"I'm so happy to see you, big brother," Natalie said as happy tears welled up in her eyes.
"Me too, shrimp." He looked down at her with a tired smile.
"My poor baby boy," Victoria sobbed out with tears coursing down her cheeks as she clung to him tightly, studying his face closely. "Are you alright, honey? Did they hurt you?"
"I'm okay, Mom," he answered her softly. "I...I just want to go home." His voice actually broke a little, and I realized we needed to get him out of here. If he was going to cry again, it wasn't going to be in this god-awful place. He'd already lost enough of his dignity today.
"Okay, ladies," Andy announced firmly. "Quit smothering the guy, so we can get him the hell out of here."
I looked over my shoulder to see my brother eying Ford closely with a concerned expression. He could see that Ford was close to losing it too. He proceeded to herd all of us out of the building, and I saw the grateful look that Ford gave him as we made it outside.
"Ford," Gareth said as he followed us across the parking lot before heading to his own vehicle. "I'll be in contact with you tomorrow. Get some sleep tonight." He gave Ford a warm yet subdued smile as they shook hands, before turning and walking away. It was a stark reminder that this mess had only just begun, and flutters of fear hit my stomach. Suddenly, Ford's words on the phone earlier popped into my head. It's going to get worse before it gets better. God, I hoped not.
Once we were all piled into Victoria's luxurious dark-gray Bentley Mulsanne, she tried to insist on taking us back to her place. However, Ford insisted that he was tired and wanted to go home to rest. I think he was really just feeling overwhelmed and needed some space, but he didn't want to hurt his mother's feelings. Natalie helped convince her by inviting her over to her place to spend time with Daniel instead, since Andy's car was there anyway. It was a perfect distraction.
Ford rode in silence in the front passenger seat next to his mother. She insisted that he sit up front for comfort and more leg room. The rest of us piled into the back, more than happy to let Ford have the better seat. Andy sat between Natalie and me, gaping at the black leather interior and fiddling with the television screens on the back of the front head rests. He'd done the same thing on the drive to the police station earlier. I'd never seen the inside of a Bentley before today either. It made me realize just how wealthy Victoria truly was. It was kind of intimidating, but I was grateful for it since it saved Purcell Auto, and paid Ford's bail today. I overheard Gareth tell her the amount earlier, and barely kept myself from making choking noises over the exorbitant amount she paid without batting an eye.
Ford's silence worried me, and I felt an overwhelming need to touch him and reassure him. I was sitting behind him, so I reached forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. He immediately covered it with his and gripped me tightly. Even though it was awkward, I kept my hand there the rest of the way home. I needed the contact as much as he did.
When Victoria finally dropped us off at Ford's place, he practically leaped out of the car, opening the back door and pulling me out of the seat within seconds. He gave everyone a brief and hasty good-bye before dragging me by the hand toward the door to his apartment. The others shot a worried glance at me, but I nodded to reassure them that I'd be here for him. Ford hauled me inside before his mother even pulled away, and led me upstairs into his living room.
I thought that maybe he needed to dominate me to regain control, but he did something else that I never expected, and frankly, freaked me the hell out. He fell to his knees in front of me in the middle of the room and wrapped his arms around my waist. He pressed the side of his face to my chest and closed his eyes. I wrapped my arms around him and cradled his head against my breasts. Several long moments passed as I held him close.
"I'm terrified," he finally whispered raggedly as he looked up at me with a lost expression. Tears welled up in his eyes. "A court date has been set next month. I...I'm going to be tried like some...some sex offender." He hugged me tight in desperation. "I'm...I'm afraid they'll take me away from you, Jen, and that we'll never have the family we wanted."
He began sobbing softly in my arms. It broke my heart into a million pieces to see this strong fierce man that I loved, reduced to this because of a vindictive and sadistic bastard. I held him tight, running my fingers through his hair to comfort him as I clenched my teeth in impotent rage. Fire burned inside me as my hatred for Carter Bennett seethed inside me. I wanted to make him pay for this more than anything he'd ever done to me.
He suddenly pulled back and captured my eyes. His face was a mask of desperation and fear. "Move in with me," he blurted out as he grabbed my hands in a death grip. "I...I want to know what it's like to live with you, before...before it's too late."
"Ford," I said gently, and cradled his face in my hands. "You're not going to prison. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Jenny," he said sorrowfully. "Innocent people can get convicted. We can't pretend that's not a possibility."
I pressed my lips together into a tight line. I didn't want to admit that was true. The very idea of Ford going to prison for this horrible thing was unthinkable. Strangely though, the idea of moving in with Ford didn't frighten me like I thought it would. However, I didn't want it like this. It should be a happy and wonderful thing, not a desperate decision made out of fear.
"You sound like you've given up," I whispered sadly.
"We don't know what Carter has done, Jenny," he said with a grave expression. "It might be enough to get me put away."
"Don't say that!" I sobbed out loudly. "That's not happening!" Why did he have to say things like that? I pushed away from him and walked across the room, burying my face in my hands as I wept. I was so tired and overwrought from this horrible day, that I couldn't deal with it anymore. I just wanted this nightmare to go away.
"Honey," Ford murmured softly as he came up behind me and wrapped me in his arms, pulling me back against his chest. "I'm sorry I upset you." He kissed my neck softly. "Forget everything I said. We're both exhausted and worn out. Can we lay down for a while? I'm so fucking tired. I just want to hold you while we sleep."
"Okay," I replied in a wavering voice as I relaxed against him.
Ford scooped me up without another word, and carried me the few short steps to his room. I didn't even complain. He undressed me reverently, with eyes full of love and adoration, and then himself. He pulled me into his bed with him, curling around me and engulfing me in his arms. Within moments, he fell into an exhausted sleep, his breathing turning slow and even as he drifted off. As I began the descent into slumber myself, I hoped that he had peaceful dreams, because all too soon he'd wake up and have to face this real-life nightmare all over again.
**********
I woke up on my side facing Ford. He was on his back staring up at the ceiling in the dim light shining through the window from the street lamp outside. We must have been asleep for a while, since it was dark out already. His expression was pensive and sad. I reached over and put my palm on his chest. I could feel the slow steady beat of his heart beneath the solid muscles of his chest.
"Maybe I should take them down," he announced as he continued staring at the ceiling.
"Take what down?" I mumbled out in sleepy confusion.
"The eye bolts," he explained without looking my way. "They make me look guilty, don't they?" He let out a deep sigh. He sounded so tired. "Maybe I should get rid of all the rope too."
I jerked up into a sitting position, shocked by his words. "Ford," I blurted out sternly as I glared at him. "You will do no such thing."
"But if they search my room-"
"None of those things prove anything because you're innocent," I interrupted him vehemently. "And you'll look guilty as hell if they find out you got rid of that stuff." I softened my tone. "Besides, those are my blue ropes. You said they were special because you've only used them on me. So if they end up testing them for DNA, they'll only find yours and mine on them." I reached out and
cupped his face in my hand. "We have nothing to hide." I leaned down and kissed him softly and sweetly. "And nothing to be ashamed of either," I added, getting to the heart of his issues right now. I don't know how or why, but he was doubting himself, and I couldn't let that continue.
"I know that," he said with a pained expression. "I'm just scared and freaked out here. I feel so powerless, and I don't know what to do."
"Yes, you do," I whispered as I brushed my lips against his. "Take the power back with me."
"Honey," he said uncertainly. "I don't think that's going to-"
"Don't think," I interjected sternly. I dragged my fingertips slowly down his abdomen and watched his eyes darken and his breathing spike with arousal. "Just feel," I whispered seductively as I wrapped my hand around his already hardening cock and squeezed him firmly.
He sucked in a breath as his hips instinctively thrust up toward my hand. I pumped him up and down slowly as I kissed him again. He groaned into my mouth, then buried his hands in my hair and took control of the kiss away from me. His tongue pushed into my mouth and tangled with mine in a dance of sex and arousal. A long low moan flowed out of me as his lips moved demandingly against mine. This was what he needed, to lose himself in my body and my submission.
Abruptly, Ford flipped me over and hovered over me, his hard body pressed against mine. Yes, oh yes, this was what I needed too, an escape and a diversion from my worry and fear. If nothing else, we still had each other in this nightmare, and we could give each other what we needed.
He let out a low growl as he thrust his cock against my thigh. His knee came up between my legs, and he ground his leg into my pussy, pressing against my clit with firm pressure. It was divine. I wiggled my hips to intensify the pleasure.
His left hand clasped my right breast, squeezing almost to the point of pain as he nipped and worried at my lower lip. His fingers moved to my nipple, rolling and pulling on my sensitive flesh. I writhed and moaned out as pleasure jolted straight down to my clit.
"Please, Ford," I mewled desperately between kisses. "Please." I put my hands on top of his head and tried to push him down my body. I needed his mouth on my pussy, his tongue on my clit. He didn't budge at all, so I pushed harder, making a whining sound in frustration.
He abruptly lifted his mouth from mine and glared down at me with an arched brow. I pulled my hands away from his head under his intimidating stare. "Who's in control here?" he rumbled out fiercely.
"Y...you are, sir," I whispered as my body relaxed submissively.
"Am I going to have to bind your hands?" he asked sternly.
"Yes, sir," I answered immediately, liking the sound of that. I crossed my wrists and held them up for him.
And then I saw something I'd never seen before from Ford. His hard stare suddenly faltered as he focused on my hands, his eyes turning unsure, and I saw that same haunted edge I'd seen in the police station lobby flow across his features.
"Hey," I said softly. I reached up and cradled his face in my hands as I studied his gorgeous face. "What's wrong?"
"I...I don't think I can tie you up right now," he whispered with an apologetic expression.
He pressed his lips together in a tight line of tension and self-doubt. It was something I never thought I would see, and a surge of rage hit me hard and fast. Carter Bennett's twisted sadistic actions were fucking with Ford's head, making him doubt his own sexual desires and needs. That fucking bastard.
"I'm sorry," he added dejectedly. He must have seen my sudden anger and thought it was directed at him.
"You're not the person I'm angry at, Ford," I reassured him. I didn't want to say that asshole's name out loud right now and sully this moment any further. I needed to build him up, help him push his doubts away.
Relief filled his eyes, followed closely by fear. "What are we going to do, Jen?"
"Right now, we're going to make love." I caressed his cheek, savoring the sexy scruff of his short beard. "Then we're going to fight this with everything we have," I added firmly. "You're not alone. You have me, and your family and mine. You have Gareth on your side." I gave him a firm unyielding stare. "You are not powerless."
His eyes softened with warm affection, the doubt finally slipping away. He took my mouth hard and fast with his, kissing me into oblivion with love and stark desire. He let out a deep rumbling growl as he shoved my thighs apart with his knee. "Want you. Need you so much," he moaned out desperately as he settled himself between my legs.
"Please," I begged shamelessly, needing to feel our connection just as badly as he did.
He kissed me again as the broad head of his cock began pushing into me. His body shook as he sank into me slowly. When he hit the end of me, he paused and took several shuddering breaths with his mouth hovering over mine and our lips brushing. I breathed him in, feeling our bodies fit together like two parts of a whole.
"I love you so much, Jen." His voice was husky with arousal now.
"I love you too, Ford," I whispered into his mouth.
He pulled his hips back and thrust into me hard and deep. I wailed as my orgasm ignited instantly, immolating me from the inside out with white-hot fire. He thrust into me slowly and deeply, again and again, prolonging my pleasure with absolute skill. I flew on and on, the pure bliss consuming my entire being.
When I finally reached the pinnacle and didn't think I could take much more, Ford came apart and flew into the sky with me. I wailed as he shuddered and convulsed above me, a long deep groan rumbling through his chest as he emptied his pleasure into me. Nothing else existed at this moment, but our connection and our love, as all our worries fell away. This was what we both truly needed right now, not the dominance or submission it started out as, but a reaffirmation of the bond we shared. It was that bond that we needed now more than ever to weather the coming storm. We were stronger together, better together, and not Carter or anything else the world threw at us could break us apart.
**********
"Okay, that makes me feel better," Ford was saying into his phone when I came out of his bathroom Thursday morning. He was sitting up in bed and running a hand through his hair, smoothing the tangled blond locks back from his face. He gave me a tight smile as I walked across the room toward him. I sat down next to him to slip on my sandals that were on the floor near the bed. I was already dressed in yesterday's T-shirt and shorts.
"I will," he said as he reached out to put a hand on my leg. "Thanks again, Gareth." He ended the call and sighed softly.
"Is everything okay?" I asked worriedly as I covered his hand with mine.
"As well as it can be, I guess." He managed a sad smile. "Gareth is having his own investigator look into the case. He said he's not taking the police's word on anything."
"That's good." The more I learned about Gareth the more confidence I had in him. I just hoped it was enough against a ruthless man like Carter.
"He said some detectives will want to talk to me again soon, and the police will probably show up here with a search warrant at some point. He says to expect them to come and talk to you too. He wants you to call him when they do. He doesn't want you talking to them without him." He gave me an apologetic expression that I ignored. Ford didn't have anything to be sorry for.
"Okay," I said firmly. "I'm not worried about it."
"He also doesn't want us to talk to anyone about it either," he added. "Like I want anyone to find out about this." His tone was soft and subdued.
"Well, I haven't told anyone outside of your family and my brother," I reassured him. "None of us will tell a soul, and when I called Angel yesterday morning, I told her you had a family emergency and couldn't make it to work."
"Thank you." He shook his head. "I didn't even think about her yesterday." Shame filled his eyes. "Some friend I am."
"Hey," I told him vehemently. "This is an extreme situation. You weren't in any frame of mind to think about anything else yesterday." I put my other hand on top of our already twined fingers. "Besides, I to
ok care of it for you."
"Thanks, honey." His eyes suddenly widened. "Shit, what the hell am I going to tell her today?"
"Tell her it's personal and you can't talk about it," I told him confidently. "I'm sure she'll understand, and it's true after all."
"What will I tell her if the police show up downstairs?" His voice was getting a little panicked, and his breathing grew erratic. "How will I explain it to my employees? What if I have clients, and they see the cops show up looking for me?" His eyes glittered and grew wild with emotion as he took his hand away from mine and pulled at his hair. "Fuck me," he whispered harshly as he squeezed his eyes shut.
"Ford," I murmured in sympathy, wishing I had the words to take away his fear and worry, or the power to make this all just go away. I gave him the only thing I could. I scooted closer and wrapped my arms around him. He latched onto me desperately and pulled me in close to his chest. "Don't freak out over something that may or may not even happen. And no matter what does happen, I'll be here for you," I told him with all the confidence I could muster. "Whatever you need. Whatever it takes."
"Okay," he said in a soft wavering voice.
I let him hold me for several long moments before finally pulling away. "I have to get going so I have time to run home and get ready for work, but I'll come and see you right afterwords tonight. Okay?"
He nodded jerkily, his eyes still a little wild. "Will you stay with me again tonight?" he asked in an almost pleading tone. My God, I hated seeing him so lost and afraid. This was a Ford I'd never seen before, and it terrified me. What would happen to him if things got worse like I was afraid they would? He was going to need me more than ever now.
"How about I stay with you every night until this over?" I offered with a warm reassuring smile. I knew it was basically moving in with him like he asked last night, but I wasn't going to call it that until this nightmare was over. I didn't want to call it living together until we were free of all this shit and it could be something happy. I knew it was just semantics, but so be it. Either way, he needed me, and I'd be here for him.
An Act of Redemption: Order & Chaos Book 3 Page 5