My parents didn’t announce their pregnancies until Mom started showing.
It’s a standard decision to make. I can’t lie and claim it isn’t killing me though.
The thought of holding in our secret another couple of weeks and the prospect of breaking the news equally terrify me.
Not that I’d tell Darcy or anyone else that.
She’s got enough spinning in her head. Whatever comes my way—whether it’s her brother’s and stepdad’s fists or congratulations—I’ll deal with it.
I’ll tell them I’m in love with her. I’ll own the Abbie ruse, and I’ll take what they throw at me on the chin.
For her.
For us.
For our baby.
The other thing that’s killing me? Waiting on the gender test results. It’s been over a week, and I have plans, goddammit. I know Darcy loves to shop, and I intend to drop some serious cash on her, the baby, and getting us all set as soon as we hear what we’re having.
It’s possible she’ll want to wait until she’s twelve weeks, but this is where I’m drawing the line. It’s happening the second I get back from Dallas.
As I spoon my naked girlfriend, my palm finds her belly, and I gently run circles over her perfect skin. “You going to tell us what you are today, Pip? Daddy doesn’t want to be in Texas when the news drops.”
Darcy shifts in response to my whisper, and I move some hair to one side, exposing her neck.
When my lips find the sensitive skin underneath her ear, she stretches out like a kitten. I feel a little bad for waking her, but our time in bed is limited since she’s got to head to work, and I’ll be boarding a plane before she finishes.
I probably shouldn’t be so hung up on how many hours I get with her since I plan to spend the rest of my life by her side, but still, every second feels like a goddamn blessing.
My phone buzzes on the side table, and I reach across and grab it, opening up a message from Jack.
Jack: *shirtless picture of him working out in his home gym*
Jack: I’m sending this since Archer doesn’t bless us with his naked chest any longer.
I smirk. The kid’s got some fucking gall.
Me: I remember you and Sawyer telling me to keep it to my OnlyFans page.
Sawyer: We did, and it thankfully worked. Put it away, Jack. I just ate breakfast.
Me: You’re up early.
Sawyer: Ezra has a motocross meet, and Collins is taking him. They had to leave early.
Jack: Why don’t you send early morning workout pictures to us anymore?
Jack: Wait. Don’t answer that because I already know what’s coming—you’re too busy in bed with my sister or some shit like that. Change the record.
Sawyer: Did everyone get the amended practice schedule from Coach? He emailed it late last night.
Jesus, way to divert, Sawyer.
Another text comes through. This time, it’s directly from my captain.
Sawyer: You are in bed with her right now, aren’t you?
Darcy turns over to face me, smiling sleepily as she sets a kiss on my bare shoulder.
Me: Yes.
Sawyer: Jesus fucking Christ. I don’t want to know anymore. When you get found out, I’m denying I ever knew anything about this—got that?
Protecting Sawyer from getting caught up in the fallout is a priority to me. At one point in Lloyd’s, I figured he’d guessed, but he never said anything, even if he had suspicions.
Me: I got it, Cap. I also got the amended practice schedule.
Sawyer: I know you did. I was deflecting.
Me: And I love you for that.
Sawyer: Jack’s messaging the group chat …
Me: I know. I can see them coming through.
Sawyer: This is all going to blow up in your face, Archer. And I’m not sure I can help you pick up the pieces on this one.
“Who are you texting?” Darcy sings at me, her palm wrapping around my already-hard dick.
“Sawyer,” I reply, leaning in to set a kiss on her forehead.
Me: So, you want me to end it with Darcy? Because that would be the very definition of fucking her around which is, in fact, what Jack thought I would do. I’m not going anywhere, and he’s going to have to deal with it when the time comes.
Sawyer: Wait. Are you guys dating now???
Me: Yeah.
Sawyer: Is it serious???
Me: Yeah. Very.
Sawyer: You need to tell him.
Me: I will.
Sawyer: Now.
Me: It’s … complicated. Just let me handle it, and you have my word I’ll keep you out of it.
Sawyer: All right. I’m not happy, but all right.
Me: I gotta go. She just woke up, and we’re about to spend five days apart.
Me: If you catch my drift.
Sawyer: I’ve got NO IDEA what you’re talking about.
I toss my phone off to the side and hover over her.
“I think you’re starting to show a little, Doll.” My hand smooths over her stomach. “You’re doing such a good job at growing our baby.”
She whimpers a little, and I grin down at her.
“Wait. Does my girl like being praised?”
Darcy flutters her long eyelashes at me. “I mean … I guess there are worse things in life than being told I’m a good girl.”
Yeah, that’ll fucking do it.
Throwing back the covers, I lift her into my arms and walk us to the shower.
“I was all warm and snuggly,” she whines as I hold her in one arm and crank the walk-in rainfall shower.
The water heats up fast, and since we’re both already naked, I move us straight through the stream, pinning Darcy against the far wall with both hands under her ass.
“You literally carry me around like I weigh nothing.”
Running my tongue along her bottom lip, I can feel my cock as it presses into her stomach. “Hence your nickname—you’ve got doll-like features and weigh about as much. So fucking beautiful.”
My cock is lined up perfectly, and I push inside my girlfriend.
“I want you to know something,” I tell her, eyes falling to her tiny, round belly.
She cocks her head to the side, lips parted on a gasp. “What?”
My grin is so wide; it aches in my cheeks when I stroke inside her for the first time. “I’m really fucking happy you’re allergic to latex.”
She bursts out laughing, playing with pieces of hair at the back of my neck as I fuck her slowly. “Well, we can get latex-free ones afterward.”
“Never going to happen.” I shake my head. “This right here”—I pull out and push back inside, spreading her perfect cunt—“is the only way we’re going to fuck. From now until the day I die, Darcy. You’re never going anywhere, and neither am I. This is it for us both.”
Something flashes in her eyes when I spread her legs wider.
I can’t tell what’s going on in her head, and I hate that.
“We’re having a girl,” she whispers.
My hips pause, and my throat grows tight. Water from the shower trickles down my forehead, where it gathers in my lashes, although I know the wetness coating my eyes isn’t from that.
“A baby girl?” I choke out.
She cups my face in her small palm, stroking the scruff I haven’t shaved yet. “I got the email while you were texting Sawyer. I was going to tell you right when you marched us into the shower.”
My tears spill over, running down my cheeks.
Fuck. I’m a mess.
“A baby girl?” I repeat since I’m incapable of forming other coherent sentences.
“Yes, Baby. I’m going to be insufferable, shopping for her.”
My hips piston into her again, and she sucks in a breath. I can feel her getting wetter as her pussy grips me tighter.
“Yeah, I got plans for that, Doll. Both of my girls are being treated like queens.”
She goes to open her mouth, but I silence her with a thrust that steals both of our breaths. I drop my face into the crook of her neck, fighting for air.
“I don’t want to hear anything other than yes fall from those pretty lips. Both when you agree to me dropping a ton of money on you and when you come all over my cock in a few seconds.”
A few more strokes, and she’s practically wailing. My fingertips sink further into her ass, and I lick into her mouth, a possessive growl rising up my throat.
“You going to come for me, huh?”
She can’t form words, and I don’t push her to. The way her pussy squeezes as I feed it my cock is evidence enough.
“I’m going to put so many fucking babies inside you, Doll. I can’t stop giving you my cum.”
“Is that what you want?” Her voice is raspy. “I bet it turns you on, doesn’t it? The thought of you inside me, taking over my body.”
Pressure draws my balls tighter. I’m ready to go off like a fucking rocket.
“Come in my pussy, Archer,” she orders. “I want to be your dirty, bad girl.”
I am deceased.
“Are you going to come with me?” I rush out the words. “Because I’m about ten seconds?—”
She pushes her head back into the tiles. “Oh-my-God, yes!” Her body shakes and quivers in my hands as I feel her release all over my cock.
“Fuck it.”
I pull out and drop to my knees, her body suspended in my arms.
Thank the sweet Lord for leg presses.
My mouth is clamped around her pussy as I savor her release. I lick from one hole to the next as she continues shaking, clawing, and pulling at strands of my wet hair.
“I’m sorry if I’m hurting you; it’s just s-so good.”
I pop off her with Darcy coating my lips as they tip into a wicked grin. She’s like damn royalty, staring down at me like I’m her servant.
At this point, I basically am.
“Hurt me, Doll. Make it really fucking sting. I’ve got five days without you, and I’ll take any reminder of the way it felt as I drank you down.”
When I take her back into my mouth, her nails dig into my shoulders. Her clit feels swollen against my tongue, and I tease it between my teeth.
“Oh fuck, oh fuck,” she cries out. “I’m coming. Again.”
Yes, she fucking is.
Her nails scrape down my skin. It’s fucking exhilarating to know I’ll wear the marks from my dream girl.
As Darcy’s second high subsides, I lick her clean, the shower still flowing behind us.
“That was amazing,” she croons when I lower her body and come to stand in front of her.
She reaches out to take my cock, but I interlace our fingers, resting my forehead against hers. I’ve only got the time to fuck her in my bed, and that’s exactly what I’ll do after we’ve showered.
“I don’t want to leave you for five days.”
She rests her spare palm against my chest. “It’ll fly by.”
I shake my head. “I can’t do five minutes without you, let alone five days. All the guys call and text their families, but I can’t with you, and it sucks fucking ass.”
Her blue eyes find mine. “Do you want to tell him now?”
Yes. No. Maybe.
“You want to wait, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
She nods once. “I do want to wait. I only told Mum and my girlfriends because I need them beside me. But if you?—”
“I can hold out,” I tell her, brushing my lips across her mouth. “Now or in a couple of weeks isn’t going to make any difference. Not when we have the rest of our lives.”
She looks heavy. Heavier than when we’ve previously talked about telling her brother. I know she’s worried about how the team will react, but something has shifted in her, and it’s freaking me the fuck out.
“What’s going on, Darcy?”
She swallows hard, and for a second, I think she’s going to say something.
“Nothing. I’m just a hormonal mess that’s going to miss her man.”
I decide to let it go. Maybe it is nothing. Maybe she’s struggling with me going away just as much as I am.
If she is, then she definitely loves me.
“Are you going to see the girls while I’m away?”
“Yes. We’re heading out for cocktails—or in my case, mocktails.”
A seed of jealousy blooms in the pit of my stomach, but it’s possession that overtakes it. “Out, as in around town?”
She nods, smirking just like she did that first time she came to my apartment.
“Don’t play with me. One man even so much as looks at you, and I’ll be on the first fucking flight.”
“Oh, Archer.” She brushes her lips across mine. “Maybe it’s time for a little lesson of my own?”
Now I’m the one smirking. “What’s that?”
Reaching up, she wraps a hand around the nape of my neck, bringing our foreheads back together. “You should be able to recognize a girl when she’s falling for a boy.”