Until You're Mine (19 page)

I covered the smile threatening my lips with my tingling hand. “Have you told him how you feel?”

Maddie shook her head. “Katy, you know as well as I do what that consists of. He’s impossible to reason with once he has his mind set.”

“True, but he does listen.” I reminded.

“Uh, no he doesn’t. He uses incredible, mind blowing sex as a lethal negotiating tactic to get what he wants. He’s pretty damn clever. When I told him the plan he most certainly did not listen.”

Laughing, I shifted in my seat. “You have a plan? Oh, this I gotta hear.”

“Of course, I have a plan. Do you even know me?  I’ll be promoted to first chair associate next year, bust my ass at that for the next year or two so I can get some good experience under my belt, then open my own firm.  Once I’m established, boom, I’ll be ready.”

“You’re just gonna have to compromise.” I reasoned.

“I really hate that word. His version of compromise consists of fuckin’ me against the wall and refusing to let me come until I agreed to one year. One year and then he gets to impregnate me.”

“You make it sound like a bad thing,” I knew full well that Madison Waters would not agree to anything she didn’t want to do.

“Shit, I don’t even know how to be a wife yet let alone someone’s mother,” she admitted as she picked at the napkin in front of her.

Rubbing her back, I offered what little comfort I could. “You’ll be fine sweetie. You have an amazing husband and plenty of support. You’re gonna be an incredible mother,” I assured her, with a smile. 

Maddie smiled back at me, but she didn’t look convinced. She was afraid, resistant against anything that interrupted her carefully laid out plans.

“Life is short, Maddie, and plans are futile when it comes to love and matters of the heart. Remember, you can’t
find
your happily ever after, it
finds
you,”

Maddie’s eyes widened at her words tossed back to her from years ago. She wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me in for a hug.

“Thank you. You’re the bestest friend a girl could have,” I patted her back and hugged her tighter.

“You too sweetie.”

When we arrived at Archer’s, he went to his office to finalize our travel plans for the following morning while I went upstairs to get ready for bed. I had no idea what to expect with this trip into his past. And that made me very nervous. I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to know what happened between them, and if the insecurity in my gut was from the fact that they were still married after all of this time. Was he truly ready to let her go?

With a tank top and a pair of cotton panties on, I crawled into his big comfy bed with my eReader. I was just getting to the good stuff when his sexy voice broke the silence.

“Now
that
is something I could definitely get used to,” Propped up against the doorway, he gave me a lazy grin.

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Archer sauntered into the room, each step perfectly calculated, bringing him to the foot of the bed.

He stared down at me, a pleased smile tugging one corner of his mouth. “You look good in my bed.”

“This is a really nice bed,” I sunk down further beneath the duvet.

Keeping his eyes locked with mine he crawled up the bed, slowly, methodically. With both hands resting on each side of my thighs, I inhaled his scent. “What cha readin’?” he asked before his mouth found the column of my neck. The air stalled in my lungs, making it impossible to speak. “I asked you a question, sweetheart.” He continued his kisses down my throat, tugging at the scoop of my tank to look inside.

His heavy green eyes shot to mine, a lone brow raised in question. “Romance novel,”

“Interesting, what’s it about?”

“Cookin’,” I teased.

“Oh, she’s got jokes.” He brought his mouth back to the spot just below my ear and my thighs clenched in agony.

“They’re about to make love,” I breathed.

Archer’s kisses stopped abruptly. Pulling back, he looked deep into my eyes and smiled. “Say it,”

“What?”

“You know what you want. Say it,”

Setting my device on the bedside table, I reached up and cradled his tense jaw. “Make love to me,”

“With fuckin’ pleasure baby,”

He kissed me slowly, slipping his tongue in and out of my mouth as he eased me down further. Crawling beneath the duvet, he pulled my tank over my head before pressing our hot bodies together. He angled my head this way and that while he made sweet love to my mouth. I hiked one leg over his thigh, seeking more.

“Archer please,” I begged against his mouth.

“This is what you wanted, slow and sweet,” He rolled on top of me, grinding his hard cock against me, pushing a soft moan from my mouth. 

The passion in his eyes warmed my heart, seeping down into the depths of my soul. I would do anything and give up everything for him to look at me like this forever.

“What’s going through that pretty little head of yours?”

Lifting my hands to his rough face, I looked into his remarkable green eyes. “How much I love you and how nothing will ever change that.” I reached up to kiss him but he beat me to it. My hands fell away from his face, taking up residence on his back as he kissed me deep into the pillow. It wasn’t rough. It wasn’t forceful. It was tender and gentle, conveying his strong love and reassurance. 

I fell apart the moment he was inside of me. Emotions screamed throughout my body while his deliberate strokes began to stoke an everlasting fire. 

Love
.

I felt it pouring off of him with every kiss, every touch, and every look.

“Ah fuck baby, I love that face. Let me see it again.” I writhed beneath him, my body completely limp and pliant to his insistent thrusts. His mouth settled mere inches above mine as he eased more of his weight on top of me. With his hands cradling both of the sides of my head, the intensity of our intimacy peeked and my back bowed from the bed, nails clawing at this tight skin.

“That’s it baby.” Archer moved faster. “One more time,”

I shook my head from side to side. It was too much and not enough, so much more than I ever imagined.

“Yes, baby,”

Thrust…thrust…

“I love you,”

Thrust…thrust…thrust…

“So fuckin’ much,”

Archer’s strangled moan brought my wayward eyes back to his. Sweat dotted his bunched brows, and I could see the myriad of emotions play out on his face.

It was primal.

It was fierce.

It was
love
.

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

~Indria Gandhi

I collapsed on top of her. The side of my sweaty face rested on her heaving chest while I battled for air. I could hear her heart thundering inside her chest, thumping against my ear. It matched the beat of mine.

Raising my head, I found her sated brown eyes. “Making love is underrated.”

She laughed, her face glowing with love and happiness, giving me a sense of peace and belonging that I hadn’t had in a long fucking time. 

It was just after two, and we’d yet to fall asleep. Our legs and feet were tangled beneath the sheet while her finger drew lazy circles around the center of my chest. Sometimes she would trace the ink along my shoulders and arms, but mostly she explored the landscape in front of her. The top of her foot worried the bottom of mine and the intimate connection made me fall for her a little more.

Was that even fucking possible?

“What’s your middle name?” she asked.

I chuckled, pressing her hand to my chest. “You gotta promise not to laugh.”

Her eyes lit up and she smothered a smile. “I won’t laugh. Promise,”

I straightened my mouth into a serious line and deepened my voice. “My real name is not Archer.”

Her head perked up and her body stiffened. “What?”

“It’s Archibald Thatcher Brooks.”

Katherine cupped her mouth, fielding a chuckle. The sound was like a familiar song and only my heart knew the lyrics. I wanted to put it on repeat. “Sorry, that’s a mouthful and so not you.”

“Yeah, I know. It was my grandfather’s name. They called him Archie. When I came along, they didn’t want any confusion, so my grandma came up with Archer.”

Katherine rested her chin on her folded arm, resuming her earlier position.

“What’s yours?”

“Elaine,”

“I like that. Katherine Elaine. It’s beautiful,” she smiled, dragging her finger across my neck.

After a while, her face turned serious and she stopped moving her finger once more. “How’d your parent’s die?”

“Car accident,”

She released a small gasp and her face fell in remorse. “I’m so sorry,”

I shrugged. “I was young. I don’t remember any of it. I had a good childhood and my grandparents gave me plenty of love,” I smiled at her. “You remind me a lot of my grandmother.”

Her face beamed. “Really?”

Cupping her face, I looked deep into her eyes. “Yes, she was a damn good woman. Sweet and perfect. Just like you. She would have loved you very much,” I kissed her lips.