I couldn’t sleep well throughout the night. Every time I closed my eyes, the memory of his large, burning hands on my bare waist would flash behind my eyelids, making my heart race and my skin break into a hot, restless sweat. I tossed and turned against the cold sheets, trapped between the ghost of his voice and the loud, suffocating snores of my husband beside me.
By the time I finally drifted off, the sun was already high in the sky. When I woke up, I checked the digital clock on the nightstand. It was already past 11:00 AM.
Matthew was long gone, his side of the bed cold, meaning he had already left for the docks to handle his cartel shipments. Relief washed over me, heavy and thick. I dragged my exhausted body out of bed and took my bath, letting the warm, steaming water track down my spine as I tried to wash away the forbidden thoughts that had haunted my dreams.
Feeling a sharp ache of hunger, I slipped into a simple sundress and headed downstairs to the kitchen to get something to eat.
But the moment I rounded the corner, my breath caught.
There he was.
Archie was standing by the marble island. He looked up, a slow, wicked smirk stretching across his handsome face as his dark eyes locked onto mine.
“Good morning, mom,” Archie teased, his deep voice dripping with dark amusement.
“Good morning,” I muttered, my heart immediately starting to hammer a frantic rhythm against my ribs.
Again, Archie was shirtless. He stood there in the bright morning light, his skin gleaming, completely exposing his broad shoulders, sculpted chest, and a rock-hard six-pack that disappeared into his low-slung grey sweatpants. The sheer sight of him was overwhelming. My inner, passionate side woke up instantly, and I couldn’t stop myself from staring.
“Why do you always go around the house naked?” I asked, trying to sound annoyed to cover up the fact that I was practically drooling over his hard muscle.
Archie’s smirk widened into a slow, confident grin.
“I am not naked, mom. Just shirtless.”
He took a deliberate, predatory step toward me, his dark eyes darkening with intense hunger.
“Why… is it affecting you?”
“No, I am not!” I lied quickly, my voice trembling as I took a sharp step backward.
But Archie was too fast. He closed the distance in a second, his tall, powerful frame stepping directly into my personal space until I was cornered against the cold marble cabinet. He leaned down, his face just inches from mine.
“Tell me,” Archie murmured, his voice becoming hoarse and thick, sending a violent, electric shiver straight down my spine. “Do you think I did not notice the way you look at me?”
My breath hitched completely in my throat. I opened my mouth to defend myself, to tell him to back off, but no words came out. I was entirely paralyzed by the raw, dangerous masculinity radiating from his warm skin.
He stepped even closer, completely eliminating the space between us.
His large, warm hands reached out, settling firmly on my hips. The physical contact was scorching, sending a jolt of pure adrenaline to my core as he began rubbing the sensitive skin of my hips with his thumb.
“You are testing every bit of my restraint,” Archie murmured, his gaze intense as it searched mine.
“What are you doing?” I whispered, my voice trembling with a mixture of fear and absolute desperation. I pressed my palms against his shirtless chest, feeling the heavy, steady thud of his heart beneath his hard muscle. “Your dad is my husband… and I am your stepmom.”
I withered more into myself, trying to shrink away from the forbidden electricity of his touch, but there was nowhere to go. My back was pinned flat against the cold marble cabinet, and Archie was a solid wall of pure heat trapping me completely.
Archie chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that vibrated right against my hands. His dark eyes flared with an intense, possessive hunger.
“Then be a good mom and keep a secret,” he murmured, his deep baritone dropping to a dangerous, hoarse whisper.
Before a single word of protest could leave my mouth, his lips were on mine. The kiss was sudden, soft yet incredibly claiming, catching my breath and locking it in my throat. He kissed me with a slow, deep intensity, as if he owned my lips and had just been waiting for the right moment to take them.
My body betrayed me instantly. Two months of neglect, starvation, and physical frustration melted away into nothingness under his touch. A quiet whine escaped my throat as my hands lost all strength, sliding up his broad shoulders
Everything inside me clenched tight, a wave of liquid heat rushing straight to my core. I knew with every fiber of my being that I was doing something terribly wrong, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was entirely consumed by him.
Archie pulled back just a fraction of an inch, his lips brushing against mine as he growled deeply, his breath hot and uneven.
“You are already wet, aren’t you?”
The sheer bluntness of his words made my eyes widen, but before I could reply, his hand slid down my waist, hooking under the hem of my dress. His long fingers glided slowly up my inner thigh, the heat of his palm searing against my bare skin.
He didn’t even have to touch me deeply to find the evidence of my undoing.
“I barely touched you,” Archie swore against my lips, his voice dropping into a rough, thick rumble that made my knees completely give out. “You are f*****g soaked. Damn, baby girl.