AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Stepping back, I swallowed the lump lodged in my throat. I’d stopped talking to Archer as soon as he’d left for college. I’d had an especially hard time with both my closest friends leaving, and I knew if I’d talked to him, I’d have broken down and begged him to come back. And that would have been incredibly selfish.
Putting distance between us had seemed like the right thing to do. The only thing I could have done.
“You had a bright future ahead of you. You didn’t need my shit to drag you down. Cutting you off was the only thing I could think of.” I took a deep breath, putting my hand over his mouth when he tried to say something. I had to get this out. “It was the wrong decision. I’m so sorry.”
Pulling my hand away from his face, he cradled it in his, holding it to his chest. “But don’t you see? My future means nothing without you.”
The breath hitched in my throat, and I let out a sob-laugh. This felt like a dream I’d wake up from any minute. And when Archer wound his arms around my waist, lifting me off my feet and crushing me to him, I didn’t hesitate to hold him tight and touch my lips to his.
The earlier kiss hadn’t been nearly enough to quench my thirst for him. The need to be with him overrode anything else. All I wanted was to get closer, for him to show me what he wanted. For his restraint to waver as much as mine seemed to.
11
ARCHER
Thea melted into me,the feeling of her lips on mine quieting my demons.
While we’d always had a special connection, she was only a friend when we first met as kids. But as I grew up, my feelings had changed. Now that we were older, a seven-year age gap meant nothing. And I would fight to show her that we belonged together. Fight to stay with her.
Her soft hands slipped beneath the waistband of my gym shorts. I’d been on my way back to the pool house after working out when I’d heard her voice. And I’d followed the sound like she was the Pied Piper.
We broke apart, our chests heaving from our heavy breaths. My gaze focused on her lips. They were red and slightly swollen, and I rubbed my thumb over the bottom one.
She caught the digit between her lips, drawing my finger into her mouth. My free arm clutched her to me possessively. Her eyes held mine, her hands pulling at my clothes.
Torn between not wanting to move and break the moment and in turn lose her lips, and needing to rid myself of the clothes separating her skin from mine, getting rid of my clothes eventually won out.
My thumb popped out of her mouth, and then we both pulled my T-shirt over my head. Her hands wandered over my torso, touching, exploring, and leaving goose bumps in the wake of every caress.
I fumbled with the hem of her oversized sweater, then pulled it up and over her head. She was only wearing a bra underneath, the tiny scrap of lace not concealing much. Her hands came straight back to me as soon as the sweater was gone. She leaned in, then touched her tongue to my nipple.
I was now openly panting, unable to censor my reaction to her.
Her hands went inside my shorts, then pushed them down, taking my boxers with them. I toed off my shoes, then shoved my socks off.
I stood up straight, enjoying the way her hungry gaze drank in every inch of me. But it was time to let me look my fill as well. “You’re overdressed.”
A throaty chuckle filled the air, and then without hesitation, she pulled her bra off, followed by her yoga pants.
She stood in only her underwear, and I’d never seen anything more beautiful. But when she glanced at me from under her lashes, looking uncomfortable, I stepped closer, pulling her in to me, finally feeling her skin on mine. “You’re even more breathtaking than anything I’d ever dreamed up.”
“You dreamed of me?”
“I was a teenage boy whose sister had the most gorgeous friend. Do you have any idea how many of my buddies were jealous that I spent so much time with you?”
A look of wonder replaced her discomfort. “Really?”
Trailing kisses down her face, I murmured against her skin, “Really.”
When my lips met her neck, she moaned softly and melted into me. My hands ached to explore her more. The overwhelming desire to show her how amazing and special she was overtook everything else.
I walked her backward until her legs met the side of her bed. My lips traced the shell of her ear. “You ready to let me live out my teenage fantasies?”
She giggled, then turned, throwing me a sultry look over her shoulder before crawling on the bed. Her ass swayed, and I fought the urge to pounce on her. Once she was in the middle of the bed, she turned on her back, spreading her legs. “Let’s see if the reality lives up to your imagination.”
“It’s already a million times better.”
That was the last thing we said for a long time, our mouths too busy kissing, nipping, and licking each part of our bodies they could get to.
