Chapter Ten

Archer inhaled sharply and then released a groan of approval. "Come here."

His tone nearly unraveled me, a heady mix of masculinity and wonder. I forced a swallow as I pictured him naked and wet, an image that curled deep inside of me and beckoned me closer. I stepped toward him, following the thread he'd planted in my heart.

"These are hardly bigger than wash basins. Luckily there are two of them." He must've stood because water poured down into the basin.

In the corner, another fire burned, and I wished I could see it flicker over his skin.

He crossed toward me, took my hand, and led me to another basin next to the first. Steam rose from it and flirted with my thighs, fueling the heat already kindling between them. He steadied me as I lifted a foot toward the edge.

"A little higher," he said, his breath sliding down my chest and tightening my nipples.

I shuddered as I stepped higher and then plunged my leg into the hot water. It instantly relaxed my aching muscles, and while keeping a grip on Archer, I sank the rest of my body in with a smile. It was a tight squeeze, my knees pointed straight up and no room to spread out. How Archer had folded himself into the other basin was a mystery. Maybe that one was bigger.

"Do you need it hotter?" he rumbled.

I shook my head and lay back against the wooden edge, letting the water lap against my skin. Not that it mattered, but it hardly covered the top of my ribs. "I just need soap…and you."

I’d been waiting for this moment for so long; I had no reason to be demure about what I wanted.

He hummed in agreement as he released my hand, and then seconds later, he settled himself behind me and dipped a bar of lye soap that smelled of lavender into the water. His hands were warm and firm as he took his time soaping and rinsing one arm and then the other.

"How are you not cold outside the water?" I asked.

"I'm a wolf shifter bathing a naked woman. There's no way I can be cold at a time like this."

I laughed, melting into his touch. "You don't bathe naked women often?"

"Only the really, really lucky ones."

That I was.

His breath tingled my neck as he moved his hands slowly down my chest, his fingertips grazing the tops of my breasts. My breaths hitched as he rubbed over my nipples. The lapping water teased them even harder as he kept massaging them with his soapy hands. I arched into his touch with a moan, a demanding, hot ache pulsing between my thighs. He groaned into the side of my neck and kissed it with his tongue and a little bite that made me whimper, not from pain but from pleasure.

"Archer..." I whispered.

"Soon. I'm not done with you yet." He caught my lips with his and worked his tongue at the same rhythm as his massaging hands.

His touch erupted every nerve when he glided his hand underneath the water down my stomach. When his finger found my center, my whole body rocked forward and begged for more.

"I've thought of you just like this," he whispered between kisses. "Ready and wanting."

"I am. I do." I held to both sides of his face, my thoughts scattered and raw instinct taking over. Nothing mattered except his kiss, his touch, and all the things he planned to do with both.

He sank one finger inside of me, then a second. He braced his arm against my chest while he stroked, his muscles tightening and pinching my left nipple. My hips drove into him and splashed the cooling water against my goose-bumped skin, which only heightened my desire.

"You're cold," he murmured.

"I’m really not."

He chuckled low. "Let's get you in bed anyway."

He wound his arms around me and helped me from the basin, a good thing since I didn’t trust my body to listen to anyone but him. He handed me a towel, but as soon as I started to cover up, he swiped it from my hands.

"Never mind a bed." He grabbed me by the waist and dragged me toward him, naked skin on naked skin. "I can't wait."

His mouth consumed mine as he drove me up against the wall by the fireplace. I moaned into his kiss, my whole body aching for more. With a low rumble, he moved his hands to my hips, bracing me between the wall and him. He hooked his hands underneath my knees and hiked them up around his hips, his hard length teasing my center.

“If I hurt you…” He entered me slowly, and I loved the feeling of every inch he pushed in more and more. He filled me up perfectly, just as he had my heart and soul.

“I trust you more than anyone, but don't you worry about hurting me." I shifted my hips to feel him slide in a little deeper. "I don't shatter easily."

"I know. But you've never been with a wolf shifter before."

A laugh shuddered out of me, but it slid into a moan as he began to move. My nipples rubbed against his chest, making them ache even more.

"You feel…amazing," I murmured against his lips.

"High praise from the woman I haven't been able to stop thinking about since the day I laid eyes on her."

I gasped. "Really?"

He touched his forehead to mine without breaking rhythm. "Really."

Hot tingles spread across my upper thighs, and I clenched my legs tighter around his waist, pulling him farther into me. This was where we belonged, together like this. Together, always. It had only been a few weeks, but I'd known instantly I would never be the same person I was after meeting him. After all he'd been through, his unwavering strength humbled me.

And I loved him. The feeling tortured my heart and freed it at the same time. I loved him.

I threw my head back against the wall, so lost in the sensations and emotions he was triggering. His hands clenched my hips tighter with bruising intensity as he sped his pace, and I could feel his gaze on me as he kissed me, watching me to see if I was hurting. My back scraped against the wood with the force of him, but I didn't feel any pain. Only pleasure, storming through my blood and gathering at my center.

As if he could see the building pressure inside of me, he moved one hand to my breast and teased it upward to his mouth so he could taste it. When he sucked my hard nipple into his mouth with a lot of tongue and a bit of teeth, I shattered. But I was anything but useless and broken.

As I cried out unintelligibly into Archer's shoulder, my body twitched and writhed. My inner muscles seemed to draw him in even deeper until we were truly one, and then with one final roll of his hips, he shuddered inside of me with a loud groan.

We stayed like that and kissed each other back to reality, unhurried, and smiling.

"Even better than I dreamed," he whispered.

"You dreamed of me too?"

"Even when we were both awake."

"Me too," I sighed into his kiss.

How did I get so lucky that this man wanted to know me, touch me, to love me? Surely I didn’t deserve him, but I would definitely take him. Best not to ask too many questions in case I jinxed it.

When I grew too cold to keep my teeth from chattering, Archer wrapped me up in the blanket again, and I slipped out the door while he dressed.

There was a soft whisper of fabric and a dainty cough by the living room fireplace. "Um, I didn’t want to interrupt because you seemed…busy, but…”

“But what?” I asked, not feeling embarrassed in the slightest that she’d overheard.

“I have it," Shay said. "I have what you need to make your poison stronger."