CHAPTER 14

I knock on Ford’s office door, wondering what he could possibly want. He’d sent me a text and asked me to just swing by for a few minutes before I started my shift.

That means he doesn’t want sex because there’s no way you can have sex with Ford Louis Hendrix in just a few minutes.

He calls for me to enter and I do, shutting the door softly behind me.

“What’s up?” I ask casually.

As usual, he looks elegant, gorgeous, and domineering, three traits I find to be very appealing. He’s wearing a charcoal-gray dress suit with a white shirt and a lavender tie. Again, his clothes are clearly custom made to fit every angle, hill, and valley of his body. And he has a lot of those I can attest to as last night, over the four different times we had sex, I was able to explore pretty much every inch. The same could be said for Ford and my body.

Ford sweeps a hand toward one of the guest chairs opposite where he sits behind his desk. “Take a seat.”

I do as he asks, but I can’t help but quip, “I feel like I’m in trouble and been sent to the principal’s office.”

Ford gives me a wicked grin. “If you were in trouble, you’d already be bent over my desk and getting a nice paddling.”

I press my legs together tightly to try to alleviate the ache that has suddenly sprung up there.

Glancing at my watch, and then up to Ford, I prod him. “I’ve only got about five minutes before my shift starts so what do you need?”

He laughs at me. “I think you can afford to be a few minutes late.”

“I thought you said you didn’t give preferential treatment to your employees, especially the ones you were fucking,” I remind him.

“Thalia,” he says in almost a patronizing tone. “I don’t know if you realize this or not, but I really don’t need you working for me. You’re actually an extra employee I don’t need, but by giving you the job here, I’ve enabled you to pay back the money I gave you.”

I just blink at him.

He gives me a wry smile. “Although I do have to admit, I enjoy watching you prance around in your little black thong. I equally enjoy having you close by so I can fuck you when I want to.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “So this whole repayment thing is really about sex and not because you need somebody to work at the club?”

The smile slides from Ford’s face as he gets a hard glint in his eye. “It’s not just about sex. You can tell me ‘no’ whenever you want to. The question is, do you want to say ‘no’ to me? Do you want to call an end to our sexual relationship right now?”

My immediate and initial gut reaction is to hastily reassure him that I do not want to end the sexual relationship because I’ve not learned all I want to learn. I clearly have not had enough of Ford.

But for some reason, I’m having a hard time admitting that to him because not only did we have sex four times last night, but we also had conversation. Granted, it wasn’t heavy conversation and most of it was casual and impersonal. But I got a slight peek at what lies underneath the starched suits of the intimidating businessman who owns a sex club, and what I saw I can say I honestly liked.

Sadly, I’m letting some of my womanly insecurities surface. Ford’s ground rules seemed acceptable to me at first, but I can’t help some slight feeling of jealousy at him being with someone else. I don’t know he’s been with anyone else since he started sleeping with me, but how would I? Most nights I work, I don’t see him. I’m stuck in one room. For all I know, he could be in one of the other rooms fucking out his heart’s desire.

On the flip side, I could be doing the same thing. He gave me free license to do what I want inside this club. And I’ve had some offers, a few of which were appealing. Ultimately though, I declined, not because I owe Ford any loyalty but because I just can’t have casual, anonymous sex in a sex club in front of other people. Yes, Ford was a stranger to me, but I reasoned that we had at least a connection. He’s friends with my brother Jaden, although I get the impression they have drifted apart. I also know they served in the military together, so in my mind that made Ford more trustworthy.

“Thalia,” Ford says to get my attention. “Do you want to say ‘no’ to me?”

I don’t know if I hate myself or not, but I shake my head. “At this point, I wouldn’t say ‘no’. I could feel differently tomorrow, though.”

I felt the need to add that last little bit on so he knows I’m playing by the rules of casual sex.

Ford gives me a curt nod and while I don’t think he looks overly happy at what I just said, he brushes past it by changing the subject.

“I want to ask you about something you and I talked about last night,” Ford says.

I tilt my head in curiosity. We talked about a lot of stuff, most of it inane, some of it funny, and of course, a lot of it was sexual. That usually led us into the next round of sex.

“What in particular?” I ask.

“We talked about fantasies last night,” he reminds me.

I nod because those talks had me blushing, as well as wet between the legs. One of the things I had found out was that Ford has indulged in most of his fantasies. It was with no small amount of shame that I admitted to him I didn’t have many fantasies, but he’d already fulfilled one of them that first night in The Orgy Room.

“You told me that one of your fantasies was to be with multiple men at the same time,” Ford reminds me.

I flush hot all over, but I nod at him.

“Do you want me to make it happen?” he asks me.

My body tightens up with tension even as my pulse races with genuine curiosity. “Would you be involved? I mean… would you be one of the men?”

“Of course. And I would only choose men I trusted.”

I start to nibble on one of my fingernails, considering this. I’m wildly intrigued, woefully unprepared, and totally scared. “I honestly don’t know if I can handle it.”

“What do you mean?” He looks genuinely befuddled.

“I mean…” My voice lowers to a whisper because this embarrasses me, “I don’t know if I can take a man in every single one of my openings.”

Ford’s eyes sparkle with amusement as he understands my fear, but he spares me genuine laughter. “Thalia, a multiple can be anything you want to be. It’s your fantasy.”

“Really?”

Ford nods at me with a reassuring smile. “If you want this, I suggest we start you very slow and with only one other man in addition to me. You will have all the control and tell us what you want from us.”

Okay, this has some real potential. I think I might orgasm just thinking about the prospect. And why shouldn’t I take advantage of this opportunity? Let’s face it… this isn’t going to happen to me again.

But I still have some reservations. “Who would you choose?”

“Kenneth would be my first choice. But I have a few others I would trust.”

I nod in understanding and ask, “And when would we do this?”

“Whenever you wanted. Kenneth’s on a break from work.”

I take a deep breath and make the only decision I can because I bet I’ll regret it if I don’t. “Okay. I’d like to try that. Set it up whenever it’s convenient for both of you.”

Ford gives me his patented wicked smile, and my nipples tighten in response. I start to stand up from the chair, but he gives me pause when he says, “I’ve got one stipulation.”

I swallow hard. “What’s that?”

“We do it in The Silo in one of the glass rooms so people can watch,” he says with a silky voice that holds a sinister tone underneath.

I take a quavering breath and decide to go all in. “I’ll probably die from embarrassment but after I finish my service here with you, I’ll at least take comfort in the fact I’ll never see any of these people again.”

Something flashes on Ford’s face that I might peg as annoyance, but then my attention is taken by my cell phone ringing in my purse. I immediately recognize my mom’s ring tone and given the circumstances of Connie’s medical condition, I can never ignore it. Even when I’m on duty, I have one of the bartenders watch my phone in case she has to call with an emergency.

After fishing my phone out of my purse, I connect the call and say, “Hey, Mom. Is everything okay?”

My mom’s voice is brittle and shaky. “It’s Connie. She was having some chest pain and trouble breathing. I called an ambulance. We’re on our way to the hospital now.”

An immediate and monstrous wave of fear crashes over me but as soon as its tide recedes, I kick into this weird mode where I become utterly calm and collected. It is something I was forced to learn how to do when Connie became sick and it was obvious I was the only competent one who had a strong enough backbone to handle it. While I love my mother beyond reason, she has never been a strong woman. It’s why Daena and Jaden have always walked all over her, and it’s why Daena has taken off and abandoned Connie to my mom’s care, which means my care, too.

“Are they taking her to Mercy?” I ask. Her heart surgeon practiced there.

“Yes,” she says, and I can hear tears in her voice. “At first, they didn’t want to because it was further away, but I insisted.”

“That’s wonderful, Mom,” I praise her as I know that will go a long way toward calming her down somewhat. “Hang tough. I’m on my way there now and should see you very soon.”

“Okay,” she whispers, and then lets out a tiny sob that breaks my heart. “But hurry please.”

“I’ll bust all the speed barriers,” I assure her lightly, and getting a laugh from her, which was my goal. “I love you, Mom. Tell Connie I love her and I’ll be there soon.”

I push out of my chair as I disconnect the call and give an apologetic look to Ford, all conversation about having a threesome with him and Kenneth completely obliterated from my mind. “I’m really sorry. But I can’t work tonight. If you want to tack it onto the end, that would be fine.”

I turn away and walk quickly toward his office door. As my hand reaches out for the knob, I’m completely stunned to see Ford’s hand there first. I didn’t even realize he had followed me there.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his voice laced with concern.

While I find that very sweet, and a new side to Jerico, I don’t have time to get into it. “My niece is at the hospital, and I have to go.”

“Is everything okay?” he prods me.

I push his hand away from the knob and grab it myself to open the door. There’s frustration in my voice at being delayed and I don’t have time for politeness. “I don’t know, Ford. I hope so. But I won’t know until I get there.”

He gets the hint, stepping back from his door so I can walk through.

“If you need off more than one day, it’s not a problem,” Ford says as I step into the hallway.

I don’t even look back at him, but I do call, “Thank you,” over my shoulder.

Then he’s forgotten and all I can think about is Connie.