CHAPTER 18

It’s as odd laying in Ford’s bed tonight as it was last night. Maybe even more so since I’d fucked two men tonight. At the same time.

And then Ford had to invite me to stay with him, because, of course, he wanted more sex. I was down with that. I wasn’t reading anything into the invitation to his apartment, even knowing he could have me a million different ways within the club.

Well, I wasn’t reading anything into it until the first words Ford spoke as we entered his apartment were, “Let’s get the smell of Kenneth off you first.”

He then dragged me into the shower where he thoroughly washed every nook and cranny of my body and gave me an orgasm along with it. While I was still trembling, he pulled me right out of the shower and spent a thorough amount of time drying us off before picking me up and carrying me to the bed.

And then?

Well, he’s Ford Louis Hendrix, a man I’ve quickly learned knows practically everything there is to giving and taking pleasure. Hell, even the missionary position with him is crazily erotic because he rolls his hips a certain way with one hand planted on the mattress and the other holding one of my legs under the knee. Hovering his face right over mine and growling the filthiest words I’ve ever heard in my life, well… I detonated two more times before he got his happy.

And the weird part is now.

Same as last night, I make a move to roll off the bed, intent on dressing and going home. Again, I’ve not forgotten Ford’s rules and by the fact he had no qualms about sharing me tonight, I know he’s only in it for the sex.

But that’s okay. I’m in it for the sex, too, and why shouldn’t I be? It’s freaking fantastic. I get the money to pay off Jaden and in return, I stand at a hostess desk, and on top of that, Ford fucks me silly each night. It’s like I’m working but on vacation. Or I’m living in an alternate reality, but I know I’ll have to go back to the real world soon.

Surprisingly, Ford’s arm tightens on me and I’m held firmly in place.

“Want any more water?” Ford asks squeezing me tighter so there’s no more thought to me rolling out of bed. I’ve got my head on his chest as he’s semi-propped up against the headboard. One arm around me, the other holding the bottle we’d been sharing. I shake my head.

Ford leans slightly to the left to put the water on the nightstand, and then scoots down in bed so his head is on the pillow, rearranging my body so I turn more into him and my legs thread with his.

Without thinking about it, mainly because I’m wrecked from so many orgasms, my fingers run lightly over the hair on his chest while my mind wanders. I think about how ordinary my life was before coming to The Sinful Night Cub, and how maybe losing my job and getting into this predicament was supposed to happen for a reason. I’m not a religious person, but I consider myself spiritual and maybe there’s something bigger at play here.

“What’s the deal with your niece?” Ford asks and his deep voice cutting the quiet causes me to jolt slightly.

But then I settle back down, continuing to rub my hand over his chest. His own hand is curled around my hip and his thumb is stroking my skin. “My niece is six and had heart surgery almost two months ago. She was having some chest pain and dizziness, so my mother rushed her to the emergency room.”

“I’m assuming she’s okay or you wouldn’t be here.”

“She’s fine,” I murmur, my heart squeezing when I think about what the doctor told us. “It was actually anxiety causing her issues. Her mom left about six months ago and Connie’s obviously having a tough time dealing with that and then of course, having a major surgery.”

“Why did she need surgery?”

“Long story short… she got rheumatic fever and that damaged the mitral valve in her heart. They had to do surgery to repair the valve as well as a remove a large blood clot that had formed.”

“Jesus,” Ford mutters in sympathy. “And only six years old.”

“And her mom abandoned her,” I add in case he missed that part. The bitterness in my voice is obvious, but what can I say? I’m pissed at Daena for abandoning her daughter in her greatest time of need.

“Are you her guardian?” he asks.

“Sort of. She lives with my mom and me. My mom moved back to this area to help care for Connie when Daena left. We’ve not been able to get formal guardianship papers done yet because money has been tight with the surgery and all. Luckily, Daena gave me a medical power of attorney for Connie when she left.”

“She knew she wasn’t coming back?” Ford asks. “Did you know that?”

“I thought she was going on vacation to Luxious Bay with her new boyfriend.” The acrimony in my tone is almost laughable.

“And she just never came back?”

“I’m going to kill her if she ever does for the pain she’s put Connie through,” I snarl as my anger level starts to rise.

“Easy there, tiger,” Ford says gently as his hand starts stroking my back. “How do you know something bad hasn’t happened to her?”

“Because she calls to check in.” I raise my head, shifting my body so I can look at him. “I think she’s on drugs or something. Sounds half out of her mind, but at least she calls to check on Connie. If she sounds sober, I let her talk to her for a little bit.”

“You care for her a lot,” Ford observes. “I saw how you reacted when you got the call. You were calm, but I could see the fear in your eyes.”

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for that little girl,” I say softly as I turn my head and lay it back down on his chest. “She’s mine for all intents and purposes.”

Ford doesn’t say anything for a moment, but then I feel his body go tight under mine. He surges upward, bringing me with him. One arm goes around my waist and his eyes narrow at me, “That’s why you needed the money from a loan shark, isn’t it?”

“I told you it was a family emergency,” I remind him.

“So Connie doesn’t have insurance?” he asks.

I shake my head. “And to do the surgery, the hospital wanted a deposit, although the surgeon was very nice and agreed on a payment plan. I had some money in my 401K I was able to pull out, but it wasn’t quite enough.”

“By thirteen thousand dollars,” he says in a deep, rumbling voice that’s filled with anger on my behalf. “And that turned into the twenty-five thousand that you owe.”

I shrug. “I’d do it all again under the same circumstances. She had to have that surgery. It wasn’t elective. If she threw that blood clot, she would have died.”

Ford’s eyes go a little flat, his voice sounding slightly dull when he asks, “What about Jaden? He couldn’t help?”

“We’re not all that close,” I tell him honestly but without elaboration. I’m not about to tell him that Jaden doesn’t give a shit about his niece, and he most certainly doesn’t for me as evidenced by the bruise he left. I’m not quite sure what the nature of the relationship was between Ford and Jaden, but I’m afraid if Ford gets pissed at Jayce for any reason, he may decide he doesn’t owe that favor after all and then I’m screwed.

Before Ford can ask more questions, I turn the tables to satisfy some of my own curiosity. “You just got some personal information from me so I want some quid pro quo.”

Ford gives me a fiendish smile and tries to push me down onto the bed, his thoughts now controlled by his dick I’m sure. But I stand strong and keep my seat, pushing his hands off me. “It’s only fair.”

I wait to see if this will piss him off, but he just shrugs and lays back on the pillow. He puts his hands behind his head. The sheet just barely covers his pelvis. My eyes slide up his body—over those amazing, impeccably defined abs and up to his face where he’s grinning at me. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, for starters—”

I gasp as Ford’s hands come to my hips and in a suave but forceful move, he pulls me over his lap so I’m straddling him.

I’m a bit self-conscious so I start to pull the sheet over to at least cover my lap, but his hand grabs a hold of it and he shakes his head. “You want answers, you have to sit on me like that with your legs spread wide.”

I swallow hard as his hands come to my thighs, and then I get all squirmy when his gaze drops to my pussy. My breath freezes in my lungs when he gently runs a finger up my center and comments, “Look at you… all swollen and even a little red. Are you sore?”

When he raises his eyes for my answer, I shake my head, even though I am a little.

He smiles at me, his face saying he knows I lied, then he moves his hands back to my thighs. “Okay… you got ten minutes to ask me whatever you want, then I’m going to have you sit on my face and I’m going to give you a very gentle orgasm. Sound good?”

I croak at him, “Uh-huh.”

And I pray I don’t start leaking all over him just from his promise.

“Clock’s running,” he teases as he grips my thighs a little harder.

I cough, clear my throat, and say, “Tell me about your family.”

Ford’s eyes get a tinge of sadness as he says, “My parents are dead. My dad in a motorcycle accident, my mom from cancer. Didn’t have any siblings. Have a few aunts, uncles, and cousins back East where I’m from, but that’s about it.”

“Back East?” I ask.

“New Hampshire.”

My hands go to his chest. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

He’s eyes get even sadder, but his smile is very fond. “They were good people.”

That’s all he has to say for me to know… he’s a family man. He may not have them now, but what he had was good, and I think it was passed to him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have just handed over that type of money to me with such a ridiculously easy repayment. Let’s face it… he is practically giving me that money.

I want to know more about his family, but I also want to lighten the mood.

So I switch curiosities. “Tell me about The Hendrix Group. What exactly is it?”

“I could tell you,” he says seriously. “But then I’d have to kill you.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Try again.”

He chuckles and damn… the green in his eyes is mesmerizing when he laughs. His irises lighten and the tiny striations of rust turn golden.

When he stops laughing, he tells me, “I was in the Marine Corps… MARSOC, which is special forces. Did that for four years and liked the excitement and adventure of it, but didn’t like the lack of control or the low pay. I decided to start a company that provides a lot of those same services and charge for it.”

“What are the services?” I ask him, sliding my hands down to rest on his abs.

He gives a slight shrug. “Could be recovery of a kidnap victim or just gathering intelligence inside an enemy nation. Sometimes we’re hired for protection services for dignitaries.”

“And who would hire you to do that?” This is fascinating stuff.

“Sometimes private citizens,” he explains. “Once we were hired by an Arab oilman whose daughter had been kidnapped for ransom. We were hired to get her back. But mostly, it’s our government or one of our allies’ governments that hire special-ops contractors.”

“It sounds very James Bondish,” I say with a laugh.

“It’s not quite that exciting, particularly gathering intelligence,” he quips dryly. “Try freezing your ass off for weeks while sitting in the frigid mountains of Afghanistan and doing nothing but looking through binoculars at a village and making diary entries of movement.”

That doesn’t sound exciting at all. “But still… you’re hot like James Bond,” I point out.

Ford gives me a huge and unfettered grin. Before I know it, his hands are at my ass and he’s pulling me up his chest.

“Hey,” I complain as I push back. “You said I had ten minutes.”

“I’m calling a time out,” he says gruffly, his eyes going to the juncture of my legs. “I’m hungry.”

Well, who am I to argue with that?

Ford pulls me up his body, but I slam my hands down one more time to halt my progress. He looks at me with a mixture of amusement and irritation, but he waits for me to say whatever it is I want to say.

“You’re not as scary as I thought you’d be,” I murmur, tracing my finger down the middle of his chest. “Jaden told me to be careful with you.”

Ford’s eyes harden slightly and his mouth parts as if he wants to prove he’s scary or ask why Jayce would be wary of him, but instead he whispers, “Touch yourself.”

“What?”

His eyes fall to where my finger sits in the middle of his chest. Since he’s pulled me up his body a bit, it’s resting not very far from the opening of my pussy. Warmth flushes my body and a sensual ache forms low in my belly before making my sex start to convulse. I slowly drag my finger across his skin, until it touches my warm, wet folds. I push just the fingertip inside and then bring it out to circle the wetness around my clit. A tiny moan pops out of me as my eyes flutter closed.

“Fuck, that’s sexy,” Ford says in a gravelly voice filled with lust. “Let me taste.”

My eyes open slowly and a lazy smile spreads over my face. I pull my finger away and reach out, lightly rubbing it over his bottom lip. His tongue comes out and swipes at it, and that right there… that’s fucking sexy.

“Playtime’s over,” Ford growls. His hands on my ass pull me all the way up until I’m straddling his face. I hear him mumble, “It’s dinnertime,” before his mouth is on me and he’s rocking my world once again.