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Chapter 17
Audrey
Those two sweet words never failed to take my breath away but tonight when he said them, I couldn’t help but think that while those two words took my breath away, my three words seemed to have taken his voice. At least he never said them back.
I couldn’t be too bothered by it. Or at least, I was really trying not to be. I hadn’t meant to say them, they had just slipped out. And Archer may not be returning them vocally verbatim, but he’d said them first with his words and actions this evening.
I focused on his praise, lapping it up like a kitten with a platter of cream. And he was not skimping.
“Daddy’s good girl,” he whispered, bending to drop a kiss on my forehead. “You did so good tonight.”
I preened under his approval. Those simple words made me feel like I could take anything, do anything, be anything. They made me feel beautiful, desired, and worthy. Three things I had rarely felt in my life despite knowing full well that I fit society’s cookie-cutter standard of beauty like I’d created the mold.
“Are you okay?” Archer questioned.
I frowned. “You already asked me that. And I already answered.”
“I know I pushed your limits tonight, so I just wanted to be sure.”
“Just a little bit pushed, but not unreasonably so. I deserved it, and the punishment fit the crime. I’m fine, really,” I assured him. It was true. I was fine. Better than fine actually. If you asked me what my perfect evening was, tonight was not what I would have described, ever in a million years, but somehow, with all its ups and downs, tonight had been just that. Perfect. Well, almost. There was still the matter of those three little words. I wondered how to bring it up, or even if I should. There were so many other things we should probably talk about.
“Your clients are something else. I don’t know if I feel better or worse now that I’ve met them in person.”
“It’s not an issue. Drink.” He held the water bottle to my lips again, and when I took it from him, he grabbed a piece of chocolate, unwrapping it and handing it to me. “Eat this.”
Great. So I wanted to talk and Archer wanted to ply me with food and drink. I didn’t want the chocolate but I’d scened enough with Archer at home to know that it did actually help, so I took it anyway and popped it into my mouth, letting it melt on my tongue. Besides, I felt ooey-gooey and submissive inside, and if drinking water, eating chocolate and not talking would make Archer happy then that was what I would do. For now.
He wrapped his arms around me, and I dropped my head onto his chest, holding me tightly. I shivered under his touch.
“Are you cold? Shoot. I should have asked Lennon for a blanket.”
“I’m fine.” But I wasn’t. The adrenaline drop was happening and my teeth started to chatter. I’d never come down quite so quickly or intensely before, but I’d never played quite like I had tonight either. “D-do your friends always do that?” I asked, going over the events of the evening in my head. “Cheer you on, or like… technically they were cheering me on, I guess.” I crinkled my nose. “It was weird, but… oddly nice.”
“A bit much? Sorry about that.” Archer grinned. “I may have asked them to do it.”
I shot up straight in his lap, no longer relaxed. “You did? What? Why?”
He shrugged. “It’s probably dumb, but I knew tonight might be hard for you, and I just wanted you to feel supported and that like… if people were watching, they were on your side.”
I blinked. “That’s sweet. Weird as hell, but sweet.”
“I was hoping you’d feel that way.” He bent to cover my lips with his, capturing me in a sweet but possessive kiss that grew deeper and hungrier by the second. “One disadvantage to tying you up,” he murmured against my lips. “I haven’t gotten to kiss you all night.”
“Oh, well then…” I deepened the kiss, pushing my tongue past his lips, tasting him, claiming him just as he claimed me.
“You’re right,” I said when he finally pulled away and breathlessly rested his forehead against mine. “That is a disadvantage. I did kind of like being restrained though, I have to admit.”
Archer’s eyes twinkled and the corners of his mouth turned up. “Oh you did, did you? Does somebody have a bondage kink? Should we explore that some more?”
“Well, I don’t know about all that. I just liked the knowledge that I was totally not in control. It helped it be easier to take, knowing there was literally nothing I could do to stop it.”
“Not nothing,” Archer protested, “You could have safeworded.”
“That’s not what I meant, and I wasn’t going to do that. Not unless it was an emergency or something.”
He smiled and kissed me again, and when we broke apart, I couldn’t help but sigh. We were talking, at least, but not about any of the things I most wanted to talk about.
Archer, of course, frowned when I sighed, and asked me what was wrong. How a man that could be so insightful could also be so damn obtuse was beyond me. How could he not know what was wrong, or what I wanted to talk about? Or maybe he did but he just didn’t care.
