Page 48 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero
LILA
F ord pulled me closer and kissed me like I was a meal he’d been craving for decades and now that he had it, he intended on savoring every bite. It was sweet and slow, but also deep and lingering. I melted into his touch, every sigh and moan swallowed by his languishing kisses.
I had no idea what had gotten into him, but I liked it.
First the playfulness when I’d asked how he was feeling after seeing Luke’s would-be fiancée, then the earnest tone of his voice when he’d told me that he really was okay, and now this, pulling me to him and kissing me like he was making love to my mouth.
Something sure had changed since the last time we’d been together and I desperately hoped that change meant that somehow he’d turned a page. My brain was whirring because of it, but I refused to let overthinking steal this moment from me.
Shutting down all my thoughts at once, I decided to lean into the sense of determination and peace that seemed to be radiating from him. I focused on the sensation of feeling his hard body pressed against mine and the way it felt to have the pad of his thumb stroke over my cheekbone.
He tasted of popcorn and Ford, salty and yet somehow also sweet. Tongue lashing across my own in firm, sure strokes, there was nothing hurried about tonight. Nothing that made me wonder deep down inside if soon he would be disappearing again.
I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it almost felt like he was finally fully present. Every other time we’d been together, it’d been awesome and mind-blowing, but deep down, I’d always felt like there was a part of himself he was holding back.
Something he was shoving down, desperately not wanting me to see. This time, however, it was like he was putting himself on full display. Except that we’re both still clothed, so that’s a pretty odd thought.
Physical nakedness had never been much of an issue for him after we’d crossed that boundary the first time, however. He had no reason to be shy and he was exactly as confident about his body as he should be. It was his insides I’d always gotten the sense he was ashamed of.
That was the difference this time. He stroked his tongue into my mouth like he had all the time in the world. His chest rose and fell on sharper, shorter breaths and the kiss became even deeper, but he didn’t make a move to take it any further just yet.
I liked that he was really taking his time tonight, just kissing me like I meant something to him instead of giving in to the desperate need that always seemed to burn between us. It was still there, that desperate need, but it was a slow burn tonight.
Ford slid his fingers into my hair, holding me to him with a thumb on either side of my head, resting just in front of my ears. It felt so intimate that I moaned, shifting on his lap so that I was straddling him now.
Instantly, I felt the bulge of him between my legs and moaned again, my nipples tightening and fighting to punch their way through my bra. I curled my fingers around his shoulders, need buzzing through me like a swarm of horny bees.
Ford groaned into my mouth, adjusting the angle of his hips so he was putting pressure exactly where I needed it. Frissons of pleasure streaked through me and I tightened my grip, leaning closer as I started moving against him.
Our breathing became heavier, pants and moans filling the room as we kept kissing like there was no tomorrow. I squeezed my eyes shut, pouring every little ounce of emotion in my heart into the kiss.
He responded as if he’d heard the words I hadn’t said, and as if he agreed. Slanting his head to kiss me even harder, his hips started moving under mine like he was losing control right along with me. Desire skated down my spine, making me tremble above him.
“We need to get to my bed,” he murmured between kisses, his voice throaty and harsh. “Now.”
“We could just stay here.” I tucked my hair behind my ears and broke away from him for just long enough to see him look at me like he was about to devour me whole, but then he gave his head a firm shake and tightened his grip on my thighs. “Maybe later, but right now, I want you in my bed.”
As he said it, my panties got even wetter and I was tempted to just keep rubbing against him, but I kind of agreed. A bed and some space sounded real good right now, so I scooted off his lap and stood up on shaky legs, holding out a hand toward him.
He took it and quickly followed me up, the tent in his jeans looking downright uncomfortable, but he pulled me along with him as if he didn’t even notice it. I couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of me, and when we got to his bedroom, he pinned me down on his mattress and cocked an eyebrow.
“What’s so funny?”
I shrugged but wiggled my hips underneath him. “I’ve never understood how you can walk when that thing is so…”
He smirked, then drew my hands high above my head and started peppering my face, throat, and chest with kisses again, speaking with his lips ghosting across my skin. “It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.”
My back arched and I closed my eyes, the moment of brevity broken by the intensity of the need swirling through me again. “It was totally worth it.”
I felt him grinning against my throat. “Anything that leads to me getting to be with you is always going to be worth it.”
I moaned when his teeth grazed against me, opening my eyes when his head suddenly disappeared.
I’d thought he was coming up to kiss my mouth again, but nope.
He was sitting up on his knees between my legs, his body shrouded in shadow and yet those shiny slivers of skin that bore his scars shimmered in the moonlight filtering in.
I didn’t linger on those, though. To me, they were simply a part of the tapestry that made up this complex, caring man I loved.
Instead, I admired his broad shoulders and the hard edges of his torso, the way his muscles flexed and released as he pulled his T-shirt free and tossed it away. To my surprise, he didn’t reach for my shirt or even my pants next.
His hands dropped to his fly and he didn’t make a meal of popping the button open or lowering the zipper. My mouth started watering as I watched him, suddenly wishing we’d switched on the lights so I could see this in full color, but it was also more intimate this way.
Since he was barefoot, he kicked the pants away fairly easily and my eyebrows jumped up when I realized he hadn’t been wearing his usual boxer-briefs. “You were commando? With jeans?”
“What can I say? I like to live on the edge.” He moved his hands to my feet and got started on my sandals, deftly undoing the straps and letting the shoes drop to the floor. I was barely aware of him working toward getting me naked, though.
I’d never get enough of looking at him. Even in the low light, my insides clenched at the sexy picture he cut. The lines between his hips pointed directly at his hard cock and I traced the curve of it with my eyes before I realized I wanted to be doing so much more than that.
Sitting up, I lifted my arms for him to slide my sundress off, but then I leaned forward and grabbed his hips. Glancing up, I took him into my mouth. Ford groaned and dropped his head back, not even trying to stop me as his hands slid into my hair.
I didn’t let him set the pace for this, curling my tongue around him and moaning at every twitch and small thrust of his hips.
He let me do what I wanted until I felt him swell between my lips, but then he withdrew and quickly rolled a condom on before he pushed me back on the bed and positioned himself between my legs.
I wrapped my legs around his hips and my arms around his neck, kissing him deeply.
He sank into me. We never stopped kissing once we started moving, both of us finding a rhythm together that we kept until I was so lost in him and what was happening between us tonight that it felt like nothing else had ever existed.
Lying in his arms after, I listened to the sound of his heartbeat steadying and I felt so safe, so supported and protected that I decided to take a risk. I knew it was probably not the best idea, but I had to know, and after the intimacy of what we’d just done, I had to know now .
“Ford?” I murmured into the silent dark of his room. “Are you still awake?”
“Hmm-mm,” he hummed, the movement of his head above mine telling me that he was looking at the top of my hair. “What’s up?”
“Do you like me?” I asked, my heartbeat suddenly galloping at a hundred miles a minute, but I didn’t take back the question and I knew he knew that I hadn’t just blurted it out again. My voice had been nice and even. “Romantically, I mean.”
He rolled over, adjusting his arms so he was still holding me but could look into my eyes as well. Putting his nose only an inch away from mine, he was so close that I could see the glimmer of amusement in his silvery eyes even if there was only ambient light in the room.
“You wouldn’t be in my bed if I didn’t,” he said, his tone light and easy. “It’s been a long time since I was the type of guy who let just anyone between his sheets.”
I frowned, but before I could tell him that he hadn’t really given me an answer, he chuckled and dropped a kiss on the tip of my nose. “I do, Lila. I really do like you. I just have a hard time expressing it. I’m not really a man of words, am I?”
“No, you’re not, but your actions are telling,” I murmured as I burrowed into him. “I just wanted to make sure I was reading them right.”
He pulled me closer, his arm around my waist tightening as I tucked my face into the crook of his neck. When he spoke again, he whispered the words against my forehead, his other hand firm at the small of my back.
“You’re reading them right, Lila. Whatever you think my actions are showing, you’re right. Even if I can’t quite put words to them yet.”
I felt a smile ghost across my lips as I let my eyes drift shut. He hadn’t told me that he loved me too, but he hadn’t run away again either. Ford was right here, holding me as if he would never let me go, and I had a feeling that I knew what that meant—even if he wasn’t able to say it yet.