17. Archer

I ’m at Josh Peters’ fucking wedding, and he is not happy about it, but when Reign and I saw our captain pulling on a suit this morning, we practically jumped on him to find out where he was going. Now, I’m sure when he admitted he was accompanying his new girlfriend to her brother’s wedding, he didn’t expect us to tag along, but Alexander and I don’t like to be left out of the loop. So, we gave him our best sad faces until he agreed to let us come with him, and then we were running off to our rooms to dig out our own suits.

Jake came home from his girlfriend’s as we were leaving, took one look at us and declared he didn’t even want to know. Which left me smirking as we made our way across town, to the house where Peters grew up. When we rounded the corner at the bottom of his garden, his eyes hardened with disdain, yet after a few shared words with Nova, he finally relented, and now here we wait.

“Sorry I’m late,” Maddie gasps out, as she rushes down the aisle towards us, my captain's eyes instantly drinking her in. “I had to make a pit stop on the way, I even managed to get a blue one,” she laughs, holding up some items and passing them to Josh when she reaches us, just before Nova drags her into his arms.

“You look absolutely stunning as always, Princess,” he drawls, slamming his lips to hers, and I’m still getting used to seeing this side of my best friend, and honestly, it’s really fucking weird.

“You scrub up quite nicely yourself, Charmer,” Maddie breathes, blushing furiously as she pulls away from him.

“I can’t wait to rip this—” my captain starts, and I watch in delight as her brother's face turns red with anger.

“Nova, I swear to god, if you finish that sentence I am going to kill you, and then myself!” Josh grits, staring Nova down like he means every word, and Reign and I can’t help but laugh, causing Josh to cut his glare to us. “If you’re all staying, then pull it together. Daemon and Hallie will be here any second.”

I stop laughing immediately. “Daemon’s coming?” I ask. Not sure why I presumed he wouldn’t be, I mean he was at his bachelor party, but I just can’t imagine my dark and brooding teammate wanting to be involved in something as fun as a wedding.

Even with all my incessant messages to him over the last week, he hasn’t come out of his shell, and hell, at this point I can’t believe he is even replying, no matter how bold I get.

“You invited Daemon Forbes, but not us?” Alexander asks in outrage, his pout when he doesn’t get what he wants coming out in full force, but my focus now lies solely on the fact that I am going to see Daemon.

“Yes, because unlike you assholes, Daemon is more than just my teammate, he’s my friend.” Josh grits out, cracking his neck, and when I look at him, I see something akin to nerves, but there is something else there too. Something I can’t quite place.

“The dude is weird,” Alexander responds causally, and my head whips around so fast, I’m not sure how I don’t pull a fucking muscle.

“Don’t be a dick, Reign,” I snap, as more anger than I thought possible rushes to the surface toward my best friend, and both his and Nova’s eyes widen in surprise at me coming to Daemon’s defense.

Before either of them can respond, a familiar lethal voice licks up the base of my spine. “Yeah, don’t be a dick, Reign,” Daemon breathes, his tone dark and wicked, and when I turn and meet his eyes, I find his stare is almost black, and his mask almost completely blank. Yet still, I note the grinding of his jaw and the stiffness in his shoulders.

Hallie has her arm linked with his, but I barely take any notice, as Daemon leads her down the aisle in a dark fitted suit that molds to his body like a second skin. His usual black messy hair is both styled and slicked back, and I can see the peak of tattoos coming up from his collar and out from his wrists. Fuck. He looks like the Devil himself sent to make me sin, and it’s at this moment I finally admit to myself something I have been denying for weeks.

I have a crush on Daemon Forbes.

Fuck.

That thought is still the only one in my mind a couple of hours later. We all came back to Josh’s house to toast his wedding, and Daemon somehow ended up on the sofa right next to me, with his body pressed into my side, and I can’t focus on anything but him. How the fuck am I supposed to just sit here and relax when he is right there? When I can feel his body next to mine, and I know how good his lips taste? Granted, it doesn’t feel as good as when he slammed me into that wall, and rocked his cock into mine until we both came, but fuck, it still lights me up inside.

Alexander makes drink after drink, and I inhale every single one and its leftovers, in an attempt to try and forget about my current predicament, but with every drink I fall deeper into Daemon’s abyss. The heat of his body against mine is addictive, and the scent of his cologne is intoxicating, all of it making me desperate for another taste of him, and it sparks an idea in my mind.

“Okay, next game, truth or dare,” I slur, winking at Hallie to stop myself from looking at Daemon, but to my dismay, Daemon instantly jumps to his feet and leaves the room, heading straight for the stairs.

What the fuck? Why is he leaving?

A thought that isn’t allowed to linger, as both my best friends shout in unison, “No!”

Peters glances around us in confusion, as his new wife begins to blush furiously. “Why can’t we play truth or dare?” he asks, and I force myself to smile, even as a bitter taste coats the back of my tongue.

“Oh, I’m glad you asked, Joshy Boy, because the last time I played truth or dare I got to kiss your new wife there,” I drag out, pointing my finger at Hallie as if in fond memory, but the truth of the matter is, the only thing I remember about that night has just stormed upstairs.

I swear I can still feel the phantom touch of his lips, yet I stare Josh down, praying for his anger, needing the fight for some reason. Yet all he does is smile, as he leans back and puts his arm around his wife. “And tonight will be the last time you ever speak of it, because I will break your jaw if you bring that up again,” he warns darkly, and I roll my eyes as Hallie jumps to her feet, but my attention is still drawn upstairs to where Daemon just exited.

Which means I don’t focus on the rest of the group as it starts to dissipate, nor do I hear Alexander pleading with Josh to let us stay, but to my surprise he agrees. Which is how I find myself swallowing down four more of my goalies' ridiculously-named cocktails, talking back and forth about anything and everything, until he eventually passes out and I am left alone with my thoughts.

It’s past midnight now, and the entire house is dark and quiet, with the exception of Alexander snoring softly from his spot on the chair, yet still I can’t sleep. I’m lying on the sofa I shared with Daemon earlier. He’s all I can fucking think about, and I don’t know why. I have a crush on him, so what? It’s not a big deal. It shouldn’t be keeping me awake, and I know I should go home, that I should just slip out into the night and rush across the street to the safety of my own room, but I can’t make myself move. I want him, I want him more than I have ever wanted anyone, a feeling so unfamiliar that it keeps me awake at night. It doesn’t matter the amount of alcohol coursing through my veins right now, no, the only thing that matters is my need for my fucking teammate.

Maybe I should go up to his room, corner him there so we can talk this out once and for all. Before that thought can even take flight, there is a creek at the top of the stairs. My eyes snap across the room in the dark, watching, waiting with bated breath, as Daemon appears at the bottom of the stairs, moving quietly into the kitchen. His eyes don’t even touch the living room, and it’s only now that I realize that he doesn’t know I’m here, he doesn’t know that Josh said Alexander and I could stay.

An adrenaline rush like I have never known pulses inside of me, as I silently slip off the sofa and stalk my way into the kitchen. The fridge door is opened, blocking his view of me, and I’m ready to alert him of my presence when all of a sudden, he huffs.

“You know, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t turn around or pick up my phone and it wasn’t fucking you bothering me,” he sighs, pulling out a bottle of water, before closing the fridge, and turning to face me fully.

The suit he was wearing is long gone, replaced with a black, baggy t-shirt and some shorts, and his styled hair is now messy again, as if he has been running his hands through it. I drink in the sight of him as his eyes dance between me and the living room, no doubt taking in Alexander passed out on the chair, and wondering why the fuck we are still here.

“Peters said we could crash here,” I say by way of explanation, answering his unspoken question, and his stare only hardens, his eyes never leaving mine. “You ran away from me again,” I add quietly, almost tasting the animosity rolling off of him in waves.

“I have no interest in watching you kiss someone else,” he finally snaps, and if I’m not mistaken, he sounds a little jealous.

My smirk is instant, as I take a step towards him and drop my voice even lower. “The only person I truly wanted to kiss was you,” I admit boldly, and his eyes search mine for the lie, but they won’t find it.

Yet still, I’m not surprised when he pushes past me, discards the bottle of water on the island and reaches for a bottle of whiskey instead. “You don’t have to lie to me, Gray, I have no feelings you should consider sparing,” he responds, pouring himself a shot of whiskey, before grabbing a second glass and doing the same for me, sliding it onto the counter beside me.

“Oh you don’t have to worry about that, I didn’t think you had the capability to feel anything anyway,” I muse, taking the glass he offers me and knocking it back for some liquid courage. “Although you did make me feel plenty of things on Halloween,” I add, watching his pupils dilate as they take me in, and I once again move towards him, causing his stare to drop down my body so he can take in my proximity. “So much so that I’ve spent the last month checking out every guy I see, just to see if I feel anything. Hell, I even got fucking Alexander to kiss me.”

At my words his eyes snap back to mine, and they darken ever so slightly. “And how was it?” he asks, a dangerous edge to his voice now, and it has my cock hardening in my pants.

“Honestly, I’m not sure how the cocky prick gets so many girls,” I reply truthfully, and a smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth.

“I could say the same to you,” he breathes, finally knocking back his shot of whiskey, while staring at me over the rim of the glass.

“That’s okay, it seems I have different tastes these days anyway,” I start, taking the glass from him and pouring him another drink, before handing it back, our fingers grazing slightly as I do so. “In fact, I recently discovered something about myself.”

Daemon eyes the drink in his hand, before meeting my stare head on in a challenge of some sort. “Is it that you're an asshole? Because if so, I’m afraid I already knew that,” he responds, and now it’s my turn to smirk.

“No, it’s that I’m pretty sure I’m bisexual,” I admit for the first time out loud, and all the prick does is roll his eyes.

“Pretty sure,” he scoffs with the shake of his head, watching me closely, before knocking back his shot and slamming down the glass.

Then before I can react, his hand is around my throat and he is walking me backwards, slamming me against the fridge. My head instantly snaps over to where Alexander is, to see if the noise woke him up, but to my surprise he is still sleeping. Yet I’m not allowed to linger, Daemon grips my chin and forces my stare back to his, his eyes now completely black with something I can’t decipher.

“I can feel your heart racing,” he starts softly, one hand still around my throat, and the other sliding from my chin to my chest. “And you’re looking at me like you want me to kiss you again, yet you’re only pretty sure?”

My mouth is so dry I can’t even respond, and he’s right, my heart is hammering so hard in my chest that I feel like I might pass out, but I don’t move, not a muscle. Not when he leans in even closer, and I can feel his warm breath against my lips, not when his fingers massage my throat in a way I have never craved before, but now I never want him to stop. His eyes trail over my face, watching my every reaction to his touch, and he smiles, as he presses his lips ever so gently to mine, and I huff in frustration.

“Do you like when I kiss you?” he asks, bringing his mouth to mine once more, but pulling back before I can even get a proper taste. His lips trails along my jaw, in barely there touches, until he pushes down further and skims his mouth down my neck. “What about this, do you like this?” His teeth sink into my throat, breaking the skin, until a half gasp and half moan escapes me, and I feel him smile against me. “Yeah, you do like that, don’t you?” He nips and sucks at my skin until I know he will leave another mark.

“Adding this to your list of drunken mistakes?” I manage to choke out, and he pulls back, his gaze moving from my eyes to my lips and back again.

“Nah, I think I’ll save this one for all that jerking off I do,” he jokes, surprising me once again, and before I can respond, his lips are back on mine, erasing any taunt I would have thrown back at him. He kisses me like it’s our last day on earth. There is no hesitation, no second guessing, there is only dominance and possession, and fuck it makes me feel alive. A feeling that is only intensified when he pulls back and drops to his knees before me, palming my erection. “Come on then, Gray, let’s see how pretty sure you really are,” he grins with a wink, before ripping open my pants, pulling them down, and gripping my cock roughly in his hand.

Fuck.

Daemon Forbes is on his knees for me. I think I’ve died and gone to Heaven.

Without pause, he flexes his fist around the base of my cock, before leaning forward and licking the underside from root to tip, soaking my dick in his spit and making me groan. Pre-cum spills across his tongue and he swirls it around my tip, grunting at the taste, before doing it again much slower, sucking on my crown until I am panting and shuddering.

“Fuck, Forbes,” I moan, tipping my head towards where Alexander is sleeping on the chair, just to check he’s still passed out, but Daemon squeezes me roughly in his hand, bringing my stare back to him instantly.

“Eyes on me, Gray, you know the rules,” he grunts, lapping his tongue across my tip, before teasing my slit with soft, wet flicks that have me losing my fucking mind.

“I’ll follow any fucking rule you want, as long as you don’t stop,” I splutter, watching as he strokes up and down my length roughly with a smirk.

Then I watch in fascination, as he drags my cock slowly across his tongue, taking me to the back of his throat with ease. Fuck . The look in his eyes as he watches me is both powerful and possessive, and is filled with so much need that I can almost taste it. I’ve had plenty of girls on their knees sucking my cock, but none of them have ever looked as good as he does, and none of them have ever made me feel like I might die if they stopped.

With our eyes locked on one another, he pulls back, lapping my entire length with attention and drenching me in more spit, before once again sucking me deep with a loud, appreciative groan. “You look good when you’re getting your cock sucked, Gray,” he teases, swirling his tongue around my crown once more, before sucking me into his mouth again.

“And you look fucking good sucking my cock, Forbes,” I choke out, pleasure wracking my entire body, as it pulses with need at the sight of my cock in his mouth, and I don’t think I have ever been this turned on in my entire life.

“Daemon,” he whispers, swirling his tongue around me like I am his own personal fucking lollipop, before squeezing my base roughly and eyeing me darkly. “If you’re going to moan my name, I mean, make it Daemon, not Forbes,” he pleads, almost desperately, and I smirk with a nod, watching as he takes me back in his mouth once more.

He licks me with expertise, sucking me so fucking perfectly that I can already feel the sweet taste of release dancing up my spine, and I want it. I want it more than I have ever wanted anything, and I can’t contain my gasps and moans, as he bobs his head back and forth on my cock. There is no hatred, no animosity, just pure fucking carnal need, and I am ready to drown myself in it.

Daemon said I was his damnation, but I think he might just be mine.