by Laura Gray
“Hey, that’s mine!” she protested, pulling it back towards her. “What’s going on is that I’m on vacation. And I’m drinking like this because...I’m on vacation.”
“What about our plan?” Archer asked her in a hushed whisper.
“The plan is going just fine!” Ellie said. “Everything will happen on time—all you have to do is pop the fake question and I’ll say the fake yes and we’ll live fake happily ever after.”
Archer narrowed his eyes at her, as though he were trying to calculate something. He glanced between her and the spot he’d just come from three times before it hit him.
“Oh my god,” he gasped, leaning away from her. “Elizabeth. Are you jealous?”
“What?” Ellie asked incredulously, as thought it was the most absurd question she’d ever heard.
“You are, aren’t you?” There was a hint of glee in Archer’s voice. “Whoa, you were actually jealous of Katrina!”
“I—no—that’s preposterous!” Ellie said unconvincingly. “If anything, I found the way she was hitting on you to be really funny. I mean, overkill much?”
“Oh my god, you’re totally jealous!” Archer looked half-amazed and half-amused.
“I’m not jealous,” Ellie hissed. “I was just annoyed at how much time she spent chatting with you, since we had a plan to stick to—”
“Oh really?” Archer challenged her, his emerald eyes glinting. “What about you and the ambassador from Zaire?”
“What about him?” Ellie asked.
“Like you guys weren’t totally flirting? Do you think he was standing there, chatting with us for so long because of me?” Archer snorted. “He was totally trying to vibe with you.”
“Wait, are you jealous?” Ellie asked with surprise. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought.
Archer blinked. “I never said that.”
“But you were! You were totally jealous of the ambassador!”
Archer gave her a look from under his lashes. “You can’t just flip what I was saying about you onto on me—”
“I can if it's true.” Ellie walked closer to him, trying to peer directly into his dark green orbs. He stared back unflinchingly.
“It’s not,” Archer said softly as she came nearer.
“Are you sure?” Ellie asked in a lilting tone, her body close enough to his to feel buzzing electricity in between them.
“I’m certain,” Archer breathed, his eyes trained on Ellie’s lips. Instinctively, Ellie licked her lips and saw Archer’s irises darken in response.
The sound of a fork striking a wine glass filled the cool, nighttime, ocean air. Everyone turned towards the source of the sound. Bennet stood upon a platform in the centre of the deck. He held a glass of wine and a mic in his hands.
“Welcome, all,” Bennet said proudly as he gazed upon his audience. “It’s my greatest pleasure to have you all here.”
Behind Bennet, Louis Bradford sat in a leather chair, his weathered face actually looking pleased for a change.
“It isn’t often that a man gets to share in the company of his fellows during a time he needs most,” Bennet continued. “He usually bears the weight alone and carries it for himself.”
“Last week, my uncle’s last remains were found in some random corner of Albany. How did he get there? How long had he been there since his disappearance? None of us can say. All we know is that he’s lost to us forever. We all lost an incredible treasure.”
“Were your dad and Bennet close?” Ellie asked Archer.
“Not even a little bit,” Archer deadpanned. Ellie turned back to Bennet with a frown on her face.
“Gordon Bradford cared about his company, yes,” Bennet continued, “but the person he loved most was his son. He’s right here with us - Archer Bradford, ladies and gentlemen.”
The crowd began to clap as a spotlight landed on top of Archer’s face. Archer didn’t move so much as a single muscle on his face in response
“Archer, you have a friend here with you tonight, don't you?” Bennet asked, unable to take the snide edge off the word ‘friends’.
“My girlfriend, yeah,” Archer said loudly. Ellie blushed.
Suddenly, the warmth of a second spotlight hit Ellie’s face. This one was pointed directly at her.
“What’s your name?” Bennet asked her pleasantly.
“Elizabeth,” Ellie said uncomfortably. She shared a glance with Archer and realized what was going on.
He will single you out. He will put you on the spot and ask you personal questions to humiliate you.
Ellie grit her teeth. She didn’t realize she was going to be quite literally put on the spot.
“And what do you do, Elizabeth?”
“I’m a writer,” Ellie replied, trying not to sound hostile. Why the hell does everyone need to hear this? What’s wrong with this guy?
“A writer, wow!” Bennet said, as though he’d never heard of such a thing before. “Have you published anything that we might have read?”
“No, I haven’t,” Ellie replied.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that,” Bennet said with a smarmy grin.
“Maybe if you gave her a mic, you would!” Archer said loudly. “We both know your voice won’t reach me without that microphone, Benji.”
Bennet’s face flushed pink. Apparently, Archer’s nickname for him had touched a nerve.
Suddenly, Hannah Bradford strode onto the centre of the platform, gently stepping in between her husband and the microphone. Ellie narrowed her eyes—she was carrying an old, expensive bottle of champagne with her.
“Archer!” Ellie hissed to him. “She has champagne! Old champagne!”
“Damn it!” Archer whispered. “They’re doing the champagne move now?”
Hannah had reached the microphone. “Hello all! You know, someone—and I’m not allowed to say who—gave us this gorgeous, beautiful, old bottle of champagne to open on a special occasion. Alright, it was Brad Pitt, Bennet and I met him at a gala!” She giggled loudly. “Anyway, he gave this bottle to us for a special occasion. And, my friends, I think tonight is that special occasion.”
“She’s right!” Archer said loudly. Ellie turned to glare at him.
What are you doing?
Archer began to walk forward, closer to the platform. Hannah seemed alarmed by his words. “Hannah is absolutely right, my friends. Tonight is going to be a big night, a moment that I—that we—will remember forever.”
He stepped onto the platform and walked right up to the microphone, his green eyes ablaze. “I’ve thought of how to do this over and over again and I could never conjure a worthy moment in my imagination. Well, this is that moment. The one to ask the most important question that anyone can ask in their life.”
Bennet watched in horror as Archer took the mic away from his wife. Hannah hovered on the platform awkwardly, unsure if she should stay or go. Archer held the mic and looked across the deck, directly at Ellie.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black box.
Oh my god! Ellie gasped. He’s going to do it! He’s going to propose!
“Elizabeth Wolfe,” he began, “you are the perfect woman, the best friend and the hottest roommate I could have ever asked for.” A few sniggers ran through the crowd. “Your brain, your heart, the way you see through people—I’m in love with all of it. I’m in love with you.”
Ellie’s heart raced at his words, her mouth hanging ajar as she listened to his speech.
“You make every day better, El,” Archer continued, opening the box to pull out a small, diamond ring. A wave of gasps ran through the crowd. “And I want to do the same for you. For the rest of my life if you’ll let me.”
Archer bent down on one knee behind the microphone, holding the ring up in Ellie’s direction.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” Ellie cried, hurrying towards the platform. “Of course I will, you idiot!”
Archer climbed down the platform and came to m
eet her halfway. He didn’t pause when he reached her—he easily wrapped one arm around her waist, cupped her chin with the other, and pulled his lips to hers.
The touch of his lips against hers felt so natural that she sunk into it, wringing her fingers into Archer’s thick hair. The crowd around them seemed to be exploding with applause but Ellie could pay them no mind. At the moment, her skin was on fire.
Someone in the crowd whistled. “Save something for the wedding night!”
Chuckling, Archer pulled away from Ellie’s lips, looking deep into her eyes as he drew back. His eyes wrinkled around the corners. Their inky green irises shifted back and forth as they tried to read the expression behind Ellie’s eyes.
Suddenly, loud explosions began to occur in the sky, shooting amber rays of light in all directions.
“Fireworks?” Ellie asked Archer with shock. “Did you arrange this?”
“No, it wasn’t me,” he told her.
“No!” They heard Bennet screaming as the sky filled with more fireworks of purple, gold and blue. “This is the wrong time for fireworks, Marcus! Wrong! They were supposed to happen at the end!”
There was no point to Bennet’s complaining—the party was no longer about him. People hovered around Ellie and Archer in droves, eager to give them their congratulations and well wishes. Ellie even received a hug from Katrina Wanchaowski. While Ellie had always considered herself ‘tall’ at five feet and eight inches, standing next to Katrina made her feel as though she were a dwarf.
“Oh my god, oh my god, Elizabeth!”
Ellie turned to see Katharina rushing towards them with her arms wide open, tears streaming openly from her eyes. She grabbed Ellie’s face in between both her hands.
“Welcome to the family, honey!” she cried, overjoyed. “Oh, I’m going to love the crap out of you!”
Ellie gave her a watery chuckle—Katharina’s bouts of sincere emotion never failed to bring tears to her eyes.
The rest of the night went by in a breeze. Bennet and Hannah hovered on the edges of the party while Archer and Ellie hogged the centre stage, regaling the slightly edited story of how they met and the bald-faced lie of how they courted each other. Ellie lost count of how many times they raised a toast to her happiness with Archer—so many that the ship was beginning to feel wobbly underneath Ellie’s feet. She rested against Archer’s side to keep her balance only for him to trip and fall to the ground.
“Oh my god, Archer!” Ellie cried. “I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay, I’m good, I’m good,” Archer said, swiftly getting to his feet. An errant rose petal from a nearby bouquet had made its way into his hair. Giggling, Ellie reached forward to pull the rose petal out. She brushed his hair aside with her fingers to get a clearer look at his gorgeous eyes.
“Thanks,” Archer said to her softly. “I think I might be tipsy.”
“I think I might be drunk,” Ellie replied. Archer chortled at her response. Ellie’s vision seemed to shimmer at the edges. Everything other than Archer seemed to be slightly duller, more difficult to focus on.
“No more toasts for us, folks!” Archer said to the adoring audience. “Please, guys, my fiancée is getting hammered and I’ll have to be the one to clean that up.”
Bennet’s friends broke into uproarious laughter. “Let’s make a gracious exit while we still can, my love?” Ellie asked Archer with a grin. Archer chuckled.
“Sure, hon,” he stroked her chin with his finger, leading her away from the crowd. “Alright, we gotta head out, folks!”
Awws and oohs emanated from the crowd as Archer hugged a few people around him. Several more congratulations were thrown at them in unfamiliar voices that they waved their thanks to. Ellie grabbed two more glasses of champagne on her way towards the staircase that led to the lower deck of the boat.
“See ya!” Archer said to the last person that followed them to the staircase. Once they’d reached lower level, Archer placed a hand on Ellie’s back.
“Wait before you celebrate,” he said to her.
How does he do that? How does he just read my fucking mind?
They reached their room—a small cabin at the end of the carpeted hallway they’d entered. Once they reached the room and shut the door behind them, they turned to face one another.
“Oh my GOD!” they yelled, jumping up and down with excitement.
“That could not have gone any better!” Archer shouted, punching the arm with his fist. “Not if I had tried!”
“Did you see Bennet’s face?” Ellie asked with sheer glee. “It was like he couldn’t believe his eyes—”
“He was screaming at one point, did you hear him?”
“Yeah, about the fireworks!”
“Oh, I have got to find that fireworks kid and give him a hundred bucks,” Archer decided. “He just got the vibe and turned them on! I didn’t even ask him to!”
“Wow!” Ellie cried. “And of course that kid got the vibe! That speech you gave before proposing…” she trailed off, taking a deep breath. “It was quite astonishing.”
“Thank you.” He stepped closer to her, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off of his body.
“Did you rehearse it?” Ellie asked him, taking another step closer.
“Not once,” he said simply.
Ellie swallowed, trying to remember how to breathe. Archer raised one large hand to brush a lock of her curly black hair aside.
“Have I ever told you that you have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen?” Archer breathed. She could taste the champagne in the air.
“Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you.”
His lips met hers then and all thought was extinguished in a fiery haze. Ellie wrapped her arms around Archer as he pulled her close to him, his lips melting and molding against hers, his tongue languidly exploring her mouth. His hand wrapped itself around her face with rough passion, pushing her so her back was flush against the cold wall of the cabin. Ellie shivered with delight as his body pressed against the length of hers.
Archer moved his lips to her neck, nuzzling and biting her skin with his teeth. Ellie let out a soft moan as his teeth grabbed her flesh—she wrangled her arms in his hair, her leg raising to wrap around his waist. Everywhere he touched her, her skin seemed to be ablaze, tingling and aching for his attention. Archer kissed all the way down her neck until his lips reached the supple skin of her breasts. He slowly grazed his hands up Ellie’s waist, making her shiver once again. He reached over to the snap of her dress and opened it, pulling it down to reveal her perky, excited nipples.
“God, you’re stunning,” Archer growled before taking a nipple into his mouth, swirling it around with his tongue. Ellie whimpered as she felt him harden against her. His dick had grown, making a bulge in his pants that Ellie couldn’t help but grind against. He moaned as he sucked on her breasts, grazing her nipple with his teeth.
“Ooh!” Ellie exclaimed as the sensation sent shockwaves through her body.
Archer gave her a wicked grin that made her heart stutter before pulling her dress all the way off of her, leaving her there in nothing but her bra and panties. Ellie reached over to his shirt and yanked it off in one smooth motion, revealing his chiseled chest. She began to lick and kiss him all over, tasting his creamy skin with barely controlled greed. She trailed kisses down his chest and then along his abdomen, hovering around his waistline.
“You’re teasing me, El?” Archer asked in a rough voice that made Ellie’s slit get flushed with wetness. She returned his smirk before tugging at his pants, pulling them away to reveal his boxers. He was fully erect now, his member begging to be released from his shorts. Ellie hooked her finger underneath his waistband and pulled it over his dick, setting it free. Archer gasped as she took him in her hands, stroking his length softly. Ellie leaned in and stuck out her tongue, giving it a lick.
Archer hissed.
Ellie reached forward and took him in her mouth, her lips closing around his
shaft. Archer led out a load moan as she sunk her head further in, constantly licking the head of his dick.
“Fuck, Ellie you’re killing me,” she heard him growl as he grabbed her hair with his fist, guiding her motion on his shaft. Elie moaned as he grew bigger in her mouth, reaching over to his balls to lightly play with them. Archer let out an ecstatic groan as he thrust into her mouth.
He was getting so big for her jaw that Ellie had to pull back to wrap her fingers around his base, gently moving her hand with the rhythm of her head. Archer let out labored pants as she worked on him, his fingers tangling and twisting in her hair wildly. Finally, he pulled out of her mouth and pulled her up by the chin, slamming his lips into hers with rough passion. Archer grabbed her ass with both hands and pulled her up into his arms. Ellie squealed as she felt herself rise in the air. Archer carried her to the bed and threw her down, watching her breasts bounce as she hit the soft mattress.
He went down on his knees before Ellie slowly, seductively. He placed soft kisses along the sides of her hips before reaching her slit, moving his tongue onto her clit.
“Oh!” Ellie yelped in shock, grabbing a chunk of his hair instinctively. Archer looked up at her with his emerald eyes as he sank his lips down to her pussy, kissing and playing with her most sensitive nub. He began to roll his tongue over her clit again and again, making her arch with pleasure. He covered her clit with his lips and began to suck on it—the sensation drove Ellie wild, her eyes rolling back into her head. She spread her legs as far as they could as Archer licked every inch of her slit.
“I want you,” Ellie growled. “Now.”
Archer stood up, placing kisses on her belly button, her stomach, her breasts and then her neck, traveling closer and closer to Ellie’e face. His mouth reached Ellie’s ears and as he began to suck on her earlobe, she felt the head of his dick pushing against her pussy. Ellie was soaking wet and her canal swallowed his dick greedily. They both let out a moan as he slid onto her.
“Oh my god!” Ellie moaned, marveling at the sensation of him filling her up. Archer pressed his hips into her as tightly as he could—his dick had all but disappeared inside her.
Slowly, Archer began to rock back and forth, sliding his dick in and out of Ellie with ease. In the shadows of the cabin, Archer’s skin glowed pearly as it got covered with sweat. His hands slid from Ellie’s shoulders to her wrists—he pulled them up and held them together as he rolled into her.