"I've got it," Kody whispered back, kissing my bare shoulder with hot lips. "Go back to sleep."
I didn't even think twice, dropping my head back into the pillows and yawning. It didn't even cross my mind that Kody was answering my front door in a telling state of undress.
Whoops.
"What the fuck?" a familiar voice roared shortly after the sound of my locks unbolting. "I told you to stand watch, not abuse the fucking situation!"
"She has a name, bro, and it's not the fucking situation." Kody was all smugness and gloating as he replied to Archer, and I smothered a laugh in my pillow. "Also, any abuse was totally consensual. In fact—"
"Kody!" I shouted, cutting him off. "That's enough."
The last thing I needed him to do was brag about how I’d begged him to smack my ass and tie me to the headboard just a few hours ago. In my defense, I'd lost track of how many times he'd made me come. So temporary insanity had to be excused.
The boys’ voices dropped to lower tones, and I reluctantly dragged my ass out of bed. I didn't bother getting fully dressed—it was my apartment; why the fuck should I?—and instead just pulled a buttery-soft satin robe on over my bra and panties. I didn't even bother belting it.
In my living room, Archer and Kody were standing chest to chest with the air crackling between them like lightning. That, more than anything, proved to me how serious he'd been last night when he’d told me Archer could kiss his ass and fix his own damn mistakes.
Blame it on all the oxytocin flooding my system, but I was in the mood to mess with my archnemesis.
Strutting my shit over to the two of them, I couldn't help but notice the way Archer's gaze raked over my body. Not like he hadn't seen all of me before, right? Biting back my mean smirk, I let a pleasant and totally fake smile cross my lips instead.
"Good morning, husband," I sang as I rose up on my tiptoes and pressed a lingering kiss to his stunned lips. "Did you have a nice night, sweetie? I know I did." I patted his cheek in a condescending way and winked.
The shock receded somewhat out of his expression, and his gaze darkened. "What are you fucking playing at Princess Danvers?" His voice was ice cold, and his eyes glittered with barely concealed anger.
I just clicked my tongue and gave him a smirk. "Now, now, darling. It's Princess D'Ath now. It's just what every little girl dreams of! Being married off by her father without her knowledge or consent." I sighed like a deliriously happy nitwit. "Thank goodness such an important decision was taken out of my silly hands. Whatever would I have done?"
With way too much swagger in my step, I turned and headed over to my open-plan kitchen. I needed about sixteen gallons of coffee to keep up my sarcastic bullshit and not actually rip Archer's balls off with my bare hands. I was guessing by the way both he and Kody were watching me, they knew it too.
"What are you doing here, sunshine?" I asked as I turned on my espresso machine and located a mug. "Last I checked, you weren't welcome in my apartment." I delivered this with a sickly sweet smile and a flutter of eyelashes. He loved getting under my skin, and he thrived off my short temper. So he wasn't going to get it. I'd keep my cool and my placid bullshit smile if it fucking killed me. Because it'd kill him first.
"Last I checked, you had a new boyfriend," he sneered back at me, shooting Kody a glare. "One who is terribly concerned for your well-being after you were shot at last night."
A sharp jolt of guilt stabbed through me. Fuck. I hadn't even tried calling Scott or Bree to make sure they were okay. I'd just taken Kody's word for it and tossed all my problems out the fucking window.
I bit the inside of my cheek and kept my Stepford Wives smile in place. Fuck this bastard; he was trying to rile me up.
"Scott and I have an understanding," I replied, not even lying. We had an understanding that I wasn't interested in him, and therefore, I wasn't cheating on him. I could only hope Archer hadn't overheard that whole argument I'd had with Scott outside the theater.
His face twisted in disgust as he prowled closer to the kitchen. "What kind of guy willingly lets his girlfriend fuck other guys?"
My brows shot up, and I met his gaze directly without flinching. "I don't know, Archer. What kind of man lets his wife fuck his two best friends under the same damn roof as him?"
His lips parted to retort, but I snapped my fingers, cutting him off.
"Oh, duh, silly me. The kind of man who also never asked his wife's consent to marry her." I pasted that stupid smile back on my face and flipped my sex hair like a twit. "Now, was there something you needed? Because I was really hoping to start my day with Kody's dick halfway down my throat, and you're sort of killing the vibe."
Kody spluttered a choking, laughing sound then covered it with a fake coughing attack and indicated he was going to go and get dressed. After all, he was still in nothing but a pair of boxers.
A ripple of fury and frustration passed across Archer's face, and I checked a mental point in my favor. He really should leave now before I crushed him under my bare foot. After all, I needed to save the ace up my sleeve for another day when that plan was fully fleshed out.
"Actually, yes. Seeing as you're having so much fun playing the part of my doting spouse, we have somewhere to be. Put some clothes on; we're already late." He pulled his phone from his pocket, flicking through his notifications like he'd just dismissed me, and I seethed.
Fuck that for a joke. "No, thanks."
His brows raised slowly, and his gaze swept up from his phone to meet my eyes. "I wasn't asking, wife. Get dressed, or you can come like that. Makes no difference to me."
I let out a low, humorless laugh. "Or what? You going to force me, big man?"
Something dark and dangerous flickered through his gaze, and I couldn't fight the answering shiver that ran through me. Fuck.
"I could," he replied, his voice low and seductive. "Or I could just tell Steele to shoot the guy we caught last night. We'd kept him alive in case you were interested in a chat, but I guess not." He gave a casual shrug and turned back to his phone, presumably to dial Steele.
Motherfucker. He had me, and he fucking knew it.
"Wait," I snapped, knowing full well I was playing right into his hands and unable to help it. "Fine. I'll go with you. But I swear to fuck, Archer D'Ath"—I came around the island to jab a finger in his chest—"if you're lying to me, I'll..." My words trailed off as he batted my hand away and trailed a fingertip down my chest, tracing the swell of my breast and making my heart pound.
"You'll what, darling? I hold all the chips. All of them. So start getting used to following orders; I won't tolerate these temper tantrums forever."
The words had barely left his mouth before my hand cracked across his face in a slap hard enough to leave an almost instant palm print.
"Spare me the alpha-male bullshit lines, Archer. I don't kneel for anyone." Then I let a mocking smile play out over my lips and arched my back so that my bra-covered breasts brushed the front of his shirt. "Unless I'm sucking cock. But you wouldn't know that... You never followed through." My lips were so close to his ear that I could have sucked on his lobe. But I didn't. I pushed off his chest and sashayed away, then tossed one last remark over my shoulder. "Maybe you could ask Steele? His dick is well acquainted with my mouth, after all."