Archer
Ascream rips through the air, tearing me from the depths of sleep, and I jolt upright in bed.
My chest heaves as my gaze darts around my room.
It's draped in shadows, but I know I'm alone.
My eyebrows knit together as confusion takes root in my gut and my ears prick in search of the sound. When nothing comes, I can only assume it was my imagination, or a wayward dream fucking with me.
One glance at the time and I'm faced with the reality that barely an hour has passed since I finally managed to close my eyes. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I exhale, but it does nothing to ease the taut muscles bunched throughout my body.
The entire day became consumed with the revelations that followed the return of Ivy's memory.
Francesca.
Bonnie.
Odesa.
If I don't kill them, Baron will. Saxon and Teddy too.
We spent the rest of the day, while Ivy was enjoying girl time, whatever the fuck that is, dealing with this shit storm. Not that we achieved anything, because without her say so, nothing can happen, and my dumb ass vowed to listen to her.
I have regrets.
Who in their right mind bolts off for some girl time and makes everyone promise no harm will come to those who purposely killed her?
Ivy Hayworth, apparently.
Exhaling again, I flop back down on the bed, dragging my hand down my face as I will sleep to comfort me once more.
Today has been long, and after spending the prior night jealous that it was Baron lying beside her, I’ve barely had any sleep as it is.
Whatever The Fates thought they were doing by making me share my mate, I haven’t quite figured it out, but there’s no turning back now. We broke our promise and brought her here anyway, now I have to face the consequences, even if that means sharing.
I wonder what it’s like to live a normal day, without expectations or assumptions from others. I guess I’ll never find out.
Draping my arm over my eyes for good measure, I beckon the darkness to claim me, but another scream rips through the air, and I'm out of bed.
It wasn’t a figment of my imagination, and it’s definitely not a dream. A nightmare, maybe, but regardless, I’m darting toward the door in just my boxers, skidding out into the hallway before barreling through the door beside mine.
Ivy.
Her curtains are open, draping the room in moonlight, but she practically glows from the bed anyway, a hue of orange and gold dancing across her skin as she clutches her chest and whimpers.
I should have known it wasn’t a good idea to leave her on her own. There I go again, following her orders, only for them to kick me in the ass later.
Shutting her door behind me, I charge toward her, panic flooding my system as her name falls from my lips.
“Ivy?” I rasp, and her wet eyes find mine as she shakes her head. Fear burns through me as my gaze narrows. “What's wrong? Tell me, what's wrong! Let me help,” I insist, earning a whimper from her lips.
“I feel like I'm burning alive,” she rasps, her fingers twisting into her thin spaghetti-strap tank top as tears spill down her cheeks. “It’s so hot, so freaking hot,” she rambles, rubbing her thighs together as a low grumble rattles from her throat.
“I don't understand,” I admit, raking my hands through my hair as I take her in, desperate to alleviate her pain, but I don’t know where to begin.
“I’m fine. Just go,” she says with a gasp, but I’m done taking her commands.
Inching closer, I press my knee against her sheets as I lean over her to hold my palm against her forehead. I hiss as I jerk my hand back, twisting my wrist to reveal where we made contact. I expect to see a burn mark on my skin. She's so warm, but there’s nothing there.
“How can I help you?” I rasp, frustration biting through my words as I internally lecture myself.
Fucking think, Archer. Think.
She presses her lips into a thin line as she stares up at me, her eyes crinkling with uncertainty before she exhales. “It's like when we were in the cave, like when we were in the Rejuvenating Ceremony. It's like that. It's like I can't breathe.”
My body stills as my eyes land on hers.
Like the Rejuvenating Ceremony?
Understanding washes over me, while surprise widens my eyes.
The Rejuvenating Ceremony was… intense. It is intense, but that one was on another level.
Even so, during the Rejuvenating Ceremony, our bodies overheat because of all the magic inside of us as we're trying to replenish the earth. What I can’t wrap my head around is the fact that she’s feeling that all alone in the bed by herself.
How much magic is in there?
Running my tongue along my bottom lip, I clear my throat. “Maybe you need to do what we did in the Rejuvenating Ceremony, Ivy,” I whisper, my cock stirring to life at the mere thought of it as she stills.
“I can’t,” she cries, and my eyebrows gather.
“You can. I was there, you know,” I remind her, and she snarls.
“Archer, I can't do it on my own,” she snaps, and I shake my head.
“I’m sure you—”
“I’ve tried, okay? I've fucking tried, and I just can’t,” she interjects, her fingers curling even tighter into the fabric of her top as her knuckles whiten.
“I’ve tried in my bed, in the shower, with one hand, two, but I can’t make the heat dissipate.
Apart from the Rejuvenating Ceremony with you, and the night with Teddy, I. Just. Can’t.”
All I can do is gape at her as her usually bright blue eyes shimmer with an undertone of heat.
“Ivy.”
“Help me, please. Please help me!”
Fuck.
My cock pulses with desire as I shake my head. “I don't want you to be mad at me tomorrow,” I admit, and she scoffs.
“I’m going to be madder if you leave me here to burn to death.”
I shake my head. “You want me to be intimate with you, Ivy. As much as you might think I'm an asshole, that means something to me. And as much as I don't want you to burn to death, I also don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you either.”
As discreetly as I can, I adjust the waistband on my boxer shorts, but her eyes track the movement with hunger burning more fiercely in her eyes as she huffs.
“How nice of you to have morals now, when I don't really fucking need them.”
Cuss words slipping from her lips should not be this hot.
“If you're not going to help me, please get someone who will.”
“Like hell,” I snarl as a territorial rage consumes me.
She’s not the only one breathless now.
Climbing onto the bed, I nestle myself between her thighs before I can change my mind.
My heart aches as I take in the curves of her body, desperate to reach out to her, but I mean it when I say I don’t want to feel her regret in the morning. I’m carrying enough regret for the both of us.
“Give me your hand,” I order, and she lifts her legs up, trying to move away, but I grab onto her thighs and hold her in place, only to earn a snarling glare from her.
“If you are not going to help me, get somebody who will,” she barks, her nostrils flaring as I swipe my hand down my face while making sure to hold her close with the other.
“I’m here, aren't I?”
She shakes her head. “My fingers are trembling. I can barely breathe. I'm on fire. I need you to help me.”
She tries to move her legs again, only this time, it’s around my waist, trying to bring me in closer.
This is the most insane thing that's ever fucking happened in my whole entire life, and I don’t want to fuck it up.
“It means something when I touch you, Ivy. I can't devalue it when it doesn’t mean something. Can you say the same?” I blurt, and to my surprise, she reaches out to cup my cheek, her touch softer than I expect, but the heat from her fingertips is intense.
Her thumb drags across the unhealed cut as silence fills the room, and my body kicks into motion.
One single touch from her, and I lose all control.
Reaching for her t-shirt, I don't think, I just tear it apart, letting her breasts spill out before me, before repeating the motion with her tiny shorts, leaving her completely bare before my eyes in a single second.
I sink my teeth into my bottom lip as I grip her thighs, leaning over her instinctively, desperate to feel her heat over every inch of me.
My mouth parts, and I run my tongue over her nipples. The sound of her hiss is like music to my ears.
“Archer,” she breathes, spurring me on as her fingers curl into my hair.
Fuck.
I rake my teeth over her taut peaks, moving from one breast to the other, inching my hands higher as I add pressure until my thumbs are nestled into the apex of her thighs.
Trailing my lips down her stomach, my muscles clench as I reach her clit.
I can feel her heat, whispering against my lips in a silent plea to draw me closer, and I’m nothing but a puppet on her strings.
Sweeping my tongue, I meet the warmth of her core before need takes over.
Her cries ignite me.
Feasting on her pussy, I find my first essence of salvation.
Delving between her folds, I pry her legs wider, pinning her thighs at her sides to expose her more.
Her groans swirl in the air around us, claiming me along with her as I lick, nip, and suck at her pebbled bundle of nerves like a man possessed.
I can’t get enough.
There will never be enough.
I want every drop.
Like the gods answering my prayers, her groans heighten to full-on cries a second before she combusts.
Her hips flex against my hold, grinding desperately against my face as her sweetness coats my tongue.
If this is what sin tastes like, bathe me in it.
Only when every drop is mine do I lift up to meet her eyes, my fingers splayed along the sheets at her sides. The second I release her legs, they wrap around my middle as pleading eyes find mine.
“More.”
My muscles tense.
“Ivy—”
“Please, Archer. Please,” she repeats, grabbing my arms as she begs, and my cock flexes, desperate, but something inside of me holds me in place.
“Ivy, I can’t. I—”
“Then find me someone who will.”
“Stop threatening me with that,” I grunt, my nostrils flaring as I instinctively reach for her waist.
Her pretty pussy lines up perfectly with my dick.
Teasing me more than it does her.
“Give me what I want, Archer. You want it too.”
I huff. “I fucking do, but that’s beside the point.”
My control teeters on the balance of a cotton thread, threatening to unravel me at the seams.
“Archer, I’m hotter than ever. I need you.”
Fuck.
Am I desperate enough to ruin myself, or do I have the strength to continue to starve my demons?
I know she was a virgin when Teddy had her in his bed. Her experience is low, and there’s a tingling sensation in my spine, desperate to be a part of her exploration.
The demons win.
Grabbing her waist, I flip us in one swift move, resting my head on her pillow as I settle her in my lap. She hovers above me, fingers an inch above my chest as she freezes.
“Archer,” she starts, but I press my finger against her lips.
“If you want this, Ivy, you fucking take it.”
She shakes her head. “Arche—”
“Take it, Ivy.”
Her hands plant down against my chest, dragging down my stomach until she reaches the waistband of my boxer shorts. I regret not shredding them when I destroyed her clothes. They’re an obstacle, and I don’t want a single thing between us.
Devotion and destruction feel like the same damn thing.
“I don't know what I'm doing,” she whispers, and I grin.
“I’m happy to be your learning tool.”
“Nothing more?”
My breath catches and my lips part, but before a single word can part my lips, she’s tugging at my boxer shorts, shredding them far easier than I expect.
My hands land on her thighs.
Her fingers tremble as she wraps her hand around my length, inching me closer to her core as she rises up on her knees. I flex in her grasp, and her eyes snap from my cock to my eyes.
“Do you like that, Archer?”
“I like anything that involves you.”
My palm turns hot against her skin.
Truth.
She rakes her teeth along her bottom lip as I attempt to yank my hand back, but she wraps the dainty fingers of her free hand around mine, holding me in place. A grin curls the corner of her mouth as she leans closer.
“I’m going to like making your life a living Hell,” she whispers, wild eyes brightening as she sinks down on my cock.
My eyes roll to the back of my head as her heat consumes me. I groan through clenched teeth, fighting the desire to take control as she whimpers with pleasure.
“Fuck, Ivy.”
“So full,” she whispers, and I pry my eyes open.
She’s the fucking devil, and the devil never looked so sweet.
Her head is tilted back, her blonde hair draped down her back as her breasts beg for my attention.
Slowly, she drags her fingers across my chest as she adjusts to me.
I know the second she wants more, it dances in her blue pools as she looks at me with hooded eyes. The pressure against my chest increases as she digs her knees into the mattress, rising up, only to slam back down with a force that takes my breath away.
Our moans mingle in the air between us as she repeats the motion again and again, claiming me with every tilt of her hips.
Enraptured, I watch her eyes glaze over, her nipples drawn so tight, and her jaw falls slack. A bead of sweat trails between the valley of her breasts, calling to me like a man on the brink of disaster.
I can’t get enough.
Trailing my hands across her skin, I capture her breast in one hand, running my thumb across her taut peaks as I bring the other to her core. My thumb is a magnet for her clit, seeking it out effortlessly, and her breath hitches.
“Archer,” she warns, and I smirk.
“Make me come, Ivy.”
“Archer.” My name is a chant this time, fluttering in the air like a prayer as her movements falter and the pinnacle draws near.
Thrusting up into her, I chase the release she threatens to offer, and the added friction is all we need. Ecstasy thickens the air as euphoria claims us, one wave of pleasure after another, until we’re a panting heap of limbs.
One thing is for certain: Ivy Hayworth will be my damnation.