Page 26 of Shots Fired

“The f-first time.” It’s impossible to keep my voice steady, the combination of his lips and words as he whispered them against my skin proving too much.

He nips at my neck, one hand braced on my hip, holding me in place against the door, which, for all I know, Jack could be on the other side of right now.

“We’re going all night, Doll.” He licks up to just below my ear. “Aside from the battle I’m currently fighting, not to blow straight into my pants, I also need to be really careful with how much I tell you.”

My, “Why?” is more of a seduced moan.

“Because, Darcy, after way too long, I only just got you here, and I’m not about to freak you out with more crazy-ass admissions. So, why don’t you just tell me yes and ride my dick until sunrise?”

The hand still teasing my outer thigh moves inward, finding my apex.

“I’m really wet,” I confess.

“I know you are—because you’re nothing other than perfect. What I need is to feel your pussy between my fingers. I don’t think I can wait.”

“Touch me.” It sounds like a plea I know I don’t need to make.

“Oh, Doll. You hear that?” He shifts my now-pointless underwear to one side and runs a finger through me. “That’s precisely how your pussy will sound when I push my dick inside it later,” he growls and teases my hole. “I’ll fuck you so good, but I swear, I’ll only go at a pace you’re comfortable with.”

With a firm hand against his chest, I push him back an inch. “Don’t go easy on me. I meant what I said the other night. I want to have fun with guys, and I want you to show me what safe hookups look like. Your playboy days mean you have way more experience than me, and I want to finally—for once in my life—have the sex Liam could never offer.”

His expression leaves me confused. I delivered my statement with all the best intentions, and I meant nothing negative by it. I somehow feel like I missed the mark though. Big time.

“What’s the matter?” I ask. “Did I say something wrong?”

Like he’s shaking off an unwelcome emotion, he pushes a hand through his tousled hair. “Playboy … yeah, I know. That’s what I am.”

Biting down on my lip, I nod lightly. “I promise not to be all clingy and show up at your apartment, unannounced—oh, wait.” I giggle. “Too late for that.”

Archer moves forward, pressing against me, his fingers back to playing with my pussy, and I spread my thighs wider.

“You can show up at my apartment whenever you want. The limit for that does not exist.”

I melt beneath his touch, my excitement coating his hand. “I promise I’m not that needy,” I moan, my voice a juxtaposition to the words leaving my mouth.

“And I promise there’s nothing you can do or say that would be too much for me, Darcy.”

When I find his eyes, I sense a deeper meaning to his words. Liam always told me I was too much.

Archer’s lips skate over mine. “Just come back to my place and be yourself. Don’t hold back. I want every part of you.”

CHAPTER NINE

ARCHER

“Come on, come on, come on,” I anxiously whisper into the silence of my car, drumming my fingernails restlessly on the steering wheel.

Fucking hell, this is risky, even for me.

A few floors above, I’ve got my center and best friend saying good night to his baby sister, thinking she’s heading home because of a headache. That’s what Darcy told me she’d say right before I withdrew my hand from between her thighs and licked my fingers clean.

My engine idles in Jack and Kendra’s apartment parking lot as I drop my head between my shoulders and wait outside the door Darcy will walk through at any second.

“What are you doing, Archer?” I breathe quietly to myself right before there’s a light knock on my passenger window.

I dart my head around to find Darcy waiting, and I quickly unlock my car, checking to make sure I heated her seat.

She pulls the door open and immediately climbs in, dropping her Saint Laurent tote onto the floorboard between her feet.