by Claire Adams
“I think anything that makes that place easier to run will benefit you in the long run, and I’m kinda hoping that that streusel will become a regular thing.”
“You liked it?”
“Do you have more?”
“I’ll make it anytime you want.”
“Now, then. There’s a kitchen right there.”
“So, you’re saying my place is in the kitchen?” She lifted one eyebrow and took a drink of wine.
“Your place is wherever you want it to be.”
Brendan emerged from the kitchen carrying two steaming plates of bright red lobster. “For the lady.” He set her plate down. “And for you, Mr. Archer. Is there anything else?” He set my plate down.
“Lots and lots of garlic butter,” Zoe said.
“Lots and lots of garlic butter,” I relayed.
“Coming right up.”
“This is wonderful,” Zoe said. “We’ve got the chef serving us at one of the best restaurants in the city.”
“That’s nothing. I could take you to L.A. for truffle chicken and get you home before midnight.”
“I hope you don’t. I plan on staying up tonight.” Her foot traced up my leg, and I felt my pants growing tighter.
The lobster was savory with the taste of sea salt that could only be found in freshly caught seafood. Zoe ate the entire thing without waiting to seem delicate or dainty. She didn’t care what I thought. She just wanted her lobster, and I loved that about her. She wasn’t putting up a front to impress me. There wasn’t any point in that. She was being herself, unapologetically so. She deserved the truth.
I poured out the last of the wine bottle into our glasses and took a drink. “Tell me what you want for your future.”
“To keep my business.”
“I know about your business, and I can promise you are not going to have any problem keeping it. They’re already talking about pooling cash for bakery trips at the office.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You’ll find a way. What I’m wondering is what you want for yourself.”
“For me?” she scoffed and took a drink of her wine. “That’s a difficult question. I don’t have any time for myself.”
“But if you did?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t.”
I wanted her to say that she wanted a family, or a little girl. Something that I could use as a lead in to tell her about the twins. But obviously, that wasn’t a priority in her life. She was a businesswoman. Her world revolved around her career. Maybe she didn’t want any of that. “Come on.” I left some money on the table and got up to offer her my hand.
“Thank you.” She took it and stood up. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t know yet. Let’s find out.”
“I don’t like surprises,” she said.
“It’s not much of a surprise.” I led her into the kitchen and out the back door to the alley where three of the cooks had joined in the smoking circle.
“Excuse us, boys.” Zoe flashed them a wink and took my arm so I could lead her out into the sea of people swarming the streets. Traffic had completely halted to accommodate the crowds. There was simply no place for them to drive.
The sound of a thousand instruments playing at once mingled with the smell of kettle corn and sautéed meats coming from the stands lining the boulevard. I kept close to Zoe and never once lost her hand as we pushed through to the red brick square sitting across the street from the restaurant where a jazz band had setup a makeshift stage.
An elderly black woman stepped up to the mic. Her thick, smoky voice seemed to stop the crowd. Zoe lit up, her blond hair shimmering in the soft white light of the Chinese lanterns hanging above us. The sight of her made my pulse race.
“Come here.” I pulled her closer and wrapped my arm around her waist so we could swing softly to the beat.
“I told you I have two left feet.”
“It’s just an excuse to get you closer.”
“You don’t need an excuse.”
I let my hands slip down her body and rested them on the top of her hips. “I like you, Zoe. I feel like I can relate to you. I don’t know what’s going to happen between us, or how this will turn out, but I want you to know I’m serious about giving us a chance. No more rejection.”
“You really like me?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I like you, too, Archer.”
It was time. She needed to know that I wasn’t going to lie to her anymore and what my life was really like. “Zoe…”
“Archer, look out.” She grabbed my hand to pull me away. I felt something like a ton of bricks bash me right in the face. I whipped around, my fists up, ignoring the warm flow of blood dripping from my face, just in time to keep from getting hit by the metal bar that Mr. Beetle was swinging at me for a second time.
“Zoe, get behind me.”
“Be careful.”
Mr. Beetle smiled. “Got you, didn’t I?” he said in his strange, high-pitched voice.
The crowd was spreading out around us to get away from the violence. It gave the crazy man room to maneuver. He jumped forward, the bar held high, and slammed the bar down toward my head.
I stopped him in midair, grabbed the bar from his hands, and threw it behind me so he couldn’t get to it. Mr. Beetle turned around and started running.
“Come here,” I roared and lunged forward. My hand snagged him by the back of the collar.
He thrashed around, trying to get away. “Let me go! Let me go! I’ll kill you!” His face was red, and he was spitting. He tried to reach around and claw my hands. I let him go, and with a sharp kick to the back of his knees, dropped him on the pavement. He landed face first.
He screamed loudly.
I stomped down on him as hard as I could. “Shut up!” He went quiet. “That’s right. You know who’s in charge, don’t you?” I ducked down and kept my voice low. “You ever fucking come near her again, and I will cut your cock off and feed it to you raw, you understand me?”
“You can’t always be with her.”
“The fuck did you just say to me?” I stepped back and kicked him in the ribs. “Huh?” I kicked him again and again. Each blow just pulled me further into the madness. I didn’t stop until I felt Zoe grab my hand to pull me away.
“Come on, Archer. There’s cops all over this place.”
I kicked him again. “Help!” he shrieked. People stared at me with a bit of horror on their faces.
I grabbed Zoe’s hand. “Let’s go.” We didn’t waste any time walking back to the car.
“I don’t know what he was thinking.” She turned to me when we got in the car. “Now you’ve got blood all over your face. I need to get you cleaned up. Is there somewhere nearby we can go?”
I started the car, still so furious I could’ve killed the man. “We’re leaving,” I said through clenched teeth and slammed on the gas.
“Where?”
“Back to my house. You know what he told me, Zoe?”
“What?”
“He said that I couldn’t always be with you.” She went white. “He followed you to the club that night, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, he did.”
“And how often has he been coming into the store?”
“Nearly every day.”
“I don’t know what to say to this. He’s dangerous, and he’s obsessed with you, and now he’s trying to bash my head in. You’ve got a real problem here.”
“I’m so stupid.” She let her head fall.
“Don’t say that. You’re not stupid.”
“No, I am. Chloe warned me about this guy, and I didn’t listen. She told me to have him sent to jail when he first started coming in, and instead of doing that, I put up with him. Now he’s running around trying to attack any guy who talks to me. But you have to believe me, Archer.” I heard the distress in her voice. “I didn’t know he was like this. I thought he was harmless.”
“I wouldn’t blame you for th
is. I’m worried about what he’s going to do next.”
“I am, too.” She sounded drained, so different from the way she sounded when we were dancing that it made me want to turn around and hunt down that freak just so I could hear him scream one more time.
Instead, I took a deep breath and turned my focus on her. “I’m sorry. I completely lost it. It just makes me so angry.”
“It was unreal the way you dropped him on the ground like that.”
“Well, he’s not very big.”
She laughed. “No, but he sure screwed up your face.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m taking you back to my place for a bit. I’ll get cleaned up, and we’ll go from there. Is that all right?”
“Of course.” After some time had passed, she said, “Thank you, Archer. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I don’t think I could’ve done anything else if I tried.”
When we got back to the house, Zoe found her way to the kitchen, and I watched from a stool on the counter as she pulled out an ancient bag of frozen peas from the back of the freezer. “I have cold compresses in the bathroom upstairs.”
“I prefer the traditional method. Here.” She pressed it against my cheek and started working on wiping away some of the blood. She was so attentive and gentle. I barely even felt it when she swiped the cut on my nose. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“You don’t have to worry about me, you know. I can take care of myself.”
“I believe it.” Her arms were firm and toned from the work in the bakery. “I’m just glad I got a chance to defend you.”
“You could’ve gotten arrested.”
“Eh, it was self-defense. Besides, I’ve got great lawyers.”
She set her rag down. “You defended me.” She reached out and kissed me then pulled back. “That was…”
I pulled her forward and kissed her, this time longer, letting her lips open slowly like a budding flower as I swept my tongue over them. Her breath caught in her throat, so I took a chance and slammed my tongue through her mouth. She seemed to go limp, solely driven by the experience now, so I led her further and reached up to her shoulders to slide the strap of her dress down. She reacted instantly and started stroking the head of my cock through my jeans.
“I want to taste you,” she whispered almost shyly.
“No.”
“Why not?” The look on her pretty face told me that she was a little hurt by my response.
I responded by lifting her up onto the counter and setting her down. Then I drew back and trained my eyes on her. “Because it’s your turn.” I lifted her dress and pulled her panties down.
Chapter Eighteen
Zoe
The fire that started when I watched Archer drop Mr. Beetle to the ground spread slowly, growing larger and larger until I was consumed by it, lying on my back in Archer’s kitchen, my dress hiked up above my knees as he dove his head between my legs, his breath spreading up my thighs.
He moaned and flicked his tongue over my pussy.
“Oh, God.”
“You like that?” He clamped his finger down on my clit. I jolted. His finger twisted through me.
“Yeah, I love it.”
He flicked his tongue over my sex, driving his finger deeper, twisting it slowly. He took his time, easing me into it, his finger moving in and out, his tongue moving over my clit. He was hitting my spot now. Moisture was building up, like gas to the fire, and I could barely control myself.
He lifted his head up and his eyes locked on mine. “You’re so wet. You ready to come for me?” He rubbed my clit in between his thumb and forefinger before leaning down to roll his tongue against my soft skin.
My legs shook, and my whole body buzzed. I couldn’t do it now, not without getting a taste of his cock inside me, but he was too good. His finger was like a burning ember, scorching through all of my self-control. I couldn’t fight something as powerful as that.
I cried out and threw my head back. The fire rose inside of me, growing brighter until there was nothing else but that finger of his and the eruption, like a wave of warm water that exploded out from between my thighs, up my stomach into the farthest reaches of my body.
Archer watched the whole thing, smiling and nodding his head. He stood up straight and slid his hands down his pants. “You want this, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I sat up.
“Oh, no. Don’t think you’re going to get away that easy.” He slipped out of his pants revealing his engorged dick, up and ready. “Here.” He grabbed my ankles and drove his cock deep inside me, letting it rest so he could take in the way my mouth hung open and my eyes rolled into the back of my head.
“Fuck me,” I told him.
“Yes, ma’am.” His cock was like a jackhammer, pounding in and out. He was moving so fast that I lost track. All I could do was cry out, soft at first, then in fierce, sharp jolts in time with his relentless drilling.
He was grunting, staring down at me, meeting my eyes with his mouth curled up at the side. He fell on me, his lips like sweet magma fueling the flames that had taken over everything else. It was more than a fire now. It was a steaming volcano, gaining pressure, mounting as his cock slipped through.
The explosion was coming. It wasn’t a small burst or a little wave. This was a mountainous peak, shaking and shuddering in time with his movements. When it blew, there would be nothing left of me but that unforgiving force and the electric tension swirling around us now.
Archer’s face was bright red, scrunched, and serious. It seemed like this was more than just sex for him. It was the serious business of bringing intense pleasure to the woman he wanted.
He drove through, let his cock rest on my g-spot, deeper now, and the mountain exploded, spewing fire and magma, ripping through me, devouring skin, flesh, and bone. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and I was vaguely aware of a sound pouring out of my mouth, but I was too engrossed in the explosion to register it.
Archer was spewing hot liquid inside me, shuddering just like I was. He was feeling the full force of the blast. I could see it in his face, and I could feel it in the way his cock seemed to jump inside me. Finally, he pulled it out and grabbed a paper towel to wipe himself off.
“I don’t know how you do that,” I said.
“I thought it was you.” He threw the paper towel away and pulled up his pants.
“A combination, I guess.”
He bent down to kiss me and help me up off the counter. Then he pulled away. “I have to tell you something.”
I knew this was the secret that had been keeping Archer away from me. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I was afraid.” He couldn’t even look me in the eye. “I didn’t think you’d want to be with me once I told you. That’s why I was afraid of letting myself get close to you. Because you’d leave me. And I knew that I’d just get hurt when you did. Even now, I’m taking a risk. But you’re worth the risk.”
My heart sank in my chest. “You’re married.”
“No, I’m not.” He whipped around to face me. “I’ve never been married.”
“Then what could it be? What could you tell me that would make me run away?”
“I have twins.”
“That’s it?” I asked, smiling. “Oh, you poor, misguided man. You thought I would leave over that?”
“You’re not upset?”
“No, of course not. I want to meet them. Are they here?”
“No.” He stood up straight, no longer subdued or brooding. “But I have pictures.” He pulled his phone out to show me.
“Let’s see. Let’s see!”
“Here.” He pulled up a picture of two red-faced little boys wearing baby blue beanies. Their eyes were closed slightly, and they were both reaching up into the air as if to grab a piece of heaven.
“Aw, they’re so cute. How old are they?”
“Almost a year. This one’s Abel.�
�� He pointed at the smaller one. “I guess you could say he’s the runt, but he’s the sweetest. And this is Andrew. He’s my little brute.”
“They are so darling. Why would you hide that from me?”
“You don’t understand, Zoe.” He put his phone away. “I wake up every night to the sound of them screaming. Once I get one to bed, his brother wakes him up. It takes me hours to get them to sleep, and half the time when I do, it’s already time for me to go to work. I don’t think I’ve gone a full week without staying up all night since they were born.”
“Then you need help.”
“And that’s the thing. I couldn’t ask you to be a part of that. You have work to do, and your job involves a lot of manual labor. You couldn’t work after staying up all night.”
I laughed and waved my hand to dismiss what he was saying. “Archer, my business is my baby. It keeps me up. I go without sleep as much as you do. If I enter your world, and I think I will if this continues, I won’t be sacrificing anything.”
He shook his head. “Do you know what this is like?”
“Yeah, I do.” I took his hand and tilted his chin toward to me to look him in the eye. “I’m telling you, it’s okay. It’d be an honor to be in their lives.”
He pressed his lips together and looked away. “I want to believe you, but raising those boys has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
“Let me prove it to you. Can you do that?”
“That’s exactly why I’m telling you. I don’t want to dismiss you or give you the cold shoulder the way I did before. I want to be with you.”
“Good, because I’m not going anywhere.”
“No, you’re not. Not after that freak attacked us downtown. What if he finds your address? You can look it up online.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
“Will you stay?”
“Of course. Sleeping next to you would be the second greatest thing that happened to me tonight.” Archer reached down and grabbed me up off the floor. He cradled me as he walked me up the stairs. This time, I didn’t protest. It felt so good being close to him. His body was like solid fire, masculinity embodied. He laid me down on the bed then collapsed next to me, pulling me closer so I could rest my head against his chest.
