“Fuck,” he shouts behind me.
His fingers curl into my shoulder, digging into my flesh even more. I’m going to have marks there to match the dozens of other marks he’s left all over my body, but I don’t care, not a single ounce.
Closing my eyes, I let out a silent scream as I slap my clit again and I come, hard. “Fuck, yes,” he roars, burying himself inside of me.
I feel his cock grow, then twitch as he fills me with his release. He loosens his grip on my throat but doesn’t release me as he lets out another roar, his hips continuing to shift and move, his cock sliding in and out of me much softer and gentler than just a few moments ago.
Ford’s lips touch my temple, his mouth moving down to my ear. “I’m sorry if I was too rough, I’ll make it up to you in the morning. Eat your pretty pussy again,” he whispers.
I hum, my body so sated and worn out. “You weren’t,” I rasp. “It was perfect.”
His body is still behind me, but I don’t register the move. I let out a little sigh as he lowers me onto the bed. Ford arranges me, tugging the bedding back before he pulls it around my naked, sore, tired body.
I don’t even realize that he doesn’t join me, as soon as my head hits the pillow and I’m surrounded by the fluffy bedding, I pass the hell out.
Chapter Thirteen
STEPHANIE
I feel like a cat as I stretch my sore muscles beneath the warm comforter, a purr escaping my lips before I even open my eyes. Reaching out next to me, I find that the other side of the bed is cold. Frowning, I force my eyes open and look around the room.
It’s empty, the bright sun of the day shining in through the open windows. Just looking out of the window, you’d never guess there was any kind of storm last night. Tugging the bedding up over my chest, I push myself to sitting straight up as I take in the floor of the room.
My clothes are strewn around, including my cardigan, but Ford’s clothes are nowhere to be seen. He’s gone. The house is so small, I would no doubt feel his presence if he were here, but seeing the absence of his clothing, it confirms it.
Biting the corner of my lip, I inhale a deep breath before I let it out on a long exhale. Lifting my eyes a few inches, I hold my breath as I look around the room in the daylight. My heart squeezes as I take it all in. He did this, for me, for us and I shit on him.
“You look like you’re gonna be sick, was it that bad?” a deep voice rumbles.
My body jerks back slightly, my eyes flicking up to meet Ford’s. “What?”
“Last night and this morning, was it so bad you regret it and look like you’re about to be sick in the daylight?”
Licking my bottom lip, I sink my teeth into my flesh as I shake my head once. “It wasn’t bad, it was better than I could have ever imagined,” I admit, whispering softly.
His mouth drops open slightly, then a look of tenderness crosses his features, covering his surprise. He doesn’t say another word, instead he takes a step toward me.
I hold my breath as he lifts his knee, sinking it next to my hip into the mattress as he leans forward, his fists planting on either side of me, his nose almost touching mine. His mouth brushes across mine and I continue to hold my breath, not wanting to breathe my no doubt terrible morning breath around his nose.
“Honey, it was the best I ever had,” he rasps against my lips.
Letting out a gasp, my eyes widen when his lips touch mine, his tongue slipping inside of my mouth and tasting me.
Tasting. Me.
Morning breath and all.
“Ford,” I whisper in a daze.
I shouldn’t want him kissing me, not without having brushed my teeth. But he didn’t care and I find it odd that in the end, neither did I.
Sebastian demanded that both of us brush before anything happened, or toward the end, didn’t happen. I was fine with that, because I always thought it was disgusting, but what just happened between Ford and I was nowhere near gross.
“Don’t know what this means for us, Stephanie. I want to say that I liked last night a hell of a lot,” he mutters.
Nodding my head, my eyes meet his. Lifting my hand, I wrap it around the back of his neck, my fingers sliding through the strands of his soft hair against the nape. My eyes search his, wondering what could be, no longer thinking about what might have been, but instead—what could be?
“Does it have to mean anything? I’m only here for a few weeks, can’t we just enjoy one another?” I breathe against his lips.
He grunts and I think that he’s going to demand more of an answer from me, but thankfully, he doesn’t. The truth of the matter is that I don’t know what can be between us. I know that I have obligations waiting for me in Los Angeles and I don’t know how Ford fits into that life. At the same time, I don’t know how I can fit into his life here.
Could we be more than we are?
Could we be anything?
“You’re thinking too hard,” he mutters against my lips.
Without another word, he pushes off of the bed and takes a couple steps back, his eyes searching my face. I watch him, unsure of what to say. I could be thinking too hard, it’s possible, I kind of do that.
But, could I also be allowing a bit of hope to build inside of me, hope that something can grow between us? Something other than guilt, disappointment, resentment, and bitterness?
“I am,” I say, nodding my head in agreement.
Ford’s lips twitch into a smirk. “I pulled your car up the road and under the covered parking. If you want to take a shower, water here works. Checked the shower for scorpions and snakes this morning.” He grins.
“God, do not remind me that we’re in snake and scorpion country,” I groan.
He chuckles, his eyes dancing as they take in my look of utter horror and disgust. “You’re in snake and scorpion country, honey, there’s no way to hide your head in the sand about that shit.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I know.”
“Also, brought you a pair of workout shorts and a t-shirt. It’s all I had.” He shrugs. “There’s soap, but no hair shit in the bathroom here.”
“Okay,” I mutter.
“Also, saw your phone in the car.”
I watch as he reaches in his back pocket and tugs my phone out, tossing it on the bed toward my lap. Reaching for the device, I wonder how I went this long without it. It’s usually attached to my hand, the first thing that I reach for when I open my eyes in the morning, and yet, this morning I didn’t even think about it.
“Thanks,” I mutter, lifting my eyes to meet his. “Did you find your horse?” I ask.
He smirks. “Yeah, I got her last night. She’s a little shook up from the storm, but she’s fine.”
Nodding my head, I bite the inside of my cheek, not saying anything else. Suddenly, I feel really awkward.
“There’s hot coffee in a thermos next to the clothes on the table. Didn’t have much to eat at the house, the store isn’t really a priority of mine most days. You want some eggs, I can grab some from the hens,” he rambles.
“I don’t eat breakfast,” I whisper. “Coffee is good.”
“I gotta go do a few chores, I’ll be back in about an hour to take you to your car.”