by Angela Blake
Claudia had the satisfaction of seeing Archer look grim, and a little miffed. She grinned, blew the audience a kiss, and went backstage where she was greeted with warm applause from her fellow peers.
***
“I’ll meet you there, okay, Chas? I’m finishing up here!” Claudia called out as she looked around for her ballet flats which she could’ve sworn she left somewhere in the vicinity.
“No problem,” Chastity called back, and she heard the sounds of their laughter receding as they left the building. She sighed as she let her gaze travel all over the room, frustrated at being unable to find such a small thing. She dropped to the floor, got on her hands and knees and began to search for it underneath the chairs and clothes.
“Now there’s a sight I could get used to.”
Claudia cursed as she shot up and ended up hitting her head on one of the nearby shelves. She scowled as she began to rub the sore spot on top of her head as her blurry vision tried to make out who said that.
There stood Archer Paisley in the flesh. Looking amused with his shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms, his tie hanging askew, his hair looking he’d raked his fingers through it, and his blue eyes smoldering, tearing a hole in the side of her head.
Claudia stood up with as much dignity as she could muster and dusted off her clothes before she let her eyes slowly trail up and meet his. “What are you doing back here? You’re not allowed to be back here.”
“You are if you know exactly who to bribe, or how to get past them.”
A flood of anger shot through Claudia at their security personnel’s flippancy. They couldn’t let just anyone back here, and they knew it. Their blatant lack of disregard for women’s safety made them a liability, and she had half a mind to go over there right now, and let them have it, but first, she had to deal with the rather large, devilishly handsome problem at hand.
“Yes, well, regardless of how you got here, you need to leave.”
Archer tossed his jacket on one of the chairs and gave her a pleasant smile. “Now, why would I do that when I’ve got a lovely view right here?”
“Mr. Paisley, as I’ve already told you, you aren’t supposed to be here, and we’ve been through this before.”
Archer stepped forward and stood in front of her. “Been over what before?”
“This,” she gestured making a sweeping hand gesture, “between us. Whatever you think exists between us. Nothing exists between us.”
Archer stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Are you sure about that?”
Claudia nodded her head empathetically. “I’m positive.”
“Now, Claudia, I know that you’re smarter than that. If nothing was going on between us then why does my presence unnerve you so?”
Claudia snorted. “It doesn’t unnerve me, what makes you think it does?”
Archer looked thoughtful as he eyed her speculatively. “The fact that you took a step back just now, that you can barely make eye contact with me for more than a few seconds, and that you can’t stand to be alone with me for more than a handful of minutes.”
Claudia turned her gaze on him. “Is that why you think I do that? Don’t flatter yourself, Mr. Paisley. I don’t do any of those things because you affect me. I do them to avoid spending time with you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Claudia narrowed her eyes into slits. “As Rhett Butler would say, ‘Frankly, my dear. I don’t give a damn.’”
Archer stared at her with an unfathomable expression for a minute or two before his face broke out into a smile, and he let out a whoop as he slapped his leg.
“I know you were feisty, but damn, I had no idea you had this much fire, Claudia.”
Claudia bristled with barely concealed annoyance. “Look, I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I hardly think your comments are appropriate.”
One eyebrow shot up in amusement. “You think complementing you on your spark is inappropriate?”
Claudia made a dismissive hand gesture. “It’s not the fire thing I’m talking about specifically, it’s what it represents.”
A smile twitched on the edge of his lips. “And what exactly does it represent?”
“Your desire to get into my pants.”
Archer began to laugh, a deep throaty chuckle that sent shivers up and down her spine. Claudia told herself to get a grip considering who this man was, but she couldn’t help that she loved the sound of his laugh.
“Well, now. I must say, the honesty is very refreshing.”
“No point in beating around the bush, is there?”
“Indeed.” He looked thoughtful for a moment before he shook his head. “I won’t deny that it is a part of my plan.” He perused her thoroughly making her feel more vulnerable than if she was standing in front of him, stark naked. She wondered at the effect he seemed to have on a lot of women, and she wondered if he knew and secretly used it to his advantage.
“However, that isn’t my whole plan.”
Claudia titled her head to the side. “Are you planning on luring me into one of your dungeons and have your wicked way with me?”
Archer grinned. “That was part of the plan, yeah. Discovering the wanton woman who hides beneath that carefully composed façade.”
Claudia straightened her back and looked him directly in the eye trying to pretend that the color of his eyes didn’t just make her want to drown in a pool of silver. “Yes, well, sometimes plan are ruined much to our dismay.”
He gazed back, and apparently, he liked what he saw because he gave her a 1000 Watt smile. “That can easily be fixed.”
Claudia gave him a blank look. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Archer took a step forward, and before she knew what he was doing, he had his hand on top of hers and was stroking it gently with the pad of his thumb.
Claudia glanced down at their intertwined hands and frowned. “I won’t be persuaded, Mr. Paisley. So, whatever it is you think you’re going to accomplish, you’re wasting your time.”
Archer gave her a slow indulgent smile. “Yeah, I know you’d like to convince yourself of that, but I’m just not buying it.”
“Frankly, I don’t care whether or not you do.”
Archer tugged on her hand, so that she stumbled forward. “I think you care. You care very much what I buy especially if it’s you.”
Claudia laughed dismissively. “You’re fooling yourself. I don’t care. Now, I’d appreciate it if you’d release my hand.”
Archer stared at her for a moment before he stopped what he was doing. Claudia couldn’t help the stab of disappointment that flashed through her, so she tried to ignore it by pulling her hand away and letting it lay limply at her side.
“What are you so afraid of, Claudia?” He tried to get her to make eye contact with him, but she resolutely refused afraid of what her twin pools of hazel would reveal to him, and how he might somehow be able to see right through her like she always thought he could.
“I don’t fear much, Mr. Paisley. Bankruptcy as businesses mostly do, and occasionally faulty plumbing or architecture, but other than that, I think my list is fairly small,” she said, very slowly, and very calmly.
Archer studied her very carefully before he let out a long whistle. “Somebody really did a number on you, didn’t they? I don’t know what they did to you, but it’s high time you moved past it, I think. Also, don’t you think it’s high time you dropped the whole Mr. Paisley act and actually used my real name?”
A flash of annoyance crossed her face. “It’s not an act. This is how we treat patrons here, and using your first name would be intimate, which is something we aren’t.”
“Not if I can help it,” he murmured as he took a huge step forward. Surprised, Claudia stumbled backward. “Would you stop doing that?”
“Doing what?” he asked innocently, a little too innocently for her to believ
e that he wasn’t doing it deliberately. His hand reached up and undid the first button on his shirt sleeve.
Claudia pointed between them. “Trying to start something between us.”
Archer took another step forward till he had Claudia backed into a corner. “If I were trying to start something between us, you’d know, Claudia. I wouldn’t be so subtle. I’m not the man who will hide behind pretenses and play games. I’m very clear and direct about what I want.”
“Okay.” She breathed trying not to let his presence affect her, but the smell of his heady perfume was wafting into her nostrils and making butterflies erupt in her stomach.
“Do you know what I want, Claudia?” he asked in a very controlled voice.
Claudia allowed her eyes to look into his eyes. “What?”
“I want you.”
She sucked in a harsh breath. “You can’t want me.”
“Why? Because you work here, and turn down all the offers that have been made for reasons people don’t understand and can only guess about.”
She looked surprised before he continued. “I’m not saying I’m a knight in shining armor, Claudia. I’ve probably got more dark than light in me, but what I won’t do is lie to you. You already know that I have very specific needs, and I think that you can fulfill them.”
Claudia opened her mouth to protest, but Archer brought his finger up to her lips. “I know you’re about to argue, so I’m just going to say this then you can talk. I want to dominate you, Claudia. I want to see you writhe underneath me, panting for more. I want to see you in all kinds of naughty positions just waiting for me to eat you up, or bring you to your knees, and I think you want it too.”
Claudia swallowed audibly. “What makes you think I want it?” Her voice sounded unconvincing even to her own ears. “It just sounds like you’re projecting.”
“Projecting? That’s big talk, Claudia. You sure you want to go down that road?”
Claudia moved her head so that his fingers fell. “You’re projecting your desires onto me. It’s as simple as that.”
Archer began to trail his fingers over her arms, lightly. “I’m not projecting anything. If you want to tell yourself that to keep hiding behind this titanium wall you’ve built up, that’s up to you. That’s not the case though.”
Claudia’s eyes narrowed into slits. “You think you know me so well, don’t you? Well, you don’t.”
“Ah, but I do,” he said pleasantly as if they were talking about the weather. “I know that you are fiercely independent, that you have a fire that burns deep down in your soul, and I know that you know a lot more than the other virgins around here. You haven’t been with a guy, but you know enough which makes me think that you actually came close a time or two. How am I doing so far?”
Claudia stared for a beat. “That’s actually -” she trailed off. “Well, that proves nothing.”
“That’s because I’m right, aren’t I?”
Claudia shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if you are. It doesn’t change anything.”
His fingers moved from her arms to her neck, and a smattering of goose bumps began to break out across her skin. “That’s where you’re wrong, my dear. It does matter, and it does change things. To seduce a woman like you, you have to appeal to her mind first, and secretly, I think that you like that I’m able to read you so well.”
Claudia shook her head. “No, I don’t, and frankly, I find your lack of respect for personal space annoying.”
Archer cocked his head to the side. “If that were actually true, you’d have pushed me away and called the buffoons you guys hired as bodyguards. They might have let me slip past, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t come to your aid if you yelled for help, and as I’ve already proven, I can keep my hands to myself.”
“Somehow, I don’t find that entirely too convincing right now,” she commented, very dryly as his fingers hovered over the pulse on her neck.
“Right now, I’m not trying to be convincing. At least, not that in that respect. What I am trying to convince you of how however is to give me a chance. I can show you pleasure in ways you’ve never even dreamed of, Claudia. If you just surrender.”
Claudia swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Why should I?”
“Because deep down, you know you want to. Not even that deep down otherwise you would’ve pushed me away by now. Your mouth says one thing, but your body says something completely different.”
Archer’s fingers skirted over her breasts, lightly flicking her nipples on the way causing her to jerk in response. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you might have convinced your mind that you should stay as far away from me as you possibly can, but I don’t think your body has gotten the message. The goose bumps, and the way your pulse skipped a beat just now backs up my case.”
Claudia’s tongue darted out to lick her lips. “That proves nothing.”
Archer’s eyes darkened as he watched her tongue. “It proves a lot. God, the things that tongue could do given the right outlet.”
Claudia flushed as she tucked her tongue back into her mouth. “Archer, I—"
“Say it again.”
Claudia gave him a confused look. “What?”
“Say my name again,” Archer clarified as his fingers came back up to her breasts and lay atop them.
“Archer,” she breathed as she unconsciously pushed herself forward. Her brain was screaming at her to get out, to push him away, to literally do anything but stand there and be a prey to this man, but there was an equally strong part of her that told her to relax and enjoy this. It’s not like this could go wrong like all the other times.
“I want to hear you moan my name, Claudia. And scream it. And chant it.” He buried his face in her neck and sighed as he breathed deeply.
Claudia’s hands came up and grabbed a fistful of his shirt sleeve as she tried to calm her erratic heartbeat. “Archer, we shouldn’t.”
Archer stilled. “Don’t tell me that you don’t want this, Claudia. I can feel that you do. Everything in you is responding to me. Why are you denying it so much?”
Claudia sighed. “Because you don’t know the truth about me. I am like poison. I destroy everything I touch, and I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”
Archer kissed her neck. “I don’t think you are poison, but in any case, I have a darkness in me too, Claudia. Let’s give into the darkness together. It would be so easy. We’ll give in just enough to satisfy our most primal desires, but we’d still pull each other out.”
She ran her hands along the smooth plains of his back. “I can’t.”
“Can’t, or won’t?” he murmured into her neck as he began to nip it.
Claudia gasped as he pulled back his lips and bit her neck. “Either, both. I don’t know.”
Archer pulled back and gazed at her. “I’ll wear you down eventually, Claudia.” He brought his fingers up to her lips, and her mouth parted as he traced the outer part of her lips. He licked his lips as he looked at her.
***
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” She responded very unconvincingly.
One eyebrow shot up. “Well, I think I like my odds.”
He ducked his head and leaned forward, so that his mouth was mere centimeters from hers. His breath intermingled with hers, and Claudia realized that she actually wanted him to kiss her. She had never been more afraid nor more excited about a kiss in her whole life.
Every nerve in her body tensed as she waited to feel those lips on hers, but nothing happened. Seconds ticked by, and he just stood there, keeping very still. Only his hands were roaming up and down her body, leaving a trail of heat that had all her hot and bothered in its wake.
She made eye contact with him, and was surprised to find that he was smirking as he watched her. She raised an eyebrow as she realized she knew what he was doing. “I know what you’re doing.”
“What is that I’m doing?” he said, hi
s voice tinged with lust.
“You’re trying to get me to take the first step.”
His deep throaty chuckle sent shots of desire zigzagging throughout her body. “Beauty and brains. You really are the whole package.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s not going to work.”
“It’s working already.”
Claudia snorted. “You are delusional.”
“I think the word you’re looking for is confidence.” He swooped down and captured her lips with his. Claudia was shocked at first, surprise flooding her body, but his firm lips on hers made her want to respond. She sighed as she melted against him and began to move her lips against his.
He moaned as he tangled his hands in her hair and angled her head, so that he could have better access. She lay her hand on his shoulders and began to run them up and down his back until she felt him tremble beneath her fingers. He made low noises inside of her mouth and began to push her backward until her legs hit the front of the couch.
She toppled backward, and Archer maintained eye contact as he lowered himself on top of her. He used his leg to nudge her legs aside, and he positioned himself, so he was in between them. He began to suck on her bottom lip until Claudia parted her lips and allowed his tongue to plunge into her mouth.
He tasted like peppermint and tobacco, and she let her tongue explore the inside of his mouth, thoroughly enjoying the taste of his lips pressed against hers. He took her bottom lip between his teeth and began to tug on it until it turned a deep shade of red.
“Your lips, I could taste them all day long, and I can’t wait to have them all over me as well.”
He groaned as he nuzzled her neck and began to lap it up. His fingers all over her chest and back down to her legs, tracing the soles of her feet, the length of her legs, and the curve of her thighs then back up until she could feel was the delicious heat coursing through her.
