Page 37 of A Tempting Seduction (Protectors of Jasper Creek #5)

I flowed against him, my hands sliding up his chest as I kissed him back. Ford's arms came around me, careful of his injured arm but holding me like he never wanted to let go.

A sharp knock on the door broke us apart.

“Be right there,” Ford called out, his voice slightly rough.

I practically sprinted to the bathroom.

I heard Ford chuckling as he moved toward the door. Through the crack in the bathroom door, I watched him check the peephole before opening it to Agent Martinez.

“Thanks,” Ford said, taking the large tray of food with the silver trays.

“No problem. Enjoy your meal.”

Ford secured the deadbolt and turned toward the bathroom. “Coast is clear.” Ford laid the tray on the little table.

Fuck, I didn’t have anything to cover up my underwear this time. I walked out. Ford held out his hand. “Come on, beautiful. Come eat with me.”

“Let me go get my sleep shirt first.”

“I’ll let you one if you really want one. I’ll always give you anything you want or need. But I’ve got to tell you, having a meal with you sitting across from me while you’re wearing black satin underwear is like a dream come true.”

I searched his eyes. “It is?”

“Swear to God. It is, Ruby. You’re everything to me, and you’re a fucking knockout.”

I bit my lip, but I could see his truth in his eyes and it warmed me like nothing else ever had.

“Okay.”

“Wait a second.” Ford sprinted to the bathroom, then came back with a towel and set it over the chair so that I was protected from the cold Naugahyde.

He held out his hand and guided me to the chair.

I sat. His fingers trailed from my neck, down to my fingers.

I trembled. He sat down, pulling his chair close to mine.

“Let’s see what we have.” He took the covers off the dishes with a flourish and laughed. I joined in.

“I should have told you the steak was a mistake,” he sighed. “Room service food is always a crapshoot. Hell, they can even fuck-up French fries.”

I stole one of his French fries that came with his club sandwich and swirled it in his ranch dressing. “They didn’t fuck up. It tastes good. If you were a truly nice guy, you would switch plates with me.”

“I’m willing to say I love you. That I adore you. That you are turning me on like no one’s business as you sit there all sexy. But there’s no way I’m going to eat that chunk of charcoal on your plate.”

“You just lost serious boyfriend points.”

He sighed again. “I’ll have to cope. But I am willing to share.”

My stomach perked up. “Really?”

“Really.”

Before he had a chance to change his mind, I took half his sandwich and put it on my plate and scooped up half his fries.

“Hey, that was more than half,” he grumbled as he pointed to my stack of fries. I didn’t care as I swiped his container of ranch dressing.

“You can have my vegetables.” I pointed at the overcooked carrots and limp broccoli.

“I think I’ll pass.”

As we ate, I was very aware that Ford kept glancing at me between bites.

His gaze would linger on my mouth when I took a sip of water, or travel down to where my lacy black bra was cradling my breasts.

I even noticed that his eyes would darken with desire as he looked at my wide hips and thick thighs.

Each look sent heat spiraling through me, making it difficult to concentrate on my food.

Ford was about halfway through his sandwich when he set down it down and looked me directly in the eye.

“Please tell me you're done with dinner,” he rasped. His voice carried an undertone that made my pulse quicken.

I set down what was left of my sandwich and looked at him. Really looked at him. The exhaustion was still there, but underneath it was something else. Something that made heat pool low in my belly.

“Yes,” I said simply.

Ford was up and around the table before I could blink. He knelt in front of me, his hands framing my face as his mouth captured mine. The kiss was hungry, desperate, full of two days' worth of fear and relief and need.

I slid against him, my hands fisting in his shirt as I kissed him back with everything I had. He tasted like desire and promises, like everything I'd almost lost on Saturday night.

When we broke apart, we were both breathing hard.

“I need to touch you,” Ford said roughly. “I need to know you're real. That you're here.”

“I'm here,” I whispered. “I'm real. Please touch me.”

His hands went to the clasp of my bra at the back and worked the four eye hooks. He slowly slipped the straps over my shoulders and kissed his way down my overheated skin as he uncovered it. Uncovered me.

“Jesus, Ruby.” His voice was reverent. “You're so beautiful.”

Heat flooded my cheeks, but I didn't look away. I wanted him to see me, all of me. When his big hands easily cupped my breasts, I sighed with satisfaction. One thumb started a rhythm over my needy nipple just as his mouth enclosed my other nipple with wet heat.

I tried, I really tried, to keep my voice down. I tried because I didn’t want the agents in the rooms on either side of us to hear me, but I couldn’t. “Ford—” I wailed his name. He sucked harder, I wailed again. Louder.

I could feel his grin against my breast. The egomaniac liked that I was loud.

Two could play this game.

My hands roamed down his body, slowly, until I was at the hem of his shirt. I was going to get this off him, if it killed me. I pushed upward, but it didn’t work. I only got it as far as his armpits, then he started sucking on my other nipple, and my head fell backward, my eyes closed. I saw stars.

I felt his teeth. He slowly scraped against me.

“Again,” I begged. “So wonderful.” I don’t know if I whispered the words or screamed them.

I didn’t care. Ford went back to the first breast he had tortured and scraped over my nipple with his teeth.

I wrapped my legs around his waist. I’d never been this turned on.

The world was fuzzy. I needed my panties off. I needed to rub against the ridges of his abdomen. I needed it like I needed to breathe. Ford let go of my breasts and cupped my ass. He picked me up and took me to the closest bed.

That killed my buzz.

“Dammit, Ford Larson! You’re fucking injured.” I yelled. “If you pick me up again when you’re injured, I’m never giving you a blow job. Do you hear me?”

Ford rolled on the bed beside me and shouted with laughter. “Not only did I hear you, but I’m pretty damn sure that Agents Chen and Martinez heard you, too.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck, who heard me. No blowjobs, you got it?”

The bastard continued to laugh. “I promise, I won’t lift you again.”

I got up on my knees and checked Ford’s bandage. I didn’t see any sign of blood on his bandage, which calmed me down.

He reached up with his other hand. “Better?” he whispered.

“A little.” I admitted.

“Now do I get a blowjob?”

“You’re on probation. We’ll see how well you do on this trip.”

He smiled. I loved the way lines crinkled beside his eyes.

All of a sudden, I noticed he wasn’t looking me in the eye. He was checking out my boobs. “You are such a man.”

He didn’t look apologetic in the slightest. “Guilty as charged. You have great tits. Now lie down.”

In a flash I was flat on my back, and Ford was kneeling over me. His t-shirt was off, and he was pulling down my panties. His eyes sparkled as he looked me over. “We’re going to have fun playing in this small bed tonight,” he promised.

“Not if you’re still wearing pants,” I teased.

“That can be easily corrected.” He stood up and shucked off his jeans and briefs all at once, and I ogled his body. Every part of him. He was gorgeous, and all mine. I loved him, and he said he loved me. Unlike Lance Leeds, I believed and trusted Ford Larson.

He grabbed a condom from the nightstand drawer.

“Nice hotel feature,” I smirked.

“Smartass. You took a long shower. I had time to plan.”

Once again, he rolled on the condom in record time. Then he slid over me and feathered a soft kiss against my temple. “I don’t know how long I’m going to last.”

“I don’t care, just please do something,” I begged.

He entered me with one smooth thrust, then gave my body time to adjust. But I didn’t need time, I’d been ready since he started ogling my thighs.

And my hips.

My thighs and hips. Well fuck, he ogled my whole body!

Good Lord, I loved this man, and he drove me crazy.

He pulled out and pushed back in again.

“Ruby,” he groaned. “You feel so good.”

He began to move, long, slow strokes that built the heat between us gradually. There was nowhere to go in the narrow bed, no escape from the intensity of being so completely connected. Every movement sent waves of pleasure through me, every touch of his hands on my skin made me want more.

Ford rolled us to our sides, still keeping our connection, still keeping that rhythm that was making my bones melt. Ford reached down between us and his thumb found my clit. I cried out, my body arching against his. He increased the pressure, the rhythm, until I was balanced on the edge of release.

“Come for me,” he whispered against my ear. “Let go, Ruby.”

I shattered, my body clenching around him as pure, unadulterated pleasure swept through me in waves. Ford followed me over, his own release shaking through him as he buried his face in my neck.

We lay tangled together afterward, both of us breathing hard, neither willing to move and break the spell. The double bed that had seemed impossibly small now felt perfect, keeping us pressed together in the aftermath.

“We're definitely going to fall off this bed at some point tonight,” I said, laughing softly.

“Probably.” Ford tightened his arms around me. “Worth it, though.”

“Definitely worth it.”

I pressed a kiss to his chest, right over his heart, and felt him shiver beneath me.

He got out of bed and dispensed with the condom, then came back and wrapped around me once more.

I kept thinking about tomorrow, and somehow Ford knew. He turned me around so my back was facing his front. With his good hand, he started a strong massage while his injured hand trailed languid patterns along my sides.

“We’re almost done, Ruby. You’ll be able to come home with me. We’ll figure out how we’re going to build a life together. Tomorrow is just one day that we have to get through before the good stuff starts.”

He kissed the nape of my neck.

“Promise?” I asked, my voice thick with sleep.

“Cross my heart. You’re it for me, Ruby Banks Miller. Our life together is just beginning.”

I wanted to say something. Shout from the rooftops. Tell Ford how much he meant to me, but instead I must have fallen asleep, because the last thing I remembered was him tugging me closer and resting his chin in the crook of my neck.