Ford Security

by Clara Kendrick

  “I have to go, Kara…”

  “What’s wrong?” she questions, panic in her voice. “Do I need to call nine-one-one?”

  “It’s Luke. He’s here on my porch.”

  “I want all the sordid scoop.”

  “I’ll talk to you later.” I hang up the phone and drop it onto the coffee table before rushing to the door and ripping it open just as Luke begins to knock again.

  “What took you so long to answer?” he questions before pushing his way inside, leaving me to close the door behind him.

  “Why did you knock?” I answer his question with a question before crossing my arms over each other and staring at him defiantly. “I mean, you just waltz right on in like you own the place anyways.”

  He twists to face me, wags a finger gently in my face. “Am I noticing the faint trace of an attitude problem?”

  “You left last night and you didn’t come back.”

  “Yeah.” He scratches his thumb against his nose. “I had some thinking to do.”

  “Thinking about what? Because the last thing I knew, we were both back on the same page and then I was attacked and you leave without hardly saying a word, so tell me what am I supposed to think or feel?”

  He shrugs and then cracks a careless but forced smile. “I’m not going to tell you how to live your life.” He steps towards me, his tall frame towering over me. And for the first time, I almost feel afraid of him, or maybe I’m just terrified that he’s learned all my secrets overnight. “But I told you that you had to be honest with me, and although you might not know it, withholding information is the same thing as being dishonest.” He wets his lips, drops his gaze to me and then shifts to take a seat on the couch, throwing one hand over the arm of the furniture. “So, I’m going to give you one last opportunity to be honest with me without me having to prompt you for the truth.”

  I battle him with a stare, hoping he relents first, but he’s firm in his resolve. His eyes stay locked with mine and it’s a battle I stand no chance at winning.

  “Fine,” I huff and chew into my lip. I’m aggravated. I’m scared, not just of who’s out there but of losing him, too. “You want to know all my darkest secrets?” I yell and nod my head, grit my teeth, and prepare to unload on him. “That man at the pawn shop?”

  He cocks a curious brow.

  “We used to date, back in high school.” I take careful notice of his face, and he doesn’t seem the least bit surprised. “It was one of my biggest mistakes, but I was going through my bad boy phase my senior year and he was notorious for consistently finding himself on the opposite side of the law. Late one night, after our curfew, I was driving him across town to pick up something from his older brother when were stopped by the police who searched my car and found drugs. He insisted that they weren’t his and so I took the fall for him and thusly the reputation I had worked so hard to build up in my school tumbled the very next day. I was the talk of the school, much to my dismay.” I drop my head slightly and chuckle. “It’s the reason I refuse to go back to my high school reunion. People don’t remember me as that girl who got good grades and never got into trouble. They remember me as the girl who got busted, and then even more tragically, they remember me as the girl who lost her parents only a few years after graduation.”

  “Again, I’m sorry to hear about that…” He cocks his head to the left, trying to avoid eye contact with me, but after him scolding me, I’m not about to let him get off easy.

  “Look at me,” I yell almost as loud as a scream, my voice trembling. He twists back to me and swallows nervously. “You wanted the truth, well here it is. Even after David pinned his drugs on me, I still thought I loved him and we stayed together until I caught him cheating on me, and so I got revenge the only way I thought I knew how. I began dating his older brother for a few short months until I realized that wasn’t going to work either, so right before the start of summer, David and I got back together. It was an even more tumultuous relationship than the one we had before. He became jealous over my every move and action, and finally, I had enough. I packed up everything and moved away from the valley to create a new life for myself, one where people didn’t know me.”

  I take a seat on the couch beside him as I head into the more emotional stuff. I don’t often open up about the loss of my parents, but this is the second time in only a few days that I’ve talked about them with Luke, who’s basically a complete stranger to me still.

  I think he senses my anxiety because he reaches across the short distance between us and drops a comforting hand onto my thigh. My eyes travel to meet his and in his face, I can see a sullen look. I nod at him before continuing.

  “My parents and Kara were the last things I was holding onto, the last remnants of my old life. Once they passed, there was nothing else to tie me to who I used to be, so I thought if I changed my last name, I could really just leave it all behind, and so that’s what I did.”

  “Hmmm.” He nods, taking everything I’ve said in. “Why Ella Gold? Why not somebody else?”

  “You want the whole truth?”

  “So help me God.” He raises his right hand as to swear an oath.

  I roll my eyes and drop my head against the back of the couch. “Gold seemed like a lustrous, luxurious choice.”

  “That’s a little ridiculous, right?” A grin hitches across his lips, and thank God, because it helps lighten the mood just a touch.

  I swat the back of my hand against his chest. “Shut up.”

  He adjusts himself on the couch and pivots to face me. “You know, you don’t have a bad past.” When I roll my eyes, he scoots even closer to me, so close that I can feel the heat of his body. “I’m being serious. You wouldn’t believe some of the shit I’ve heard. But yours? It’s not that bad. It’s not anything you need to run away from.”

  I turn to look him straight in the eyes and then eek out lowly, “You don’t know me.”

  “Right,” he shrugs, “but I think I know enough.” He drops his head and laughs softly. “I wish you would have been upfront with me though because I was really starting to think you had actual skeletons in your closet.” He leans in even closer to me and combs one finger through my hair. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. We’re going to figure out who’s behind the letters and the messages, and we’re going to stop them before anyone can get hurt.”

  My lips quiver as I begin to speak. “How can you know that?”

  He cracks a wide, cocky grin. “Because I’m Luke King and you’re Ella Gold, and together, none of those losers stand a chance.”

  “I like the way you think.” I nod and crush the back of my palms against my eyes to dry any tears that might be there, although I don’t feel any. It’s almost like I’m too exhausted to cry, and what’s the point anyways. “So you’re not mad at me?”

  He jerks in place, a grimace across his lips. “Why would I be mad at you? You’ve just been more honest with me than I expected. The truth is that I already knew a lot of what you told me, but I needed to hear it from you.”

  “That’s kind of annoying…” I grind out and tongue the inside of my cheek. “But you really don’t think it’s that bad?”

  “I wouldn’t lie to you.” He pets a finger smooth against my cheek and smiles again. Then he leans in, and I think he’s going to kiss me, but I can’t…

  I break away from his kiss before it can even come close to connecting.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ELLA

  I force myself off the couch and rush to stare out the oversized windows. On some of my worst days, I’ve been able to calm myself slightly by looking out at the into the suburbs and the mountains in the distance. My living room windows offer million dollar views that are sometimes able to calm my anxiety. When I look out there, even at the crux of sunrise, it’s easy to understand just how many people are living in this world. By understanding that everyone has struggles and that everyone has pain, it often times makes it easier to cope with my own de
mons. They don’t disappear, but it does make it easier just by acknowledging pain is a part of the human experience.

  I see Luke’s reflection approach in the spot-free glass before I can feel the heat of his body just behind me. There’s a severe look on his face, and his eyes are torn between hungry and haunted. He’s nothing more than a shadow looking over my shoulder, but unlike all the other shadows lately, his is comforting.

  I take the initiative and lean back into his body. He’s my safe place, his body made of absolute steel and warmth. He allows me to shift against him and even goes so far as to drop a hand onto each side of my waist to hold me firmly. My head drops backwards against his shoulder, and when my eyes flash open, his own eyes are boring down into mine.

  “We shouldn’t,” he says lowly, his chest heaving as he swallows nervously. “We… We…”

  I shush him with a finger against his lips, and it seems to do the trick until he puckers his lips and kisses my finger. The touch of his lips against my flesh is just about enough to send me over the edge. We’re standing on the verge of something that neither of us can say no to, all the while standing right in front of a window for all the world to see, my enemies included.

  He begins to caress his hands up and down my sides, his rough hands running smooth circles over the thin fabric of my blouse. He drops his head to plant a short kiss against the skin of my neck, and when I move to shift away from his touch, his mouth follows, hovering just above my flesh. He blows hot passion against me, igniting something within me that’s long lain dormant.

  My entire being seems to shiver just as his lips land back upon my neck, planting a series of short, wet kisses along the curve of my neck. His kisses slowly turn into the lightest nips.

  My body sways against his while my mind races, and that’s to say nothing of the way my heart seems to skip a beat every damn time he kisses me. I’m torn between giving myself to him completely and breaking away from him. It’s between two torturous extremes I’ve found myself lodged within. “I should…” I begin to mutter under my breath, but he stops me from saying another word by dropping his lips against my lips.

  Smooth, wet, passionate. His tongue slips past my lips and tangles with my own tongue while one hand drops to caress me over my jeans at the most vulnerable part of my body.

  The kiss—the actual kiss, the real kiss—seals the deal. There’s no going back for me. Not now, maybe not ever. There’s something about him that brings my vulnerability to the surface. Something about him that makes me not so afraid. Something about him that makes me want to surrender myself to him the way I haven’t surrendered myself to anyone else since high school.

  I’m dizzied and lost in this world, and right now, the only thing I can make sense of is him, and that’s good enough for me. I press a hand firm against his cheek as he continues to kiss me, pulling me inside out with his mouth.

  His fingers fumble with the button of my jeans and a split second later, his hand is tracing a path into my jeans to caress me over my panties. A soft moan escapes my throat as he gives me a chance to recover from his kisses. He pulls his hand free from my jeans and drops to his knees behind me.

  I cock my head over my shoulder and watch him intently as he drags my jeans down the length of my legs. Once they’re pooled at my feet, I step out of them and rip my blouse over my head so that I’m standing in nothing but my bra and panties. I’ve been out of the hookup game long enough that I should have forgotten how this works, but he has a way in making me not feel so very alone, or naïve, or inexperienced.

  He plants a series of kisses along the length of my back, and with each caress of his lips against my bare skin, he gets lower and lower until he’s peeling my panties down my smooth legs to kiss the bare skin of my ass.

  I hold myself in place with both hands perched against the glass. Someone is out there somewhere, and they’re watching this, and I can’t bring myself to care. He begins to mouth me down below and I almost fall over, almost sink right down onto his body, but with two strong hands, he holds me still.

  I’m close to breaking over the edge of release and the night—technically, morning—has only just begun. He finally breaks away from me, and for the shortest of moments, I’m left feeling like I did something wrong. He rises to his feet behind me and I twist to face him.

  “Why did you stop?”

  “Because,” he chews into his bottom lip and throws one arm over one shoulder to hold himself steady against the window pane, “there might be someone watching.” He purrs against my neck and then nibbles at my earlobe. “And call me a selfish man, but I want you to myself.”

  I nod, not entirely sure what he’s talking about. He presses his body closer to mine so that I’m pinned between the cool glass and his hot body. He reaches down to grab one of my thighs and hooks one of my legs around his back. I can feel his erection fighting to escape his jeans and threatening to burn a hole right through the denim. He reaches for my other leg and does the same, hooks it behind his back, and then I follow suit, wrapping my arms around his neck before he’s carrying me away from the window and towards the bedroom.

  His eyes don’t leave mine as he carries me into the bedroom. He steps to the edge of the bed and then bends slowly to place me onto the bed with great care and a level of softness I wouldn’t have expected from someone like him. There’s been an attraction between the two of us since I first laid eyes on him. I’ve tried to fight it so many times, and up until now I’ve succeeded. To do that, it meant ignoring certain things about him like the way his eyes glimmer with innocence and fire all at the same time.

  Standing between my legs, he runs his rough hands up the length of my thighs. I’d think he’s content with doing nothing other than satisfying me, but I want to satisfy him if for no other reason than to show him my gratitude. I thrust upwards in bed and reach for the hem of his shirt. He understands where I’m going with this and does all the heavy lifting, tugging his blue shirt over his head in one go.

  I hesitate my caress of the bare flesh of his toned and tanned chest. Looking like an inexperienced idiot, I’m sure, my hand hovers within an inch of his body but it doesn’t quite connect. He smirks, chews into his lip in a seductive manner that threatens to send me over the edge, before dropping his hand against mine and pushing me forward to touch him.

  His chest is muscular and hard, but it’s nothing compared to the hard ridges that decorate his abs. I circle my hand around his belly button and the friction seems to make him shudder. He takes hold of my hand again and guides me downwards so that my hand caresses his erection through his jeans. I look up to him as I do so, wanting to watch him watching me. There’s just something erotic about the very idea.

  I push myself backwards on the bed and steady myself on my elbows. It’s time. He passes me one final look, it’s as if he’s questioning if I really want to do this because he’s a perfect gentleman or something. Once he’s satisfied, he drops his hands to the button of his jeans and climbs out of them one foot at a time. Standing in nothing but tight black boxer briefs, he lowers himself onto the bed and crawls above me.

  His muscular body weighs heavy against my body, and I’m almost certain he could crush my fragile frame with his weight alone, but that’s probably just me overthinking. I make a mental note to turn off whatever part of the brain processes logic and decided to just let the cards fall where they may. If I get crushed, I get crushed.

  I hook one leg behind his back and travel downwards. I hook my heel under his underwear and manage to snake them down over his taut ass. He shifts above me while he kicks the thin fabric free and then holds himself steady above me. Sweat is already pooling where his forehead meets his hairline, but I reach up anyway to comb one hand through his hair.

  His lips hitch into a gentle smile, a smile so damn innocent that it betrays every single part of his body. He’s built like a Greek god but still possesses enough charming boyish features to make the juxtaposition jarring.

  He dr
ags his tongue against his palm and lowers his hand to guide his hardness to my opening. When he presses against me, I close my eyes and exhale sharply, and when he begins to rock into me, I just about let out a scream. It’s slightly painful, but that’s to be expected when I’ve been out of the game for so long.

  Inch by inch, he stretches me wide until he’s filled to the hilt, and then he just stays there, remaining completely still. I don’t know how he’s doing it. There’s a pained expression on his face, but it’s like he’s waiting for me to adjust to him fully before he proceeds. Steadying himself with one arm now, he drops another hand to caress my cheek softly and then lowers his lips against mine to kiss me.

  I whimper against his mouth wanting him to move, needing him to move but at the same time, also not being ready for him to do anything but remain completely still. He pulls back slightly, and as his hardness shifts inside me, I let out a soft moan. I’m purring against his lips now, and it’s like he’s using his lips to quiet me and I’m completely okay with that.

  He rocks in and out of me, slowly and gently. I’m not a fragile toy though and once I’ve adjusted to his width, I beg for him to increase his pace. My fingers dig into his back as he thrusts into me with a precise rhythm. He’s pulling me inside out, and I don’t think he has any idea the kind of power he has over me.

  His drags himself almost completely out of me and then drives himself in with one long, deep thrust. He holds himself still as he props himself up high above me with a hand planted into the sheets on either side of my head. My chest is heaving, and my heart is racing, and I need him to move, but he holds himself still a little bit longer, swiveling his hips as he readies himself.

  Nothing can prepare me for what comes next.

  He pulls himself back, arching his body in the process and then slams back down into me. My vision goes black for seconds at a time as he continues to thrust into me with the same furious pace. Faster and faster, he rocks into me with reckless abandon. I’m whimpering and moaning and basically losing every little bit of control I’ve ever had. He’s stripping away the walls I’ve built around me one measured thrust at a time, and it’s all I can do to hold on.