Boys in books are just better. Right? Well, let's put them to the test.
My Book Boyfriend is hosted by Missie at The Unread Reader, and it's a weekly meme in which you choose a fictional boy that makes your heart all gooey and write up a post for him. For more information, check out the introduction post. For sign ups and Missie's choice this week click here.
Archer Cross
Archer is my guy from the Hex Hall serie. He is sarcastic, badass, caring, dangerous, damn straight gorgeous. I love him! I loved him even more in the second book! And I already pre-ordered the third book Spell Bound, which is coming out on March 13th 2012. So super excited about it!!
Lets see why :)
We were just about to enter the ballroom when I felt something warm press up against my back. I thought it was just some random person crowding me, until a voice whispered in my ear, soft and low, "I knew it was you."
I tried to whirl around, but it's hard to do when you're squashed between a bunch of people and wearing a big dress. I ended up accidently elbowing Jenna, who gave a startled squawk, before I could finally turn to face Archer.
Both of us widened our eyes and said, "Whoa."
Then I immediately blushed. Oh my God, had I just looked at Archer and said, "Whoa"?
But . . . wait a minute. Had Archer just looked at me and said, "Whoa"?
We just kind of stared at each other. Archer more than deserved his "whoa." This was a boy who could make a school uniform look good. What he did to formal wear was damn near criminal. He had lied about his bow tie being pink. He wasn't even wearing a bow tie, just a regular tie, and it was black, like everything else he was wearing.
But the best part wasn't the way he looked. It was the way he was looking at me.
"That dress," he said at last, his eyes still skimming over me. "It's . . . something."
I fought the urge to self-consciously tug at the low neckline and just smiled. "Thanks. I just, uh, whipped it up."
He nodded, but he still looked a little shell-shocked, and it was all I could do to keep a big goofy grin off my face.
Hex Hall, page 210
I looked up to see him studying me intensely with an expression I'd never seen before. Well, one he'd never directed at me before.
"She was right," he murmured.
"About what?" I said, and my voice didn't even sound like mine. It was low and breathy.
"I did want to spend the ball with you."
I felt like a thousand sparklers had just gone off inside me. The smile that began to spread across my face actually made my face hurt, and for the first time I didn't care if he saw it.
I knew I didn't have a crush on Archer anymore.
I was in love with him.
His face lowered, and my heart stopped. "Sophie--"
Hex Hall, page 230
"You've been completely weird ever since that night."
"Me?" He swung his gaze back to me. "You're the one who hasn't been able to look at me. And excuse me if I think it's a little suspicious that as soon as Elodie started spending time with you, she suddenly breaks it off with me."
I shook my head, confused, until what he was saying dawned on me. "What, you think I told Elodie what you said about wanting to spend the ball with me so that she'd dump you and I could have you all to myself?" When he didn't say anything, I gave him a light shove. "Get over yourself," I nearly snarled. I tried to walk past him, but he caught my arm, pulling me up short so that I nearly collided with him.
For a few charged seconds we froze, glaring at each other, breathing hard. I saw his eyes darken just a little, like Jenna's had the day she'd seen my blood. But this was a different kind of hunger; one I felt too.
I didn't let myself think. I just leaned forward and pressed my lips to his.
He took a split second to respond, but then he made a sound almost like a growl from low in his throat, and his arms were suddenly around me, holding me so tightly I could hardly breathe. Not like I cared. All I cared about was Archer, his mouth on mine, and his body pressed against me.
I'd been kissed a few times before, but nothing like this. I felt electrified from the top of my head to my toes, and somewhere in the back of my mind I heard Alice saying that love had a power all its own. She was right: this was magic.
We broke apart to catch our breath. I wondered if I looked as dazed as he did, but then he was kissing me again and we were stumbling against the shelves. I heard something fall and shatter against the floor, heard the soft crunch of glass underfoot as Archer pushed me against the wall.
There was a sensible part of me somewhere that clutched its pearls and hissed that I better not give up my V-card in a cellar, but when Archer's hands slid under my shirt and onto the skin of my back, I started thinking that a cellar was as good a place as any.
Hex Hall, page 280
“Right,”he replied. He was stil holding his sword in his right hand, and he twirled the hilt, the point scratching the wooden floor. “So this is it. We’re done.”
“Yeah,”I said, my voice cracking. I cleared my throat. “And I have to say, the world’s first and last Eye-demon reconnaissance mission went pretty wel .”It was a struggle to meet his eyes, but I managed it. “Thank you.”
He shrugged, his dark gaze ful of something I couldn’t quite read. “We were a good team.”
“We were.”In more ways than one, I thought. Which is why this sucked so bad.
I stepped back. “Anyway, I should go. See ya, Cross.”Then I laughed, only it sounded suspiciously like another sob. “Except I won’t, wil I? So I guess I should say goodbye.”I felt like I was about to shatter into a million tiny shards, like the mirrors I’d broken with Dad. “Okay, well, best of luck with the whole Eye thing, then. Try not to kill anyone I know.”I turned away, but he reached out and caught my wrist.
I could feel my pulse hammering under his fingers. “Mercer, that day in the cellar…”He searched my face, and I could sense him struggling for what he wanted to say. Then finally, “I didn’t kiss you back because I had to. I kissed you because I wanted to.” His eyes dropped to my lips, and it was like the whole world had shrunk to just me and him and the shaft of light between us. “I still want to,” he said hoarsely. He tugged my wrist and pulled me into his arms.
My brain registered the sound of his sword clattering to the ground as his other hand came up to grab the back of my neck, but once his lips were on mine, everything else faded away. I clutched at his shoulders, raising up on my tiptoes, and kissed him with everything I had in me. As the kiss deepened, we held each other tighter, so I didn’t know if the pounding heartbeat I felt was mine or his.
How stupid, I thought dreamily, to have ever thought I could give this up. Not just the kissing, although, as Archer’s hands cupped my face, I had to admit that part was pretty awesome. But all of it: joking with him and working beside him. Being with a guy who was my friend and could still make me feel like this.
“Oh, Mercer,”he murmured against my temple once we’d come up for air, “we are so screwed.”
I pressed my face against his neck, breathing him in. “I know.”
Demonglass, page 270
So, what do you think of my hot book boyfriend this week? :)
I tought Ben Bowers would be my perfect Archer <3
