Page 44 of Fallen Legacy

“Hell yes,” he replies, his breathing still erratic. He shakes his head, running his thumb softly over my cheek. “How are you so perfect? It’s like you were fucking made for me.”

I scoff, my eyes looking heavenward. “Ah, don’t tell me you believe in that soul mate shit, Archer Savage?”

He cups the back of my neck with his hands, tilting my head and staring at me like I’m some kind of enigma. “I’m never letting you go. I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth and handcuff you to my bed if you ever try to leave me.”

“Where am I going to go?” I ask him. He knows as well as I do Wilbur has me over a barrel. There is no freedom of choice for me. I have to do as Wilbur orders, or I risk my brother losing everything and my own future going down the toilet. I silently climb back over to my seat and buckle my belt. Archer remains unmoving for a few seconds before he fastens his seatbelt, and we continue our journey at a more acceptable speed.

* * *

As soon aswe enter the penthouse, I head straight for our bedroom, and strip down to my thong and climb under the covers. I’m beyond exhausted and my emotions are all over the place, warring with the need to keep my carefully constructed armour in place and my need to be with him. The sooner we get back to Hawk Bay, the better. I can put some distance between the two of us and these feelings that are scaring the ever-loving shit out of me.

Archer enters the bedroom a couple of minutes later. I don’t open my eyes, but I hear his feet pad across the room and back again. We were silent all the way back here after our pit stop by the roadside. Both of us lost in our own thoughts as we processed all the things unsaid between us. Because you can say what you like, but there was no getting around the fact that Wilbur is blackmailing me into marrying Archer. We both know it. We both know he will do nothing to stop it because, for one, he had to marry me to get his inheritance, and two, because he’d decided despite our parents’ history that he wants me for himself.

The bed dips as he climbs inside. He pulls his side of the covers back and lifts them back over himself. I wait with bated breath, expecting him to wrap his arm around my waist and pull me against his chest, but I find minutes pass by, and he hasn’t made one move to pull me closer. Part of me is relieved, but the other half of me is confused.

* * *

When I wakein the morning, the other side of the bed is already empty. Despite him not holding me in his arms, I still slept like a log from just knowing he was nearby. I dress in a pair of jeans and a band T-shirt and make my way into the living area where I find Vee and Rafe cooking breakfast together. I lean on the doorframe for a minute and take my opportunity to just observe them. Watching how they work around each other and chat easily together.

Vee’s head looks up, and she beams when she sees me standing here. “Hey girl. I hope you are hungry because Rafe and I are cooking up a mother of a breakfast.”

“So, I see,” I say with a bob of my head as I take in all the food on the hob. “Where’s Archer?”

Vee shrugs. “He said he needed to nip out. I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

I nod my head in response, chewing on my lip.

“Is everything okay with you two?” Vee asks me and I pull myself from my thoughts and offer a noncommittal bob of my shoulders.

“When has anything ever been okay where him and I are concerned?” I reply with a tired sigh, before taking a seat at the island. I contemplate everything that has happened in these last forty-eight hours. My mind, of course, heads straight for the hot sex that we had in this very room while his friends were in the next room. The great sex between us just makes the whole situation ten-times harder because, like it or not, my body responds to his like a drug user responds to the sight of their favourite drug. Being with him gives me a euphoria that is akin to stealing cars or fighting in the ring. It is a complete and utter adrenaline rush that makes me feel alive.

“We’ll be leaving at nine,” Rafe says, handing me a plate of food.

“Back to reality, huh,” I comment as I stare at the overfull plate before me.

“We don’t have to go back to reality just yet if you’d rather not, Little Red,” he says, offering me a cup of coffee, which I gratefully snatch from his hands. “I’m sure Archer could swing us a couple more days here.”

I shake my head. “I’ve already missed enough school as it is. At this rate I’ll never pass my A-levels.”

This brings a snicker from Vee, and I look up at her with a quizzical look. “What?”

She shakes her head at me and shares a smile with Rafe. “I forget she’s not grown up in this world sometimes,” she says to him, before she turns her gaze back on me. “Girl, you’ll come away with A’s. That is a dead cert. Do you know how much money our parents plough into that academy? Wilbur funded that new football pitch. Do you honestly think they’d dare to give you shitty grades?”

I look at her, dumbfounded. “Are you telling me I could totally flunk my exams and I’ll still come out with straight A’s?”

Vee nods her head at me. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

I sigh, placing down my coffee cup in disbelief. “Unbelievable.”

The lift pings, pulling me from my shock. The doors open and Archer strides into the suite. He strolls past me without so much as a hello and my eyes follow him, trying to judge what is going on in that head of his.

He chugs down a glass of orange juice before he heads towards our room. “We leave at nine,” he says simply without a backward glance.

“What have you done?” Vee asks me. She’s also watching Archer’s exit with a perplexed look on her face.

I shake my head, still staring in the direction he went. “I have no idea.” I really don’t know either. Something shifted with him last night after we’d arrived back here, and I’m not sure what.

ARCHER

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