DangerbyDalliance Read Free Page B

the
bank draft was on its way.
    But another part, a deeper and darker part, welcomed the
opportunity to spend time with her, to observe her with Warren and see if their
dreams could come true.
    He didn’t know why a curvy virgin with a sharp tongue had
such an effect on him. She’d always made him highly aware of the difference
between male and female and had done so from the first moment he’d met her.
    He strode back to his office and his work. Her scent of
honeysuckle had spread through the room and now surrounded his desk.
    Archer slumped back in his chair. Her sky-blue eyes that
always looked at him as if he were about to jump up and ravish her. The blonde
hair she only ever wore neatly tied at the back of her head in a bun, even at
evening gatherings. And her body. Others would call her robust, fat even. He called
her curvy and seductive as hell with that intangible energy that hovered just
below the surface.
    He wanted to pull out all the respectable pins that held
back her hair and muss it up, bring that hidden volcano to life. Drag the
boring and uptight clothes off her goddess body and see how she responded.
    And he was doing exactly that.
    He paused and stared out the window without seeing anything.
Archer never lied to himself. I want to see her out of her element, her
feathers ruffled. I want to break through the invisible barrier she surrounds
herself with and discover the woman underneath.
    He loved Warren, but both of them carried demons inside,
which sometimes made it difficult to be together. They needed someone to stand
between them, someone to soften their edges.
    He wanted to discover if Miss Sarah Emma Rigdon could be the
one.
    Archer pushed back his chair and marched out of the office.
In the hallway he pressed a button on the AetherComp. “Where is Warren?”
    “In the sunroom.” The Comp’s low voice echoed tinnily
through the machine.
    Archer released the button and walked to the back of the
house and the parlor they’d converted into a sunroom when they’d moved in four
years ago. Cutting all the beautiful windows into the brick hadn’t been easy,
but the end result had made the work worth it.
    Sunlight filled the room overlooking the garden, large for a
house in the city, but a must for both of them. Warren lounged on a sofa, his
sketchbook in hand but resting forgotten on his abdomen. His expression was
relaxed and with the sun playing up the red in his hair he looked delicious.
    Archer bowed down and kissed Warren on those firm, bitable
lips.
    His lover clasped his nape and stopped him from moving back.
“Not so fast.” He deepened the kiss. Archer rested his hands on the sofa
cushions on either side of Warren.
    Their tongues played their favorite game of suck and
retreat. Peace sank into Archer as Warren’s scent of lemon and sage with a hint
of turpentine surrounded him. Warren’s hand moved from his neck to his shoulder
and dug to his arse, pulling Archer’s stiffening dick against his own.
    Archer pulled back and nipped Warren’s lower lip. “Thank
you, I needed that.”
    Warren smiled, love and arousal bringing out the gold in his
eyes. “You had enough tension racing through you to crack a wall.” He rubbed
his fingertips across Archer’s cheek. “What happened? Has the indomitable Miss
Rigdon thrown you in a spin again?”
    Archer sank onto the sofa, which was wide enough they could
lie side by side, and leaned into Warren’s touch. When they’d moved in together
four years ago, well aware of what would happen if anyone ever discovered their
true relationship, they’d sworn, while they had to lie to the world, they would
never lie to each other.
    He kissed Warren. “She is the one for me.”
    Warren nodded. “I know.”
    Anxiety rolled through Archer’s stomach. “What about you?”
    Warren cupped Archer’s cheek and kissed him softly. “She
grabbed me by the throat the minute I saw her.” He stroked his finger across
Archer’s cheek. “And not just because