Page 104 of Wild Thing

“I’m sorry, kitten. I didn’t mean to be too rough.”

Sorry?

I turn my head to meet his gaze again. “I liked it. A lot.” I love everything he does.

“What’s a lot? On a scale from one to ten.”

“Eleven,” I blurt out.

Archer chuckles. “That’s not how the scale works.”

“See? So good, my brain can’t count anymore.”

He wraps his arms around me, and I study his eyes for a moment, his too-serious smile, his overly discerning gaze. I’ve finally gotten the biggest revelation about Archer—when he lets go, he can be a very gentle man. Whoa.

“What?” he asks softly, nuzzling me—the gesture so tender that it makes my heart flutter. Every day, he tops everything he’s done before.

“What did you do to Archer Crone?”

He burst laughing, his chest shaking against my back. “Gave him a day off.”

I smile. “Good. He was kind of an asshole at times.”

Archer laughs again.

I did that—made him happy for a moment.

Gently, he pushes my head down, trying to playfully dunk me in the water, and I laugh, fighting him off, then catch his arms and hold them around me.

“I like when you laugh,” I say quietly.

And just like that, we go still, wrapped in each other, in the silence that’s slightly uncomfortable.

Because we rarely do this, feelings.

Because my heart beats loudly.

And because in a moment, I feel Archer’s lips press into my hair, planting a little kiss on my temple.

I cover his hands with mine to tighten his embrace, my heart tightening impossibly with it, my eyes blurry with tears.

“Love you,” I breathe out barely audibly.

Ahhh, damn.

I hope he didn’t hear.

My breath hitches, and my chest gets heavy with slow powerful thuds of my heart.

He was an assignment. A job. And an escape.

Now, I want to get lost with him.Inhim.

Because now, he’s my world.

43

ARCHER

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