Chapter 12
ARCHER
"That was fun," Harlow said as we stepped back into my apartment.
"It was. You've got a bit of…" I swiped chocolate off the side of her mouth with my thumb before pressing it between my lips. "Yum." She had a point about Cadbury chocolate.
She let me take her hand and lead her over to the bathroom, where I started the bath. With water, not acid.
"I figured we could clean up together," I said, working my hand under the hem of her sweater to pull it up over her head. She held up her arms to help me, then pulled mine up and off.
"Good idea. You have ketchup in your hair and on your ear."
I put my hand up to feel it. My hair was stiff, and the side of my head was sticky.
I grunted in disgust. I didn't like being dirty, much less sticky. What was the point of stickiness anyway? Why did the universe need things to stick? Okay, tape and envelopes, but those were a different kind of sticky. Those were sticky with a purpose.
This was sticky to gross me out.
The rest of my clothes were caked with the condiment. I stripped them off and threw them aside. They'd need a good wash after I had one.
I turned off the water and threw in some bath salts. The scented steam rose off the water, filling the room with smells that were better than sticky ketchup.
I helped Harlow into the bath, then climbed in myself, sitting opposite her, my feet on either side of her hips.
"I call this a good night," I said. "One killing and one bath with my woman."
"The perfect date," she said.
"Almost perfect." I grabbed a washcloth and started to wipe the ketchup off my ear. "I wasn't able to get you his heart."
"He was a little bit busy under all of those cans and boxes," she said with a laugh. "I can live without his heart.”
"Are you sure?" I dug the washcloth into the space behind my ear and scrubbed up and down vigorously.
"Very sure," she said. "It's sweet of you to be worried about me though."
"I’m a big believer in supporting people's hobbies," I said.
"Collecting human hearts. Is that a hobby now?" she asked with a small husky laugh.
The sound went straight to my cock.
"If it's your hobby, then it's a hobby," I said. "Besides, it’s my way of telling you that you have mine."
"That's so sweet," she said, cocking her head at me and letting the tips of her hair fall into the water. "I prefer your heart right where it is." She leaned forward and pressed her hand to my chest.
My heart thumped harder at her touch.
"Me too." I looked down at her hand. "I'm kinda attached to it. Not to mention, outside of heart transplants, one hundred percent of people who are missing a physical, biological heart can't live without it."
"I believe that statistic," she said, stroking a hand over my chest and down to my abs. "Although I know a few people who seem to have figured out how to live without a brain."
I snorted. My equivalent of a loud laugh. "Anyone I know?
"Possibly," she said. "You might move in the same circles as some of them."
"As long as you're not accusing me of living without a brain." I kept my expression and tone deadpan, but I was laughing on the inside.
I’d kept my emotions in check ever since I could remember. It was easier than responding in a way people considered ‘incorrect.’ Laughing when I shouldn't laugh. Being angry at things I shouldn't be angry at. How was a guy supposed to get it right every time?
Besides, if you deadpan a joke and no one laughs, you're not losing, right?
"I would never," she assured me. Her hand wandered down lower, grazing my stomach just above my rapidly growing cock. "You're one of the smartest people I know."
"Does that say a lot about them, or about me?" I said, teasing again.
She laughed. "It's definitely about you. You're quick, clever and hot as hell."
Her thumb brushed the head of my cock, making it twitch and leap to attention.
"No one's ever called me hot as hell before." Not even hotter than heck. Not even hot at all, that I was aware of.
"Remind me to find out where Cass got his glasses," she said. "I can pass their details on to… I don’t know, everyone else. They need their eyes checked if they don't see how hot you are."
"You're going to make me blush." Her thumb stroked the side of my cock. If she kept doing that, I was going to do more than blush. I was going to come right here in the bath water.
"You know what? I don't care what anyone else thinks," I said. "Only you."
Her opinion meant everything to me.
"I definitely think that." She curled her hand around my length, stroking slowly and gently, like she had all night.
"You're the hot one here," I whispered, trying not to pump myself into her hand. "Sometimes I think I'm dreaming. I pinch myself but then you're still here. Maybe I'm having some crazy hallucination."
"No hallucination." She let go of my cock and scooted forward, until her legs draped over my thighs. She placed her hands on my shoulders and positioned her pussy against the tip of my cock.
"If this wasn't real, would you feel this?" She lowered herself onto me slowly, inch by inch.
"If this is a hallucination, I don't want a cure." I bracketed her hips with my hands and half-closed my eyes. "You feel so fucking good."
Her pussy had my cock in a vise, her heat clamping down on me like she might never let go. I didn't want her to let go. I could have sat here like this with her forever, maybe beyond forever, doing this with her.
At this exact moment, it felt like we'd done this before in multiple past lives. I didn't care. What mattered right now was…right now. Right here.
"You feel incredible," I whispered.
"So do you," she whispered back.
Using my shoulders for leverage, she raised herself up, half-pulling off me before sliding back down.
I thrust up into her a few times, the water splashing against the side of the bath and threatening to go over onto the floor.
I leaned forward and took one of her nipples in my mouth, sucking gently before switching to the other one, tasting her warm, bath salt-scented skin.
Forget chocolate, nothing tasted better than this woman.
I pressed a hand between us, stroking her clit with my fingers while we rolled our hips. Creating the only kind of friction I liked.
She moaned softly. Her hips shifting, seeking my hand. Needing more. I watched her face, listened to her breaths. Paid attention when I hit the right spot. Then working her. Right there. A little harder. A little faster. A little more.
"Archer," she whispered. "Oh god, I'm going to… Going to come." She was breathless now. Moaning and writhing against my fingers.
"Come for me," I said softly.
Watching her break apart in front of me and around me was a bigger high than killing. A bigger high than coming myself, which I did a few moments after her. Her pussy tight around me, drawing an orgasm out of me. I couldn't have resisted if I tried.
Which I didn't. Because why would I resist coming inside this incredible woman?
My release exploded inside her. Surrounding my cock with extra heat and wetness. Drowning me. I might have died inside her for a moment or two. Died happy.
And then we were sagging together. Holding each other. Breathing heavily.
"The perfect date," she whispered.
"The perfect woman," I whispered back.
She laughed softly, her chest vibrating against mine.
"Don't say you're not," I said before she could respond. "To kill with and then have a bath with after, you're perfect."
There was no one else I'd rather do any of this with. Harlow was it for me. If anything happened to her, there'd never be anyone else.
She might as well put my heart in a jar right now, because all of it belonged to her. Every fiber. Every drop of blood.
"I love you," I said softly, stroking her damp hair.
"I love you too," she said back.
Reluctantly, I eased her off my cock and turned her around to reach for the shampoo bottle. If I was good at anything, it was cleaning. I wanted to wash every inch of her.
I started with her hair, then her body. Rubbing body wash into her shoulders to ease the tension. Then working my way down slowly.
"Turn around," I said so I could reach her legs and her feet, massaging down between her toes until she started to look sleepy.
“Mmm," she hummed, closing her eyes. "You have magic hands."
"You have magic everything,” I told her. Boner was wrong. Magic did exist. She was proof of it.
She opened one eye and smiled at me.
"Everything," I said firmly, massaging the ball of her foot. "Magic smile. Magic nipples. Magic pussy." I shrugged one shoulder. "I'm just saying."
"Archer Hardwick, you're such a romantic," she said, smiling softly.
"Only when it comes to you," I told her. She was turning me into a big puddle of goo, and I wasn't even mad about it. I wasn't usually a big fan of goo of any kind, but I'd wear the title if she gave it to me.
Archer Goo Hardwick didn't roll off the tongue, but whatever.
"Turn around again," I told her.
I pressed her down gently so her hair was under the water and rinsed off the conditioner, massaging her scalp and washing off every last drop of the stuff.
I didn't want to leave a trace of chemicals in her hair. What sort of boyfriend would I be if I did that?
She stifled a yawn with her fist as I was finishing.
I gently squeezed the excess water out of her hair, then helped her out of the bath and dried her off carefully, making sure to pat her everywhere.
"Thank you," she said, holding up her arm so I could dry under there. "I’m not sure if I deserve all of this attention."
I stopped and looked up at her sharply. "You deserve all of this and more. If I could, I'd spend the rest of my life spoiling you rotten, starting with regular deliveries of Cadbury chocolate right to the front door."
"Now you really are spoiling me," she said with a laugh. "Boner would probably eat it before I got to it."
"I’m not above killing him so you can have the chocolate," I said dryly.
I liked the guy, but if she wanted me to kill him, I would. Same with Cass and Jules. I wouldn't like it, but I'd do it.
"Don't go killing Boner, or any of them," she said firmly. "We can always get more chocolate."
"Yes, we can,” I said. "Maybe chocolate sauce next time."
She smiled. "I'd like that."
I was hoping she'd say that because I'd like it too. I'd cover her with as much of it as I could and lick it all off, slowly and carefully, until she was completely, perfectly clean.
I startled as the bathroom door opened behind me. Boner stood there, his face red.
"Where the hell were you two?"