Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
ELLIE
I glance at his text again.
Ford: I’ll pick you up at seven. Don’t wear anything nice.
It’s three minutes until seven, he isn’t here, and I’m dying to see him.
My fingers begin to fly across the keyboard, demanding information, when I hear a knock at the door. Just knowing it’s him makes my heart flutter.
It’s so funny how having someone in your life that’s supposed to be there changes everything.
Mornings are a little easier because I might get to see him.
Laundry isn’t as mundane when you’re mentally putting together outfits so you look on top of your game when you see him -- a man that always looks great no matter what.
Each minute can be changed by a single thought of him and something he said or a way he looked at you.
I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning. He had a family commitment last night that I was invited to, but didn’t feel comfortable attending. Today was a hellish day for both of us at work. It feels like too long since I saw him and that’s nerve-wracking.
“Hey,” I say before the door is even pulled open.
He doesn’t greet me with words, just a deep, soft kiss that is almost as if he needs the contact or he may suffocate.
Pulling away, I giggle. “Nice to see you too.”
“I been trying to get over here for the last forty minutes,” he groans. “There was an issue with the event Landry Security is doing tomorrow night and the organizer from their end is incorrigible.”
“That sucks.”
“It does. But now I’m here and everything is better,” he admits.
“Not everything,” I sigh. “I was just texting you.”
“What for?”
“Well, I was antsy, really,” I laugh. “But your instructions to dress down have thrown me a little. I dress down already, so dressing more down …” I make a face.
“You could keep dressing down, and I think I’d like it even more.”
There’s a hint of innuendo in his tone, a little shimmer in his eye, and I take a step back. Pulling the neckline of my shirt down to expose a sliver of cleavage, I say, “Oh, dress down like this?”
I’m over his shoulder before I know what’s happening, my shrieks of laughter filling the house. One hand squeezes my butt, holding me firmly against him.
“What are you doing?” I laugh, pointing to the bedroom door. In a matter of seconds, I’m on my back and he’s on top of me.
“Exactly what you just asked for,” he grins.
“I don’t recall asking for anything.” I run a fingernail down the side of his face.
His eyes heat, his Adam’s apple bobbing so sexily that I almost gasp. His fingers work the button of my jeans and they’re slipped down and discarded, along with my shoes and socks.
The air is cool as it touches my skin, but my temperature rises as I watch Ford undress. He maintains eye contact the entire time, ridding himself quickly of his attire.
As he climbs back on top of me, I drape my arms over his neck. I press a kiss to his lips. “Just looking at you is like foreplay,” I admit. “Damn it, Ford.”
He grins, allowing me to roll him over and sit my pussy over his cock. I can feel the heat radiating off me, my wetness making our bodies slip as I gently rock my hips back and forth.
“I can’t wait,” he says, lifting his hips. He palms his length. As he positions himself against my opening, I lick my lips.
“I want you inside me. I want you so deep that you—oooh!”
In one deft movement, he slides in me. My body feels amazingly full, like every sensory organ is being overwhelmed in the most delicious way.
“Like that?” he growls.
“Yes.”
Moaning, my head falls back and the ends of my hair swish against Ford’s thighs. He digs his hands into my hips and I rock back and forth, craving as much contact as I can make.
“Damn,” I hiss, rolling my hips slowly. “This is heaven.”
He lifts his hips, sinking even deeper into my body. I feel my wetness when I reach behind me and palm his balls.
“Fuck,” he murmurs, throwing his head back into the pillows.
I massage them, watching the look of pure delight dance across his face. “Feel good?”
“So fucking good.”
As I release him, he flips me to my back. My foot goes flying, knocking over the menagerie of things on my bedside table. The sound of little candies pouring onto the bed rattles through the room.
I giggle, trying to move so the hard pieces don’t get under me. It’s futile. Every adjustment I make allows more to roll beneath me.
“Shit,” I laugh. “That’s kind of a mood killer.”
“That’s all it takes to ruin your mood? Guess I’ll have to work at getting you back where I want you.”
I lie still, watching him methodically pick up one piece of candy in each color. “Be still,” he warns as he places a red one in the hollow of my throat. “Don’t move or it’ll fall.”
He shoots me a devious grin as he places another candy between my breasts.
“What are you doing?” I ask, trying to stay still.
“Shh …”
A purple candy sits just beneath my chest and a yellow one is placed in my belly button. With a smirk to die for, he watches my reaction as he sets an orange one at the apex of my thighs.
My breathing gets more ragged as he positions himself between my legs. His hair is mussed up, his eyes downright sinful.
“What now?” I whisper.
He shuffles to the side, placing a green one on the peak of my closed lips. Maintaining eye contact the entire time, he lowers himself push-up style and swipes the candy from my lips. I grasp his biceps, feeling the muscles flex under my touch.
As my jaw slacks in response, he takes advantage and enters my mouth with his tongue. He kisses me with a fervor I reciprocate.
When he pulls back, I pout.
“Trust me,” he winks. Lowering himself again, he forms an O over the candy at the base of my throat and sucks it into his mouth.
I hiss, sucking in a deep breath. My nipples harden, peaking, begging for attention. “This better not take too long.”
“You’re going to have to be patient,” he warns, swallowing the candy.
He moves down my body, appreciating every curve and bow of my figure with squeezes and kisses as he goes. I feel his cock hard against my leg as he repositions himself. My pussy clenches in response.
He draws my nipple into his mouth, rolling the hardened bead around his tongue. I knot my hands in his hair and pull, letting out a drawn-out moan.
“You’re killing me,” I tell him, dying.
His tongue drags hot and wet across my chest, catching the candy on the way to my other nipple. Using the candy as a prop, he rolls it over the tip of my breast. I writhe against his body, beginning to lose my mind.
He moves lower down my body, swiping the next candy and then sucking the piece from my belly button. His mouth is hot, his tongue heavy as he drags it across me.
I suck in a quick breath, my skin on fire. Goosebumps spatter the surface, my hips rising, begging for action.
Looking up at me as he gets settled between my legs again, he grins. “Need something, El?”
“Yeah. You. Inside me.”
“I’ll be happy to do that. In just a second …”
I growl, falling back into the pillows.
Nudging my thighs apart with his elbows, he presses a kiss to the inside of each of my legs. I feel small bits of pressure parting me and I look down to see him pressing candies along my slit.
“What are you doing?” I ask, my jaw hanging open.
Ford splays his hand at the bottom of my belly and uses his thumb to apply pressure to my clit. “Hold still,” he smirks.
“Hurry up, Ford,” I groan. “You’re being mean.”
“I’m about to be very,” he says, leaning forward, “very,” he hovers his mouth over my opening, and as I begin to moan, he whispers, “nice.”
His breath trickles over my opening, warm and heady. Just as I begin to object, he runs his tongue up me, capturing the candies with his tongue.
“Oh my God,” I say, as he grins devilishly at me. Before I can process anything, he buries his face between my legs.
“Ah,” I say on an exhale, trembling. My knees literally quake, my eyes squeezing shut as he makes another leisurely pass to my clit.
“Hurry up. Ah!” I voice as he dips a finger inside me.
“Hurry up?” he laughs. “Baby, I’m just getting started.”
***
ELLIE
He takes me in head-to-toe as I fix my hair. I ran a brush through it after our detour to the bedroom, but it’s still wild.
“You look perfect,” he beams. “Go get in the truck.”
We lock up, toss my fishing poles in the back, and take off down the road a couple of hours later than we anticipated.
The windows are partially down. My hair begins to blow like crazy around the cab of the truck despite the elastic securing it. I’m trying to smash it down when he reaches behind my seat and retrieves a Tennessee Arrows baseball hat.
“Thanks,” I say, taking it and pulling it snug over my head.
Ford takes my hand, locks our fingers together, and rests them on the middle console. He holds it tight, brushing his thumb against the side of my palm. They fit perfectly together, his hand nearly encompassing mine.
“I had an interesting conversation with Camilla the other day,” he says, rolling up the windows so we can hear.
“Oh, yeah?”
“She was telling me that whoever she’s gotten involved with makes her happy. Her eyes lit up, you know?” He glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “I’ve never seen Cam like that. I keep thinking about it.”
“Is this the guy that you were looking for? At The Gold Room?”
“Yeah,” he chuckles. “The Gold Room. I mean, if that name doesn’t tell you everything you need to know.”
I laugh, giving his hand a squeeze. “How’d the conversation go? I mean, did she come clean with you about who he is?”
“No and she won’t.”
I let him mull over whatever he’s thinking. After a few long seconds, he takes a deep breath. “In the military, I learned how important it is to surround yourself with people that you trust. You are only as strong as the weakest person in your unit. The same theory applies in life too.”
“I can see that.”
“I hope she does too before she gets in too far.” He gives my hand a final squeeze and then releases it. Grabbing the wheel with both hands, he steers the truck off the road onto an old path.