Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
EMERSON
Ford’s words send a bolt of desire clear through me, and I bring my legs up around his hips, seating him firmly against my nakedness as he leans back enough to meet my eyes.
I arch into him, my eyes barely able to stay open when his rock-hard cock grinds against my clit so fucking perfectly. He inhales sharply through his nose before I circle my hips, spreading my arousal over his length.
His brow falls to mine when he presses himself against me, his thick cock sliding between my folds and making me gasp. He swallows my pants when he covers my mouth with his, sliding his tongue past my lips to duel with mine.
I can taste myself on him, and I pull him closer still, needing more. Needing everything until he roughly breaks away, glancing at the door with frantic eyes. “ Shit ! I need to go grab condoms, baby.”
He begins to straighten to stand, but stops when my legs tighten around his waist. His eyes find mine, his brow drawn in question as my heart hammers against my breastbone at the thought of what I’m about to do.
But I need to know.
“How many have there been?”
He tilts his head to one side, his frown deepening as his hair falls across it, giving him an adorably boyish look. But rather than get distracted, as could very easily happen considering our current position, I repeat my question. “How many have there been? Since me, Cowboy…”
As understanding dawns, his gaze softens and he leans closer, dropping his brow to mine again. “I told you a long time ago that I’d be your first and your last, baby. And that vow went both ways.”
“You mean, in five years, you haven’t…”
I gasp when I trail off, and a disbelieving sliver of hope swells in my chest as he continues. “There’s been no one else, Tink. There could never be anyone else for me. I’ve never fallen out of love with you.” He swallows heavily as his voice drops. “And I never will.”
As I blink up at his handsome face, seeing his heart shining in his eyes, I’m filled with love for this man, and my own confession falls from my lips on a whisper. “Not for me either.”
His eyes widen, pupils blown as he holds my stare. I brush his hair away from his brow, then cup his cheek.
“My first. My last. My always .”
His mouth is on mine before I’ve even finished, and I feel his carefully restrained ardor rise to fever pitch. Our bodies move in sync, locked as our pelvises grind together. And, to my shock, I can feel another orgasm building already until he rises, kneeling above me.
He grips his cock, dragging the tip through my folds until he’s completely slick, and I’m squirming beneath him. Placing my heels on either of his shoulders, he pumps his hips, drawing himself back and forth across my core.
“Please…Ford… please — ooh !”
I watch as he taps his hardness against my pussy, hitting my clit and sending a sharp surge of pleasure through me with each pass.
“What is it that you want, baby?”
He taps my pussy again, harder this time, and I cry out in exquisite anticipation.
“Use.”
Tap.
“Your.”
Tap.
“Words.”
Tap.
“Oh please…” I’m panting, visibly trembling, as Ford notches his cock right at my dripping core. My mind is racing, and my body is a puddle of wanton desire when his free hand snakes around my neck. His thumb rests over my pulse, brushing over the skin oh-so-gently as he watches me with a hunger as great as my own.
“Words, Tink. Tell me what you need. I’ll give it to you.” His voice drops an octave as he experimentally pumps his hips, taunting me mercilessly. “I’ll give you everything .”
“Fuck me! Christ, fuck me, Ford. Please ?—”
With a single thrust of his hips, he seats himself fully inside me, and my eyes slam closed as we both cry out when our bodies are reunited once again.
Neither of us moves until I open my eyes to find him gazing down at me with an awed look on his face. Sweat beads his forehead, and his jaw is tight from gritting his teeth. His hand gripping my hip tightens as his cock pulses inside me, and I can feel him vibrating with barely contained restraint.
The hand around my neck trails down my body, flicking a nipple before continuing lower, where he brushes his thumb across my clit, swirling my slickness as he begins to circle his hips, opening me up to him. My responding whimper makes him move both his hips and his thumb faster.
Wickedly faster .
And faster still, until my breaths are coming in short rasps.
My orgasm is just beyond reach as he switches his rhythm, plunging his cock in and out, pounding into me, and making my tits bounce with each powerful thrust.
“That’s it, baby. I can feel your pussy milking my cock.” Ford’s words are breathy as he grips my hip so tightly that I know it will leave a mark.
And I revel in the idea of being marked as his . Of being owned by Ford Holloway.
“Come inside me. Fill me with you, Ford.”
He grunts, and I can feel his rhythm falter as he approaches his own peak.
The look of ecstasy on his face. The scent of our intimacy. The feel of his cock pulsing inside of me, his hands playing my body like the sweetest symphony. The thought of taking his cum inside me…
It’s an assault to my senses like no other that makes my pussy ripple around his hardness, but it’s when he pinches my clit hard between his thumb and index finger that I tumble right off the edge, reaching my pinnacle while I cry his name at the top of my lungs.
And he’s falling when I’m at my peak, a deep groan of completion rumbling from his sweat-slick chest.
I’ve barely recovered, my legs feeling entirely like Jell-O as Ford lowers them to the mattress before he leans over me. His cock is still throbbing within my core, shooting the rest of his climax deep inside me as he presses a heart-meltingly gentle kiss to my lips.
His eyes are hooded when he pulls back enough to pierce my soul with his oceanic gaze before familiar words ghost over my lips. “I just want you to know who I am…”
I can almost hear the strains of “Iris” as the edge of my mouth kinks upward, and I palm his cheek. “Who’s that then, Cowboy?”
“The man who will love you through eternity, Tink.”
A lump of emotion rises at the back of my throat, watching through glassy eyes as Ford lays himself bare. “Because a love like ours is as boundless as the universe herself. And she knew what she was doing when she brought you to me.”
FORD
My eyes lazily pass over Emmy’s sleeping face, absorbing every last drop of the sunlight she exudes, basking in the simple act of being close again after so much time apart.
We’ve spent the last twenty-four hours in a haze of lovemaking, barely stopping to hydrate and refuel, entirely focused only on each other. It’s been perfection, and I could happily live like this for the rest of my life.
Emmy’s lashes part slowly, a satisfied smirk lifting her lips as her eyes find mine when she turns to face me. “Morning, Cowboy.”
My chest aches in bittersweet ecstasy, resenting every morning we’ve spent apart even as I rejoice in the here and now.
“Good morning, baby.” I press a soft kiss to her lips before tugging the sheet up over our heads, cocooning us away even further from the world outside this room.
She watches me with wary eyes as I clasp her hands in mine, knowing we need to talk but hesitant to burst our bubble.
Rip off the band-aid, Holloway.
“I’m just going to come right out and say it, Emmy. I’ve been without you for the past five years, and I can’t return to living like that.” Her eyes light up, a smile spreading across her face, though it drops almost instantly when I continue. “No one needs to know. It’s our business?—”
“ No !” She tugs her hands, attempting to extricate herself from my grip, but I hold her tighter.
“Emerson, see reason here. It’s career suicide to be linked to Jasper Holloway’s son. The prosecution found links to home invasions, murder, and human trafficking , for Christ’s sake.” She flinches, but her eyes don’t drop from mine, so I push harder. “There’s never going to be a time when the world won’t remember his crimes and the crimes of those around him, and that’s the way it should be, but you don’t have to pay the price for his crimes.”
“Neither do you , Ford.”
Emmy’s voice is soft but firm, and it hits me square in the gut because, after all, it’s nothing I haven’t thought myself.
She leans closer until the tips of our noses are touching. “I deserve to make my own decisions. And I choose to love you in the light, where everyone can see. Anyone who has a problem with that can take a long walk off a short pier.”
The fierce determination in her eyes tells me she’s as serious as it gets, and the thought that she’d run the risk of losing it all in order to love me on her terms makes my chest swell with emotion. I can’t help myself from covering her mouth with mine in a hard kiss, our eyes never leaving each other until my cell ringing breaks the silence between us.
I grab it from the nightstand, knowing that only a handful of numbers can get past do-not-disturb mode, and I frown when I spot Faith’s name flashing on the screen.
Emmy’s worried eyes meet mine as I slide the answer button.
“Everything okay, Pest?”
“Is everything okay? Is everything okay ?” Her voice rises on the repeated question as I stand silently, willing her to elaborate, which she does quickly. “When were you planning on telling us that you were Emerson Hart’s bodyguard ?”
Emmy barely stifles a snort as I narrow my eyes. “I’m her personal security?—”
“To-may-to, to-mah-to.”
My hackles are up, but I know by now to just let my sisters have their say. It’s easier than debating. Instead, I follow up with, “How did you find out anyway?”
“How did I find out? Umm…it’s blasted all over the internet, idiot! But of course, I’d read about it online rather than hear it from my brother.”
I roll my eyes at her pointed dig, but don’t rise to it.
“A client is a client, Pest. What difference does it make if it’s Emerson Hart?”
“Trust me, it makes a difference.” She huffs exaggeratedly, as though I’m missing some vital point.
“Is that why you rang? To berate me for not telling you that I’ve taken on Emerson Hart as a client? ’Cause I’m pretty sure I’ve never disclosed my client list to you previously.”
There’s a long pause, and I’m immediately on high alert.
“I was told not to tell you, but…” my sister trails off, uncertainty coloring her tone until she speaks again. “Momma was in an accident?—”
I cut her off, already up and moving before she’s even finished her sentence.
“I’m on my way.”