CHAPTER 13
FORD
I kick my door closed behind us and the sound of it latching feels final, like I’m closing the door on the man I was before Arden came into my life.
I’ll be the first to admit the transformation has been slow over the last year, but I’m here now and my woman is in my arms. The woman I didn’t even know I needed, but the one I waited for all the same.
When I put her down, I let my gaze roam over her. She’s stunning.
“You shouldn’t have been put in the situation you were in,” I growl the words, hating what I found when I went looking for my woman because I thought I heard a car door slam as I was getting dressed. I quickly realized that my mother and Crystal must have shown up while I was taking a shower.
I wanted to meet Arden and steal a kiss before taking her to the barn. There was no fucking way I was going to be dirty after not being able to see her for a few days.
Not seeing her has been killing me. Don’t even get me started on the issues I’ve been having sleeping which has been damn near impossible. I slept with my Sunflower in my arms for one night. I’m already hooked.
I never want to sleep any other way.
The first thing I thought when I figured out Mom and Crystal were at Sagebrush was wondering what they had been up to with no one to greet them. It’s not like I informed either of them about Rosalie taking a little vacation. Why would I?
I realized I don’t trust them, either of them. It was sobering.
Hell, I left the door unlocked because I knew Arden was on her way. Having her in the house without me wasn’t something I even thought twice about.
My mother and sister? I found the notion bone chilling.
And damn, it breaks my heart.
Arden shrugs. “I could have also turned around when I pulled up. I had my suspicion about who the car belonged to and I was right.” She looks up at me, her navy eyes saying more than her words.
So much more; things I think it might be time to say.
“I wasn’t going to leave them in your home alone without knowing whether you were aware of their arrival or not.
They don’t strike me as people who would call ahead,” she arches an eyebrow as if daring me to contradict her.
I chuckle and kiss her softly. And quickly.
When I stand back up at my full height, I tilt my head as I look at her. “Strip, Sunflower.”
Her lips part; they’re pretty, pink and waiting for my kiss. As her breathing picks up, she starts to pull her clothing off. I match every piece. Shoes. Socks.
Jeans. Sweater for her, after the jacket I didn’t bother peeling off her downstairs. Flannel on my end with an undershirt, the whitest one I had in my drawer.
When we’re naked, Arden giggles as she crawls into bed. I lunge at her luscious ass, gripping it and making her yelp and arch her back. Her hair tumbles over her shoulders, a wave of something golden and bronzed.
We tumble to the bed in a heap of tangled limbs and breathless smiles. The way she goes limp when I manhandle her right where I want her, in the shelter of my body and where I can see her navy-blue eyes, has me chuckling and shaking my head.
All she does is grin at me in response.
“Okay,” once we’re situated, I look at her and hope she can see that every word I say to her is true. “I’m going to just lay it out there. It’s going to be a lot, but I’m not stopping and I’m not slowing down.”
“Ford,” she sighs as she bites the corner of her lip and fights the smile that wants to break free. “Don’t you think some of the things you said is happening a little fast?”
“No.”
Fuck, it’s not easy to concentrate with her smooth skin pressed against mine. My hand, large and calloused from years of work, slides over her hip. Her skin is so soft.
“You’re going to have to give me a little more than that, Cowboy,” she teases me.
I lean forward and kiss her shoulder before muttering, “Yeah, yeah.” I take a breath and let it out slowly.
“Here’s the long and short of it. I fell in love with you over the last year.
I didn’t know it was you, but that doesn’t matter.
I fell in love with you, Sunflower. Your heart.
Your soul. Your dreams. I want to help you make them a reality.
I want to watch you realize each one with a full heart and the pride of the people who love you at your back.
You have no idea, but this whole town would come out and help you make anything into a reality. ”
“I don’t want anyone’s pity,” she stubbornly pushes back against my words.
“It’s not pity. It’s respect. Joy even. Love for sure. You smile when people come to you,” I remind her. “Do you understand what you are in charge of?”
She huffs, her eyebrows furrowed adorably, “What are you talking about?”
“People in this town trust you. They trust you with their Christmas cards. With their bills, which might be the difference between the lights being on or off. They trust you with gifts for friends and family they can’t go and see.
And you greet them with a smile on your face; you don’t pry or gossip. ”
“It’s my job,” she points out, her words slow as if she’s trying to understand.
“It is, but it’s more than that, too.” I consider her for a long moment before kissing her forehead.
Her eyes slide closed and she leans into the contact.
“I think you started ignoring the whispers so long ago that you don’t hear them anymore, especially when they’re about you.
You block them out. It’s not what you think.
This town loves you. You have a dream? They’ll show up for you. ”
“Maybe one day,” she offers, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
I nod, taking in her words. “But for us?” The words are a whisper, “I think it happened that first letter, falling in love with you. It was brave, what you did, the way you were vulnerable and sweet.”
Her breath hitches and her eyes widen. I nod and she licks her lips.
“This is a long time coming as far as I’m concerned. A year is too long to be falling in love and having no way to get you to do the same.”
“Why do you think I wrote you a letter in the first place?” Her question soft, words that feel like a confession and petals. Hope blooms bigger and brighter in my chest.
“Because you caught a glimpse of a lonely man who needed someone to see him.”
There’s no bitterness in my words, just the version of reality I spun for myself over the last year. Considering I was in the dark about who she was, it was easier than letting myself think she might feel something for me.
“No,” she murmurs. “I was a teenager when I saw you for the first time. It was a classic crushing on the older boy situation. I don’t know why that day was different, or even what it was, but you had this little smile on your face, and I just thought you were the cowboy for me.”
She sighs and drapes herself on the bed dramatically and I can’t help but grin down at her. She’s so damn beautiful.
Laughter isn’t something I’ve had a lot of in the last few years. With Arden, it feels like days of laughter, of smiles, of love, are ahead of us.
“I watched you go through some horrible things,” her face is serious and she reaches for me. Her touch doesn’t make me want to run from the reality of those things. “I saw your commitment to the land, to Sagebrush. It left me in awe.”
“Arden,” I grunt her name, my throat tight.
“Not sure what changed a year ago, but I found myself writing you a letter and mailing it,” there’s a wistful note in her voice. “I think sometimes writing them was just as much for me as you. I hated the thought of you out here alone. No one should be alone.”
“I’m not alone anymore, Sunflower.” I kiss her softly, needing the connection.
When I pull back, my lips brush hers with every word, “With you, I want it all. I want to slide my ring on your finger and marry you. I want to fill this house with laughter again, real laughter. I want to make this place a home with you. I want a family. I want you.”
When a tear slides down her cheek, I brush it away with my thumb. “I’d really like that, Ford. All of it.”
“We might have already gotten started on the baby part of the plan,” I remind her, my lips curling into a sinful grin.
It’s the first time either of us has acknowledged it out loud.
Arden blushes and I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her flush against my chest. My cock throbs between us and she wiggles her hips slightly, a smile tugging at her lips.
“I love you, Arden, my Sunflower. I love you and I’m ready for this and making our lives something to be proud of. I’m all in,” I vow.
“Okay,” she breathes out. Her eyes slide closed for a second and when they open again, her navy depths are filled with conviction. “Then I’m ready to see where this life takes us. Together.”
I roll my woman until she’s on her belly. After grabbing one of the pillows, I pull up her hips and stuff it underneath, wanting her to be comfortable.
My hand slides over the soft globe of her ass. Fuck, my woman has a nice ass. When I smack it playfully, she gasps and looks back at me with surprise.
But she doesn’t tell me to stop or that she didn’t like it. I’m fairly sure lust flares in her eyes.
Something to explore later.
When I hold the globes of her ass open, letting me see all of her, she squirms. But from the way her breathing picks up, she likes it.
And she’s already so wet for me.
“Are you ready for me, Arden?”
My voice is gruff as I remember walking to the front door to hear the vile shit my mother was saying. The fact that she was saying it to Arden, the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life worshiping, was too much.
“Yes,” She moans, her back arching and pushing her ass up a little bit more. “I need to feel you inside me, Ford. Please.”
The way she’s begging me, the little whine in her voice, has pre-cum leaking from the crown of my cock. I position myself behind her, my larger body looming over her in a way that’s almost obscene. When I slide the head of my dick through her slick folds, we both moan at the contact.
When I push inside, the glide of it smooth and hot, my muscles tense when I’m buried all the way inside of her. I plant my forearm near her head and angle my body over hers in a way that lets me go just a little bit deeper.
“Oh,” the word is a held out note of a moan from my woman and my cock throbs in response. Her pussy clenching around me makes my eyes damn near cross. “You’re so deep,” she gasps the words, her hips rising and pushing back against me.
I lean forward, the heat of my chest blanketing her back. “I am deep this way, Sunflower,” I growl the words against the shell of her ear. I nip at the lobe and her pussy clenches and she keens. “I’m so deep I’m going to guarantee you get pregnant with my baby.”
Her entire body shudders and then I have to move. I start out slowly, needing it probably even more than she does. She’s so fucking tight and I have to roll my head back on my shoulders and clench my eyes shut for a few moments because I don’t want to embarrass myself.
The way her body opens up for me, the way her walls squeeze me, and the little whimpers and moans falling from her lips are almost too much to take. Everything about this woman is sexy as fuck and I’m powerless against her.
I wouldn’t want it any other way.
“That’s it,” my voice is rough, “you’re taking my dick so well.”
“Ford,” she gasps, “I’m going to come.”
“I can feel it. You’re going to coat my dick in your arousal and then I’m going to fill you with my cum. Is your greedy little pussy going to milk it all from my balls?”
Her body tightens up and pleasure washes over her. It’s too much for me to take, the sensation of giving her pleasure, of claiming her as mine.
“You’re mine,” I growl the words as I push inside of her as deep as I can and fall into pleasure I’ll only ever find with my Sunflower.
I’m so glad she wrote me that first letter.
“You saved my life, Arden. I’m going to make you happy. I promise.”
“I know you will,” she whispers, her eyes drooping as I pull her against my chest after we got cleaned up and crawled back into bed.
I don’t regret what I did today and the lines I drew with my mother and sister. Blood doesn’t make a family, not for me anyway. But, maybe, I can build something worth being proud of.
And Arden will always be at the center of my family. Always.