by Abigail Roux
and ran his knuckles over Remy’s cheekbone. Remy nuzzled into the contact.
“I won’t let them hurt you,” the Archer whispered into Remy’s ear.
“I knew you wouldn’t,” Remy murmured as he tried to wrap his bound arms
around the Archer’s neck. “Please untie me,” he begged as he strained for more
contact with the Archer’s body.
“Fuck,” the Archer breathed as his entire body tingled at Remy’s touch. He
knew what Remy was trying to do. It wouldn’t have worked even if it had been
necessary, but it was an admirable attempt nonetheless.
“Fuck,” Gray huffed from his chair. “Untie me too.”
The Archer chuckled and sat back up.
“We won’t run,” Remy said earnestly. “Please, please untie him.”
“Him?” the Archer repeated in slight amusement. “Just him?"
Remy nodded and arched his back, straining at the bindings and whimpering
for contact. The Archer looked at him longingly, and then turned to look at Gray. The man leaned forward, his eyes wide and a slight smile on his face. He was obviously enjoying the Archer’s predicament.
“This is your fault,” the Archer told him sternly, pointing a finger at Gray
and wagging it in his face. “You don’t get untied.”
“But–”
“You have to watch,” the Archer said evilly as he bent back down and kissed
Remy slowly.
Remy and Gray had both been tied up wearing no clothing to prohibit their
getting free by utilizing anything hidden on their bodies. Remy’s naked body writhed beneath the Archer’s, and Gray whimpered pitifully from his chair beside them.
The Archer was slightly shocked to see Remy’s hands pawing at him, urging
him to disrobe.
“How did you do that?” he demanded breathlessly as Remy shoved at his
jeans, pushing them down over his hips. The Archer mindlessly allowed Remy to
push the jeans down with his feet and then wrap strong legs around his now naked
waist.
“Do what?” Remy asked disinterestedly as he latched on to the Archer’s
neck and sucked at the tender skin.
“You’re free,” the Archer gasped as his hips thrust forward automatically.
“Not entirely. I usually get dinner first,” Remy murmured as he slipped his
hand under the pillow. The Archer tensed and grabbed Remy’s wrist, pinning it to the bed. “Fuck!” Remy snarled as his legs tightened around the Archer’s waist.
314 The
Archer
Abigail Roux
“No tricks, now,” the Archer warned, and he wondered what exactly he had
gotten himself into. Or on top of, rather. He should have untied Gray, for protection if nothing else. Remy thrust his hips upward and the Archer groaned involuntarily.
“It’s just lube,” Remy said softly. “No tricks. Trust me, podna, I just want to be fucked into next week before the execution.”
“I could help with that if he won’t,” Gray offered eagerly.
“Shut up, Gray,” Remy and the Archer both ordered as they looked at one
another.
“Fuck me,” Remy said softly. “Fuck me like you did before. Make him
watch, it’ll serve him right.”
The Archer narrowed his eyes and then smirked slightly. He wasn’t exactly
long on time, but if he did fuck Remy it would at least give him an excuse for being back here.
“You’re both evil,” Gray groaned, and he shut his eyes as the Archer
positioned himself over Remy’s body. Remy grunted and whimpered in pleasure, but
there were no cries as the Archer fucked him.
The kid knew clandestine, that was for fucking certain.
Gray cursed at them creatively as he watched, and the Archer knew he
couldn’t leave the man in the state he was in. Just as soon as he had come, he pulled out of Remy and slid liquidly down the side of the bed to the floor. Remy was limp and hanging his arms and head off the edge of the bed, and Gray squirmed
uncomfortably in his chair.
“Bastard,” Gray spat angrily as the Archer stood and looked at him.
“You should get Remy to teach you his rope trick,” the Archer said cheekily
before dropping dramatically to his knees and taking Gray’s cock into his mouth.
Gray cried out quietly and bucked as best he could, and the Archer could just
imagine Remy’s head shooting up to watch. Gray had had quite enough stimulation
already, and it didn’t take but several moments of the Archer’s talented tongue to have him cursing and writhing and coming into the back of the Archer’s throat.
“Fuck,” Gray muttered again after the Archer had backed way and wiped his
mouth with the back of his hand.
They stared at one another in a post-orgasmic sort of vacuum for several
seconds before the Archer remembered how fucked off he was at both these men. If
they had simply done what they had been ordered and nothing more, none of this
would have happened.
“You stupid fuck!” the Archer spat angrily as he loosened Gray’s ropes and
stood back up, looking around for his bits of discarded clothing. “What the fuck were you thinking? How do you get ‘drug everyone and then get captured’ from the order
The Archer 315
Abigail Roux
‘show them the message’?”
“Well, how was I supposed to know you were one of the fucking Six?” Gray
whispered heatedly as he struggled out of the rope.
“That’s what they’re calling us? The Fucking Six?” the Archer asked
distractedly as he gathered the various pieces of clothing and began dressing.
“Six. One of the Six, you fuck. Knowing Remy, though, it fits,” Gray said
acerbically as he rubbed his sore wrists.
“What the fuck did you think you were doing, coming in here like this?” the
Archer asked as Gray stood and faced him.
“What are you doing?” Remy asked weakly as he finally raised his head and
looked at them. “Are you untying–”
“Hush!” the Archer warned as he helped Gray to balance and stretch his sore
legs.
“Oh, my God, you’re one of us!” Remy hissed. “Maudit!”
“Shhh!” the Archer and Gray both hissed.
“Jesus Christ, Dixie! Get a grip!” Gray added quietly as he walked over and
patted Remy on the head to calm him.
“You knew he was one of us? Why didn’t you contact him, too? Why’d you
throw me to the fucking wolves?” Remy whispered demandingly of Gray as he got to
his knees and growled.
“Calm down,” the Archer said as he sat on the bed and looked up at Gray
blankly.
How should he do this? Should he tie them back up loosely in case one of
the others checked on them before they made their escape? Should he leave the door unlocked or provide them with a key? Should he go with them?
“I didn’t know he was here. And then after I did, I didn’t know you didn’t
know,” Gray told Remy defensively. “I mean fuck, you’ve been working for him for
almost a year and–”
“What?” Remy asked as he stared up at Gray with wide eyes.
“What?” Gray repeated warily, looking from Remy to the Archer in alarm.
“Working for him?” Remy hissed as he transferred his gaze to the Archer.
“You’re… you’re the fucking Ar–”
The Archer leaped forward and clapped his hand over Remy’s mouth.
“He’s not taking the news very well,” Gray mused as he stood with his hands<
br />
on his hips and watched as Remy tried to bite off the Archer’s fingers.
“Would you be taking the news well, you stupid fuck?” the Archer asked as
316 The
Archer
Abigail Roux
he put all of his weight onto Remy’s body.
Suddenly, Remy was free of his restraining hands and had the Archer around
the neck, and they rolled off the bed and to the floor. It was like trying to wrestle Jell-O! How in the fuck did he do that?
“You bastard!” Remy hissed, keeping his voice low even while he tried to
strangle the Archer and get a hand on Gray as the man danced away all at the same time. “I trusted you! I trusted you!”
“And I trusted you,” the Archer croaked as Remy’s hands tightened around
his throat. “I still do, Remy,” he gasped as a last resort. Remy relaxed and his fingers loosened, and the Archer saw Gray’s hand rest lightly on Remy’s shoulder.
“You bastard,” Remy whispered brokenly.
“I know,” the Archer said sorrowfully as Remy slumped back and fell
against the bed. Gray knelt beside him and looked into his face in concern. “Remy,”
the Archer said as he got to his knees and crawled to sit in front of the other man.
“Traitor,” Remy spat. “And you’ve made into one, too.”
The Archer looked at Gray in amazement. “He doesn’t know?”
“You told me to give him absolutely no information that wasn’t needed,”
Gray said defensively. “He didn’t need to know.”
“He followed you without knowing?” the Archer asked in awe.
“All I needed to see was that list,” Remy said in disgust. “What are you
talking about? What don’t I know?”
“We’re not the traitors here, Remy,” the Archer said quickly. Remy sniffed
disbelievingly.
“It’s true,” Gray said as he sat down beside Remy and took his hand.
“There’s a whole lot of history that you don’t know, and there’s a lot of shit going down at the Organization that’ll get a lot of agents killed if we don’t get them out.
Soon.”
“You mean the agents on the list?” Remy asked with a disturbing sort of
innocence.
Gray and the Archer shared a look. The Archer had no idea what list Remy
was talking about. It would seem that Gray had used a little sleight-of-hand to coerce Remy to their side. That could be very, very bad if Remy found out after all that had happened to him.
“Look, we don’t have a lot of time,” the Archer said quickly.
“Oh, why, didn’t you drug the others before you waltzed in here to instigate
the Great Escape?”
“No,” the Archer responded angrily. “If I’m not mistaken the drugs were a
The Archer 317
Abigail Roux
brilliant concoction of your two great minds.”
“Fuck you,” Remy growled.
“We don’t have time, darling,” the Archer responded sweetly. “I have to get
back out there, and then the two of you have to get the hell out.”
“What? I’m not leaving,” Remy said in surprise.
“And I’m certainly not leaving him here alone,” Gray said defiantly.
“Oh, for…,” the Archer bit his tongue and rubbed his tired eyes in
frustration. “Listen, Gray, you’re as good as dead if you don’t run. I can’t hold them off without blowing my cover. And Remy… same goes for you now, too.”
“They’re still mad, huh?” Remy said sadly.
“Yes. Now–”
“We’ve got some serious Blue-On-Blue action going on here,” Remy
muttered musingly. The Archer raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue.
“Inadvertent hostile activity between allies,” he explained to them as if anyone in the business wouldn’t know what Blue-On-Blue meant. “I never got the irony of how
funny that concept was. I mean this is serious blowback.”
“Is he okay?” the Archer asked Gray worriedly as Remy continued to ramble
to himself.
Gray shrugged in response and petted Remy on the top of the head
soothingly. “Drugs make him loopy,” he provided.
“Oh, that’s just great,” the Archer grumbled. “Will you be able to handle
him?”
“Come with us,” Remy said to him suddenly. The Archer blinked at him in
the darkness. “Come with us,” Remy repeated persuasively. “You can’t hide from
them forever, they’ll find you out eventually, and then they’ll kill you. You won’t have anyone to watch your back. Come with us.”
“I can’t,” the Archer told him sadly. “This has got to be goodbye.”
Remy blinked rapidly and then nodded in acceptance as he looked away. The
Archer stood and looked down at them both. They both sat there, looking up at him like scolded puppies, and his heart broke as he thought that one or both of them would probably be killed because of him.
“Take care of each other,” the Archer said softly, running his hands over
each of their heads affectionately before turning and walking toward the door.
“Good luck, Thi,” Remy whispered sadly in return.
XV.
318 The
Archer
Abigail Roux
THIAGO pulled the door closed behind him and stood motionless in the dark
hallway. If he had known how fucking hard this was going to be, he never would have gotten involved. How many lives could you save to justify the loss of one? Especially if that one was someone you cared deeply for? It was a tricky question, and Thiago didn’t want to think about it. He rubbed his eyes as something Remy said at the cabin came back to him.
“Even trained killers have their moral quirks, I suppose,” he had said.
Wasn’t that the truth. The memory of Remy’s voice and that little smirk of
his made Thiago want to turn around, go back into that room, and pull the younger man to him. Just hold him and never let him go. And then there was Gray, who had
remained unquestioningly loyal throughout, among other things.
“Fuck,” Thiago breathed quietly.
Remy and Gray were both just feet away from him, easily within reach. They
were still present and real and tangible, but he was already thinking of them as gone.
He felt he’d never see either of them again, and his throat constricted at the thought.
He stood at the door indecisively. The desire to go with them, like Remy had begged him to do, was overwhelming. But then he thought of the others. Carl and Nikolaus.
Brandt and Shawn. He could still save them. At least, he thought he could. He had to try.
He sighed dejectedly and trudged back out into the living room. Shawn and
Nikolaus sat at the table still, but Brandt and Carl were both gone. Thiago looked at the two remaining men warily. He wondered how strongly he smelled of sex and how
guilty he looked. Thiago was pretty sure he had perfected the ‘not up to anything’
look, but the scent of Remy on him was unmistakable. Why hadn’t he thought of just going on to bed? Or taking a fucking shower?
“Did he have anything to say?” Shawn asked flatly. Thiago took a seat
opposite the other man and looked from him to Nikolaus questioningly. Nikolaus
shrugged and looked down at the table. “You were in there for quite a while,” Shawn pointed out dangerously.
Thiago could see that Shawn already knew part of what he had been doing.
That was what Thiago had planned.
“He said he knew we were going to kill them,” he answered softly.
Shawn flinched and looked away, and Thiago fought with the inexplicable
urge
to hurt the man. He knew he couldn’t simply take out his gun and shoot him, he liked Shawn too much to kill him yet. Oh, but he could inflict mental damage, no
problem. Make Shawn’s heart ache like he knew Remy’s was.
“It took him that long to say that?” Nikolaus asked dubiously, giving Thiago
the perfect opening. Now he could inflict maximum damage with a few little words
and plead that he was simply answering the question. God, did he love subterfuge.
“No,” he answered curtly. “I was fucking him for the rest of the time.”
The Archer 319
Abigail Roux
Shawn’s head whipped back around and Thiago almost regretted the
admission when he saw the murderous look in Shawn’s eyes. Perhaps that hadn’t
been the best thing to say. He had probably done Remy more damage than good by
doing that, but it was too late to cry over it now. Didn’t matter anyway, Remy would be long gone by morning. Out of Shawn’s reach.
“Did you set him free?” Shawn asked angrily, rising half out of his chair and
clenching his fists.
“No,” Thiago said truthfully. “How does he do that, anyway? Get out of
restraints like that?”
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Nikolaus asked, leaning forward and looking at
Thiago with sparkling gray eyes. “He tried to teach me how to do it but it just takes natural talent, I guess. One minute you’ve got him tied to the headboard, the next he’s loose and flipping you onto your back.”
Thiago nodded enthusiastically, forgetting for the moment that Shawn was
hovering over them and fuming. “I was trying to get my shirt unbuttoned and
suddenly there were two more hands helping me,” Thiago told Nikolaus, gesturing to the front of his shirt as he turned slightly in his seat.
Shawn growled angrily and slammed his hands down on the table. Thiago
and Nikolaus both jumped and looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Did you tie him back up when you were done fucking him?” Shawn asked
through gritted teeth.
“No, Shawn,” Thiago said in his best sarcastic voice. “I left him untied. I
untied Gray too, y’know, just in case they feel the urge to fuck each other into the mattress before you execute them,” he added snappishly. Hey, there was nothing like being honest!