20. You Will Hate Me for It
CHAPTER 20
YOU WILL HATE ME FOR IT
Paloma
I stretch my arms long over my head, feeling like I slept for days. Turning on my side, my smile fades when I realize Archer is gone. At least he didn’t make me go to my room last night.He was so worried for me, as if he cared for me.
I get out of bed and head for Archer’s en-suite bathroom. On the double vanity, he left a toiletries bag with all the essentials. Being in his space like this feels intrusive, but it doesn’t stop me from going through his drawers and his closet while I’m brushing my teeth.
Like a proper CEO, he has rows and rows of tailored suits that look fairly the same, expensive and timeless. While I’m snooping, I grab one of his white T-shirts to put on after I shower. I can’t go to my room just wrapped in a sheet. I return to the bathroom and run the warm water.
His shower stall is huge with two shower heads and jets along the opposite wall. Every corner in here smells like him, a mix of sandalwood and fir. I try not to get my hopes up that any of this means anything. If he let me spend the night, it was because he was afraid I would get hypothermia.
Once I’m done shampooing my hair and scrubbing my body, I step out. And as it so happens, this is when Archer decides to enter his bathroom. He stares at me as if trying to remember why he let me stay and use his shower.
“Good morning.” A smile spreads on his face as his gaze roams my naked body from head to toe.
“Um good morning.” I rush to the vanity and put on the white T-shirt I found in his closet. “I was just leaving.”
“Where are you going dressed like that?” He sets a box on the counter full of band aids and tubes of ointment.
“My room,” I answer.
“I told you last night. This is your room now. Our room. I’ll have Mary Jane move the rest of your things later today.” He reaches behind him and pulls off his T-shirt.
My mouth falls open a bit as I admire his impressive body, the flat plains that cut across his back and shoulders, the v line that dips below the waistband of his sweatpants, and his ripped obliques. Everything about him screams power and sex.
I’m still ogling him when my gaze meets his in the mirror. A wrinkle appears on the corner of his eye as he tries to hide his amusement. “See something you like?” he asks.
“I’ve never seen someone your size up close.” I shrug as if I see half-naked men all the time, which is true. Though none of them have ever made me feel this way.
He smiles then switches his attention to the dressing on his shoulder. When he peels it off, the wound underneath looks bright red and angry.
“Jesus.” I step closer. “You got hurt.” I grab the numbing cream.
When I make to touch him, he grips my wrist. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you.” I slowly free my arm from his hold. “If you don’t dress this properly, it’s going to get infected.”
“I think it’s already there.” He winces.
“Did it bite you?” I clean the area with gauze.
“No. I think it got me with its hind legs.” He braces both hands on either side of the sink. “I think that’s the good news. No rabies shot needed.”
“What were you thinking fighting a wild animal like that? It could’ve killed you,” I admonish as I look for the disinfecting ointment.
“I was thinking that I didn’t want it to kill you.” He hangs his head, and the muscles on his back ripple in response.
I glance up at the mirror. When he peeks at me, I say softly, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He flashes me a sexy smile and turns slightly to look me in the eyes.
Heat rushes to my cheek. Being this close to him is like an aphrodisiac. I swallow and dab the medicine on the wound. He watches me intently as I grab a butterfly stitch and use it to hold the top of the ripped skin together. My heart races under his scrutiny. He doesn’t even look at my stitching work, he just focuses on my features. I swallow and grab four other butterfly stitches.
“This is going to hurt,” I say.
“Do what you have to do.” His gaze never leaves mine.
Ignoring his woodsy scent, I squeeze the cut skin to make the two ends meet, then quickly, and as neatly as possible, I add the sticky stitches to hold the whole wound together.
“Hmm.” He grips the edge of the vanity.
“Sorry.” I make to kiss his shoulder but stop midway. “Umm. I think it’s better if you don’t cover it. Let it air out.” I place my hand on his waist, the smooth skin on his shoulder only inches from my lips. I want to kiss all of him.
“Thank you.” Slowly, he turns to face me.
A charge around us crackles as he lifts his hand to touch my cheek. He opens his mouth as if he’s about to ask me something but then decides against it. I stand with hot adrenaline burning through me as he studies me with lust in his eyes. I can’t stand that he’s this close, and I still can’t have him.
“I have work to do this morning. I’ll come back to check on you.” His gaze drops to my lips for a breath, then he takes off.
After I recover from being so close to him, I return to his bed and pick up a book he left on the bedside table. I’m wearing nothing but his T-shirt in hopes that when he returns, he’ll finally give me my wedding night. All day, I wait for him to come back to me, but he doesn’t. And I don’t go looking for him either. Around five in the afternoon, the landline on his bedside table rings.
It rings again, and I just stare at it unsure of what to do. In the end, I pick up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Mrs. Archer,” Mary Jane greets me. “I’m sorry to bother you, I was wondering if you’d like to take your dinner now.”
“Let me guess, you’re not allowed on the third floor, so he makes you call him?” I laugh.
“He has hours when we’re allowed to come in and clean. But since you were sleeping, he wanted us to let you be,” she says as if his guarded behavior is totally normal. “What about your dinner?”
“Don’t worry about it. I think I’ll join Mr. Archer tonight.” I run a hand through my hair. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Very well, Mrs. Archer,” she says, and I can almost see her beaming from ear to ear.
I hang up the phone and hop out of bed to get ready downstairs in my bedroom. A part of me is grateful that Archer is making it easier for us to pretend we have a real marriage. But the thing is that I’m tired of pretending. I want him to admit that he feels something for me, something that’s way more than lust.
The way he took care of me last night tells me there’s more between us than he’s willing to admit. I want him to say it, to face what we have without fear.
Two hours later, I’m wearing the red dress he bought me. The one that looks like the one I wore when we first met. It’s a daring design with a plunge V neckline and a silky red fabric that flows beautifully with every step and hugs my body perfectly. I look at my reflection in the mirror, pulling on the middle to cover more of my cleavage. But the dress doesn’t budge.
I put my hair up into a ballerina bun and carefully fasten a feather clip. For the makeup, I go with a dramatic eye look, dusting my eyelids with a dark shadow and a shimmer to bring out the gold specks in my eyes. A glossy nude color for my lips completes the look. I feel like I did that night at the hotel bar. I’m Odíle, the black swan, ready to seduce my prince. Being in Archer’s house all these weeks has changed me somehow. I want him like I’ve never dared to want anything in my life. I want him so much, it hurts. He’s the only one who can help me put out this fire inside me.
With one last look at the woman in the mirror, I smooth out my dress and head out. My hands shake as I descend the grand staircase to meet Archer at seven thirty. I’m sure by now Mary Jane already told him I’m not dining in my room. He’s in the foyer talking on the phone when I reach the second landing, halfway down the stairs. Of course, he looks delicious in another one of his dark tailored suits.
“I don’t care what you have to do. Get…” he halts to stare at me, his mouth slightly open. After a few beats, he speaks into his phone again. “Let me call you back.”
“Hi.” I don’t know what else to say.
“Hi.” He smiles, and the way he looks at me is just sinful. “You are breathtaking.”
“Thanks, you too.” I point at him.
Why am I nervous? It’s not like this is our first date. Actually, I suppose it will be since I have never had a meal with him before.
“Don’t be nervous.” He places his hand on my lower back and gestures for me to go on. “How about a drink?”
“Okay.” I let him usher me to the dining room and the place setting to his right.
I keep waiting for him to make some remark on how he finally got me to have dinner with him. But he doesn’t. He’s not even being smug about it. He seems at ease and content. I feel like a jerk for refusing him all this time. But what did he expect when he insisted on treating me like a prisoner?
As soon as we are both seated, Mary Jane comes through the service door carrying a small silver tray with two cocktails on it. She smiles at me as she sets a cup in front of me. I recognize the purple drink.
“Lavender gimlet,” she offers me an excited smile.
“My favorite.” I glance up at Archer. “Is there anything you don’t know about me? Do you even like green apples?” I ask realizing that the kitchen is always well-stocked with them.
He waits until Mary Jane leaves the room. “I like how they taste on your tongue.” He raises his glass to me.
“Oh.” Goosebumps flutter across my chest. I take a big sip of my drink to calm down. I’m just having dinner with my incredibly gorgeous husband.
“How are you feeling?” He reaches for my hand. He thinks I don’t notice how he turns my wrist slightly to check on my scratches. “Any disorientation, an urge to take off your clothes? Those are all signs of hypothermia, in case you didn’t know.”
“I know.” I smile into my glass. “Don’t worry. I plan on keeping my dress on for tonight.”
Though now that he put the thought in my head, I do want to get undressed, but for other reasons that have nothing to do with the side effects of falling in a frozen pond. How can he be so calm when I’m about to combust in my seat?
“Something on your mind, Little Dove?” he asks.
Mary Jane returns to the room with her small silver tray, carrying two small bowls this time. “A chilled broth. A palate cleanser before the meal starts. Enjoy.” She dips her head and leaves again.
“No.” I finish my drink, letting the tartness of the lime juice play on my tongue. And I’m acutely aware how Archer’s gaze watches me as I lick my lips. Then I ask the question I’ve been mulling over all day. “What happens now?”
“What do you mean?” He sits back, swirling the whiskey in his glass.
“What am I to you? Your wife or your little dove?” The words spill out of my mouth before I can stop them. I didn’t come here to fight. But the way he’s sitting there like we didn’t sleep in each other’s arms last night is putting me on edge. “Make up your mind already.”
“I see.” He rises to his feet and ambles toward me until he’s directly behind me with his face in my neck. “You’re angry because I didn’t come back to you this afternoon. What did you think I was going to do exactly? Fuck you into oblivion?”
Oh good. So he does understand the source of my frustration. I get up and turn around to face him. “No.” I look around the dining room with its decor that screams civility and wealth, looking for the right words to ask my husband to give me the wedding night we haven’t had.
“What then? What do you want from me, Little Dove?” He slides my chair out of the way and advances toward me until I’m backed against the table.
My empty glass topples over, making a loud noise that clashes with the gracious aesthetic of the room. Archer doesn’t even bat an eye. Instead, he moves closer, bracing his arms on the table on either side of my body, caging me in. When the service door swings open, he slow blinks, but doesn’t turn around to acknowledge Mary Jane.
“Oh.” She stops in her tracks. “I’m sorry. I’ll come back later.” She clears her throat and shuts the door with a firm thud.
“We don’t have to do this here.” I make to leave.
“No.” He presses his palm to my chest. The warmth of his hand is enough to send my heart rate into overdrive. “Tell me what you want from me, Little Dove. What will make you stay?”
“Archer.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Don’t you get it? I don’t want to leave. I want to be here with you. But you.” I stop to inhale.
“I what? Hmmm?” He puts his index finger under my chin and lifts my face up to meet his.
“You…you won’t make love to me.” My eyes water.
“Of all the days you’ve been in this house. All the time we’ve spent together. What makes you think I’m the kind of man who makes love?” He cocks his head, so he’s at eye-level with me.
“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “But why not?” I cup his cheek, then tunnel my fingers through his hair. “I want to feel you inside me.”
“Hmm.” He presses his forehead to mine. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“Yes, I do.” I lift my chin to show him a confidence I don’t feel. I want him so much, I’m ready to beg him for it. And I don’t care if he takes me here in the dining room with the staff down the hallway in the kitchen, and only an unlocked door to guard our privacy. “I know you want me. So why not?”
“Because you will hate me for it.” The storm in his eyes takes my breath away.
“I don’t care.”
His fingers slide down my chest and push the fabric of my dress to the side to expose my breast. He hisses as if the act of touching me pains him.
“That’s all I dream about, Little Dove.” He bends down and sucks hard on my nipple. “Day and night. All I want is to feel your walls tight around my cock.” He switches to give the same attention to my other breast.
“Then do it.” I pant a breath, bracing my hands behind me for support. “Fuck me, like I’m your little dove or your wife. I don’t care. I don’t care.” I press my mouth to his.
He cups my breasts, thrusting his tongue past my teeth, devouring me with his kiss. His chest rises and falls with ragged breaths, and I know he’s at the brink of losing this battle with me. I push plates out of the way and plant my ass on the table as if I’m the meal tonight. He grips my hip, while he parts my dress at the side slit with his free hand, exposing my sex. His breath hitches when he confirms I’m not wearing panties. I don’t even care that someone might come in and find me sprawled on the table with my tits out and practically naked from the waist down.
“So perfect.” He runs the back of his fingers over my swollen pussy.
“Archer.” I let my head fall back, bracing my hands behind me.
Pure agony rushes through my veins as I wait for him to make up his mind about us. His gaze darkens as it roams every inch of me. Just when I think he’s going to say no and leave, he pulls down his zipper and takes out his cock. An angry vein runs from shaft to base. And I have to imagine that it hurts for him to be this hard and still not allow himself the release I’m offering.
He pumps twice, rubbing the tip up and down my slit. “Spread your legs wider,” he orders.
He’s massive. But I want him too much to stop and consider if it’ll fit or not.
I do as he asks.
“Look how beautiful you are.” He cradles my neck and makes me look down as he enters me.
“Archer,” I call for him as his hot erection plows through me, filling me completely.
“Is this what you wanted?” he says on my lips.
“Yes.” I fist the tablecloth behind me as he stretches my walls to the limit.
“You feel so fucking good.” He clenches his jaw. “Just like I knew you would. Such a good Little Dove.”
He pulls out to the tip. “Look how good we look together.” He’s covered in my juices, and I like the idea that I’m marking him as mine. He teases my clit with his shaft. “You can handle a few more inches, can’t you?”
I nod, holding on to his biceps. I hate that he’s fully dressed, while I’m not. But I’m too far down the rabbit hole to stop now.
“So wet.” He rams into me, making me take every inch of his steel hard cock.
“Ah.” A moan escapes my lips.
But Archer doesn’t stop. He rolls his hips into me, hitting my G-spot over and over, pushing me to the very brink of insanity, a place where only our pleasure exists. My desire keeps climbing. It scares me because I know the fall will be like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. And I don’t know what will be left of me afterward.
With each torturous thrust, I begin to understand where his fears come from. Obsession fills my veins with greed and lust and sin. I want Archer like I’ve never wanted anything or anyone in my life. There’s no going back for me. I can’t undo what he is to me now.
I’m in love with Archer.
Even if he can’t love me. I’m his forever.
“Kiss me,” I beg.
Without hesitation, he claims my mouth and devours me in that way that is so him. He wraps his arms around my waist and buries himself deeper inside me. And then I feel the spark at my core, making my aching bud at the apex of my sex throb in anticipation. I can’t hold it anymore. My orgasm cuts through me like an avalanche. It takes hold of my body and bathes me in a kind of rapture I never knew existed.
“Fucking ecstasy.” Archer wraps his fingers around my neck with one hand and my hip with the other. He fucks me hard. There’s nothing gentle in how he claims me, how he uses my body to find his own release. And then I’m climbing again. Just watching him take pleasure from plunging into me, makes me come all over again. But this time, he’s right there with me.
He buries his face in the nook of my neck and shoulder as he makes a guttural sound that shoots into my skin and goes straight to my clit. I cling to him as we both ride out the last waves of our climax.
“Jesus fuck.” He whispers in my ear. “I knew sex with you would be intense. But I didn’t imagine it would be this.” He pushes into me. “You’re mine. Only mine. Wife.” He kisses me, a languid and delicious gesture that feels so much like his surrender.
“You’re mine too.” I press my mouth to his and hold on to him a little longer, too afraid to let him break our connection. He pants a breath into my neck. I love that I did this to him. That as much as he likes to be in control, I’m the one who makes him lose it. I pull back to meet his gaze. “I’m not going anywhere, Archer.”
“No, you’re not.” A smirk plays on his lips as he tucks away his semi-erect cock.
His gaze searches mine. And I get lost in the calm blue sea I find in his eyes. I was wrong. He wasn’t calm and collected before. He just did a better job at controlling the storm brewing inside him than I did. I cup his cheek, and his eyes flutter closed. This gorgeous man is truly mine. He nods once as if he’s reading my thoughts.
“Now, be a good Little Dove and eat.” He fixes my dress, giving my nipples a tug as he does so.
When he brings the chair back for me, I give him a puzzled look. I’m completely drenched in his cum and my own juices. The dress is a mess. I can’t sit.
“You heard me.” His low chuckle is all sin. “I want you to sit in my cum for the rest of the dinner.”
I lower myself to the chair, feeling uncomfortably wet and turned on. Luckily, when he adjusts the chair for me, the table linens cover my legs and the dress. I sit perfectly still as he re-arranges my place setting so it’s neatly in front of me. When he’s finished, he rings the bell for Mary Jane and takes his seat again.
As soon as she enters the room, he says, “We’re ready for dinner.” He’s the epitome of civility sitting at the head of the table as if he didn’t just fuck me into oblivion on the table.
“Of course, Mr. Archer.” She leaves and returns with our main dishes.
“Everything looks delicious.” Archer smiles politely at her. “Thank you.”
“Enjoy.” She nods and disappears through the door again.
Archer looks to me with an irritatingly smug smile on his face. “Eat.”
Why does he get to make demands, and I don’t? I glance at him through my eyelashes while he cuts his meat and places a bite in his mouth. I watch him take a few more bites before he turns to look at me inquisitively.
“Something on your mind, Little Dove?” he asks in an amused tone.
And it’s not lost on me that the last time he asked me that question, I got exactly what I wanted from him.
“I want to touch your naked body.” Butterflies flutter in my belly. “Take off your clothes.”
He stops with his fork halfway to his mouth. “You don’t give the orders here, Little Dove.”
“Please.” I beg.