Chapter 32 Gabriel
Archer was silent for the first time since he’d inserted himself in our group. That didn’t stop me noticing the smug satisfaction that radiated from him ever since he’d completed his bond with Bechora. It clung to him, subtle but still there. My gaze slid to him again before I could stop it.
He’d changed out of his uniform sometime between dinner and nightfall.
The drab black we all wore was gone, replaced with worn jeans and a fitted, black t-shirt that did absolutely nothing to hide the muscles beneath.
It was… distracting. My eyes lingered a second too long before I forced them away.
There were more pressing concerns than Archer’s choice of wardrobe for breaking into the records room.
Like the fact that I could feel his eyes on me now.
“What?” I asked flatly.
“Nothing,” he replied, entirely too easily.
I didn’t believe him. The male hadn’t let a single moment pass without some inappropriate comment aimed in my direction or calling me ‘ Pretty Boy’ . I was surprised when he didn’t say anything further, waiting longer than I should have for him to speak.
I exhaled slowly, dragging my focus back to the building ahead. “We need to move.”
“Right,” Archer agreed, though there was something faintly amused in his voice.
I ignored that, too. Everything about him was a complication I wasn’t interested in examining.
He was another of Bechora’s mates, that was all.
Wasn’t it? I forced the wayward thought down and moved toward the administration building.
Archer followed, not slowing as we approached.
His confidence bordered on recklessness.
The door gave way easily. I paused just inside, my gaze sweeping the dimly lit corridor.
“That’s suspicious.”
“Not really,” Archer murmured. “When everyone relies as heavily on magic as we do, sometimes the simplest deterrent is not having one.”
I stifled my snort and moved forward, steps soundless against the polished floor.
Archer stayed closer than necessary. I could feel the heat of him at my side, the steady rhythm of his breathing, the way his attention never seemed to waver.
It was almost… flattering. Annoyed, I pressed my lips in a thin line and ignored the thought.
We’d barely made it a quarter of the way down the corridor when Archer’s hand shot out, grabbing my arm.
I turned sharply, irritation rising. “What—”
“Shh!”
Then the sound came. Footsteps drawing closer, as if just around the corner. I was already considering my options when Archer moved, his grip tightened, and then I was the one being moved. He pushed my back against the wall with enough force to make it clear this wasn’t a suggestion.
“What are you—”
He didn’t let me finish. His hand slid to the back of my neck, fingers tangling in the strands that’d fallen free of my bun.
And then his mouth was on mine. My brain short-circuited.
Heat exploded through my chest, and my hands moved on their own, gripping his shirt and pulling him flush against me.
A sound slipped out of me, quiet, startled, humiliated, and Archer’s grip on my neck tightened a fraction.
As though he’d heard the sound and liked it.
His tongue pushed past my lips, plundering my mouth as the heat of him radiated through our clothing.
My cock thickened in my pants as he devoured me, betraying every denial I’d spoken when it came to my interest in the wolf shifter, and more than a few I’d never uttered aloud.
A low rumble vibrated in his chest as if letting me know he was pleased by my acceptance of his lips on mine.
“Oh,” a soft voice squeaked.
Archer pulled away just enough to turn his head, bracing himself with one arm beside me so that I was caged by his body.
His grin was lazy and smug. Completely unbothered by the presence of the willowy fae before us.
A quick glance was enough to note she was a student, not faculty, which explained why the door had opened so easily.
“Sorry, I…” The fae flushed. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.” The last words were barely audible as she hurried by us.
Archer turned his head to track her movements, keeping me pinned against the wall until she vanished around another corner.
He turned his attention back to me then.
The heat in his eyes made my heart pound so hard I thought it might beat right out of my chest. My fangs ached, and my cock grew impossibly harder under his attention.
“I knew you wanted me,” he said, a self-satisfied grin spreading across his face.
Heat slammed into my face. “That—It’s a natural reaction that means nothing, ” I protested.
“You know as well as I do that’s a lie,” he murmured against my ear, causing me to shiver as his hand slid down to squeeze me through my slacks.
A soft, humiliating groan escaped me before I could choke it back, and my knees threatened to give out.
“See? Your body knows exactly what it wants.”
I glared at him, my breath coming out in sharp bursts, but my traitorous body arched into his touch anyway.
“It doesn’t mean anything.” I bit out even as his fingers started to knead me through the fabric, sending sparks of desire through my entire body. The denial burned on my tongue, the only shield I had left against whatever this was pulling me under the wolf’s spell.
Archer’s chuckle was low, dark, vibrating against my skin as his nose skimmed up my neck. “Liar, but that’s fine, Pretty Boy. I’ll make you admit it.”
Before I could snap back, he sank to his knees right there in the shadowed corridor, his hands already working my belt open with shameless precision.
The clink of the buckle echoed too loudly in the silence, but the footsteps were long gone, leaving us alone with the risk of being caught still humming in the air.
“What are you doing?" I hissed, no longer certain whether I wanted him to stop or keep going. “We’re supposed to be going through the student records.”
“They can wait,” he murmured.
My slacks slid down just enough for him to free my cock with his hand.
Cool air hit my heated skin for a split second before Archer’s mouth descended, hot, wet, and devastating.
He took me deep in his throat, his tongue pressing flat against the underside as he swallowed around me.
The suction pulled a ragged groan from my chest. My head thunked back against the wall, eyes squeezing shut as white-hot pleasure exploded through me.
One hand flew to his hair, gripping the strands like a lifeline while the other braced against the wall to keep me upright.
“Fuck,” I whispered, the word torn from me as he bobbed his head in slow, deliberate strokes.
His free hand gripped the back of my thigh, fingers digging in hard enough to bruise.
He held me steady as he worked me over with filthy expertise.
He hummed around my length, the vibration shooting straight to my balls, and I felt myself thicken further on his tongue.
He pulled back just enough to swirl his tongue around the head, teasing the sensitive slit before diving down again, taking me in to the back of his throat once more.
The sound of his gagging was obscene in the best way.
Whatever objections I might have had were long forgotten as he worked me over until my hips jerked forward on instinct, fucking into the heat of his mouth.
He let me, encouraging it with a low growl that rumbled through me.
The pressure built fast, coiling tight in my gut.
My fangs ached with the need to bite, to claim something.
I was close, so fucking close, my breath hitching, muscles locking.
But then Archer stopped. He pulled off with a slick pop, his hand clamping down at the base like iron, squeezing until the orgasm backed off into frustrated agony.
“Not yet, Pretty Boy,” he rasped, voice rough with his own arousal, eyes locked on mine as he licked his lips. “Admit you want me. That you want my cock inside you, stretching you open, as badly as I want to give it to you. Say it, and I’ll swallow every drop.”
I panted, trembling, cock twitching desperately in his grip. “Go to hell,” I snarled even as my body screamed for more.”
He smirked, tapping his chin thoughtfully for a moment. “Perhaps you need a little more encouragement,” he laughed softly, a dark promise in the words.
He dove back in, sucking harder, faster. His tongue flicked relentlessly until I teetered on the edge again. He stopped, this time rising to his feet while he palmed my cock, until his lips were close enough to brush against mine.
“Admit you’re mine, Gabriel.” The possessive edge to his tone caused me to shudder.
The part of me that stood up and took notice of the male yearned to tell him what he wanted to hear. The other part, the one that shoved all those thoughts into a box and locked them away, refused.
“No,” I growled back.
Archer pulled away, holding my gaze as he released his hold on my throbbing cock. A needy whimper slipped free from my lips, and I flushed as embarrassment washed over me. He sighed and shook his head before stepping back to give me space.
“The next time anything like this happens, it will be when you’re ready to admit what we are to each other. And mark my words, Pretty Boy , the longer that takes, the harder I’ll make you beg.”
He turned on his heel and started down the corridor, leaving me panting against the wall, my mind spinning.
I stayed where I was for a moment longer, forcing air in my lungs as my body trembled with want.
I needed control. Whatever had just happened wasn’t control; it was reckless.
An unnecessary risk that could have derailed our entire plan.
I stuffed myself back in my pants and redid my belt with jerky motions, before pushing off the wall and straightening my clothes as I dragged every fractured piece of my focus back where it belonged.
My pulse was still uneven, body still far too aware, but I shoved it all down, locking it away with every inappropriate thought I’d had about the male.
“Try to keep up,” Archer called out as if nothing happened, not bothering to look over his shoulder.
Infuriating . I hurried my steps until I caught up to him, keeping my eyes on anything but him as we made our way to the records room.
This door, unlike the building entrance, was locked.
Archer smirked at me as he tightened his grip on the handle and turned it hard enough to break the mechanical lock.
“After you, Pretty Boy,” he grinned.
I blew a huff of breath through my nose and stepped inside.
My eyes scanned the filing cabinets before I moved through them with my vampiric speed.
That was, after all, why I’d been chosen to look through the records.
I could get through all of them in a fraction of the time the others might have.
I let myself fall into a rhythm. Open a cabinet, pull a file, read, put it back, on to the next.
Rinse and repeat to get through all of them.
It soothed the jagged piece of me that felt bereft at the loss of Archer’s mouth on me, but it wasn’t enough to quiet the small, unwelcome part of me from wondering what would have happened if I’d stopped pretending there was nothing between us at all.