Until You're Mine (14 page)

Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet.

~Jean Jacques Rousseau

“What’re your plans for the day?” Archer asked, tucking in his shirt.

“It’s my day off,”

Pinning me to the bed with his
I know everything
glare, he buckled his thick leather belt.

My favorite version of Archer was naked Archer. But a real close second was the sinfully charming man before me. He dressed for style and comfort, but it was effortless. The man had a presence that rivaled any human being I’d ever met. Commanding, controlling and let’s not forget cocky as hell. Yet, beneath those layers of expensive fabric and perfectly painted on persona was someone very, very special. Someone only I knew, or was beginning to know.

Sitting cross legged on his bed, I watched his firm ass walk into the bathroom.

I’d had him less than an hour ago, but damn if I didn’t want him again. “I haven’t decided yet. I might go pop some tags. I have some Pinterest projects I’ve been…”

“The fuck is poppin’ tags?” he interrupted, fastening his watch onto his wrist. 

“Thrift stores?”

“You shop at thrift stores?” he grimaced. 

I unfolded my legs, staring down at my black toenails. I’ve never been ashamed of the fact that ninety percent of my clothes came from Goodwill or that most of my furniture was either found on the side of the road or second hand. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

“Katherine,” Archer’s deep voice pulled my eyes to his.

Hot anger swept through me like a current. Damn, he could be such an ass sometimes. And he was completely oblivious to it. “Stop callin’ me Katherine. I hate that name.”

I pounded from the bed, snatching my bag from the floor. But before I could make it to the door, Archer was in my face. His long fingers banded around my upper arms. “Hold up,”

“What?” I bit out, fuming heat boiling in my blood.

“Easy,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean anything by it. And why can’t I have something no one else has huh? I don’t want to share your name with anyone else. Matter of fact,” Archer’s hips pressed against my stomach, pushing me backwards until my back met the door. “I don’t wanna share any part of you,” His hands slid down the length of my arms, wrapping around my fisted hands. He pulled one hand t0 his mouth then the other. “My treasure,” he whispered, kissing the tops of each one softly, melting anger into desire.

His words
.

Though insensitive and rough at times, his words always found a way to turn me on, especially now, when he was saying all the right ones.

Archer took both of my wrists into his large right hand, pinning them above my head. Nimble fingers unbuttoned my jeans with one swift flick, and before I could suck in a breath, his hand was slipping beneath my wet panties. Two large fingers ran over my throbbing clit then plunged deep inside.

“Oh, God!”

“No. I want
my
name,” Thrusting his fingers as deep as the restrictive denim would allow, he finger fucked me harder, his lips a breath away from mine. “Now, baby. Give it to me now.”

“Archer,”
I moaned and the sound was guttural.

“Fuck yes,” A few more hard thrusts of his punishing fingers, and I flew. My knees buckled as the powerful orgasm assaulted me, but Archer held me steady, dragging out every last drop of pleasure. He pulled his fingers from my body then removed his hand from my jeans, releasing my wrists. A whimper escaped my shuddering mouth as he brought his wet fingers to rest on my bottom lip. “Open,” Parting my mouth slowly, I flicked out my tongue while he rubbed and massaged the muscle with his fingers. I sucked wildly…my taste and the erotic act had my inhibitions falling to the wayside along with everything else. “Save some for me, baby,”

Archer licked each of the wet digits. “Now I’ll have you with me all day.” Sincere green eyes locked tight with mine. “I want you back here tonight.”

My heart leapt with delight. “Really?”

“Fuck yes, I’m nowhere near done with you,” Archer buttoned my jeans. “But I need to go in for a while.”

“Shit, I can’t. I invited my brother and Cami over for dinner tonight,”

“Bring ‘em here.”

Archer pulled a set of keys from his pocket. Removing a brass key from the ring, he placed it in my palm. “The code to the alarm is 0397,” he informed, leaving me with one last kiss.

I’d forgotten all about the throbbing need between my thighs and the anger that had been pulsing through my blood just moments ago. I went from pissed, to horny, to downright elated in a matter of minutes.

Was this really happening? Was Archer finally surrendering to what this could be?

What we could be.

I called my brother and told him about the change of plans. He seemed uneasy, but after some major begging, he agreed to be there at seven. After hitting up the grocery store and grabbing a few things from my place, I made it back to Archer’s around four o’clock. I wouldn’t say I was completely out of place in the kitchen, but I wasn’t Betty Crocker either.

Opening the cabinets in the kitchen, I searched for everything I needed to prepare dinner. When I opened one of the drawers, a small black binder slid forward. Inside, I found hundreds of recipes. They looked like they’d been photo copied from index cards and were all written out in simple, easy to follow instructions. Thumbing through each one, I found a recipe for lasagna that included spinach which was something I’d never thought about adding before. I found one for brownies too. I’d planned on making brownies out of the box, but I thought- what the hell. Digging around a bit more, I managed to find a box of frozen spinach and all the ingredients needed to make the brownies.

Two and a half hours and three glasses of wine later, I was mixing the brownie batter when his strong arms wrapped around my waist.

“I didn’t hear you come in.” I smiled, turning in his arms to face him. 

A wicked grin played with the corner of his lips as he peeked over my shoulder. “What’s that?”

I draped my arms over his shoulders, clasping my hands at the base of his neck. “Brownies.”

Green eyes flashed with delight. “Mmm…brownies are my favorite. What else ya cookin’?”

“Homemade lasagna,” 

Archer smiled and I swear his eyes lit up the room. “My grandmother used to cook
the
best lasagna. She’d put spinach in it, which grossed me out at first, but you couldn’t even taste it. It was her clever way of forcin’ me to eat my vegetables.” His smile wrapped around each word and the light in in his eyes melted my heart. 

“Actually, when I was looking through the cabinets and drawers, I found that,” I pointed to the binder propped up on the counter. 

Archer blinked and a small gasp eased from his lips “You made her lasagna?” Oh shit, was he upset? I nodded, afraid to speak. “And her brownies?” Swallowing back the panic, I nodded again. He arms tightened around my waist, his body relaxing against mine. “You’re perfect you know that, too fuckin’ perfect.” Relief filled my lungs with precious air before he stole it back with the heat of his kiss. His mouth moved to the crook of my exposed neck, causing my head to fall backwards. “This outfit is ridiculous. Where do you come up with this shit?”

“You like what you see, Mr. Brooks?” All I had on was a pair of black leggings and a comfy sweater that hung from one shoulder.

“Fuck yes.” He scraped his teeth across the skin of my neck and my thighs clenched in appreciation.

God, I love when he does that.

The things this man did to me. The buzzer on the oven went off as soon as the doorbell rang, halting his seeking mouth. “Shit.”

Archer chuckled, bringing his lips to mine. “I’ll get the door,”

He stole a kiss before he turned, dipped his finger in the batter and walked out of the kitchen.

Knowledge will give you power

but character respect.

~Bruce Lee