Archer's Voice, стр. 38

"Archer Hale?" she whispered, her eyes widening. "My God, I had no idea." Her eyes swept over me. "Well, you grew up just fine, didn't you?" She smiled, and I couldn't help the pleasure that swept through me. It felt like what happened all those years ago had been made okay by the appreciation of my physical appearance shining in her eyes.

"Amber," Travis cut in, "I do believe Archer is ready for that private time I discussed with you." He winked at her.

My head seemed to clear a little and I shook it no, and held out my hand to shake hers–my 'nice to see you again' gesture.

Instead, she ignored my outstretched hand and planted herself on my lap, the overwhelming scent of sweet vanilla wafting off of her. I stiffened slightly, not knowing what I should do with my hands other than keep them hanging by my sides.

"Sounds great!" she crooned, leaning closer and wiggling down on my still semi-hard erection. I sucked in a breath. This felt weird, but good. I wasn't sure what to do.

As the music pumped steadily in the background, Amber leaned in to me and whispered in my ear, "Damn, you're gorgeous, Archer. And your body…" She trailed a finger down my chest. "You know I liked you all those years ago, right? I saw how you watched me down by the lake. I wanted you to come out… but you never did…"

I watched her finger as it moved steadily down my chest to end at the waistband of my jeans where she dipped it just a little bit inside, and then started moving back up my chest. Now I was fully hard again.

"Go on you two." Travis laughed. "Have fun."

Amber jumped off my lap and stood up and yanked me up too. I walked slightly behind her to hide my condition, swaying slightly. Damn, I was drunker than I thought.

Amber led me through the same door Jason had disappeared through, down a long, dim hallway and then pulled me in through a door on the left, shutting it behind her.

There was a chair in the middle of the room and she walked me to it, and then pushed me down gently.

She walked over to a table and fiddled around with something and a minute later, music started wafting through the speakers on the wall. The music was nice this time though–not overly loud and overwhelming. I felt better in here.

Amber walked toward me and I forced my eyes not to droop. It felt like the blood in my veins was buzzing, but I felt numb at the same time.

She straddled my lap and her perfume wafted up at me again, tickling my nose. She swayed to the music for a few minutes, closing her eyes and leaning back so that I could study her. She was pretty, but not like Bree. Now that I was looking at her up close under lights that were a little brighter than out by the stage, I didn't like all the makeup on Amber's face, and I thought there was something a little harsh about the way she looked–something different than when she was a teenager.

She swayed back up until she was completely upright and brought the front of her tank top down. Her breasts popped out and she grabbed my hands herself and planted them on her. My dick throbbed in my jeans. I rubbed her nipples the way Bree liked and Amber tossed her head back, moaning. I squeezed her lightly. Her breasts were bigger than Bree's, but they felt different–not soft, but almost overly-firm, and the skin stretched and shiny.

Amber opened her eyes and brought her head up and then studied me, her eyes dropping as she licked her lips. "You know," she said, unbuttoning the top couple buttons on my shirt, "we're just supposed to give lap dances in here, but Travis tipped me extra to give you anything you want." She reached her hand down and rubbed me through my jeans. My eyes fell closed and I panted out harshly.

"God, you're big, honey," she breathed out, running her lips down the side of my neck now. She sucked the skin there, making me jump slightly when I felt her teeth nip me. "Mmm," she moaned, rubbing herself against me. "I can't wait to ride that big, thick cock of yours, gorgeous. Do you like it fast and wild or slow and deep? Hmmm?" She crooned. "We're gonna find out, aren't we, baby?"

My body reacted to her words, but inside, something about this felt wrong. I didn't even know this girl. Was I really supposed to use her for sex and then go home to Bree, the girl I actually cared about? Is that really what Jason did with his wife? I wanted Bree to see me like she saw other men–I didn't want her to want to kiss Travis–but this, this seemed… God, I couldn't think through the alcohol and the way Amber was rubbing me through my jeans. All my thoughts were jumbled together, my emotions all over the place. I needed to get out of this room. I'd just get this over with and go home. And then first thing in the morning, I'd go to Bree.

I stumbled out of the room ten minutes later and went to find Travis. He was still at the table we had been sitting at, a redhead sitting on his lap. I tapped him on his shoulder, and he looked back over at me and a huge smile came over his face. He nudged the redhead off his lap and said, "Ready to go home, buddy?"

I nodded, frowning. That's all I wanted, just to get out of here and go to Bree. I wanted to hold her. Depression swept through me when I thought about what I'd done with Amber. I tried to move that aside though–I hadn't done anything the other men at the club had done, apparently. And I'd seen plenty of wedding rings here. Evidently, wives accepted that kind of thing. I guessed I really was a freak, though, because I wouldn't do it again. I felt empty and unhappy… and ashamed.

We drove across the bridge to Pelion. Travis was silent the entire trip, a small smile curving his mouth up. I didn't care what the hell he was smiling about–the alcohol was making me sleepy, and I rested my head against the window and closed my eyes, thinking of Bree.

Travis shook me what seemed like a few seconds later, and I blearily opened his door and stepped out. Right before I closed it, Travis winked at me and said, "Let's do this again, bro." I didn't acknowledge his words, just turned my back on his truck. It was then that I noticed that we were in front of Bree's cottage. I turned around to get back in Travis's truck, but he revved the engine and I stumbled back as he peeled off noisily.

CHAPTER 20

Bree

I turned over in bed, smiling out the window at the dark lake beyond. I had called Melanie and Liza when I found out Archer was going out with Travis and we had had a girl's night of our own.

We'd gone down to the local pool hall in town and drank a few beers and laughed and talked, mostly about small town gossip. Apparently, there was a girl in town who was having affairs with at least three married men. The wives of Pelion were in an uproar. Of course, I didn't think the girl was as much to blame as the men who had made the vows and broken them. But I guessed it was less painful to believe that their men had been lured away by some kind of magic temptress than that they were just lying, cheating assholes.

We also talked a lot about Archer and I told them all about him. They listened to me, shocked, but excited looks on their faces. "My God, we had no idea, Bree," Melanie said. Then she was thoughtful for a minute while I took a drink of my beer.

"You know though," she continued, "you're really the only one who could have figured that out. You knowing sign… and ending up here… and him being alone, with no one to talk to–it's like the most beautiful kind of fate." I had smiled dreamily at that, letting her words wash over me. It was. That's what it felt like. The most beautiful kind of fate.