by Trace, Piper
Ford relented and untied her ankles, massaging each one thoroughly and checking her over to ensure she was okay. When he was satisfied her ankles were now comfortable, after many assurances from her, he got up and returned the towel and washcloth to the bathroom.
Evie watched him and for the millionth time marveled at what the man looked like naked. Ford eased back onto the bed next to Evie, his cool skin sliding down hers until he was positioned against the entire right side of her body, his leg thrown over hers. Instantly her nipples pricked into hard pebbles and goose bumps broke out on her arms.
He held his head propped on one elbow and plucked gently at the hard, rosy tips of her breasts. “Do you regret your choice?”
“Which one?” She’d made more potentially regrettable decisions in the past few days than ever in her life.
“Charley and I instead of Charley and you.” Evie shook her head and Ford studied her face, letting the silence settle around them both like a blanket. Charley’s breathing was deep and regular and Evie knew he’d fallen asleep. “You’re awfully quiet for someone with no regrets,” Ford finally whispered, pinching a nipple hard enough to make her suck in a breath.
“Can you please untie me?”
“Not until you tell me what’s on your mind.”
She looked away, knowing he wouldn’t relent. “The way you kissed Charley…you don’t want to kiss me like that,” she whispered.
“I don’t want to?” he repeated, trailing the tips of his fingers around her nipples, keeping them puckered hard. “I wouldn’t agree with that statement. I choose not to. That’s more accurate.”
“Why?” Evie met his eyes again, surprised at his admission.
Ford took a deep breath, looking suddenly weary. “It’s important we don’t confuse things. We’re not in a relationship. If I kiss you like that, I’m afraid we might end up…confused. I’m being cautious for both of us.”
“So you want a relationship with Charley?”
Ford furrowed his brow and shot her a look of disbelief. “Charley’s my best friend. We already have a relationship.” He shrugged. “What we choose to engage in with each other when we’re screwing around won’t change that.”
“Oh.” Her chest felt tight. Charley was already too far gone in love with Ford to prevent certain heartbreak when Ford refused to admit their relationship was anything other than friends, no matter what they did in bed.
Ford gave her nipples reprieve and moved his fingers to her mouth, brushing his thumb across her bottom lip. Shifting, he lifted his upper body so his face was close to hers. He met her eyes and he looked…hopeful? She held her breath. “Evie, you’re clear on our situation?” She nodded. “I like what we’ve created here. I won’t have any threats to our arrangement.”
She shook her head, just as determined as he was to have no confusion, ignoring the ache it caused in the pit of her stomach. No way in hell was she walking away in a year dragging her mangled heart behind her again. She was just going to move on to the next adventure and not look back.
He untangled himself from her and slid off the bed. “I’m going to untie your arms.” He made his way around the bed, releasing her restraints. She groaned with the freeing of each of the bonds, rubbing at her numb wrists. When he’d completely untied her, he curled back into bed next to her, careful not to disturb Charley, who was sleeping at their feet.
He caressed first one wrist, then the other, pressing into her dented skin with his thumbs, soothing her. “You did well, Evie. I’m proud of you.” Lifting her hands, he kissed each of her inner wrists in turn, his lips on that sensitive skin making her core warm again. “Did you enjoy watching?”
She nodded. “Why couldn’t I participate, or take care of myself, or…something?” She searched his eyes, as if the answer could be found there.
He smiled, pressing her fingers to his lips and kissing them. “To teach you patience. To teach you to let me choose the time and place of your pleasure. That’s what I want. It’s why I hired you.” He tilted his body over hers and leaned close to her face. “What if I kissed you?” he whispered.
“What if?” she answered.
“Could you remember the rules?”
“Could you?”
He smirked, pursing his lips and making her want to devour him. “Fair enough. Then let’s do something really crazy.”
He shifted, pressing his body weight against her side, his naked skin feeling like heaven against her own. He touched his lips to hers, slowly at first, exploring. Raising her head to meet his mouth more firmly, she pressed into him. He cupped his large hand around the side of her face, slanting her head for a better angle to deepen the kiss. His tongue parted her lips and she met it with her own.
Increasing the pressure, Ford’s kiss became more proprietary, more insistent to let him in, let him do what he wanted. Her heart leapt in her chest as he pulled back unexpectedly, touched his lips to hers twice, and then resumed his deep exploration, as if to own her completely with his mouth.
The heat she’d built up while watching the two men had not yet been sated, and her pussy throbbed for his touch. Without meaning to, she whimpered into his kiss, and when he finally left her mouth to travel lower, nuzzling at her neck, she moaned.
“Those noises you make when I kiss you,” Ford breathed in between nibbles at her collarbone. “I love those noises.”
“Will you let me come now? Please, make me come.” Evie gasped, hardly able to speak with Ford’s teeth now teasing her nipples, gently threatening to bite.
“I told you to trust me, Evangeline. I’ll always make sure you’re taken care of. For all the pleasure you give me, I’ll match it with yours.” Ford whispered those words against her stomach as he licked his way down her body, just as he had in the law firm library, to deliver on his promise better than anyone ever had.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
EVIE WOKE UP alone. The morning sun sifting through the windows warmed her face. Feeling far too comfortable to get out of bed, she stretched and groaned as her sore body protested. Scene by decadent scene, she pieced together the end of the evening the night before. Her stopping Ford in the hallway. Charley’s visit at Ford’s behest. Ford joining them in bed, and then…
Evie squeezed her eyes and wrinkled her nose as the more tender parts of her body woke up at those thoughts. Damn, that had been hot last night. Crazy, but hot. Watching her current “lover” have sex with her other current lover—both of them men—while she was tied up and made to watch, wasn’t something Evie could even have imagined doing a week ago. Let alone enjoying it. But she had. Oh, she had.
What was Ford doing to her?
But she was self-aware enough to know that Ford wasn’t changing her. He was revealing her.
Being under Ford’s control—under his spell—was a no holds barred sexual revolution. But were she and Charley willing partners, or just pawns in Ford’s master game? She clenched her teeth, staring at the ceiling and wondering if there was anything she could do to help protect Charley. For a man so big, she feared he was particularly vulnerable with his heart in the hands of man like Ford Hawthorne.
She could handle having her heart jerked around—she’d had practice. But after seeing the absolute gut-wrenching honesty of Charley’s love for Ford evident on Charley’s face as he’d knelt in front of Ford, silently offering to suck his cock, Evie’s stomach flip-flopped.
Throwing off the covers, she groaned as she pulled herself to sitting. First thing…a long, hot bath. After that she’d do her job in as carefree and enthusiastic manner as she could, giving the men fun and sex to distract them until maybe Ford would naturally slip so far into love with Charley that he’d realize he never wanted out.
There was only one problem with her plan. How did she get two of their threesome to fall deeply in love while somehow keeping all those same emotions from gaining purchase in her own heart? She padded naked to the bathroom vowing not to think about it. She’d worry about that later.
The house was mostly quiet except for the occasional sound of a staff member working. Ford’s household staff was so unnoticeable that Evie suspected they were being purposely stealthy. Their invisibility was probably specified in their job descriptions. Ford had a way with creating unique job descriptions.
Feeling less achy after her bath, Evie completed the to-do list of work items Ford had left for her in a note addressed to, “My fantastically dirty girl” and ending with a paragraph of appreciation for what she’d done with the men the night before, in graphic detail, yet written as eloquently as Ford speaks. She had to sit down after reading the to-do list and fan herself with it.
The doorbell rang, startling her out of a daydream about Ford and Charley. She stood slowly, uncertain whether she should answer it or not. Boone was standing guard at the gate, but that didn’t keep her knees from going weak as she tiptoed toward the massive, wooden door. Three thumps on the door echoed through the entryway, making her jump. She looked around instinctively, but no one seemed to be coming to answer it.
Should she let it go unanswered? She took a step back, deciding to do just that when she heard Boone’s voice, muffled through the stone and wood fortress of a house. “Evie? It’s Boone.” Feeling relief wash through her, she unbolted the door and hauled it up, squinting against the sudden sunshine at the military man. The sun filtered through the peach-fuzz of hair on Boone’s closely-shaved head, making him look like he had a halo.
“Miss Evie,” he said, tipping his head and touching his beret. “I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time. I apologize for not calling ahead like I usually do, but I was headed up this way to check the grounds when this came for you.” He held out a flat, cardboard envelope.
She took it, wondering what was in the parcel. She’d ordered a lot of things off the internet during her shopping spree, but this didn’t appear to be a package—more like just papers. Who would have sent her papers? There was no return address on the envelope.
“While I’m here, would you like me to check the house, ma’am?”
She shook her head, smiling at the serious man. “Oh, no. Everything’s fine here.” Distracted, she tore off the obligatory strip to open the envelope and gapped it to peek inside. She could only see the corner of a photograph, but she didn’t need to see any more to know what she was looking at. To have the floor drop out from under her. To have her fingers start to tremble.
“Ma’am?” Boone’s tone of voice instantly hardened and he leaned forward to look into the envelope.
Evie pulled it behind her back, affecting a casual stance. She didn’t want Boone to see the picture of the dead girl. A copy of one of the many John had threatened her with in his office the day she’d broken up with him and threatened to come forward about his embezzlement. She was embarrassed to be mixed up in something so crazy, so psychotic. Though she knew Boone would think of nothing but protecting her, something about the mess made her feel dirty, like she was tracking mud into Ford’s pristine life.
She smiled at Boone, hoping to brush off the incident, though she knew his highly-trained guardian instincts had already been triggered and she wasn’t fooling him. “Thanks Boone, for bringing this to me. It’s always good to see you.” She moved to close the door. The stiff-postured man stepped back to allow her, but his laser-sharp eyes didn’t leave hers until she’d closed the door between them, breaking the eye contact.
When the door clicked shut, she turned and leaned against it, letting her breath out in a whoosh. She squeezed her fingers around the envelope until it creased, her heart pounding in her chest. Without looking down, she slid a hand between the two thin sheets of cardboard and slowly pulled out the photograph. With dread, she lowered her eyes to it. Scrawled across the horrifying image were the words, “WHERE’S MY MONEY BITCH?” Evie frowned, noting his grammar was missing a comma because he didn’t have an Evie to proofread his work anymore.
The thought made her laugh until she doubled over. Stuffing a hand against her mouth, she tried to stifle her giggles. She sounded a bit hysterical. She felt a bit hysterical.
Her fist seized around the picture, crumpling it in a death grip. Numbly, she headed for the kitchen where she remembered seeing a trash compactor. It wasn’t the same as an incinerator, but crushing the evidence felt better than tearing it up and throwing it into the nearest garbage can. Crushing it felt a little like burying it, which is exactly what Evie wanted to do.
The compactor growled to life three times, crushing the envelope and picture until Evie felt a little better. Boone was on guard, and armed. There were high stone walls around the entire estate and the house had state of the art surveillance and security. John could scare her, but he couldn’t actually hurt her. Filling her lungs with a deep, cleansing breath, Evie held her hands out in front of her until they stopped visibly trembling.
She was protected at Ford’s, plus she wasn’t helpless. She could protect herself. Maybe throwing knives had no real self-defense value, but all her practice had taught her how to yield a blade better than the average person. Still, she hoped it would never come down to her, John and a knife.
*****
The last item on the list Ford left her was to meet him in the great room at 4pm for cocktails. She’d been tingling all over for forty-five minutes by the time she stepped into the large room at three fifty-nine. He was standing at the bar, his back to her, and her heart bounded like an excited puppy. She drank in the way his broad shoulders stretched the finely-tailored white dress-shirt, his tapered waist, and his incredible, athletic butt.
She looked up from her ogling just in time as Ford turned to her and smiled. “Evie, love, I’ve been looking forward to seeing you all day.” He came forward to greet her, the look in his eyes making her feel as if she were naked. “It’s hard to work with someone like you around, knowing I could have you any time I wanted.” He handed her a martini.
“Ford.” She tipped her head and smiled as she took the glass. “You were at the house today? I never saw you.”
“I mostly work at home in the library. I find it preferable.”
She fought back disappointment to find he’d been there the whole day and had never come to see her. “Please remember,” she tilted her head up, hoping to God her sultry smile was just that, and not something laughable. “While you’re working, I’m always available to provide you company.”
He pursed his lips and clinked his heavy bourbon tumbler to the lip of her delicate martini glass. “Of course you are, Evie. I’ve ensured that, haven’t I?” Swirling his drink once, he swallowed the last of his bourbon and set the glass down with a thump onto the bar. Evie noticed the tightness across his back.
“Is everything okay?” She wanted to touch his shoulder and feel his muscles bunched beneath her fingers, soothe his worries away, but she didn’t, not knowing how to read his mood.
“I met with my new lawyers today.” He didn’t look at her, but tapped the bar as if impatient, staring at the wall. “Rumor has it John was fired.”
Evie snorted. She couldn’t help it. “Ah, well, they finally figured out he wasn’t doing his own work.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Ford said grimly. “Which is exactly what worries me. He’ll blame you.” He turned and looked at her, the set of his brows giving his eyes a mixture of worry and ire.
Ford was right. If John had no job, there was nothing to stop him from spending all his time obsessing on revenge against Evie. That must be why she’d gotten the picture. If she didn’t pay John back soon, he might come looking for her. She had to get him his money, fast.
Something twisted in Evie’s gut and she dropped her eyes from Ford’s angry look. Was he mad at John, or at her? Oh God. She’d brought this problem to Ford’s house. “I’m s-sorry,” she stammered.
He blinked, pulling his head back. “Sorry? This isn’t what you need to be sorry for.” His voice was icy. “This is not your doing. What you need to be sorry for is hiding things from me. Th
ings that involve your safety.” Ford held up the crumpled picture of the dead woman that Evie had disposed of in the trash compactor earlier, his large hand thankfully covering most of the gruesome picture.
She averted her eyes, setting her martini glass on the bar. “How did you find that?” she whispered.
“Boone informed me you’d received something in the mail that’d upset you. I looked for it in the trash on a hunch.”
“You picked through the trash?” Evie was genuinely amazed.
“Evangeline, I’d bathe in trash if it meant protecting what’s mine.” Her eyes widened and the words sent a shiver through her, as much due to the intensity of his message as to his reference to her as “his”.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, stepping closer to him, hoping to disappear in his shadow. Somehow his vow to protect her made her feel shy.
He narrowed his eyes at her.
“I’m sorry for hiding it from you,” she rushed to clarify. “I shouldn’t have. You need to know the danger I’ve brought to your house so you can protect yourself, or so you can…” Her words faltered and she dropped her eyes, hating that her posture made her look meek, but afraid she’d cry if she looked at him as she said her next words. “So that you can ask me to leave.”
Ford grasped her shoulders, crumpling the picture in his grip. “Ask you to leave?” His voice was gruff. “Look at me,” he commanded, and she raised her eyes, gritting her teeth against the tears—not because of his reaction or the real possibility that he’d kick her out, but because she was fine in any situation as long as she didn’t have to think too much about it or share it with others. With her unusual aversion to fear, admitting she was in a truly scary situation and facing it was hardly one of her strong suits.
“You aren’t going anywhere. I won’t allow it.” He searched her eyes, seeming to realize her heightened emotional state and his grip on her softened. Pulling her against him, he wrapped her into a strong embrace and kissed her hair.