Keys and Kisses: Untouchable Book Three

by Long, Heather

  The corner of his mouth tipped up, but his eyes held no smile as he released my hand and brushed away the tears on my cheeks.

  “She’s not totally terrible.”

  “Frankie, you can still love your mom, even if you can’t stand her.” The soft understanding in those words left my eyes hot with tears. “When I was little, my grandmother told me that family is something you build. Relations are something you maintain. But the thing she stressed the most was that just because you love something, doesn’t mean it’s good for you. It’s okay to say no to what isn’t good for you.”

  My mother wasn’t good for me.

  The distance between us had been expanding for months. Years really. When was the last time we had a spontaneous trip? A moment of levity and impulse?

  “I guess I get leaving, I don’t get how she does it without actually telling me, or how she does it without taking that picture in her room. She loved that picture. Or at least, she used to.”

  When Archie pulled me out of the chair and wrapped his arms around me, I hid my face against his shirt and cried. I didn’t even want to cry. First Ian. Now my mom.

  Neither should be a surprise.

  I mean, I broke up with Ian. I made that choice.

  I told Mom I wouldn’t support the thing with Mr. Standish. Another choice.

  Didn’t quite explain why it all hurt so damn much. I had no idea how long Archie just sat there with me curled up in his lap crying, but eventually, the sobs gave way to hiccups. My eyes hurt. My nose was runny. My throat was sore. Not giving me any teasing or grief, he eased me onto my own chair before he got me water, then he disappeared only to return with a cold, damp washcloth.

  His smile was gentle the whole time he wiped my face, and then he told me to sit still while he cleaned up the remains of our dinner. Only when he was done—and he checked the cats’ food and water—did he double-check both doors were locked before he tugged me back to my room.

  Archie stripped down to his boxers and then he helped me out of most of my clothes. Most, because once I was down to panties, he tugged his t-shirt over my head. “Come on,” he told me before tugging me over to the bed. Curled up together, he dragged the blankets over us. It didn’t take long before all the cats found a spot.

  Then he opened his phone and tabbed over to the photos and a folder called Frankie.

  “Holy crap…”

  “You said she loved that photo,” he told me. “I bet you loved it, too.”

  I did.

  “So, confession time…and if it’s a little stalkery, apologies in advance, but I’ve been saving these for years and I keep adding to them.”

  He tabbed the folder open, and one of the first pictures came from the other night when we’d been celebrating my scholarship. I was sitting on Jake’s shoulders in the pool, soaking wet and laughing. The next shot was me studying at school—

  “Archie, I’m chewing on my hair.” It was a terrible habit. One I thought I’d stopped.

  “You do that sometimes,” he sounded practically indulgent. “It’s adorable.”

  I groaned.

  There were so many more pictures. Some I’d known he’d taken, like the ones from our date. Others—including one of me sleeping—I hadn’t known. Scrolling back through them was like taking a trip through time over the last four years we’d known each other.

  “This one,” Archie said as we reached middle. “This one is one of my favorites.”

  I had on a red baseball cap, my hair was in a messy ponytail, my ratted jeans were on, and I was wearing a white crop-top. You couldn’t see my face really, since my head was down.

  “Why is it your favorite?”

  “Cause you… I’d just come from a really shitty fight with Muriel and Edward. I was in a terrible mood, and I didn’t want to be at school or dealing with any of their crap. You walked over, popping your gum, and said, ‘Who did you kill, and what do we need to hide the body?’”

  Realization bubbled up in me. As much as my eyes ached and I was still sniffling, I laughed. “You gave me the worst look and said, ‘Think you could handle a hard time?’”

  The corner of his mouth kicked up. “You stood up, fixed your hat as you said, ‘I can take you, Standish. Bring it on.’ You know what, I totally believed you, and I started laughing. Killed all that anger in me with one smart ass remark.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “You made my world better. I made you say it again, and you did the exact same thing, and this is the picture I took.”

  A little bewildered and a lot flattered, I twisted and gave him a real kiss. The phone slid away as he cupped my face. The heat of his palm coupled with the tenderness in the kiss had me chasing his tongue almost playfully as he rolled onto his back and tugged me over him.

  The gentle skate of his fingers over my hips to his shirt had me lifting up and breaking the kiss. I tugged the shirt up and off, and dropped back to meet his kiss as he massaged my breasts. We seemed to be in a state of hurry up and wait. I couldn’t get enough of his kiss as he seemed intent on devouring me. Even then, I was running my hands over him everywhere I could touch.

  When he dragged his mouth away from mine, I groaned, but he urged me a little higher and then latched onto one of my nipples. The electric sensation zinged right through me. Long pulls coupled with little bites had me squirming. Then he kissed and nipped a path to my neglected nipple. I stretched between us and teased his cock through the fabric of his tented boxers.

  Dipping my hand beneath the waistband, I closed my fingers around the hot, silky taut skin, and he let out a low groan as I began to stroke him slowly.

  A minute later, I was flat on back and he had my panties off. His boxers followed, and he pressed my leg up so he could tease my pussy with a kiss and a lick that had me bucking. It felt good, but I wanted more. When he speared two fingers into me, I groaned.

  “Archie…”

  “Shh, babe, just making sure.” When he crooked his fingers inside of me, the tension redoubled. “Never going to hurt you.”

  They treated me like porcelain, and then he sucked against my clit and I came. It chased all the other thoughts away except for the need to ride the feelings he provoked.

  When he slid away from me, I wanted to complain. Then he was back and rolling the condom on. Easing onto the bed, he lay on his back, and he reached a hand out to me. “Come ride me?” The request sent a shudder through my overstimulated system, and I scrambled up to straddle him.

  Mouths locked together, I hummed against his lips as his hand and mine wrapped around his cock and drew it back and forth against my pussy. His soft moan as we positioned him and I began to descend to take him in sent another lance of electricity down my spine.

  Inch by inch, I dropped until I’d taken him all the way in, and then we both sighed. “I love this,” I admitted in between kisses.

  “Yeah?”

  “Oh yeah,” I closed my eyes as I pumped my hips a couple of times, the shallow thrusts lifting me up only to grind back down. “The feeling of you stretching inside of me…” Seriously, I did. It was one thing to get myself off, but I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of when he—or Jake, for that matter—pushed into me. “It’s…those first few moments, it’s so big and it feels like I’ll split open.”

  Eyes open, I met his gaze as he settled his hands on my hips, and I began to move. Palms braced against his shoulders, I began to roll my hips, deepening the motions of rising and falling as he met my every downward thrust.

  The play of emotions across his face captivated me.

  “Then you’re there…and it feels so good.”

  We found our rhythm, and I stopped trying to describe it as I dug my fingers in. At his urging, I went faster. This was different and sublime in the same moment. The tension coiled tighter and tighter. His fingers bit into my hips, and his expression grew more taut. When he dragged his hand up my side as he sat up, I met his kiss and we writhed against each other.

  So close. The tension ratche
ted higher, and then it burst. Everything clenched and fluttered as I cried out against his lips. He gave another couple of thrusts and then let out his own groan, shuddering as he gripped me to him.

  Panting, we clung to each other. “And I really like that part, too.” The admission pulled laughter from him, and then we were both giggling.

  “Just like it, huh?” Archie teased as he pinched my ass, and I laughed.

  “I like a lot of things about you.”

  “Yeah?” He brushed my hair back and gave me a light kiss.

  “Yeah. I’m sorry…I’m sorry you have to keep picking me up lately.”

  “I’m not,” he promised. “I’m sorry crap keeps happening, but I am definitely not sorry about being there for you.”

  “No matter what happens,” I said as I brushed a stray cat hair off his cheek. Deliciously rumpled, he looked utterly kissable. I gave into the temptation and kissed him as lightly as he had me. “Stepsiblings or not, I’m still going to date you.”

  His soft chuckle rolled over me. “Good.”

  Eventually, I eased away, and he made his way to the bathroom and got rid of the condom. Flopping back on the bed, I stared up at the ceiling. This wasn’t entirely how I planned to spend this evening.

  Well…the sex had definitely been on the list of things I’d like to do, but the whole emotional dump thing.

  “Stop it,” Archie said as he slid back into the bed and rolled next to me lie sideways, head propped against his hand. “You’re worrying. No more worrying while we’re naked.”

  I chuckled. “Is that going to be rule number three?”

  “Nope. Rule number nine or maybe ten. Still, valid.” He settled a hand against one of my breasts. “Naked worrying is forbidden.”

  “Okay.” I could try that. “Thank you for coming tonight.”

  “Oh, babe, I’ll come every time I’m with you.” He waggled his brows at me, and I laughed.

  “Oh my god, that was so cheesy.”

  I don’t know when we finally fell asleep, but the laughter helped. The cuddling helped. Curling up against him with the cats finally venturing back after they’d fled our sexual athletics helped.

  Waking up to his erection snuggled against my ass and his kisses on my throat as he massaged my breasts was pretty damn nice, too. We were spent and panting when the first text messages started hitting, and Archie gave a little hip thrust as I continued to flutter around him.

  “I don’t want to move,” he complained.

  When I would have stretched for my phone, he pulled me back and buried his face against my hair.

  “I don’t want you to move either.”

  Laughing, I flexed my ass against him, and he groaned again.

  “Give me twenty minutes, and we can repeat both of your favorite parts again.”

  That did it, I descended into giggles all over again. Despite his grunt of protest, the pressure of his smile against my skin made me grin wider. Eventually, I rolled over to get the phone, and it was Coop.

  Coop: Knock knock, sleeping beauty. Kick Arch out of bed and come let me in so I can have my good morning kiss.

  Coop: Better idea. Send Arch to let me in, and I’ll meet you in bed for my good morning kiss.

  Coop: Wake up!!!! It’s my birthday!!

  Archie glanced at the message, then at me. “Stay here.” Then he was off the bed, snagging his boxers as he went. A minute later, the front door opened, and I heard Coop’s whoop.

  A minute later, he leaned around the bedroom door, one hand over his eyes. “Is it safe?”

  “It’s your birthday, and I guess a kiss in my birthday suit is as good a plan as any.”

  Fingers parting, he peeked at me and then laughed. “You’re still under the covers.”

  Setting my phone down, I grinned. My body was still humming from Archie, but at the flash of hunger in Coop’s eyes, the tension settled like a knot in my belly.

  “Showering,” Archie called. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.” The bathroom door thumped closed.

  Coop stared at me until I held out a hand. “C’mere, birthday boy.”

  He crossed the room like a shot, and it was like we were kids again, only very much not as he bounced onto the bed once before rolling right on top of me. I barely had a chance to open my mouth before he was kissing me.

  It was like every other good morning kiss, if they’d been dialed up to Texas scorcher in July. I forgot how to breathe as he deepened the kiss. When his hands skated over my breasts, I groaned, and then he was kissing a path down my throat, and when he sucked one nipple against his teeth, I let out a little cry.

  Lifting his head, he grinned at me. “You’re so gorgeous.”

  “I have bed head.” Worse. I had sexed up bed head.

  “I don’t care,” he murmured. “You’re beautiful. Your lips are swollen…” He drew his finger over my lower lip. “Your breasts are really gorgeous, even your nipples look redder and swollen.” I bit back a groan as he sucked against the other one. “Archie take good care of you?”

  A shudder shifted through me at the question. “What?”

  Another smile quirked his lips. “Did Archie take good care of you?”

  Was he really asking me…?

  He kissed me again, and I gasped against his mouth as he skimmed his hands beneath the blanket, and then he eased his fingers between my legs. Fuck, I arched at the contact. I was more than a little sensitive.

  After nibbling my lower lip, Coop smiled against my mouth. “Definitely feels like he took care of you.” Slanting his mouth over mine, I wasn’t prepared for the stroke of his fingers against my clit. The pressure turned insistent, and this foreign mewling noise escaped me as he chased my orgasm with a kind of deliberate focus I hadn’t expected.

  It burst through me, leaving me straining against him as he swallowed every cry with his kiss. Slowly, he eased his hand away as the aftershocks shuddered through me. If I’d thought I was sensitive before, I was almost sore now.

  “Fuck,” Archie said, and Coop lifted his head. Archie stared at us with an almost dumbfounded look on his face. Hair still damp from the shower, he had a towel around his hips, and it wasn’t doing much to hide the fact he had an erection again. “You weren’t kidding when you said it was hot.”

  “Nope,” Coop told him cheerfully. “It’s pretty fucking awesome huh?”

  Heat scorched my cheeks, and I grabbed a pillow. “Oh my god.”

  “Awww, it’s okay,” Coop said, tugging the pillow away. “You’re beautiful when you lose it, I promise. And I love how you sound and feel.”

  “Yeah,” Archie said with a sigh. “That’s one of the awesome parts.”

  Oh, I was pretty much on fire with them talking like that. Coop nuzzled my jaw with a kiss. “Thank you,” he said softly. “I loved my birthday present.”

  “But I didn’t do anything for you.”

  “Oh, yes you did,” he said, a supremely satisfied smile on his face. “You let me see you and kiss you. Good morning kisses are the best. Birthday good morning kisses are even better.” Then he gave me another long, thorough kiss, and Archie let out a groan.

  “Fuck me, I’m getting changed before I blow off this whole going to the amusement park thing.”

  Oh. That sent a curl through my tummy, and Coop laughed against my mouth. “My birthday, my rules.”

  “Yes, Coop,” I said, even as Archie echoed me, and Coop grinned before pressing a kiss to my nose.

  “Have you fed the cats yet?”

  “Nope, we kind of overslept.” And they’d let me.

  “Okay, you go shower, and I’ll take care of it for you.”

  “You don’t—”

  He pressed a finger to my lips to quiet me. “I want to. Now go. Birthday boy rules, remember?” He winked, and I let out a soft chuckle.

  “Sir, yes, sir.”

  “Better.”

  Then he rolled to the side as I slid out of the bed. Awareness of both of their gazes eating me u
p had me pausing for a moment, and I met Archie’s gaze and then Coop’s. They both grinned at me.

  The blush had my face burning, but their smiles…

  “I’m going to shower.”

  “Okay,” Coop said. “I’m just waiting to watch you walk away. I love watching your ass in just about everything, and I have a feeling it’s even better in nothing.”

  That was even cheesier than Archie’s line earlier, and at the same time, it sent a flush of pleasure through me.

  “Well, I’ll be sure to put a little sway in my step,” I teased. It was his birthday, after all. Instead of snagging my clothes to take with me, I just headed out of the room, hips swaying as promised.

  Two wolf whistles followed me, and then I cracked up. Their laughter followed, and I was still grinning when I got into the bathroom and shut the door. It was already warm and steamy from Archie’s shower, or maybe that was just me.

  As I ducked under the water, it hit me. I’d just come apart in Archie’s arms, and not twenty minutes later, Coop made me come again and Archie had watched some of it.

  Wow.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Don’t Take Me For Granted

  Coop

  The minute the shower came on, I rolled off the bed that smelled like sex and Frankie to stare at Archie. Thankfully, he’d covered his naked ass and had his shorts halfway on.

  “Why was she crying?”

  The red-rimmed eyes would have been a tip-off, but there was just a bit of swelling also around her eyes and the faintest tear tracks on her face. The minute I’d seen them, all I wanted to do was chase away whatever pain put them there.

  Didn’t think it was Archie, she’d been damn near boneless before I kissed her, and wet and warm…fuck, she’d been warm and soft. My cock was going to have a zipper imprint against it if I didn’t get my own hard-on under control. Having her come apart for me would never get old. It had been a couple of weeks.

  I wasn’t in a hurry—we had time, and I planned to savor it. Part of why I understood where Bubba was coming from. Unlike him, I had no hang-ups about Archie or Jake being far more enthusiastic partners. As long as she had a good time, it was fine with me.