I pulled Archer against me for one more kiss before he left my room. Hunter was going to be over any minute to review the final plans for the bar, and I still hadn't told him I was involved with anyone, let alone one of the "resident spirits."
Stretching my arms over my head, I yawned widely and sprang out of bed. I whistled through my whole morning routine, and the feeling in my belly was on the edge of giddiness.
It had been a couple of weeks since our rendezvous in the billiards room, and the heat between us hadn't cooled a bit. Although I was in no hurry to define our relationship, I had to admit that my feelings for Archer were beginning to run a little bit deeper than lust. I've never felt so appreciated, so desired, and perhaps there was a chance of something more with him down the road. Way down a long and winding road littered with speed bumps.
A knock on the door sprang me from my daydreams, and I rushed over to let my brother in.
"Good morning, Hunt," I said, grinning at the familiar pink box in his hand. "Are those chocolate cream-filled doughnuts?" My stomach growled at the thought of the melt-in-your-mouth chocolate mousse.
"Yes ma'am, from Put a Spell on You. I know it's your favorite bakery, and they actually weren't packed this morning," he said, setting the box on the counter.
I'd been so busy with the hotel that I hadn't ventured out into Spelling more than a couple of times to grab necessities. It was on my list of things to do. I wanted to become reacquainted with the town and all its hidden gems. It was part of my job to direct hotel guests to all the must-see places, and I knew if Raven were running things, she would already have a long list of her favorites.
"Are you ready to look at these plans?"
"Yeah, just let me grab one of these," I said, snatching a pastry from the box and motioning for him to join me on the couch. "Spread them on the coffee table."
Hunter pushed the centerpiece to the edge of the table and his eyebrow dipped when he reached for the gilded tome. "What is this?"
Shit. "Oh, nothing, it's just a book I found in the study. History of the hotel and stuff like that."
"Oh, boring," Hunter said, and I breathed a sigh of relief as he set it on the corner of the plans with a thunk. I didn't want to explain why it sent him bursting into flames if he tried to open it. "We'll use it as a paperweight."
After we inspected the plans and I gave them my stamp of approval, Hunter stood and made his way to the door. Before he turned the knob, he whirled around and raised his eyebrow at me. "Hey, sis, remember that guy you came to my room about in the middle of the night?"
My cheeks flushed, and I nodded as very recent memories of Archer on a pool table, in my bed, and on Hazel's antique dining table flooded my mind. "Yeah. What about him?"
Hunter grinned and leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm going to guess by the amount of blood in your cheeks that you ended up going for it."
I laughed and looked up at the ceiling, unable to keep the goofy grin from spreading over my face. "Uh, yeah. I guess you could say that."
"Am I ever going to get to meet him?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
"He had better be good to you."
"Goodbye, Hunter!" I said with a wave.
"Bye, Gem. And remember to use protection."
"Ew. Go."
Checking the clock, I wondered if it would be too pathetic of me to find Archer this soon after he left. I thought of our unresolved business in bed this morning and decided I didn't care.
Changing into a low-cut v-neck sweater and leggings, I traveled the hallways, saying hello to guests as I passed. I needed to make my daily stop at the front desk and see what Larry had going on before I did anything else.
Larry. Crap. He'd asked me yesterday to check the fire extinguisher in the second-floor back stairwell. I changed course and headed in that direction.
Two hushed voices exchanging harsh words echoed down the empty hall. I was bracing to deal with a domestic dispute. Over the past weeks, I'd handled some crazy issues—the large man who got stuck taking a bath in the small clawfoot tub, the toddler who painted the walls with their shit, and of course, the complaints of loud neighbors having sex...one of those complaints had been about me and Archer. I gave myself a stern talk, but I had yet to deal with truly angry people.
"This isn't how this is supposed to work, Archer," Soren hissed, his tone laced with venom.
Flattening myself against the wall, I squeezed my eyes shut, listening intently. I shouldn't have eavesdropped on their brotherly spat, but I couldn't help myself. Other than the night when I passed out, I hadn't seen them together much. I was curious about what made them tick as siblings.
"Why do you think you know so much about how it's supposed to work? Have you done this before? It's what needs to be done," Archer snapped.
What needs to be done?
Soren scoffed, and I could all but see the smug expression on his face as he shot back, "It isn't fair that she doesn't know the whole story, and you're just going to make her fall in love with you. There needs to be some give and take here. I mean, do you even love her?"
My heart sank to the pit of my stomach when I realized they were talking about me, and then a spark of rage ignited in me. Did Soren really take me as a girl who just fell head-over-heels in love with any guy? I wasn't some lovesick teenager. No one was going to make me fall in love with them, but I felt something a little deeper for Archer and I hoped he felt the same.
"She's a nice girl and we get along...well, let's just say that everything fits together just perfectly. She's having fun, I'm having fun. Besides, this isn't about me loving her."
That was fair; I felt the same way. I was more shocked by the line of questioning from Soren. Why did he care so much if his brother loved me or not?
Disgust dripped from Soren's voice as he gritted out, "She's a 'nice girl'? That's all you have to say? You're cavorting around with her at all hours of the day and night, doing God knows what and you say she's a 'nice girl.' Do you even care about her at all? What happens when this all goes the way you want? You're just going to leave her heartbroken?"
Footsteps tapped up and down the hall. "If that's what gets the job done, then yes. I guess that's what's going to happen." The walking stopped. "This is about her feelings for me; that's all that matters here. Her broken heart will just be collateral damage."
Tears filled my eyes, and I gritted my teeth. I knew it. I knew he wasn't telling me everything, knew that Soren wasn't lying, and I let my hormones think for me instead of my brain. Gemma, you're as big of an idiot as everyone thinks.
A boom blasted through the hallway, and I had no doubt a gaping hole was left in one of the walls. "You have no clue of the damage you are going to do! You know how it ends for her if you do this, we saw it with Hazel. Nothing good is going to come of this for Gemma."
"Oh, get off your high horse, brother. If you had a chance to do the thing that once seemed impossible and get to nail a girl like her at the same time, you'd do it in a second, and don't even bother denying it," Archer said with a contemptuous scoff.
"I want this for you, you deserve it over me, but I want you to do it the right way. Don't purposely fuck with her. Be the man I know you are and let things naturally happen."
"I've grown tired of trying to let things naturally happen. I don't want to wait another half a century for a shot, and I will do whatever it takes, including any amount of seducing, to get it done. So, you can either support me, or step aside and let me do what I need to do."
"You're a real fucking asshole," Soren spat. Someone bumped against the wall and the other walked away.
I didn't want to hear anymore, and I also didn't want one of them to catch me sneaking around. I almost tripped over my own feet as I scrambled away and around the corner back toward the main staircase.
All thoughts of responsibility were gone as I ran back to my suite. My shaky hands fumbled with the key until I finally pushed the door open. I slammed it shut behind and raced to my room, throwing myself face down on the bed.
I absolutely loathed myself for crying over a man. I'd spent too many of my moments daydreaming about him, pretending he cared for me. It felt like what we were building was on its way to becoming real. But I was nothing but a damn fool being taken advantage of for some unknown gain.
Earlier I had been thinking about how appreciated and desired he made me feel; now all I feel is duped and used.
I wept into my pillow, the scent of Archer's cologne surrounding me, mocking me, reminding me of everything that was lost. I liked the easy conversations between us and the fits of laughter. My toes curled when he wrapped me in his arms and whispered the little sexy innuendos. I liked the early morning sex, the late-night sex—I liked him so much.
The hours passed, and the sky was darkening by the time I finally sat up and pushed my hair out of my face. My head pounded and tears and snot crusted my face. I felt like hammered shit.
What should I do now? Go tell him to fuck off? That's what I wanted to do, but a little voice in my head whimpered to hold my enemies close. There was obviously more to this story, more that involved me. And now that I had to be careful with how much I read in one sitting, I hadn't found the answer in the tome yet. And Soren...he had made it clear that he wouldn't be telling me what he knew.
Maybe I could somehow get it out of Archer.
There was a familiar rhythmic tapping at the door—a little happy beat played by the ultimate player.
Well, not anymore.
I ran to the bathroom and splashed water on my face and grabbed a towel. "Coming," I sang, when he knocked again. Plastering a wide smile on my face, I swung the door open. "Hey, Arch."
He grinned, his big perfect white teeth on display. "Hey, beautiful."
My skin crawled with the knowledge that everything out of his mouth was a lie, but I kept up the act. "Hi, handsome, come in," I said, stepping aside to let him pass.
"I didn't see you around today. Were you not feeling well?" He had the audacity to do some sad puppy-dog eyes thing, like he really gave a shit.
I rubbed my eyes, playing up the fact that they were red and swollen from crying. "My allergies are terrible today, so I took a long nap after my meeting with Hunter." He was looking at me like he expected something, but there was no way I was initiating physical contact with him.
"Do you want me to..." He pointed his thumb at the door. "Or I'm happy to stay and give you a back rub. Whatever will make you feel better."
Everything in me screamed to tell him to get out, but I had to keep up the façade. Forcing myself to relax my jaw and sound sincere, I said, "No, I don't want you to go. Stay with me...a back rub will be nice."
He took my hand in his, kissed my knuckles, and escorted me to my bedroom. I debated my next course of action; taking off my clothes was out, but a massage while dressed wouldn't work either. The compromise was removing my shirt, leaving on everything else, including my bra, and lying face down on the bed. I fought not to shudder as he straddled the back of my thighs and his thumbs kneaded the muscles on either side of my spine.
Despite being a piece of trash, he was excellent at backrubs. That left him with one redeemable quality that I would have to cling to for the rest of the night.
"How does that feel?" he asked, leaning down to whisper in my ear.
"It's perfect, thank you," I said, my voice muffled. I was struggling to breathe, so I turned my face to the side and closed my eyes.
"Good," he murmured, moving my hair to the side and kissing the back of my neck.
I couldn't help it; I physically reacted with a violent tremor. Okay, so he had two redeemable qualities.
His hands went still next to my spine, and his lips lifted from my neck. The pressure on the back of my legs let up, and he kneeled on the mattress. "Here, let's get you to bed," he said, lifting the blankets.
I chanced a look at him and there was something in his eyes that I'd never seen before, the spark of playfulness and passion gone.
He was like a blank sheet of paper, and every endearing thing about him he wrote with invisible ink.
The blanket he held up trembled in his hand, and for a moment, I feared that I was about to witness a very ugly side of Archer. His voice was somber when he said, "I think you just need a moment to yourself."
Shit. He can't leave, not like this. It wouldn't take much for him to put two and two together; after all, he'd just had that conversation with Soren a couple hours ago. Was it that far out of the realm of possibility that I could have overheard? He was some type of magical being that I was still figuring out. For all I knew, they had excellent hearing.
"No, Archer, don't go. I'm just stressed, that's all. Being out of work today put me way behind." I patted the mattress next to me. "Stay."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, please."
We situated ourselves under the covers, and I went out of my way to nuzzle into the crook of his arm. He propped his head with his other arm and played with my hair. Damnit. A third redeemable quality.
When I was sure that things were as normal as could be, I cleared my throat. "Archer?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever wish you could leave the Reynard?"
"Besides the one night a year? All the time."
"Is there any way you ever could? Or are you and Soren truly stuck here for eternity?"
He went quiet, staring at the ceiling and running the tip of his tongue over his canine tooth. "I hope we aren't but...I am certain the two of us will never leave together."
My eyebrows furrowed and something in my chest felt tight. "What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing." He turned on his side and gathered me closer, clinging to me like his life depended on it.
"What would happen if you tried to leave?" I was probably pushing a little too hard, but it was something I'd been curious about since the beginning.
His body went rigid, and I could feel the tension rolling off him. "I tried it once when we were kids. Soren tried to stop me, but I did it anyway. I climbed the fence at the back of the property and, well, let's just say that even though that isn't an electric fence, it sure felt like one at that moment. Soren had to climb up and tug me back down to the ground. If he hadn't, I probably would have..." He cleared his throat. "Enough of the what-ifs. Relax so you can feel better in the morning."
I shivered at the thought of the pain they'd feel if they tried to leave, and I closed my eyes. I found my fingers combing through his hair, feeling an inexplicable need to comfort him. Or maybe I was finding some comfort for myself—a place to dwell in my frantic thoughts. For the rest of the night, I listened to his steady breathing and contrived all the ways I was going to trick him into telling me his deepest, darkest secrets.
But buried beneath it all was the thought that haunted me most: how close I'd been to giving him my heart.