“It doesn’t matter if you’re not participating,” he stated firmly. “Protocol is protocol.”
At that, she gave him a small smile. “Is this when you ask me my permission to vet me?”
“I don’t need to,” he said. “You’ve already been vetted.”
She frowned. Yeah, when his hacker dug through her personal computer.
Before she could get into that, her phone beeped again. Archer said, “That’s the address where you need to go. You’ll meet up with Lottie, who will dress you.”
She snapped out of the swirling heat between them. “Dress me?”
“She’ll provide you with a mask and lingerie for this evening, which is appropriate attire for Phoenix.” Whatever expression had crossed her face made his eyes darken, filling them with hunger. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Before she thought about it, she sputtered, “You’ll be there?”
His gaze fell to her lips, which she suddenly realized she was biting, and stayed there a moment before he chuckled, low and deep. “Yeah, Elise, I’ll be there.”
Then he was gone, and she was staring at his tailgate with the feeling she was in way, way over her head.
Chapter 3
The look of desire burning in Elise’s eyes earlier stayed with Archer for the entire day. So did his semi-erection from the images playing on his mind of her wearing a mask and lingerie for tonight’s show. The sound of a piano drifted into Archer’s office while he sat behind his desk, wrapping up paperwork for the day. A couple of nights a week, a classical pianist performed at the cigar lounge. The music reached in and touched him, and it sounded like whoever had created the song knew how it felt to yearn. He understood that feeling. Remembered being far away during a mission and missing the comfort of home and the people in his life.
The time on his laptop read 8:55 PM. He’d already briefed his security team on the night ahead, and with his tasks behind him for the day, he left his desk and moved to the bookshelf to the left of the closed door. By removing the third book, he uncovered a keypad and entered in his five-digit code. A soft click later, and Archer opened the bookcase, revealing a staircase winding down to the lower level that led to a stone hallway. As he passed the doorway that led to the west tunnel, the door opened. His good friend, Kieran Black, greeted him with a smile. A firefighter with the New York City Fire Department and a triathlete, Kieran could hold his own against any soldier Archer had served with during his time in the military.
“You’re almost late,” Archer said, returning the smile.
Kieran had strong, trusting green eyes and textured dirty-blond hair, presently slicked back with sweat. “Almost is the key word there.” Archer and Rhys met Kieran through private sex parties over the years.
Kieran settled into stride with Archer, heading down the hallway, and Archer noted the soot stains on Kieran’s cheek. “Busy day?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Kieran grumbled. “Insane five-alarm fire down by The Battery. Took us all day to get it under control.”
Archer entered the changing room off to the right, remembering what it was like to be in danger for a job. He had a bullet wound as a constant reminder to never take his life for granted. “No injuries?”
Kieran followed him in. “Thankfully, none.”
Throughout the space, masks rested on rows of metal shelves above red velvet benches. Some full-face, demonic masks, others more of the masquerade variety. Every time Archer entered Phoenix, he did his best to keep his identity hidden by wearing fuller masks. He preferred to keep his identity from any woman he had sex with, mostly because he was the one who vetted them, and it seemed the professional thing to do. Privately, he didn’t want the headache if anyone got attached. While he liked his sex wild and passionate, he never dated anyone he met through Phoenix. But tonight, he wanted Elise to recognize him. To see him with his shirt off. To see all of him. His cock twitched in his pants in full agreement.
When Kieran took off to the shower, Archer quickly went into the other one. By the time he was dressed in his black slacks and nothing else, the low voice in his Bluetooth earpiece said, “Elise Fanning has arrived. Forms are complete. Test results are negative. She’s been dressed, and Lottie has taken her into the main room.”
“Thank you,” Archer responded to a security teammate and retired Navy SEAL, Hawke Foster, pressing the communicator. He grinned at Kieran, who was watching him closely. “Elise has arrived.”
“Ah, so that’s what the excitement on your face is all about,” Kieran said with a laugh, grabbing a gold mask off the shelf closest to him. “What’s up with you and Elise anyway?”
“Tension.” Archer reached for the bottle of oil in the glass container left for them. An obvious request from a member tonight.
Kieran rubbed the oil on his chest. “Do you plan on playing with that tension tonight?”
Archer oiled himself up, the shininess detailing every muscle. “Depends.”
“On?”
“If she’ll let me.” He grinned.
Kieran’s laugh filled the room as they left the changing room and entered the lounge area. Archer always swore he could nearly taste the lust and seduction on the air in here. Brown leather couches—where women in scandalous lingerie and shirtless men sat—were set around square coffee tables, with large, dim chandeliers over each. The gas fireplace offered little warmth but set the stage for romance and seduction.
Sitting on one of those couches was the fourth in their inner circle of friends, Hunt Walker, who’d come into Archer’s life through Kieran. They all came from different walks of life, but the band of brothers were exactly what Archer needed after leaving the military. More than friends; now chosen family. A New York City Detective, Hunt had light-brown eyes that displayed his strong character, but his messy golden-brown hair softened the sharp edges of his cheekbones. He acknowledged their arrival with a nod, but his attention went firmly back to the star of the show tonight. Lottie, the pretty brunette with the amethyst-colored eyes currently chatting with a couple of members while sipping a glass of champagne. Hunt had eyes for her, only for her. The exact reason he had yet to be put in a show with her. Rhys had a half-dozen men in his roster for the shows his members paid to watch. Most of the women who partook in those shows only did so once. Rhys preferred to keep the experience fresh and exciting. But the participants Rhys kept on were beloved by the members. While Archer, Hunt, and Kieran were among them, so was Lottie.
Archer scanned the room, searching out Elise. It didn’t take long to find her. She’d garnered a crowd. One look at her and he knew why. His cock hardened so quickly he bit back a groan. She wore a stunning, strappy red lace teddy. Her hair was straight with a few strands just touching the top of her breasts while the rest lay down her smooth back and stopped at the top of her thong. But the cherry on top was her stilettoes. They made her legs a mile long and damn near the most delectable thing he’d seen in his life.
“Careful, you look like a man who has eyes for no one else.”
Archer glanced sideways at Kieran. “Believe me when I tell you she’d kill me before I ever got the chance to fall for her.” Whatever he had with Elise wasn’t romantic; it was purely sexual. Raw. Dirty. But…different. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, either.