Page 65 of Power Moves
I frown. ‘That’s too close, Archibald.’
He wiggles closer still.
‘You have an issue with personal space.’ My teeth are starting to chatter now. I huff and twist around to face the opposite direction.
‘You sound freezing,’ Archie says to my back.
‘I am,’ I yelp. ‘You should have brought a camping heater with you. That’s basic common sense. If I get hypothermia, I’m going to troll you with photos of my decomposing toes.’
‘I think there’s a market for that on OnlyFans.’
‘I’m thoroughly unsurprised you know that.’
Archie groans but it sounds like he’s smiling. ‘Come here Millsy.’ I feel his big bear arms rope around me.
‘This is inappropriate,’ I say, while paradoxically wishing he would hug me closer. The warmth from his body is instant.
‘We’ve done worse,’ says Archie.
This is true. If we hadn’t fake–hooked up, this big-spoon-little-spoon situation would feel so much stranger.
‘I’m tired,’ I sigh.
‘Same,’ agrees Archie. His arms tighten around me. The echoes of the nearby festival are muffled by the sound of our breathing.
With a non-suggestive amount of force, I snuggle back into his chest, purely for heat-absorption purposes. My eyelids feel like they’re being weighed down, and with my head against the warmth of his body, my eyes drift closed. It’s been such a long day and I would have burned so much energy dancing, it’s only natural I should be tired. I decide I’ll rest my eyes for a second, and then I’ll get up and head back out there to find Jessie and Maxy. I just need a moment to chill.
CHAPTER 29
I don’t know if I dozed off for five minutes or five hours but it’s almost pitch-black and Archie’s arms are still around me. I want to run away but he’s so warm and he smells so nice and …Wait!There is something poking my back, and—oh shit!I quickly spin around and my forehead bumps against Archie’s. He blinks awake. He must have dozed off too.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asks groggily.
I cannot possibly admit what I was thinking about. ‘I’m cold,’ I whisper. It’s true. I’m still freezing. It’s why I can’t move away from him. He’s protecting me from hypothermia. My hands are balled at my chest and my fingers are like ice.
I see Archie smile in the filtered moonlight. He reaches for my hands, slowly uncurls my fingers and wraps his own hands around them.
‘Is this better?’ he asks.
My eyes widen. I should move away right now. I should make haste. I should run for the hills. But the truth is, itisbetter. He’s so warm and—oh. Archie shifts against me, and yes, ladies and gentlemen, I can confirm:this is not a drill.
I quickly take stock of the situation: it’s late at night, it’s the weekend, the New Friends Game has ended, Boss still hates Archie, Archie still hates Boss, I’m still supposed to hate Archie but maybe I …woah.
Archie weaves his fingers between mine so they’re interlaced now, and for some reason this feels more intimate than anything we’ve done before. My heart skitters. He can probably feel it vibrating through my chest. His eyes are shimmers of onyx, and we’re so close that our foreheads are almost touching. My lips are in danger of collapsing into him. If I breathe I will kiss him, and I don’t know what to do, because I need to breathe, right? Or do I? I can’t remember. What were the rules of this game? Are we still playing it?
‘Millsy.’ His voice is lower than a whisper. It’s the blink of a star. It’s like I never heard it. My eyes are straining to make out the contours of his face. Our hands are still woven together, and I don’t know where I finish and he starts.
I decide I’ll close my eyes and drift off again so I won’t have to deal with this. Everything is warm. It feels like clouds, a lullaby, a heated blanket and a dreamless sleep. Archie shifts so he’s flush against me and … I inhale sharply because suddenly it’s abundantly clear: I am not asleep, I amawake.
I tug my fingers from his grasp and twist them through his hair. His lips brush mine and something metaphysical stirs in my body. I arch my back and suddenly there is an exponentialrush. His hard-on presses my thigh, his earthy citrus scent floods my senses. Our hands scrape over every piece of each other that we can find. Skin, fabric, hair. We are ravenous.
‘Archie,’ I gasp, as his mouth coasts a line from my ear to my collarbone. ‘I should have told you before but …’ I gasp again as his palms run featherlight over my breasts. ‘… you are surprisingly excellent at kissing.’
‘Shhhh, Millsy,’ he rasps, pulling my hips closer to his.
I whimper in pleasure and feel his lips curve against my skin at the sound, and god, I love knowing I can make him smile.
My hands skim the stubble on his jaw, his teeth bite my lip. I want every sensation to last forever but I also need more of him. My legs part to invite him closer and his mouth moves more urgently against mine.
