"Good morning, Princess," he murmured in a low rumble.
Words were too hard, so I just yawned and snuggled into him tighter. Fuck dealing with stalkers and serial killers and assassins. I just wanted to stay in bed with my guys and ignore the world. Was that so much to ask?
I let out a sigh. Of course it was. Because none of those external forces would disappear simply because I wasn't in the mood to deal with them.
"What time is it?" I mumbled, not bothering to open my eyes more than a crack. It was daylight, that was for sure, and I never usually slept past dawn.
Archer let out a long breath of his own, tightening his arms around me like he also wanted to stay exactly as we were forever. "Ten-ish."
Surprise rippled through me. "Did you skip training?"
Archer usually met Kody in the gym around five A.M., and lately—if it'd been one of them sharing my bed—I'd come along to spectate. I was, and always would be, a huge fan of The Archer in the octagon.
"Yep," he replied. "You had a rough night, and I didn't want to sneak out."
I tilted my head back so I could look at him, a bemused smile crossing my lips. "That was awfully sweet of you, husband."
His lips twitched in a sleepy smile back. "There's nothing on this earth I wouldn't do for you, wife. Skipping a training session with Kody is the least of it all." His palm cupped my face, his thumb tracing over my lower lip, and his gaze heated.
I drew a quick breath, desire flooding through me as his eyes locked with mine and his open, raw emotions shone through. Never in a million years could I have guessed he'd been hiding all of that behind his asshole mask. Never would I have anticipated the depth of his love for me. This was no casual flirtation or fleeting college romance. He was all in... and so was I.
"Arch..." I started, then trailed off as my voice dried up in my throat. He was all in now, but I'd seen how fast his mood could shift. I believed he loved me with every inch of his stained soul, but I also believed he would push me away if it meant keeping me safe.
He didn't press me to say what I was thinking, though. He just brushed a soft kiss over my lips. One that I leaned into and deepened because, although I still couldn't say the words out loud, I knew I could show him how I felt.
"Kate..." he murmured with a groan as my hands ran down his sides and hooked into the waistband of his boxers. "You're testing my resolve something wicked."
"What resolve?" I kissed his chest and tugged on his boxers teasingly.
He let out a frustrated growl but slid his fingers into my hair and brought my lips back to his for another deep kiss.
"My resolve not to fuck you senseless every time I get my hands on you," he confessed with a hint of wickedness in his gaze. "But you make it so damn—"
"Hard?" I suggested. My hand slipped inside his shorts and grasped his thick erection. "What's wrong with fucking me every chance you get? I'm not complaining."
His lips pulled up in a smirk, and his hips rolled as I stroked his cock. "Maybe not, but..." His protest dissolved into a groan as my thumb circled his tip, playing with the slick bead of pre-cum.
"But what?" I teased, kissing his chest once more.
As he drew a deep breath, his hands found my shoulders, and he flipped me onto my back. His thick thigh crushed against my core, pushing my legs apart. Like I really needed any encouragement.
"You're fucking trouble, Princess," he told me, as if this was new information.
I just grinned and rocked my hips against him. "You love it."
He muttered curses and kissed my neck, biting me gently on the spot that made me shiver and moan. "I love you," he corrected me in a gruff voice as he hooked a hand under my thigh and spread my legs wider still.
My Tshirt was all tangled up, barely covering my breasts, and my panties may as well have been made of tissue paper as his hard length ground against my core. Wet tissue paper at that.
A knock on my door came just a moment before it opened and Steele wandered in. His brows only hitched slightly when he found Archer on top of me, and I caught the flash of desire in his eyes as he realized what he'd walked in on.
"Bro," Archer snapped. "What the fuck?"
Steele just grinned. "What? Don't tell me you get stage fright, big guy. I have it on good authority Hellcat doesn't mind an audience." He shot me a wink as he dragged his thumb across his lower lip.
I tried to swallow my moan, but it sneaked out nonetheless as my pussy pulsed with that suggestion. Kody's suggestion of a four-way kept rattling around in my brain, but Archer had yet to even partake in a three-way.
"Fuck you, dickhead," Archer shot back at his friend. "Watch if you want; maybe you'll learn something."
Oh, hell yes.
When Archer captured my lips in another toe-curling kiss, I held Steele's gaze and watched as he ran his tongue over his lower lip, showing off that piercing. Then he gave a pained frown.
"As badly as I want to call your bluff, Arch," he said with a resigned sigh, "I actually came with news."
I groaned, and not in a good way. Archer let out a curse and rolled to lie beside me, where the thin blanket did nothing to hide his hard-on.
"Dead, mutilated people news?" I cringed. "Or exploding cars news?"
Steele quirked a grin. "Hell of a scale, Hellcat. But... somewhere in the middle of those." He shifted his gaze to Archer. "My parents were just on the phone."
Archer cursed again with more passion. "What the fuck did they want?"
The biting edge to his tone told me exactly how Archer felt about Steele's parents. The fact that Steele had likened them to a car bomb? Said it all.
"Rachel's memorial is next weekend," Steele said in a tight voice, his expression pinched. "They want me home for it."
Archer scoffed. "I fucking bet they do. Did you tell them to screw themselves?"
Steele gave a minuscule cringe, and my heart ached for him. Whatever had happened between him and his parents, he was still hurting over it.
"It's not that easy, bro," Steele told Archer with a sigh as he hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans.
Archer groaned and swept a hand over his face. "I know."
I scrambled to sit up and give Steele my full attention. "When do you have to leave?"
His shoulders drooped as he sighed. "Today. Now. They've planned all these stupid events in Rachel's name that she would have hated. But they're demanding I attend all of them. Play the part of their dutiful son and shit."
Archer threw the covers back and grabbed his jeans off the floor. "Alright, give me ten, and I'll sort us out a jet."
Steele shook his head. "Nah, dude, you're not coming with me." He gave a short laugh. "I appreciate the offer, don't get me wrong. But this shit is going to be painful enough without you punching out my dad in front of the press."
Archer huffed. "That happened once, and he deserved it."
My gaze bounced between the two of them. I was dying for that story but now wasn't the time to ask.
"Well, he always deserves it," Steele agreed. "But I'll be fine. I'll just spend the entire weekend drunk off my ass and get in a fight with any rich prick who talks down to me. It'll be therapeutic."