by Evi Asher
The only thing better was when Archer touched her.
Scarlet rinsed her hair and conditioned it. Then she lathered the soap rubbing it down her body. Her nipples turned to little pebbles under the touch of her hands and her imagination telling her it was Archers touch.
Scarlet let out a small moan. Her hands started to creep down lower over her belly, but she couldn’t go all the way. It wouldn’t be the same. She’d wait ‘till Archer could pay attention to that part of her anatomy.
Meanwhile, she stood under the water and enjoyed the spray. She would be done in a bit. She was going to take full advantage of the massaging effect of the shower spray for now.
* * * *
The fact that Archer wasn’t stopped for speeding as he returned to the Outsiders’ building told him some deity must be smiling on him, because he broke every law of the road and some he was sure hadn’t been written yet.
He screeched to a stop in the underground parking garage and slammed the door as he rushed to the elevator.
The damn thing moved so slowly, he was tempted to climb the walls of the elevator shaft instead.
He yanked the door up as soon as he could reach it, and was through to reception before the elevator had stopped.
“It’s about damn time—don’t you check your phone?” Zane bitched.
Archer had a vague memory of tossing the thing into the back of the car before meeting with Jasmine.
Archer came to a stop in front of the reception desk, and leaned down to put his fists on the wood of the horseshoe shaped table. “Where is she?”
Zane’s jaw slackened in amazement. “You know she’s back?”
A low growl trickled out of his throat. “Where is she?”
“She’s in her room, having a shower.”
Archer spun, and marched around the corner, down the corridor.
“Aren’t you going to let her finish?” Zane called after him.
“No!”
Archer opened the door, and stepped into Scarlet’s room. He closed the door behind him without slamming it and walked to the bathroom door. He turned the knob so it wouldn’t make any sound, and pushed it open.
Even though the room steamed up like a tropical forest, Archer could smell the scent of her shampoo over her own sweet fragrance.
Archer took in a deep breath, and felt his beast settle, realizing he had his Scarlet back.
He peered into the steamy bathroom, trying to see her in the shower, and when he couldn’t, he stepped inside the bathroom. Moving up to the stall, he could see her standing with her back to the spray, her head tilted back, her eyes closed and her hands on her breasts.
Archer felt his cock jerk in reaction, and he let a low groan escape his lips. Jerking the sliding door of the shower stall open, he stepped into the shower, still fully clothed, and pushed Scarlet up against the wall.
Her eyes opened wide in surprise, but when she saw who it was, and how he was looking at her, they became heavy-lidded with passion.
Archer lowered his mouth to Scarlet’s, kissing her in a frantic desperate manner, trying to savor and rush the kiss at the same time.
His wanton little She was game as she jumped, wrapping her bare legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, kissing him back with all the passion he knew she held inside her.
Archer slid his hands down her soap-slicked body and cupped her ass, rocking her against his straining erection.
He leaned her further back against the cold tile, and she hissed as her back touched it, but that was her only complaint.
Archer couldn’t wait—he couldn’t take this slow. He reached for his jean’s button and freed his cock.
He captured her mouth in another searing kiss as he ran the head of his erection over her clitoris, and over the inner folds of her wet heat.
Scarlet moaned into his mouth and dug her nails into his back, encouraging him to go faster. When Archer didn’t enter her and chose to stroke her again instead, Scarlet made a frustrated sound and rocked her hips, drawing a moan from him.
He pushed the head of his erection in to her heat and Scarlet didn’t let him do much more. She put one arm back and pushed off from the wall of the shower, slamming Archer’s back into the glass.
She rose up on his body and forced herself down on his cock.
“Oh, fuck.” he hissed, throwing his head back as far as he could with the glass right behind him.
When he opened his eyes, the sight of Scarlet’s wicked grin met him.
She wrapped a fist into his hair and pinned his face, then kissed him with a savage intensity.
Rising up again, she slammed her heat down onto him again, rocking her hips up at the same time.
Archer thought he’d die when she did that, die from pleasure alone. He had to get control back, and soon, or he’d come way before she could, and that was not something Archer was going to allow.
He pinned her chest to his, using one hand over her back, and pulled the shower door open with the other. Archer carried Scarlet into the bathroom and set her down on the vanity top.
He forced her to lean back and let his mouth find her hard nipples.
He sucked and laved each in turn, drawing moans from Scarlet. He had the leverage, so she could do nothing but enjoy what he was doing.
Archer gave into his own need and started rocking his hips, Scarlet’s moans making him pick up the pace.
She hooked her hands under his shirt, and he leaned back so she could tug it off.
Clamping her legs around his waist, she balanced on her hands and lifted herself, gaining some leverage to rock up and down on his erection.
There was no winning with this female. She was going to milk him dry if he gave her half a chance.
Archer increased his speed, and he knew the moment she went over the edge. He felt the muscles in her wet heat contract and he let out a bellow as his own body responded to her demands.
Panting, Archer collapsed onto Scarlet. She wrapped her arms around him and held him as if she was never going to let her go.
He gave her a moment before he stood back up, then picked her up. Archer carried her back into the shower and put her down while he stripped off his boots and clothes, and got in the hot water with her. He washed them both, but didn’t bother drying them when he was done. He picked her up again, carried her into the bedroom, and tossed her on the bed.
Scarlet laughed. “You aren’t done with me yet, are you?”
He crawled onto the bed and sank his weight down over her, capturing her lips in a soft kiss.
“Not for many hours, belan.”
Scarlet broke the kiss and stared up at the man she was in love with.
“What took you so long to get back?”
“Was running ‘till I sensed you,” he muttered, kissing the corner of her mouth.
Scarlet tucked his long fringe back behind his ear, and ran a thumb over his lower lip.
His voice rumbled from low in his chest. “Don’t leave me like that again, Scarlet.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s a promise. I will find you no matter where you are, or what I have to roll over to do it.”
“Shut up and kiss me before I get pissed off at you.”
* * * *
Scarlet pulled his head down and kissed him, and soon she could feel his erection pressing on her hip.
She rolled, forcing him onto his back, then started kissing down his neck and collar bone.
He closed his eyes and lay back.
Scarlet worked her way lower down, kissing and licking each nipple, drawing soft moans from him.
She nibbled across the hard ridges of his abdomen and delved her tongue into the hollows. Archer tensed, and Scarlet couldn’t resist a nip.
He ran his hand into her still wet hair and groaned.
Scarlet rose up and settled herself between his legs, forcing him to open them for her, then she pulled her hair back off her shoulders and leaned down slowly, keeping e
ye contact with Archer.
When she curled a fist around his erection, she felt him pulse, and she moaned. Giving him pleasure was doing things to her that she never realized she’d feel.
Her mouth lowered further and she used the tip of her tongue to lick across the head of his erection.
Archer hissed and arched his hips, his body asking for more.
She closed her mouth over the head and sucked him in. Archer jerked and yelled.
“Don’t stop, belan.”
She had no plans for stopping. Scarlet was enjoying this far too much to give up the control she had over this huge male lying on the bed, and at her mercy.
Scarlet swirled her tongue around his erection and he released a loud groan.
She could see he was dying to thrust into her mouth.
Scarlet lowered her head, sucking him in. When she released him, he thrust.
She pulled on his hips, telling him it was okay, and he didn’t need to be invited twice. He started to thrust with every lowering of her head, his low moans spurring her on.
Scarlet dug her nails into one hip and fondled his sack with the other. He cursed in response, the muscles of his neck and chest standing out in ropes of tension.
He tried to break her hold on him. “I’m close.”
She wasn’t going to let him get away with that, so she moaned low, sending vibrations racing down his penis and pushing over the edge. He roared as he spurted his seed down her throat, his whole body spasming with release.
Archer let off a string of curses and sat up grabbing her by the shoulders and throwing her onto her back. “No more, Scarlet, I can take no more.”
Scarlet smiled, self-satisfied, and opened up for him. “Come on, wolf, I’m waiting.”
Archer groaned and lay down on her, thrusting into her and demanding a kiss at the same time.
This male will be my death from pleasure.
Scarlet could think no more as Archer took her over the edge again, and again.
* * * *
Someone knocking at the door woke Archer hours later. He hadn’t gotten much sleep. His Scarlet was insatiable, and if he’d pleasured her half as well as she had him, then he was phenomenal in bed.
“Scarlet, can we come in?”
She stirred where she was lying, her head on his chest and one leg thrown over him, the sheet covering half their bodies. Archer didn’t have the heart to wake her. He was about to call out that she was busy when the door opened, followed by a feminine shriek.
“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.” The woman was a beautiful brunette with big brown doe eyes.
“Wha—” Scarlet pulled her head up and tried to tug her long hair off her face, without success.
“Scarlet, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Zane never said—”
“Don’t worry about it.” Archer smiled. “I’d shake your hand in greeting but…” he nodded at Scarlet still wrapped around him.
The woman laughed, proving to him that she had a sense of humor.
“Don’t worry about it. When you do get up, Dimi has called a meeting in the living room.”
With a final smile, the woman backed out and pulled the door shut behind her.
Scarlet still sounded groggy, but she’d managed to get her long hair out of her face and she was looking up at Archer. “What did Ath want?”
“Meeting in the living room.”
“Bleh,” Scarlet said with feeling, and dropped her head onto Archer’s chest again. “Five more minutes, Mom,” she joked.
“Five hours—no, make that twenty four.” Archer grinned lasciviously, and rolled his hips to let Scarlet know he wasn’t the only one awake.
She laughed. “Didn’t you get enough?”
“Of you, belan? Never.” He lifted his head and kissed the top of hers.
She sat up. “Don’t tempt me, wolf, or I will stay in bed with you all day.” Slipping off the bed, she walked towards the bathroom, and he had the pleasure of watching her hips sway as she sauntered off naked.
He’d let her shower first. If he went in there with her, Dimi would have to come fetch them out of this room himself. That would be no good, because Dimi would have a vicious werewolf or two to deal with.
When Scarlet left the bathroom and went to the closet to get some clothes, he walked past her, stopping to steal a kiss before he hit the shower, too.
They needed to get this meeting out of the way, because he wanted to tell Dimi and the others his plan.
Yes, Scarlet was back, but Jasmine had to be stopped before she attained her goal of godhood.
If they waited until she’d done that, they wouldn’t be able to stop her. Killing an Eternal was difficult, but killing a god was impossible, or as close to impossible, as it could be in this world where myth and magic were a part of everyday life.
When he came out the bathroom with a towel around his waist, Scarlet wasn’t in the room, so Archer walked across the hall to his own room to go get some clothes.
She’d probably gone to get some food. He’d find her when he went to the meeting. That thought kept him from marching through the building in a towel to find his mate.
The separation had affected him more than he realized, and after the night they had spent together, the bond between them was stronger by far.
Archer would have to figure a way to keep her out of the fight with Jasmine. He couldn’t risk losing his She again, because if he lost her, he would follow her into the mist of death. Of that fact, he had not one doubt.
He decided he’d forbid her from going. She was his mate, and she had to obey his order. Yes, that was what he was going to do.
Chapter Twelve
Archer stopped in the doorway of the living room and scanned for Scarlet. His eyes found and focused in on her automatically.
She was sitting on a two-seater couch next to Heath, sipping a cup of coffee, and laughing at something Erik had said.
Love for her swelled in his heart, and he reached up and rubbed his solar plexus with the palm of his hand because for a moment, it felt like his heart would burst with the feeling.
How had he gotten so lucky? He was damned if he knew, but he wasn’t going to question it. He was going to enjoy every moment of the rest of his eternal life with his female at his side.
He walked over to where she was sitting and glared down at Heath until the other Outsider looked up and grinned.
“Did you want my seat, Archer?”
Archer said nothing, so Heath stood up and shifted to an open armchair, the smile on his lips announcing his amusement.
Archer nodded a thank you and sat down next to Scarlet, pulling her closer to him and under his arm.
She glanced at him but didn’t move, taking another sip of her coffee instead.
Archer took a mental attendance and was glad to see everyone was there—well, everyone except Zane.
With reluctance, he removed his arm from around Scarlet and stood.
“Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He walked out the living room and into reception.
“Put the answering machine on, we need you in the living room.” Archer tossed the order at Zane.
Zane looked up from the file he’d been inputting into the computer and nodded. He rolled his chair to the switchboard and pushed a button, then stood.
Archer didn’t wait for him, but turned around and went back to the living room that had become their impromptu meeting hall.
Scarlet stood this time, and took his hand as he got to her.
She smiled. “I want to introduce you to the phoenix that helped me get home again.”
“Archer, this is Ath, Kell and Dani.”
Archer nodded and smiled at each of the females.
“Thank you all for bringing Scarlet back to me.”
Ath smiled from her place next to Erik on the couch. “You are welcome, and we did hitch a ride back with her, after all.”
Archer returned her smile, but then his expression sobered as Zane entered the room.
“We have something very important to talk about.” Dimi was sitting on one of the armchairs nearest the fireplace, and he had a cup of coffee in his hand instead of the customary vodka bottle. “How we are going to get rid of Jasmine?”
Archer felt his brows climb in amazement, but he quickly put a lid on his visible response. “In essence, yes.” He started to pace, trying to get his thoughts in order.
Scarlet left his side and went to sit on the couch.
Archer stopped and turned so everyone in the room could see him. “I went to see Jasmine at the Resting Peace Cemetery.” Archer waited for the anger, and was surprised when he didn’t encounter any.
“We aren’t stupid, Archer. When you disappeared yesterday, we knew it had to be so you could go see Jasmine and get Scarlet back.” Dimi’s deep voice rumbled in his chest.
“And you didn’t come after me?” Archer’s voice raised an octave in surprise. He would never have let one of the others be so stupid. He would have been there and stopping them before they could be idiots.
“We trusted that you wouldn’t do something stupid, and since you are back here, we assumed you didn’t,” Poe said from his place on the back of a dining room chair that he’d brought into the living room.
Archer drew his hand through his hair and looked shame- faced. “You were wrong.”
His words got a gasp from Sophia. “Archer, you didn’t.”
Cold silence answered her question.
She stood, walked over to him, and punched him on the shoulder. “You couldn’t wait and trust in us, or even Scarlet?”
Archer didn’t flinch. He’d deserved the punch, but he glanced over at Scarlet to see if he could read her expression now that he’d admitted that he’d made a deal with Jasmine. She seemed to be trying to avoid looking at him, so he couldn’t read her, and he had to fight the urge to go to her and try to explain.
Sophia pulled her arm back to deliver another punch, and he grabbed her fist in his hand, not squeezing but holding her back. “Before you bruise me anymore, I did have, and I do have a plan. One that’s going to rid us, and the phoenix, of the threat that Jasmine represents.”