Page 5

5

FORD

I wake before Faith does, who’s sleeping like an angel on my chest. Her hair had dried from our shower last night and splayed over my skin and the pillows like a golden halo. For all the sass she has when she’s awake, she looks so peaceful when she’s dreaming. Peaceful and fucking edible.

Neither of us bothered getting dressed after we got cleaned up, and as she shuffled a little in her sleep, the blankets fell away to expose her soft, pale skin and delicious curves.

I meant what I told her before we came back to her place last night. She’s mine now. I feel like a caveman, growling and staking my claim, feral at the thought of another man even coming close to her.

I can’t bring myself to feel even remotely bad for it, though.

Faith stirs, yawning and stretching as she wakes up. I brush her hair out of her face as she blinks her blue eyes open, looking up at me. The sight of her sleepy smile steals the air from my lungs, and I forget how to breathe for a second.

“Good morning, handsome,” she murmurs, snuggling closer to me as I play with her hair.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” I say back, my voice still thick and low with sleep and rising desire.

“What time is it?” Faith asks, wriggling and starting to sit up to reach for her phone.

I grab her around the waist and pull her on top of me, stopping her from moving away. “Don’t know, don’t care,” I mumble as I kiss her, smiling when she giggles against my lips.

“Shouldn’t we get up and eat breakfast and get ready?” she asks, raising a brow at me.

“Now that you mention it, I am starving,” I reply, grabbing her as I turn us so she’s on her back and I’m above her. She squeals, arms wrapping around me automatically as we cling to each other like we’ve been together far longer than just one night.

“Then why are we still in bed?” she laughs, shaking her head at me.

I grin down at her, feeling feral for this girl. “Oh, baby. It’s not food I’m hungry for.”

Faith’s eyes widen, and a bright pink blush takes over her cheeks. Her plush lips form a silent oh, and when I kiss her, she moans against my mouth, her body arching up against me. I kiss her deeply, claiming her mouth just like I plan to claim every inch of her body. I trail kisses down her neck then over her chest, making her gasp and squirm.

“But we’ll be late for work…” she says, though it’s clear she’s not protesting my plan.

“I’ll be quick, promise,” I swear, knowing there’s no way in hell I’m going to work without the taste of my girl on my tongue. “Now spread these pretty thighs for me, baby,” I murmur against her stomach. “Let me feast on what’s mine.”

Faith whispers my name as she parts her legs, letting me settle between them. I glance up at her, finding her wide-eyed gaze locked on me, desire shining in the ocean blue of her eyes.

I hold her gaze as I dip my head, dragging my tongue through the center of her. I groan against her, one hand on her thigh, the other on her hip to hold her in place for me to eat.

“Fucking delicious, Faith,” I growl, licking the taste of her off my lips. “So wet for me, too. Such a good fucking girl.”

“Ford,” she gasps, and I swear that the melody of my name on her lips is my new favorite sound.

My cock is rock hard and begging for her, but the desire to make her unwind on my tongue is far stronger than the desire for my own pleasure. Her hands fist in the bed sheets as I tilt her hips, giving myself easier access to my breakfast before I devour her. My tongue traces every inch of her sweetness, dipping inside of her, circling her clit, driving her pleasure higher and higher until she’s chanting my name breathlessly, clawing at the sheets.

I drink her in, savoring every reaction she has, the way her thighs tighten right before she comes, gasping and shuddering beneath my touch. I don’t let up until she’s shaking from overstimulation, then I place one last kiss on her clit before I force myself to pull away.

“Oh my God,” Faith pants, opening her eyes to look at me as I sit up.

“I’m going to need to book out a meeting room every day at lunch,” I muse, “because nothing will satisfy me anymore but you.”

“I should complain about wasting valuable work time,” Faith teases, sitting up and grinning at me. “But, dammit, I can’t bring myself to think it’d be a waste at all. You’re thoroughly ruining me, Ford Grant.”

I laugh, standing and helping her to her feet, too. “I’m happy to let you ruin me in return, Faith Thatcher,” I say back.

“Oh yeah?” she asks, smirking as she sinks to her knees before me, swapping our earlier positions and dipping her head to return the favor.

I curse loudly as the wet heat of her mouth surrounds me, sending pleasure shooting up my spine. She’s perfection in human form, I’m sure of it. With every flick of her tongue and moan around the head of my cock, Faith damn near sucks the soul out of my body, and I’m all too happy to let her have it.

When I come, she swallows me down, smiling when I just stare down at her in pleasure-fueled shock.

“Dammit, baby, how are you even real?” I mumble, unable to resist one more kiss before we finally begin to get ready for work.

I have to wear the same clothes from the day before, but thankfully nobody should notice if I wear the same suit twice in a row anyway. Faith is half-ready when she notices the time and lets out a high-pitched squeal, mouth hanging open.

“Shit! We’re late,” she curses, rushing to finish getting dressed and nearly tripping over again, trying to shove her feet into her heels.

As fast as possible without breaking speed laws and delaying us even more by being fined, I drive us to the office, trying not to show her how amused I am by her being so flustered.

I’m not worried about being late until I reach my desk and realize a team meeting has been called this morning. A team meeting that started … ten minutes ago.

Fuck.

Faith makes a beeline for the meeting room, with me right on her heels, grumbling about people needing to schedule their meetings better and give more notice. I chuckle quietly to myself at her hypocrisy, though I love how fierce she is.

Fuck, I love everything about her.

We reach the door at the same time, and I hold it open for her as she rushes in, following closely behind.

I only realize our mistake when the room goes absolutely silent when we enter. A table full of shocked faces stares directly at us, eyes wide, and suspicion is clearly written all over the expressions of our colleagues.

“Good morn–” I begin to say, just as Faith speaks at the same time.

“It’s not what?—”

“Apologies for being late?—”

“We just bumped into each other?—”

Our excuses overlap, turning into a jumble of words that don’t make any sense. I catch Tom’s narrowed eyes and pursed lips from across the table as he glares daggers my way.

Whatever excuses or explanations we try to make, it’s clear that nobody’s buying it.

We’re both late. We both walked in together. It’s clear that we didn’t just bump into each other coincidentally, especially because neither of us is ever normally late at all.

Of course, it’s Tom who speaks first.

“Well, well, well,” the asshole speaks up, shaking his head as his eyes flit between Faith and me. “Isn’t this interesting? I expected better of you, Ford. I know I’m not the only one disappointed to see that you’re so clearly violating the office code of conduct and with such little shame! You can’t expect any of us to believe that you and Ms. Thatcher here just so happened to both be late and walk in side by side, looking like you got dressed in a huge rush. Isn’t that the same suit you wore yesterday, Ford? It’s looking a little … rumpled.”

My fists clench at my sides, and I open my mouth to tell him exactly what I think of him running his pathetic mouth, but Faith beats me to it.

With a sweet smile on her face and batting her long lashes innocently, she says, “That’s rich coming from a man who can’t take a hint even when it’s shoved in his face and keeps making me incredibly uncomfortable despite me making it more than clear that I’m not and never will be interested in somebody like you. You’re lucky I haven’t filed a complaint about you, Tom.”

Pride blooms through me at the strength and sass in Faith’s words, though she keeps her tone entirely professional as she reprimands him. I have to adjust my stance to make sure it’s not obvious to the whole room how much hearing her call him out turns me on.

I can’t help myself from touching her, though, and Faith leans into me unashamedly as I slide my arm around her waist and pull her close, ensuring Tom sees every ounce of possession in my glare.

“You make her uncomfortable ever again and you’re going to have to deal with me,” I say, fighting to keep my voice professional but ensuring he hears the threat for what it is. “There’s nothing wrong with Faith and I seeing each other. We’re both consenting adults who can make their own choices without input from people like you.”

Tom’s eyes go wide as plates as he looks around the table in search of support or backup. His cheeks go red. “Are you hearing this?” he asks our colleagues, outraged. “He threatened me! That was a threat!”

Finally, someone else speaks up. It’s Georgia from Human Resources, a nice woman but one who takes no nonsense. Normally, we all make an effort not to get on her bad side, but as I stand there, arm around Faith, facing off Tom, I find that I no longer care if I’m breaking the rules. She can do her worst. Faith is worth it.

“Ford and Faith are right,” Georgia says, much to Tom’s horror. I take great satisfaction in the way he looks like he’s going to explode at her words. “There’s a work relationship form to sign, but there’s no policies that forbid them from being together.”

“But—” Tom tries to say, slamming his hand on the table as though being loud will make him right.

Georgia ignores his outburst as she addresses him. “You’re going to have even more problems if you want to try to pursue this. Not to mention that you’ll be in a hell of a lot of trouble for harassment if Faith decides to file a report, which she has every right to do. I would consider your next words very carefully, Tom.”

Tom splutters, making noise, though there are no discernible words coming out.

Joseph Greene, the head of our whole office and technically the boss of all of us, clears his throat, drawing all our attention to him. “Ford and Faith are technically equals, each head of their respective departments. There’s no problem with the power dynamics here at all. By their own admission, their relationship is consensual. I don’t make it a habit of getting involved in my employees’ personal relationships, and I don’t plan on starting now. I advise you, Tom, to calm down and focus on your job, which, if I must remind you, is computers, not personal relationships.” Faith and I smile gratefully at him, and he adds, “Now, I’m sure we all have better things to be doing than sitting here discussing this. Let’s get back to the issues at hand, shall we?”

Thoroughly put in his place, Tom goes silent, beet red and fuming, as Faith and I take our seats for the meeting. Joseph provides a quick recap of the agenda, and we dive into work.

“Faith, I believe you had an outline of your next marketing campaign ready to present?” one of our colleagues prompts, and Faith grins, nodding.

“Yes! I truly think this is one of our best yet. The team has worked so hard on it,” she begins, quickly logging in to the computer attached to the projector to bring up the outline. She presents efficiently and engagingly, and I can’t take my eyes off her.

This smart, capable, sassy, strong woman is mine.

I’m the luckiest man in the whole fucking world.

Everybody, including me, loves the campaign idea, and our boss praises her highly for how well she works with her team and the quality of work she’s produced since starting here. She accepts the compliments gracefully, even going so far as to give me credit for helping her when she needed assistance. I smile, imagining all the ways I can show her how helpful I can be after work. Unsurprisingly, the campaign gets approved without any objections, and I squeeze her thigh under the table, silently showing my pride and support.

Fuck, I’m so proud of her.

She’s incredible.

And all mine.