Page 32 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls (Ivy Falls #3)

FORD

Piece Of Her Past

The only thing that filled my senses was the feel and touch of Piper. I worked her with my tongue and then my fingers, she moaned my name and shuddered around me, her hand gripping my shoulders like she couldn’t get enough.

I held on to her as she found her release and when she finally opened her eyes, she dragged me to my feet, spun me around and pushed me toward her bedroom.

The back of my legs crashed against the bed.

Before I could say a word, her hands were tugging down my board shorts.

Once they were off, she gave me a wicked grin and pushed me back onto the mattress.

I scooted toward the headboard and she crawled toward me.

She started to seat herself and I grabbed her waist.

‘Wait. Condom?’ I said.

She dragged a hand through her hair and it was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. ‘In the bedside table.’

I reached over and opened the drawer, tearing off a foil packet. When I rolled back over a question lingered in her eyes.

‘Should we talk about it?’

‘If you mean how quickly I can get my hands on you again, then yes.’

‘No.’ Her pretty red mouth went firm. ‘Do you want to know my history? If I’ve been checked?’

I set the condom package down and pressed my fingers into her luscious hipbones. ‘You can tell me whatever you want.’

‘My life’s been complicated.’

I held on to her, never letting my gaze veer from her eyes. She was confessing to a past I wasn’t worried about, but instinct said this was something she needed to do.

‘I haven’t been with anyone in over two years. And I’ve been tested.’

‘Me too,’ I said, moving my hands to her cheeks. ‘Anything else you want to say?’

Relief loosened her shoulders and she inched forward, teasing the edge of herself against me.

‘Confession,’ she said with such a sexy whisper I let loose a groan. ‘I very much want your hands on me too.’

She laid a hot kiss against my lips and plucked the foil package from the bed.

Once she had me sheathed, she pushed me back against the headboard and climbed on.

Her movements were teasing at first, settling herself down and then quickly shifting away.

My hands rested on her waist as she moved over me, the ache inside me growing with such a fury that I finally locked my hands down and held her until I was deep inside.

We moved as one, her eyes closed, my name a plea on her lips.

‘Piper, open your eyes.’

She fluttered her lashes until I saw her warm brown gaze.

‘I want you to watch what you do to my body. Witness how my breath changes when you touch me. Everything about you, your gorgeous skin, the way you laugh, makes my pulse race.’

With a tight grip on my shoulders she did as I asked. There was a certainty in her eyes, an acknowledgment that she wanted this as much as I did.

Everything about her was unexpected. The way she challenged me. How she never wanted anything more than my presence.

I’d stumbled into this town a confused and disillusioned mess but she’d brought everything into focus. We’d promised this was only for a few months, but the way my heart raced every time she was in my orbit said this was much more than some casual deal.

Her hair swung behind her as I found a rhythm for us.

She held on to me, the rings on her fingers scratching against my skin.

I shifted and she let out another moan as I found the spot that made her shudder.

While I held on to her hips with one hand, the other pulled her down for a deep kiss.

Her breaths quickened, her mouth pressing against my skin like a whispered oath.

She shifted, taking me deeper. ‘I’m close.’

‘Wait for me, Bird.’

I drove into her, clutching her back, holding her tightly against me.

‘Ford, please,’ she said with a breathy plea. I moved again, finding the spot that made her toss her head back. ‘Yes, there,’ she whispered, and with one last thrust we went over the edge together.

She collapsed onto me, her dark hair spilling like ink across my chest. I traced slow circles on her back until our breaths returned to a normal rhythm.

I loved the feel of her cheek against my skin. How she melted into me like we were one being. I reached up and stroked her hair, and she murmured, ‘That feels good but you’re going to put me to sleep.’

‘And you don’t want that?’

She shot me a determined look. ‘Go clean yourself up but then come back. Quickly.’

The want in her eyes had me jumping off the bed. Once the condom was in the trash, I raced back to her and crawled over the sheets until I was hovering over her. I placed a quick kiss to her lips and felt the smile beneath it.

‘Not going to lie. That was the best sex I’ve ever had.’

I couldn’t help but laugh. ‘If you’re trying to pump up my ego, you’re doing a good job.’

‘It’s the truth. You take your time. You’re tender and you care about giving me pleasure too. That’s a highly underrated quality when it comes to sex.’

I moved to lie beside her, tucking her gently in my arms. ‘Never got that. Giving a woman pleasure gets me off.’

‘Oh really,’ she cooed. ‘That’s good to know.’

I plopped a kiss on the top of her head. ‘I might have an edge though. When you spend a lot of time studying human anatomy, the pleasure centers, you become pretty adept at learning what makes a woman feel good.’

‘Maybe you should give a TED talk about it because I’d guess a lot of men don’t know that truth.’

‘No one wants to hear me give a TED talk,’ I joked. ‘Especially when it’s a lecture on how bad men are at sex.’

‘Sadly, you’re probably right.’

She traced her fingers over my biceps and down my chest and I went hard again. But let’s be real, all Piper had to do was look at me and I got stiff.

As I held her close, her fingers went back to tracing her tattoo. I worried that now she’d had time to think, maybe she regretted what we’d just done. That this was way past the line of our deal.

‘You okay?’ I whispered into her hair.

‘Yeah, just thinking about the lake today. How I was terrified to go back, too afraid that being there would stir up emotions I’ve tried years to manage, but with you there it was easier.

Like I didn’t have to face my demons alone.

It was a big risk but I’m glad I went for it.

I think my parents would have been proud. ’

She pressed her lips to the corner of my shoulder, snuggled in so she fit perfectly into the crook of my arm.

‘Do you feel comfortable telling me what happened to them?’

‘What? The Ivy Falls gossip hasn’t made it to you yet?’

‘I’ve heard a few things,’ I admitted. ‘But I want to know the real story from you if you’re ready to tell me.’

I was pushing against that wall of hers and was unsure of how she’d react.

Like she sensed my tension, she pulled in an uneven breath and sank in to me rather than scooting away.

I wrapped my arms around her, grateful she was ready to trust me.

Share another piece of her past, which I knew wasn’t easy.

‘My parents moved us away from Ivy Falls when I was twelve. I was angry at first. Beck was too because he was in love with Torran at the time.’ Her voice rattled but she went on.

‘My dad was very smart. His business developed processors that made computers run faster. After he sold the company, he decided to buy a massive RV and have us travel all over the US for a year while my mom homeschooled us. The first couple of weeks on the trip I was a pain in the ass. Made life really difficult for my parents.’

‘Sounds like a typical preteen. I was a real shit for my parents too.’

‘Yeah, I was pretty fucking mean,’ she said with a hint of shame.

‘After about two months of traveling, Beck and I understood that was going to be our life. We settled in and learned to love the ways our mom would make every new place an adventure. At Mount Rushmore she quizzed us about the presidents. In Kentucky, she asked probing questions about President Lincoln’s birthplace.

When we got to Boston Harbor, she gave us each a small packet of tea, joked we could be like the colonists and spill it into the water.

She was clever like that. Always working in historical facts without us realizing she was schooling us. ’

‘Your mom sounds pretty great.’

‘She was,’ she offered quietly. ‘My dad was too.’

I kept her tucked into my chest as she kept talking.

‘When it happened…’ She sucked in a heavy breath.

‘We were in Northern California at a camping spot. It was winter and there’d recently been a big snowfall.

I was being the typical annoying little sister, pestering Beck to throw snowballs with me.

Off and on throughout the trip, there’d been issues with the RV’s propane tank.

While we were chasing each other down by the river, there was an explosion.

Beck he… tried to get them out, but in the process was badly burned.

’ Her voice broke. ‘My folks didn’t make it. ’

Her body shuddered and I held her until she stopped shaking.

‘The day started out like a dream and ended in a nightmare. I had a family…’ She dipped her head down, her breaths going raspy. ‘But for a few hours when they were trying to save Beck, I thought I might be alone with no one left.’

Her confession stunned me. I couldn’t imagine what I would do if I thought I’d lost Gray. I rubbed her back in slow circles again, offering her any kind of comfort I could.

‘After that, I went numb. Or tried to become numb. First, it was alcohol. When a fifth of whiskey didn’t take the edge off, pills entered the picture.’

She brushed back her hair. Pulled in another shaky breath.

I wanted to tell her how brave she was for sharing her truth.

That after what she’d been through, so much trauma, and most likely PTSD, that getting out the other side wasn’t an easy task for anyone.

She didn’t need to hear any of that from me though.

All she needed was someone solid to listen, and I was determined to be that person for her.

‘Beck came back to Ivy Falls two years ago. Bought Huckleberry Lane, the home we’d left as kids.

In his scrambled brain he believed that if he bought it for me, could fix it, he could mend all my broken parts.

Somehow, he convinced Torran to help him repair the house even though he’d crushed her heart years before, which is another long story.

During that time I arrived for a surprise visit from New York.

He confessed to me what he’d done, and I believed I was strong enough to cope. ’

She leaned her head back against the pillow, her eyes wracked with a pain that hit me so solid in the chest it took my breath away.

‘As you probably have already guessed, I wasn’t.

That’s how I ended up in Memorial Springs.

Made my third trip back to rehab.’ She traced her tattoo again.

‘I told you I got this because it’s a special reminder of my parents, but it’s more than that.

It’s a symbol of rebirth. That there can still be joy and wonder in the world.

Any time I get that tingle in my skin, the urge to drink or score a pill, I look at my hummingbird and think about all the good things that can happen when I stay sober.

’ She ran a finger along the stubble on my chin. ‘Good things like you.’

I caught her hand and pressed a warm kiss to her palm. ‘I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but I appreciate your honesty. Being vulnerable enough to share the truth about your life with me.’

‘You’re wrong about that.’ She gave me a wistful smile. ‘Everything is easy with you.’

Having her in my arms felt too right. Too good. We’d shared so much in a short time, and even though we’d agreed that this was temporary, I couldn’t imagine not always holding her this way. Not having that warm thrum in my chest when I caught sight of her across a crowded room.

She leaned in and pressed a kiss to the rise of my collarbone. With one quick move, she was straddling me again, pressing hot, hungry kisses to my mouth.

I held on to the coffee and vanilla scent of her, pushing the worries from my mind, even as my heart screamed it was going to be impossible to walk away from this woman once my time in Ivy Falls was over.