Page 16

16

HARPER

I pull my phone from my back pocket, wiping the sweat from my brow.

I spent the day working with the contractors, and while they did their projects, I went to the room that used to be mine and started removing everything from the walls and patching holes.

I need a shower before Ford gets here.

After letting the guys out and waving goodbye, I close the door and head upstairs to my bedroom.

My clothing hits the floor and I step over it on my way to the shower.

Turning the water on, I pin my hair up, then step beneath the warm spray.

A sigh of pure contentment escapes my lips as the water beads on my skin, massaging away the tension.

Suddenly, the shower curtain is thrust open, and I scream.

Whipping around, my heart furiously pounds as I take in Ford’s irate face.

“What the fuck?” I yell, pressing my hands against my bare breasts. “You scared the hell outta me! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

His nostrils flare. “Why the fuck are you still here?”

“I needed a shower. I worked on my old bedroom today and?—”

He kicks off his shoes, yanks his shirt over his head, and tears off his jeans, rendering me speechless.

When his boxers come off, I sag against the shower wall, squeezing my eyes closed.

Don’t look. Don’t look.

But I do.

My traitorous eyes fly open, landing right on his large cock.

Even when he steps into the shower with me, my eyes are still glued to his dick.

His hand wraps around my neck, not squeezing, but getting my attention.

My eyes fly up to his.

There’s a mixture of desire and humor beneath the glimmer of anger.

Then he blinks, and it disappears. “You agreed to leave right away. You were supposed to be packing to stay with me.”

My brain is still short-circuiting from his naked body.

He leans closer, his nose touching mine. “Why are there no bags packed in your room?”

“How did you have time to look in my room before coming in here?”

He squeezes slightly, a warning look on his face. “Answer my question, Harper. Why aren’t your bags packed?”

I look away, not wanting him to see the guilt.

I hate that I’m running away from my problems like a coward.

“I should stay and fight.”

“What?” His brows shoot up. “Like hell.”

“Be reasonable. Sure, someone threw a rock through my window. But if I run, that’s giving them the power.”

He’s shaking his head before I finish speaking. “No. It’s too fucking risky. There’s no way I’m letting you stay here, alone, so some maniac can break in and hurt you.”

“Speaking of break-ins, how did you?—”

“Easy. You forgot to lock the damn door. And that’s exactly why you’re not staying here.”

Anger mixes with embarrassment.

That was a foolish mistake.

Thank God Ford came through the door while I was in the shower, not whoever was threatening me—probably Todd.

My tone is defensive. “I was in a hurry. It won’t happen again.”

He glares at me. “I know it won’t. Because you’re coming home with me. ”

Anger flares up inside me.

I’m an independent woman who can take care of myself.

“Don’t say it. I waltzed right in here because you didn’t take the appropriate precautions.”

“I made a damn mistake,” I say through gritted teeth.

“You were reckless,” he snaps, his voice bouncing off the shower walls.

His hand slides to my breast, squeezing it. “What would have stopped someone from groping you like I am right now?”

I gasp. “Ford.”

My nipple hardens beneath his unexpected touch.

Heat burns in his eyes. “I should fuck the hell out of you for disobeying me.”

Oh, Jesus. Why do I like the sound of that?

He releases my throat and breast, grabbing my loofah. “But I won’t. You don’t deserve it.”

My mouth drops open before the anger and humiliation take hold.

Straightening my spine, I grit out between clenched teeth, “Like I would’ve let you.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” He squirts soap onto it, then presses it against my chest. “The hunger on your face when I touched you told me everything I needed to know.”

I glare at him, gritting my teeth.

He rubs the loofah over my hard nipples, and I jerk. “You would have willingly spread your legs and taken everything I had to give.”

My palm moves to the center of his chest, trying to push him back.

But he’s like a wall of granite, not even moving when I shove him. “I would not.”

A wicked grin crosses his lips as his hand cups my pussy. “Then why are you fucking soaked.”

A fiery blush spreads over my body. “Cause I’m in the shower.”

His fingers lightly rub over my clit. “Wrong answer.”

My hands press against his chest, nails digging in like I’m pushing him away.

But my traitorous legs?

They spread wider, instinctively begging for more.

I’m supposed to resist him.

I should be fighting this.

Instead, I arch into his touch, a breathless moan spilling from my lips as his fingers work me open.

“See that?” His voice is thick with amusement, his free hand gripping my jaw and forcing me to meet his gaze. “That little bit of fight in you? Gone. ”

I swallow hard, my throat and mouth dry.

His fingers curl inside me, a sharp pleasure sparking behind my eyes. “You can keep lying to yourself, sweetheart. But your body? It already fucking belongs to me. ”

He’s right, but there’s no fucking way I’m admitting that to him .

“Fucking soaked,” he whispers, his intense gaze burning into mine.

A whimper slips out before I can stop it.

He slips a finger inside me and immediately curses. “Goddamn. So fucking tight…” He moves deeper before sliding to the tip. “So damn wet.”

I should be pushing him away, not pulling him closer. “Ford.”

His finger moves in and out of me, the pace agonizingly slow, as he plays with my clit. “You can’t deny this. You can’t lie to me when you’re this soaked.”

A whimper slips free, followed by a moan. “Oh, hell.”

He smirks at me.

My head falls against the bathroom wall. “Please.”

His hand grips my face, turning it to his. “Please, what, Harper? Go faster? Deeper? Use your words.”

My mouth is dry as I say, “Faster. Deeper.”

He delivers, giving me exactly what I want.

I stare at his face, letting him see the way he’s unraveling me.

“You wanna come on my finger, don’t you?” He sticks another one inside me, and I moan. “Two fingers are better than one, aren’t they, sweet girl?”

I nod. “God, yes,” I breathlessly whisper. “More.”

He chuckles. “So greedy.”

He kicks my legs apart, expertly playing my clit like an instrument while he fingers me.

A moan slips free, echoing around the shower.

Then his lips cover mine, and I fucking unravel.

He fingers me hard and fast, toying my clit in frantic circles, all while using his mouth to devour me.

My body shakes as I cling to him, seconds from an orgasm.

A strangled sound rips from my throat as Ford removes his fingers, leaving me teetering on the edge of release, only to deny me.

My entire body trembles, thighs clenching together, desperate to chase the pleasure he just stole.

But Ford?

He’s already moved on, grabbing my loofah like I’m just some dirty little thing that needs washing.

“You—” I suck in a breath, gripping the shower wall for balance. “You asshole.”

“Asshole?” Ford lifts a brow, rubbing the loofah slowly down my stomach. “Sweetheart, I just made you wetter than this goddamn shower.”

His smirk is lethal and deadly. “And you liked it.”

I hate him.

I hate him.

I hate how badly I want him to finish what he started.

His stormy eyes meet mine. “If you ever let another man touch you the way I just did, I’ll fucking tear him apart, limb by limb, before I kill him.”

A shiver rakes down my spine.

A warning.

A threat.

My brain tells me to be scared.

But my body?

It clenches around nothing, aching for him to shove me against the shower wall and prove it.

Ford leans in, his breath warm against my ear. “You feel that, don’t you?” His fingers brush down my side, the gesture teasing. “The way you shivered? The way your breath hitched?”

I grit my teeth, not saying a word.

His teeth scrape my jaw, sending a pulse of heat straight between my legs. “That’s fear , sweetheart. And it turns you the fuck on.”

Oh, God. It does.

I’m a sick, twisted mess.

And the worst part?

He knows it.