Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
Scarlett’s knuckles were white where they gripped the headboard. Her head spun. Her body felt tense and tight and hot. She could still taste Archer on her tongue, and that, combined with what Archer was doing with his mouth, was driving her wild.
She hadn’t even realized she’d started moving until Archer groaned, his hands tightening on her thighs. Thinking she was hurting him, Scarlett tried to lift herself off his face—but she only made it an inch before he held her tight and shot her a furious glare.
“I told you to ride my face, sweetheart. Where do you think you’re going?”
“I thought I was smothering you.”
His palm came down on her ass with a hard smack, and she got the message. She ground herself on his mouth and took her pleasure while he drank from her. It felt illicit, somehow. Dirty in a way that excited her, especially when her fingers curled into his hair while her movements became jerkier. When pleasure crested, her back arched as a desperate cry fell from her lips.
Then she was flat on her back and Archer was kneeling between her spread legs. His cock jutted, thick and proud, bouncing slightly as he moved. Panting, she watched him through heavy-lidded eyes as he stroked the skin of her inner thighs. His lips and chin glistened, and his eyes were fully dark.
“Love the taste of you,” he said, wiping his chin with his palm. His hand slid to where she was wettest, and a finger breached her opening.
Scarlett’s hips lifted off the bed. Every touch electrified her. It didn’t make sense. She’d had sex before—lots of sex—but nothing like this. Nothing that made her feel off-balance and craving more.
Archer rolled a condom on his shaft, and Scarlett’s breath caught. She felt him nudge at the core of her, his gaze glued to the place they’d soon be joined.
“I think you’ve made a mistake, Scarlett,” he said in a dark voice as he teased her with the slightest intrusion.
She squirmed against him, needing more. “Oh?”
“I’m not going to let you go. I can’t have you like this and lose you. I won’t let it happen.”
“What makes you think I want you to let me g— oh .” Her breath came out in a rush as he thrust into her. “Archer.”
He curled his body over hers, leaning a forearm beside her head while his other hand stroked her thigh and coaxed it up to curl over his hip. His breath ghosted over her lips as her eyelids fluttered closed. “Scarlett.”
Slow, shallow movements made Scarlett’s body twitch and contract. Her nails bit into his shoulders. He stretched her in a way that was pleasure tinged with pain. “That’s—you feel—is it all the way in?”
He huffed, his lips brushing her cheek in a tender caress. “No.”
Another inch, and Scarlett’s back lifted off the bed. “Archer?—”
He shushed her, his hand stroking the thigh he’d lifted over his hip. “You feel so good, sweetheart. So tight and hot and wet for me.”
She loved the tenor of his voice when he talked dirty to her. She loved the weight of him on top of her. The way he stretched her. The way he possessed her.
He pushed into her a little bit more, and Scarlett moaned. When she spoke, her voice was a whine. “It’s not going to fit.”
His smile was wicked. “It’ll fit. You’re going to take all of me, every inch, and we’re not going to stop until you do.”
She gave him a dubious frown, but little sparks of pleasure had already begun to arc through her veins.
“You’re going to come on my cock, Scarlett,” he continued, “and you’ll scream my name while you do.”
He kept his movements shallow and slow, and Scarlett’s body allowed him in. Another inch. And another. The tendons on his neck stood out as a flush swept over his chest. Scarlett’s own body twitched and jerked beneath him, her hands clinging to his shoulders as if she could anchor herself to reality by holding onto him.
When her hips began to move in tandem with his, Archer let out a groan of pure pleasure. The sound of it sent heat rushing between Scarlett’s thighs, her tongue darting out to taste the sweat beading on his neck.
“What were you thinking about when you came earlier?” Archer asked, rocking his body into hers. He kissed her before she could respond, the movement of his tongue echoing what they were doing down below.
“You,” she finally gasped when he released her. “I was thinking about you.”
“Be more specific,” he said, grinning. “I want to know what gets you off, Scarlett.”
Her heart raced as their movements sped up. He kissed her again, then said, “Tell me.”
All she could do was whisper the truth: “I was thinking about sucking your cock. About you—about you filling my mouth with…”
Archer let out a little puff of breath, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and then he surged into her, deep and hard. Scarlett couldn’t hold back a yelp of surprise, and Archer’s body went still as he lifted himself up to look at her face, concern and control warring with white-hot lust in his eyes.
He was so gorgeous. Even now, when his control held on with the thinnest of threads, he made sure she was okay. This man was a precious gem that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed before. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a partner.
And when he was like this, taut with barely leashed desire, a thin sheen of sweat on every hard inch of his bare body, he looked like a god who’d been sent to ruin her. She’d never been this turned on in her entire lonely life.
“Fuck me,” she said in response to his unspoken question—and he did. He levered himself up and hooked his arms under her thighs so he could drive himself into her again and again and again. It was almost too much for her.
Almost too much—but not quite.
He was big, and he was merciless. It felt like a reckoning, like her body would be broken by the end of it. Scarlett let herself be swept away by the pleasure Archer delivered. When she reached down between them to touch herself, Archer let out a groan of encouragement. There was no shame between them. No barriers. She could be herself—her sexual, sensual self—and knew, instinctively, that Archer would be right there with her.
When she came, he spoke words of encouragement in a low, rough voice. He told her she was beautiful, told her she was his. And when she thought the orgasm was over, she found herself flipped onto her stomach, spread wide, and thoroughly fucked. Pleasure tore through her like a lit fuse, and she welcomed the detonation.
It was a long while later, when they’d both caught their breath, that she finally blinked her eyes open and looked at the man collapsed on the pillow beside her.
He met her gaze and reached over to push a strand of hair off her forehead. He pulled her into his arms and tucked her head onto his chest, and Scarlett let out a sigh of contentment.
“Were you serious earlier?” he asked in the stillness of the night.
“Serious about what?”
“You want me to be your date to the grand re-opening?”
Lifting her head, Scarlett leaned her chin on the hand that was above his heart and smiled. “Yes. Were you serious when you agreed?”
One side of his lips kicked. “I’m always serious when it comes to you.”
She settled back down onto his chest, smiling. “Good.”
They snoozed for a bit, until Archer’s stomach growled so loudly they both laughed. Then they rustled up some dinner from the bits and pieces Archer had in his fridge and ate it on the couch as they watched a murder mystery show. Scarlett put her plate down and leaned her head against his shoulder, feeling more at peace than she had in years.
The past was truly behind her, and the future was bright.
All they had to do was find one measly little murderer and re-open Scarlett’s shop, and everything would be perfect.