Chapter 42
Harper
“You can stay forever if you want to.”
Ford’s pupils dilate as he takes my hand, his fingers trembling slightly against mine as he leads me down the hallway. My purse slides off my shoulder, abandoned by the door. I’d only planned to say my piece and leave.
But the way his Adam’s apple bobs when he swallows, the way his shoulders gradually loosen with each step we take, the way the corners of his mouth lift into that crooked smile I’ve memorized—it all pulls me forward until we’re standing at the threshold of his bedroom.
“We can just sleep,” Ford says quietly.
My heart pounds against my ribs as I shake my head. “No.” I step closer until I can feel the heat radiating from his skin. “Not just sleep.”
I reach for the top button of my sweater dress, my fingers trembling slightly. Ford’s breath catches, his eyes never leaving mine as I work my way down. He swallows hard, then begins unbuttoning his own shirt. The soft rustle of fabric fills the silence between us.
My boots thud against the floor. Ford stands in his socks, oddly vulnerable. When my dress pools around my ankles, his pupils dilate, drinking me in—panties, bra, stockings. He sheds his remaining clothes until only his boxers remain.
I bend to roll down my tights, glancing up through my lashes. His gaze is the same one I captured in that photograph. Pure, raw desire. The corner of his mouth lifts in that half-smile that makes my stomach flip.
My bra clasp clicks open. As the straps slide down, goosebumps rise in their wake, my skin remembering his lips there from our first night. I shiver even though the room is warm.
“You’re so beautiful, Harper,” he whispers.
There’s no deception or games with Ford, and it’s incredibly intoxicating. “You should see you,” I reply with a smile.
“I could stare at you forever.”
“That would get kind of awkward. And a bit frustrating. Mostly sexually.”
He laughs, a deep, husky sound that fills the room. After removing his boxers, he climbs onto the bed. I reach over to turn off the lights.
“Don’t,” he says. “I want to see you. All of you.”
I’ve never had the lights on during intimacy, and my nipples harden under his gaze as I walk toward him. I slowly climb onto the bed and kiss him softly. His hands glide along my back and down toward my hips.
Just as his fingers brush against my panties, I playfully swat his hands away. “No.”
“No?”
“Not yet,” I clarify. “It’s my turn.”
“Your turn?”
I trace a path down his chest with my lips, each kiss leaving goosebumps in its wake. My leg slides over his thigh as I settle against him. When my fingers wrap around him, his breath catches. A small, sharp intake that makes my own breath quicken.
I move my hand in slow, deliberate strokes, watching his reaction. His lips part slightly, a tremble runs through him, but his eyes never waver from mine. Not once does he look down at what I’m doing. His gaze stays fixed on my face, as if memorizing every expression.
I lower my head, taking him between my lips. The moan that escapes him vibrates through the quiet room. His fingers twist in the sheets, knuckles whitening. A flush spreads across his chest, rising to his neck.
“Oh, Harper.”
My lips stretch around him as I take him deeper, his sharp intake of breath sending a thrill through me. I hollow my cheeks, watching his stomach muscles tense, then release my suction just as his breathing quickens.
“Harper,” he gasps, his voice strained.
A bead of sweat traces down his temple as I circle my tongue slowly, deliberately.
When my fingers find the sensitive skin below, his hips buck involuntarily.
The memory of our awkward collision flashes in my mind.
His pained expression, my mortified apology.
But now his eyes flutter closed, lips parting in a silent moan.
The pulse beneath my fingertips quickens, his thighs trembling. His hand finds my hair, not pushing, just a gentle pressure that makes me look up. Our eyes lock as he shakes his head, telling me to release him.
“I want you.”
I can’t comprehend how three simple words can sound so intoxicating when he says them. Without hesitation, I slide off the bed to remove my panties. He pulls me back toward him as he shifts to sit against the headboard, and I swing my leg over to straddle him.
As I settle into his lap, a soft moan escapes both of us as I take him in completely. My body welcomes him without resistance, already slick and eager. His pupils dilate until only a thin ring of chocolate brown remains, and my skin flushes hot beneath his gaze.
I never needed to fake anything with Ford—not the quickening of my breath, not the way my thighs tremble against his. When he looks at me like this, with that half-smile playing on his lips, I’m already halfway there before he’s even touched me.
“For the record,” he whispers, his breath warm against my skin as I begin to ride him, “there is nothing mediocre about you in bed.”
I laugh softly, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You make me feel like the only woman in the world, Ford. It’s incredibly confidence-boosting.”
His hands knead my back as I move, and I grind my hips against his pelvic bone, inching closer to the edge. “You are the only woman in the world. For me, Harper. It’s only ever been you.”
“I’m sure your exes love to hear that,” I pant, teasing him.
“I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but they were just filling time until I could have you.”
“It should sound terrible, but it’s actually really hot,” I murmur, a whimper escaping my lips as my orgasm hovers just out of reach.
Cupping my face, Ford gazes into my eyes. “I love you, Harper Wallace.”
And then my vision blurs at the edges, my thighs clamp around him, and my fingernails dig into his shoulders. I cry out his name as my body pulses around him, our gazes locked together.
His pupils dilate further as he watches me come undone, his lips parted, breath ragged, whispering “yes” with each wave that crashes through me.
I collapse against his chest, breathing heavily as he holds me close, allowing me to wind down. “I love watching you come, too,” he murmurs.
Kissing him softly, I shake my head. “You are remarkable.”
In one swift motion, he flips us over. My back presses into the cool sheets as his weight settles between my thighs.
His hips rock forward—slow, deep, precise.
He hooks his arm under my knee, opening me further, and his lips find that sensitive spot below my ear.
My toes curl, my fingers dig into the muscles of his back.
The headboard taps rhythmically against the wall.
His breathing grows ragged against my neck, his movements less controlled. Heat builds low in my belly, my thighs begin to tremble—when suddenly three words bubble up from somewhere deep inside me. The growing sensation of warmth disappears as I stare at the man above me in awe.
Oh my God.
“Harper,” Ford moans, thrusting three more times before filling me.
Disappointment flickers in his eyes as he searches mine, and his jaw tightens as he realizes I didn’t come with him. His weight shifts slightly, but he doesn’t move away.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“I get it now.”
He frowns. “Get what?”
“Feeling like you might explode.”
“I was trying to get you to explode again. What happened? You were close. I felt it—”
“I love you.”
He goes perfectly still, his eyes widening. For a heartbeat, I think he’s stopped breathing. Then his chest rises sharply.
“Say that again,” he whispers, voice catching on the last word.
The corners of my mouth lift. Something expands beneath my ribs, radiating heat through my limbs until my fingertips tingle.
“I love you, Ford.”
His mouth finds mine with such urgency that our teeth almost clash.
In one fluid motion, he shifts his weight, pulling me on top of him, his fingers pressing into the small of my back.
Against my lips, he murmurs, “If this is a dream...” His voice breaks, and he swallows hard. “Don’t let me wake up.”
“You’re not dreaming. But this feels like the greatest dream I’ve ever had.”
“Me, too, baby. Me, too.”