Chapter 10
Ford climbed the stairs to Darcy’s apartment Friday evening feeling fully unsettled.
Something had happened this week between him and Darcy.
The hot and heavy Monday had led to a sweet Tuesday, but then things had oddly cooled between them.
She seemed to be pulling away a bit, not sharing as much, and it was killing him.
He couldn’t fathom what had happened, but the easygoing conversations of earlier in the week had led way to strained chatting that seemed more like how’s the weather than I miss you so much.
He paused at the door, wondering if he should tell her the truth of his shift. Could she think he was keeping secrets from her?
But what if it was too early? They hadn’t shared I love yous yet, and the general rule of being with a human was not sharing the secret of shifters until love was assured.
Both Dexter and Grey told him that he would know when the time was right. But now he was full of indecision.
Shaking off the worry, he focused on figuring out what was going through his beautiful mate’s mind. He knocked on her apartment door.
It wasn’t Darcy that opened the door, though, it was Cruz. And he looked every bit the over-protective big brother, but Ford could tell that this was more than just general sibling protectiveness. Cruz was a male who had decided Ford was bad news.
“Got a minute?” Cruz asked, his tone sharp.
“Sure,” Ford said, aware that Cruz hadn’t stepped aside to let him into the apartment.
Darcy appeared behind her brother. “Cruz, please, don’t—”
Cruz put his hand up. “Let me handle this.”
Ford caught her gaze and shook his head. He wasn’t going to let her put herself between them. If Cruz wanted an argument with Ford, then he could have it.
“Whatever you have to say, say it,” Ford said.
“You’ve known my sister for less than a week and she’s walking around here with stars in her eyes. It’s all too damn fast. I’m sure you’re playing with her, and I want it to end now.”
“Cruz,” Darcy said, wincing. She tugged on Cruz’s arm and he allowed himself to be pulled aside enough for Ford to walk through the doorway. Immediately, Ford put himself between Darcy and her brother, tucking her against his back.
“I hear what you’re saying. You’re her big brother and I respect that.”
“Oh please,” Cruz said with a snort. “You don’t know a thing about us. I’m all she’s got. And you… you’re just some guy who’s sticking around long enough to get his dick wet and then leave. I know your kind.”
Ford exhaled slowly, his stallion furious.
“First of all, Darcy’s mine and I’m hers.
And you may not like that or understand it, but it’s the truth.
I would walk through broken glass barefoot to keep her safe, and there isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do to keep her close to me.
You might be her blood family, but she’s my soulmate and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you talk down to her for the choices of her heart, or insinuate that I’m only after her for one thing.
You don’t know a thing about me, Cruz. But what you should know, is that I will defend her with my last breath and you can take that to the bank. ”
He heard Darcy’s soft gasp, and her hands curled into the back of his shirt.
Cruz stared at him but said nothing.
“She deserves someone who will stand by her no matter how messy life gets, and that’s me. I’m not going anywhere. Not tonight, not tomorrow, no matter how hard things get. You can test me all you want, but I’m not leaving her side.”
Darcy slipped under Ford’s arm and hugged him around his midsection.
“Cruz, you don’t get to decide who I fall for.
I’m not a little girl who needs to be rescued.
Ford hasn’t done anything for you to act like you are.
You don’t trust him because I think you don’t want what you and I have to be in jeopardy.
But I’ll always be your sister, and we’ll always be close. ”
Cruz’s jaw ticked. His gaze tripped between Ford and Darcy.
He seemed to want to keep pushing Ford, but Darcy stepping up at his side had changed things.
“I have my doubts,” Cruz said.
“I don’t,” Darcy said. “And it’s not up to you.”
“Just be careful.” Cruz was speaking to Darcy but staring at Ford. A promise to defend her if needed. Ford appreciated that he wanted to keep his sister safe, but for crap’s sake, he wasn’t going to hurt her.
He loved her.
He’d fallen for her hard this week. It was new love, fresh like spring grass, but it would bloom in time and deepen. He just hadn’t told her yet. The attack against Khyle and Tris by Colton had sent the herd reeling, and he was still working with the others on ways to keep them all safe.
And now he had Darcy to keep safe too.
“We’re leaving,” Darcy said. “Don’t wait up.”
She nodded toward the door to Ford and he walked her out. She shut the door behind them, then sagged against him. He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Me?” She tilted her head to look at him. “You’re the one who had to deal with my brother.”
“He’s just trying to watch out for you.”
“I think he means well, but he doesn’t know when to let go of things. We were arguing before you got here. I’m just so sorry about all of it.”
Ford kissed her forehead. “You don’t need to apologize. He loves you, and I’ll take whatever heat he wants to throw at me so you never doubt where I stand with you.”
“Thank you for standing up to him, for standing up for me.”
“I will always defend you, Darcy. You’re the center of my universe.”
“You’re mine too.”
* * *
Khyle, Tris, Dexter, and Nancy were staying in the barn apartment because it just made sense for the herd to be together instead of having two couples down the road exposed to Colton’s treachery, even with the security systems they had in place.
So after Ford and Darcy ate dinner at a pizza place outside Little River, he asked her if she’d like to come back to the farmhouse for a while and she’d happily agreed.
They went right up to his suite on the second floor and shut the door, then tumbled to the bed, where every instinct in his body told him to tell her that he loved her, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
And that he was a shifter.
But he held back. Because even though things were seemingly back to normal between them tonight, he couldn’t shake the strangeness over the last couple days.
Snuggling under the covers with her as they both came down from the heavens, he asked her what happened.
“With what?” she asked.
“A couple days ago, you seemed kind of distant. I was wondering if I did something wrong or said something that upset you.”
She tilted her head and peered at him in the dark. The lights were off but the blinds were open, allowing in some moonlight.
“I thought you’d changed your mind.”
“About what?” he asked.
“Me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” she said, resting her hand on his chest, her fingers digging lightly into his skin.
“Things were going really well, and I felt so close to you on Tuesday when you came by for lunch. And then Wednesday, it was like you were a different person. You were distant, distracted. What Cruz said about you being a one-and-done guy got in my head. I talked to Reagan and she said I should tell you what I was feeling, but I was afraid.”
He felt like an ass. He’d been so consumed with worry for the herd that it had spilled over into his relationship with Darcy. Because he’d been worried about bringing her home to the herd to live at some point—soon he hoped—and her getting hurt by Colton and his buddies.
“What were you afraid of?”
“That it was true. That you liked me for a while and were tired of me. I didn’t want to believe it, and I don’t think I really got to that point, but I couldn’t help the way my brain was working.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said. He kissed her gently, his stallion rumbling in his head.
“I messed up. I’m so damn sorry. Something happened Tuesday night and I wasn’t sure how to tell you about it, and because of what happened, I was worried about your safety.
It must have seemed to you like I was losing interest—which I swear I wasn’t.
Not by a long shot. You’re my forever girl, Darcy.
There isn’t anyone else I want, just you. Forever.”
“You’re my forever guy too. But what happened that made you worry so much?”
He stared at her, his mind spinning.
How could he tell her about Colton—the real, harsh truth of him—without telling her he was a shifter?
He couldn’t. Not really. It would be half of the truth, and it probably wouldn’t make a damn bit of sense.
“Let’s get dressed. I need to show you something.”
“Wait, what?” she asked.
He grabbed his phone and sent a quick text to Grey. Then he picked up his jeans off the floor. “I need to show you something.”
“Oh. I thought…”
“Trust me,” he said. “I’ll tell you everything, but out in the barn.”
She stared at him for a moment, and then she got out of bed and put on her jeans and sweater. He took her hand and led her from the bedroom and down the stairs to the front door, where he grabbed their coats before they stepped outside.
“I do trust you,” she said while they walked to the barn that the herd used for shifting.
“Good, sweetheart. That means the world to me. Because I’m about to tell you something that will explain everything but also raise more questions.”
“All right,” she said with a light laugh. “I’m ready for whatever it is.”
He sure freaking hoped she was.