Page 51 of The Mentor
At first Archer tensed up and I could see why he would be confused, inasmuch as I had avoided him as much as possible since the humiliating spanking he gave me a week ago. “It’s okay, I just want to hug you,” I whispered.
Finally, his arms wrapped around the small of my back and he pulled me closer and buried his head in my hair.
I rested my head on his collarbone, not caring that he was sweaty from his run. Unlike some of the boys, who could smell like trolls when they were sweaty, Archer always had a fresh, outdoorsy scent to him that I liked.
After no more than ten seconds, he tried to pull away, but knowing the science behind a good hug, I knew we had to stay like this for at least a full minute to get the benefit of the healthy hormones that hugging released. Tightening my grip around his neck, I signaled that I didn’t want our hug to end.
“What are you doing?” Archer whispered in my ear.
“I’m hugging you,” I explained and nuzzled the back of his hair.
“But I thought you were angry at me for the spanking.”
“I am. But you did something heroic for me today and I want to give you something back.
“Well, in that case.” His voice took on a seductive tone, “how about a night in your bed?”
I released him immediately. “I don’t think so,” I said and started jogging again.
“Why not? You said it yourself, I did something heroic and I deserve to be rewarded.”
“Which is why I just gave you a big hug,” I explained calmly.
“But I really miss my mom,” he said in a singsong voice.
It was getting harder to speak now with the pace I was setting in my eagerness to get back to the school. “Maybe I would’ve been tempted if I had forgiven you for the spanking, but I never will.”
Archer took that as an invitation to discuss disciplining children and before we reached the school, I was back to being frustrated with him again.
“Just run ahead,” I told him. “I can see the school now and you don’t need to wait for me.”
“Stop giving me orders.”
“I’m not giving you orders, I just think Shelly and Marco might need your help. We’ve been gone for a long time, and you’re a much faster runner than me.” It was needless to say that anyone at the school was a faster runner than me.
With no further words, Archer took off. Even the irritation I felt with him didn’t stop me from appreciating the sight of his athletic body picking up speed and moving gracefully through the forest. He made running look easy, and I envied him his strength and physical confidence. One thing I had to say for the boys and men that I had met here in the Northlands: they were all very much at home in their bodies and spent hours pushing themselves.
Again, I thought about our kiss that first night. It might have started out as curiosity, but it sure had set off a whole series of wildfires in my body that I didn’t have much control over. I stopped jogging abruptly when something suddenly stood out so clear to me that I smacked my palm to my forehead.How did I not realize this a lot sooner?
CHAPTER 13
Motherhood
Kya
Christina tucked her feet up under her on the sofa. “Come again?”
“It makes perfect sense,” I exclaimed with eagerness. “I argue with Archer all the time because it’s a way for me to stay un-attracted to him.”
Christina pulled on her earlobe, squishing her eyebrows together. “But Kya…”
She didn’t get a chance to speak the sentence because I kept going. “How else would you explain such a radical change in my behavior? I used to be kind to everyone, but for some reason Archer riles me up and makes me say things that border on being unpleasant. I even kicked him once.”
Her eyes grew big. “YoukickedArcher?”
“See?” I threw up my hands. “It’s like I don’t even recognize myself anymore and just for the record I feel awful about it.”
“And you think you’re behaving irrationally because you’re attracted to him?” Christina asked.
