Archer told me as he followed me into the kitchen. "You can wear my coat. No one will find out that you're into sploshing."
I paused, my arm halfway under the oven, where I'd just spotted one of my shoes. "Into what?" I frowned up at him in confusion.
"Sploshing," he repeated, giving me a mischievous smirk. "You know, the sexual act of covering your naked lover in food?"
I wrinkled my nose at him, then retrieved my shoe before standing up to address that pearl of wisdom.
"For one thing, Sunshine, I'm curious as to how you even know this term. For another, you started it!" I found my other shoe on the complete opposite side of the kitchen—however that had happened—and slipped my feet back into them.
Archer scoffed a laugh. "Pretty sure I remember you throwing the first cake, Princess. Don't go blaming your fetishes on me; I'm just here to get you off in whatever way you want." His wink was next level condescending, and I needed to suppress the desire to kick him in the dick. Mainly because I liked his dick fully functional.
"Whatever." I looked around for my underwear but came up blank. "Can you please help me find my panties? I really don't think Maurice needs to find my lace thong in the middle of his working day tomorrow."
"This one?" Archer replied, pulling a familiar scrap of lace from his pocket and dangling it.
"Yes!" I reached for my panties, but he snatched them out of my reach with a smile. Fuck's sake. "Seriously?" I demanded as he pocketed my thong once more. "Oh my god, you're as bad as Steele."
Archer's only response was to drape his coat over my shoulders and link his fingers through mine, "Come on, Kate. Let's get home so we can wash this cake off properly."
I grumbled shit under my breath about possessive deviants who stole their woman's panties, but I quietly loved it. I loved all the stupid, caveman bullshit they pulled on me. Call me damaged, whatever, I had no intention of changing any time soon, so it all just worked.
He was right that no one would notice the state of my dress; between his coat and the fact that we hadn't parked far away, I doubted anyone looked twice. Not that it would have mattered, really.
When we got home, there wasn't even any discussion. Archer followed me straight into my bathroom, stripped me naked, then showed me exactly how dirty we could get while getting clean.
Anna called us all down for dinner—this new thing she was enforcing—and my legs were like jelly as I made my way to the table. When I sat down, I winced at the raw ache between my legs. Archer had taken me at my word in the shower when I begged him to give it to me harder.
"Babe, you okay?" Kody asked as I gingerly pulled my chair into the table. "You look like you're hurting. Did something happen?"
My cheeks heated, and I started to formulate a bullshit answer. But Kody's green eyes were sparking with amusement and a teasing smile played across his lips. Oh yeah, his bedroom was across the hall from mine. He more than likely had heard me screaming as Archer fucked me against the wall of my shower.
Whoops.
Thankfully, Anna came back into the dining room at that moment, carrying a steaming dish of aromatic Thai curry. She placed it down in the middle of the table beside the bowl of fluffy coconut rice she'd already brought out, then planted her hands on her hips.
"Now, this has plenty of good vegetables in it and tastes a thousand times better than the crap you've been ordering from Sawadeka." She gave a nod, like she was agreeing with herself. "You'll see. None of that takeout mess is needed in this house." She bustled back out of the dining room without waiting for any of the boys’ smart remarks, and I grinned.
Since telling us that we were risking our lives by ordering in, Anna had made it her mission to recreate all our favorite takeout meals with her own gourmet spin. I had to agree, her versions really were delicious.
"How was the wedding planning today?" Steele asked as he dished himself up a bowl of food, then filled mine too. "Did you have fun?" His grin was teasing, like he knew how painful it had been for me. Well... until it wasn't.
"All part of the plan," Archer replied. He was sitting beside Kody, opposite me,