“Jesus Christ,” Hunt growled.
Kieran nodded and blew out a long breath. “Those are some money-hungry evil people right there.”
Elise nodded. “Definitely.” To Rhys, she added, “But there’s your motive. It never had anything to do with the club. You’re safe here.”
“That’s a relief,” Rhys said to Elise. “This is good work you’ve done.”
“Thank you,” she said, offering him a genuine smile.
Look at me, Elise. Fucking look at me. Archer shifted in his chair, nearly unable to take it. Wanting this conversation to end, he said to Rhys, “Let’s bring in Elijah, Connie, and Isaac. We’ll give Elijah the recording to do with what he wants, and we’ll terminate Connie’s and Isaac’s memberships.”
Ire burned in Rhys’ eyes. “Yes, good idea.” His friend hesitated and tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair. “Shall we reopen tomorrow night?”
Archer nodded. “My team is ready.”
“Excellent.” Rhys smiled easily, in a way he hadn’t done since all this began. He rose and clapped Archer on the shoulder. “Good work, as always.”
The remainder of the tension from the breach faded from Archer’s chest. He nodded his thanks before setting his attention back on Elise, who avoided his gaze. He waited for the others to all say their goodbyes and for his office to clear. Once it did, Archer let out a rough breath. Elise looked up then, and she did what he’d expected; she went to leave.
“Elise.”
She stopped dead and looked at him.
He shut the door, then went to her. “I need to say something to you,” he said, taking her hand when he reached her.
Tears prickled her eyes. “What do you need to say?”
He knew exactly what she needed from him, and he wouldn’t fuck up again. “I love you.”
She blinked. Again. And again. “I was not expecting you to stay that.”
He chuckled softly, sliding his fingers between hers, never wanting to let go. “I admit I was a bit slow to that realization, and I’m sorry if you thought you weren’t important enough for me to tell my friends about how our relationship had evolved. You are important. I should have seen what you needed from me.”
Her gaze remained glued to him as she hung to his every word. He knew how carefully he needed to tread. One wrong move, and this would all be over. “What do you think I need?” she asked with a rough voice.
Desperate to get closer, he cupped her face. “You need for me to tell you I’m in this, Elise. All the way. That we’re together. That you are my girlfriend, the only woman I want in my life.” He seemed to render her speechless, so he pressed on. “What happened to you when you were little, I wish I was there to stop it. To take all that way. But at the same time, I’m amazed by you. How brave you were, even when you were so little. It’s amazing that you are the woman you are today.” He brushed his thumbs across her warm cheeks, knowing she was the end of the line for him. “But there’s nothing to fear anymore.”
“There’s always something to fear,” she said softly.
He gathered her hands in his and placed them on his chest. “Not here. Never here.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She swallowed deeply before she said, “But what about Phoenix, your life there? I’m just not—”
“You don’t need to be anything but yourself,” he said firmly. “Besides, I think we’ve proven many times over that sex for us is hot, regardless if it’s in front of others or not. I have not missed my nights at Phoenix, not at any point since we began.”
Her brows furrowed. “You won’t miss that…excitement?”
“You’re exciting enough.” And yet, he remembered the mansion. “There are always opportunities to watch and play in private.” She nibbled her lip, and at that, he smiled, “You enjoy that, whether you want to admit it or not.”
A sweet smile crossed her face. A shy one, even. Quite unlike her. “Okay, so I don’t hate watching others and maybe get excited from that.”
He stroked her cheeks. “We’ll make this work, however we need to. Whatever you want, we do. Whatever you don’t, we don’t.”
She hesitated, and he saw all the pieces being put together in her mind. He saw her shove away the fear and welcome love. He saw she trusted him, and he’d never been more relieved in his life. Warmth seeped into her features as she wiggled against him. “I like our games.”
He brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. All the things he’d like to do with that mouth. “So do I.”
Her eyes searched his for a long moment before she asked, “What does this mean? We’re dating now?”
It certainly didn’t feel like enough. “I’m going to show you every day what it means to be loved. Truly loved. I’m going to take care of you until you can’t remember what it feels like to not be taken care of.” A tear escaped her eye, and he understood that tear, knowing that it came from a place that craved a soft landing. “From that very first night I touched you, I was yours.”
She leaned up and smiled, getting closer yet. “And I was yours,” she whispered.
I was yours…Those words matched with her playful smile were his undoing. The passion that had engulfed him after meeting her rose deep in his gut, taking over his senses. Hunger. Need. And something much more primal that drove him to a new type of desire, one that was much more personal. His.
His to pleasure.
His to make happy.
All his.
Desperate to claim her, he thrust his hands in her hair and held tight, when a knock came on his office door. “Fuck off,” he growled. The knocking stopped.
No interruptions. Not now.
Not when he needed her like he needed air to breathe. He pressed against her, and her back hit the bookcase. Her eager moan followed. “I love you, Elise,” he said across her lips before reaching for the button on her jeans. “All of you.” He had her pants flicked open and pushed them down, alongside her panties. “Every fucking perfect inch of you, even when you outsmart me at every turn, always one damn step ahead of me.”
Eyes half lidded, she bit her lip, then stopped his world from spinning as she said, “I love you, too, Archer.”
He froze, the warmth of her affection slamming into him. “I had no idea how much I wanted to hear that until right now. Tell me again.”
She ground herself against him, sliding her sex up and down the length of him outside of his pants. “I love you, Archer. I do.” She slid her hands across his cheeks. “I feared losing you. But I don’t want to live in fear anymore, not from you. Not when you’re such a good man and make me so happy. I want it to be us. For always.” Then she kissed him without restraint, unraveling him completely.
When she eventually broke away, he stepped back, opening his pants and sending them down to his ass. When he returned to her, he captured her face again in one hand and her thigh in the other. “I want to feel all of you. May I?”
Her eyes hooded. “I get the shot. I’m safe.”
“So am I.” He shifted his hips, pressing the tip of his cock against the wet silkiness, and growled at the perfect feel of her.