Page 153 of Dead Vengeance

“Everything was so bad. So bad for so long. And meeting you… it’s like the first bit of light in this darkness.” I steal another kiss, then search his eyes. Eyes that look… sad. Why does he look so sad?

Why not, I guess. I feel sad. I feel sad because of this whole awful day, everything that’s been dredged up. All this death and horror. But I also feel happy. So, so happy I met him. I know what’s coming for me in the morning. How hard that phone call is going to be. I’m steeling myself for it. For whatever else might happen. But Archer’s here with me now and…

“You feel like a future,” I whisper to him, taking a chance I didn’t see myself taking ten minutes ago. But I can’t stop the words. They pour out of me. “I feel like… like the whole world is breaking down around me. And like it has been for a really long time. But not you. You’re this one strong, impenetrable force. I’ve just never met anyone who had my back the way you do. I didn’t even know people like you existed.”

His forehead shakes against mine, and maybe I’ve gone too far. I think I’ve gone too far.

“I know this is crazy. That it’s too soon.”

“No,” he whispers. “It’s not.”

“I’m just really happy I’m your boyfriend. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

He makes a sound deep in his chest, like I’ve just punched him. When I look up, his eyes are as hazy as mine.

“Honey…” He kisses me softly. It’s long, and he takes my face in both his hands so tenderly. “I’m scared to tell you how I’m feeling. If you think that’s too much, you haven’t even scratched the surface. I can’t tell you how lonely I was. What it’s been like, all my life. I’ve never met anyone I could trust, not just to keep my secret, but to see past it. To see me, who I really am beneath it. And you… you just walked in my door like none of that matters. Took every single weird, stupid, horrible, ridiculous thing in your stride. You barely even blinked.”

“It’s been a big week,” I joke.

He laughs, then kisses me again. “And you’re funny. And you’re sweet. And there…” He turns serious again, a deep serious, like he was in the car. “There isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do for you. And I mean that. Whatever happens next, between us, I hope you can keep that in your heart.”

His hand lands on my chest, right over my heart, and I wrap my palm to cover it as he says, “Keep me in there, and keep these words in there. I want you. Don’t ever doubt that. Don’t ever doubt me or my intentions. Because I’m promising you now, it’s all for you, every single thing I do, from here on out.”

It should be too much—I know that logically. But it’s not. He’s filling me up, all the lost and lonely places that stayed empty all these years, and Archer is making everything full and real and rich and warm.

I don’t want pizza now. And I hope he doesn’t either. There’s only one thing on this planet that will satisfy me. “Can I shower so fast?”

He cracks that beautiful smile. “You are slightly covered in… whatever that thing was that you blasted.”

I glance down at my overalls, guiltily sliding off his coat. “I’ll get this cleaned for you.”

“No, you won’t.” He scoops it up, throwing it over the arm of the sofa. Then his eyes drop, and the way he looks at me… I can’t believe I thought for a moment he was losing interest. “I hope, when you’re done in there, you’ll forget your shirt again. Just for a while.”

I try to repress the flattered smile, but it’s impossible. Instead, I step closer and let my hand trail down to his belt. “You know… you also kind of got splatted back there.” There isn’t a speck on him. He must have washed incredibly quickly when he got changed. It’s worth a try, though.

He isn’t slow to catch my suggestion. “I wouldn’t mind refreshing. If there’s room for two.”

“I’ll make room.” And with that, I grab his belt and wrench him towards my tiny bathroom.

Did I mention tiny?

I’m trying not to think about it, just pull him along with me as I walk backwards, as we kiss, as we stumble and slam into the wall. But we don’t stop. I don’t think we could even if we wanted to.

He unclicks the one buckle that’s been holding my overalls up all day, and they slip straight to the floor, pooling around my feet. I almost fall over in my rush to step out of them, but his warm arms come around me, steadying me.

Pressing fingers into him for stability, I kick my discarded clothing through the open door of my bedroom, then pull him along, barely escaping his embrace to keep moving. If I had the flat to myself, I’d let him keep going right there against the wall. Especially against the wall. I’ve never been fucked against a wall. I think I need to add that to my list of life goals that’s only started forming since I met Archer. He’s definitely strong enough to do it.

He doesn’t use any of the power I know he has, though. Far too sweet. Far too respectful. At least until I get him into the bathroom. The second I click the lock on the door, he spins me around, pushes my back against it, and his hands slide over my hips, beneath my underwear, slipping it to the floor. My hard cock thrusts out greedily to meet him, and Archer… he presses his body against mine.

The cold wood of the door hits my back, the hot masculinity of him greets my front. He’s completely dressed. Beautifully dressed in pressed trousers, another one of these soft jumpers that I can’t help but think he has a whole wardrobe full of, probably all hung in order of colour. I want to get in there and mess it all up, mess him all up. But I get the delicious, heady sense that he’s very much the one in charge here. Particularly when his hot hand wraps firm around my dick, and he begins to stroke me.

Powerless. That’s me. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I sink my hands into the yielding fabric of his sweater, not even trying for his cock right now, because I know exactly what would happen. And I’m enjoying the moment. Because I know he wants me to. He wants me to be happy. To relax with him.

Archer has skills of every kind imaginable, and cock-work should go right at the top of his resume. His pressure is perfect, the way he brings an arm around my shoulders and pulls me even closer. Fuck, the way I want to come all over him again.

I truly don’t know how much of his skill is natural or learned, how much of it is just that he wants me, or how much of it is this incredible… sex magic.