Page 77 of My Darling Mayhem

He’d been gone all day, and all I wanted to do was ask him if he knew and whether he still loved me. My stomach had been in knots. I needed this.

My mother and whatever the hell else was going on there could wait.

NINETEEN

WREN

The stars stretchedabove me as the chilly air kissed my cheeks. I tucked my sweater tighter over my chest as I walked down my driveway. I thought back to when I’d first arrived in Atlas, and all the years leading up to this moment when my past came to collect.

I conjured up the image of the bird I’d renamed myself after and dug deep for courage. I could do this.

Just because my past had returned, didn’t mean I had no future.

If Archer didn’t want me, then…I’d survive.

Before I even noticed, I was on Archer’s doorstep. Remembering what he’d said, I wrapped my hand around the knob and entered.

The house was dark, save for the track lighting built under the kitchen cabinets that lit up the counters. His living room was shadowed and empty, so I made my way to the stairs, where Archer appeared, holding a towel to his hair. He was shirtless, with a pair of sweats resting low on his narrow hips. I soaked up the way his stacked muscles moved and shifted. The tattoos all along his torso looked like wisps of shadow in the dim lighting.

His smile was what had me practically running up the steps.

Once I was at the top, I threw myself at him. He was ready for me, pulling me into his chest while his mouth found mine. We moved back a few steps while our mouths moved in heated desperation. We were a song ready to be released after weeks of writing and harmonizing.

“Where were you?” I finally pulled away, trailing my nails down his chest while his fingers dug into my hair.

“Tracking.” Archer’s mouth moved down my jaw and neck while his hands cradled my face. I noticed we were moving toward a bedroom.

“Did you sleep somewhere last night?” My voice was practically a whisper as I asked it, slamming my eyes closed as his hands skimmed up my rib cage and under my shirt.

He smirked against my lips. “Where do you think I slept?”

Archer pulled me down the hall, pulling my shirt up as we went.

After a few steps, we were in a large, spacious room with oversized windows and a massive king-size bed. No lamp was on, but he had the shades wide open, so the streetlight bounced inside, providing enough light to see by. He continued to pull me until we were both crawling onto his soft bed.

“I don’t know, my mind played a lot of things out. I didn’t think you came home because I didn’t hear your bike.”

His hands were on my chin, digging into my hair as he brought me back for another kiss. I let his tongue sweep inside my mouth, and I allowed him to deepen the kiss until our entire bodies were moving with it; my fingers tangled in his hair, his in mine.

“You didn’t text me.” I breathed harshly against his lips.

Lowering the straps of my bra, his mouth returned, marking me with open mouth kisses and dragging his teeth along my cleavage. “By the time I stopped riding, I was walking into yourhouse. Because where you are feels like home. I saw you sleeping on the couch and decided to just sleep on the floor below you.”

Firm hands held my breasts together while he lowered his mouth, sucking and licking along the expanse of my nipples. My bra was gone, somewhere on the floor, after his hand slipped around my back. My breathing was shallow as I tried to collect my thoughts.

“There’s something—” I started, but he pulled me onto his lap, and his erection underneath me felt so good that I nearly moaned, “I need to tell you?—”

He was sucking and leaving marks all along my chest, and I was rocking against his cock through his sweats. I had to tell him.

He had to know.

“Archer. I’m?—”

His tongue delicately slid along the shell of my ear where he whispered, “Mine.”

“Yes.”

He pushed me back until I was staring up at him. My hands went to the band of his sweats, where I pushed them down. He helped, so his cock sprung free. The velvet smooth head pushed into my palm as the tip leaked. Archer’s hungry glare cut through me as he retreated, pulling my sweats and underwear entirely down my legs. Then he drew his cock into his palm and stroked up and down the massive length before using his other hand to spread my pussy lips apart.

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