Page 31 of Sweet Possession (Criminal Underground 1)

He shook his head and unclipped his seatbelt. “Come on,” he urged, popping the door open. One of the car’s internal alarms started dinging as he walked around the front and popped open my door. “Scoot,” he ordered, nudging me until I, too, was forced to unclip my seatbelt. I scrambled over the console landing butt first into the driver’s seat before shutting the door and reaching for the seatbelt again. At least if I was driving, I’d feel more in control. “This is important,” Archer said as he reached for his seatbelt. I reached down, found the lever, and pulled the driver’s seat up until I could reach the steering wheel and the pedals.

“What’s important?” I asked, lifting my hand to the rearview mirror and adjusting that as well.

“Driving.”

I cut him a look from the corners of my eyes. “I know how to drive a damn car, Archer.”

“Not like I do,” he told me simply, reaching for the emergency brake. He lowered it back into its place and then pointed ahead of us. “Start driving.”

I eased out into the next street and took a right. We were about halfway down the next block when Archer pointed across the lanes to the turning lane at the next light. “Take the next left and get on the interstate.”

I eyed him but flicked my blinker on nonetheless. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“On a date.”

“Arch—”

“Light’s green, go.” I sighed and followed the line of cars waiting to merge into traffic and then pulled over into the middle lane. “Speed up,” Archer barked at me as soon as we hit the interstate. Jumping, I pressed down on the gas and sped up, moving past the line of slower cars still merging. He shook his head in the passenger seat. “Not fast enough.” His hand came down on my knee. I stiffened, Archer never did anything halfway, and his preferred method of ‘teaching’ tended to come with rewards … hot, sexy, make me melt kind of rewards … and with his hand only a short distance from the crest of my thighs, I struggled to keep my heart from rattling from my chest.

“I know what I’m doing,” I said. “I can drive. Just tell me where to go.”

Archer’s head turned towards me as his fingers gripped my knee. “I don’t want you to just drive, Mare,” he murmured slowly. “I want you to drive like you mean it.”

“I don’t—” I blinked. “What do you mean?”

“What if your father were here right now?” he asked.

At the mere mention of my father, my heart catapulted into overdrive. I ripped my gaze from his, my eyes flicking up to the rearview mirror as if the man in question would magically appear in the backseat and then cut a glare back to Archer. “Stop it,” I hissed.

His hand tightened against my leg. “No,” he said. “I want you to imagine he’s here. He’s following you.”

“He would never lower himself to that kind of task,” I challenged.

Despite the reality of the situation, it kind of hurt to admit that. My father was a cold and callous man, but even when I’d nearly put him in jail—even when I was sure he wanted me dead—he wouldn’t even give me the grace to be the one to do it. How strange was it that the one man in my life I'd always hoped would someday show some sort of humanity towards me was the man who hated me beyond all reason?

“Regardless, sweetheart.” Archer’s hand loosened its hold and slid up my leg, past the hem of my work uniform. His big fingers on my skin made my blood pump faster through my veins, and it wasn’t because I was scared. “I need to know what you would do if you were in a situation where you were being followed.”

“I’d … pull over into a populated area?”

“Good start,” he nodded. “But what if there’s no opportunity? Or what if you pull off and before you can scream for help, they’re on you. People are often kidnapped in plain view of public places. Don’t take that chance. You’ve got to lose them. Go faster.”

My foot pressed against the gas, and I sped up, moving between cars smoothly enough. The little sportscar was agile and gave me no problems as I bypassed a row of slower moving vehicles. “Good girl.” I shivered. Those two words always got me. Usually spoken in Ian’s deep timbre, they made me think of sweat dripping along my thighs and rough hands gripping my skin. From Archer, they made me think of soft lips against my throat and firm hands cupping my ass, lifting me until I was seated on his lap. I panted as his hand drifted upward.

“Now,” he started again, his voice gruff—serious, “they’re barreling down on you. They don’t care who gets in their way. They’re going to get to you by any means necessary. You’ve got nothing but the vehicle under you. What do you do?”

“Outrun them?” My skin felt flushed as I drove. My pussy tightened as his fingers slid between my thighs, not quite touching me, just resting there. I could feel the heat of his palm nearby, and it made my other senses scream with desire.

“You could…” He hinted as if waiting for me to finish his sentence. My mind was blurry, and I couldn’t think. It was all I could do to concentrate on the road. “But they might have more fuel than you, sweetheart. You’ve got to be smart about this. You’ve got a weapon on you, use it.”

“I do?” I glanced down. “Did you bring a gun?”

He shook his head, a chuckle reverberating in his chest. “No, Mare. The car. The car is your weapon. How are you going to use it to get yourself out of this situation?” His hand moved up.

I cursed. “I can’t think with your hand there.”

He didn’t seem too concerned with pulling it away as he slowly fingered the edge of my panties. “In a real situation,” he said, “there are going to be far more distractions than my fingers in your pussy. What would you do if you were hurt and driving? What if they’re shooting at you?”

“I’d dodge them.” I tried pressing my thighs closer together to keep him out, but he grunted and shoved them back open. I squawked. “Archer!”

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