by Piper Trace
Ford’s eyes flicked from John to settle on Evie. Their eyes locked, and Evie saw the crack in his armor, the acquiescence to what he would do. “I can get you more if you leave Evie. Enough to disappear forever.”
Evie narrowed her eyes. What was he doing? She was leaving. If they got out alive, she was still leaving. She turned to John. “No, take me with you.” Her voice was unwavering.
John raised his eyebrows at her. “Excuse me?”
“Evie, no!” The plea came from Ford.
Evie raised her chin and squared her shoulders. “I know his passwords. He left me alone all the time—long enough to do all the snooping I wanted to. Do you think I was here for the sex? I can get you fifty million.”
“No,” Ford’s voice held all the betrayal she knew it would. Charley gaped at her.
“And,” continued Evie, ignoring both the other men, “I can work for you instead, if you want. Now that you’ll be rich like him. I can provide all the same services that I do now for Ford and his friend.” John raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening. She made her voice low and seductive, without a hint of tremble. “And in return, you’ll take care of me in the manner to which I’ve become accustomed, right?”
John appeared delighted. His cruel laugh boomed around the room. “How unexpected! Ford, it looks like Evie’s not as attached to you as you are to her! She’s so willing to trade you in for another sugar-daddy.”
Evie glanced around, assessing everyone’s positions. Ford and Charley were across the desk. Too far to do anything that would be faster than a bullet. She was their only hope.
She looked at John and tried to swallow her disgust. Dropping her shoulders and cocking her hip, she made an effort to sex up her voice. “I can give you a free sample if you want. I’ve been practicing.” She smiled, and this time the smile was genuine because she was picturing her knife stabbing through his gut.
“Evie,” Ford whispered, sounding like he was in physical pain.
“Why?” she heard from Charley, the word almost inaudible.
John ignored them, sounding intrigued. “You really are quite the enterprising little slut, aren’t you? I might not have cut you loose so quickly, had I known.”
Evie made sure her smile didn’t falter. Jackass. She’d dumped him, of course.
John slid his eyes down her body, making her skin crawl. “What have you been learning since you left the firm, Eves?”
“You’d be surprised,” she drawled, keeping her words slow and seductive, her eyes intently locked to his. “Let’s get out of here, and I’ll show you.”
Tearing his eyes from her, John directed a nasty laugh in Ford’s direction.
“Well, Ford, your precious Evie appears to be ready for an upgrade!”
Evie risked a glance at Ford. He had the look of a wounded man. The damage Evie was doing to him was evident. She swallowed and refocused on John, trying to soothe her dry throat.
John unbuckled his belt with one hand, an ugly sneer on his face. “I’m interested in your proposition, Evie, but I want a sample now,” he snarled. He stood and kicked the desk chair out of his way, gesturing to her with his gun. “Take off your clothes. I’m going to try out your new skills right here.”
“No!” Ford lurched forward, his fists pounding on the smooth mahogany. Charley simply said, “Evie, stop,” in a voice that smacked of betrayal.
“No, John,” Ford repeated. “I’ll give you the fifty million, just leave Evie alone. Please!”
John cocked his head to Ford, eyes narrowed. “But she doesn’t want you anymore, pretty boy.”
“I know,” Ford’s voice held all the bitterness of someone badly beaten at his own game. “But I’ll do what you ask. Take my money. Just don’t take Evie.”
If Ford or Charley made a move, they’d get shot. No way they’d get over the desk before John could fire a round. Evie needed to maintain control of the situation if she wanted to save them. “No!” Evie glanced around, noting the number of steps between her and John. “I want to go, John. I’m tired of him. He’s no fun at all. I want something different—something more exciting.” John’s attention was back on her.
Knife throwing was useless in hand-to-hand combat. The odds of Evie standing at just the right distance away, her target not moving, and her aim being dead-on were all exceptionally slim. But she had to try—she had to get Ford and Charley out of the situation.
“Convince me.” John gestured to Evie’s clothes again.
“I’m going to take my shirt off.” Evie showed him her hands and moved them slowly to the hem of her shirt. With trembling fingers she pulled it over her head. She kept her body angled so John couldn’t see the knife.
“Evie, please” Ford moaned, but she ignored him. A lecherous smile spread slowly over John’s face.
“I’m going to unhook my bra,” Evie’s voice trembled slightly, and she held her breath, hoping no one had noticed. Her hands were shaking. She was never going to make the throw.
Not taking her eyes from John, she concentrated on settling her core, visualizing her move.
She had to go for John’s stomach or neck—if she went for the chest, there was too much of a chance of the knife bouncing off a rib, causing only a superficial cut. That wouldn’t do. She chose the abdomen, knowing it wasn’t a killing blow, but hoping it would incapacitate him for the moment they’d need to subdue him.
She prayed Ford and Charley would act just as quickly in the confusion. Ford was the closest to John. If he didn’t get to John fast enough, before John could recover enough to use his gun, at least one of them would be dead.
They had to be of the same mind, and she wondered if it was too much to hope that they were.
Her fingers brushed the cold steel of the knife in her waistband. She glanced at Ford. Even with blood on his face, his hair matted with it, his clothes disheveled, he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Even in his defeat. With the betrayal playing out before him, she knew it was her, not John, who’d defeated him.
Ford did love her. She could see it in the pain on his face. She was sure of his love, now that she’d broken his heart in front of these other men. She took a deep breath—she’d fix it, somehow. She needed him, needed his deep voice commanding her, his strong hands forcing her. It was the only thing that made her feel safe. She would get them out of the situation so he could possess her again.
Her hand closed over the hilt of the knife, her mind doing mental calculations as to the distance between her and her target. She took a step forward, estimating the pirouette of the blade, trying to ensure it hit John blade-first, not hilt.
She struck.
Her concentration unwavering, time slowed. She crouched and whipped the knife from behind her, throwing it underhanded—not a method she’d practiced much, but quicker than raising it above her head. She only had a millisecond to get it right.
So many things happened at once. The knife struck John in the left side of his stomach, sinking home as accurate as any throw she’d ever made. He crumpled, crying out as blood bloomed on his shirt.
Ford dove across the desk and grabbed John’s gun hand, twisting it around to his back. “Drop the gun,” he hissed in John’s ear, pulling his arm painfully higher. John let go of the gun. It clattered to the floor without discharging, to Evie’s relief.
Ford pushed John to the floor, where he writhed in pain, and Evie kicked him in the face. “Don’t move, dickhead, and you won’t bleed as much.”
Charley slammed his body down on John’s, holding him in a choke hold. “Go get help! Take my truck.” He threw the keys at them. And then in spite of the chaos, a huge grin broke out across Charley’s face. “Hot damn, don’t we make a great team?” He beamed up at Evie and Ford. Ford took Evie’s hand, hesitating only a moment before wrapping her in an embrace that lifted her off her feet. He smothered her face in kisses of relief.
*****
Charley and Ford came to Evie, who sat on the outside sofa near the pool
. Ford settled next to her and Charley knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his. Ford put an arm around her and hugged her to him.
She clutched Ford’s hand. “I don’t really know your passwords, Ford. I never snooped. Even if I knew them, I would never betray you like that.”
Ford chuckled and smoothed her hair off her cheek. “I know, love. I figured that out when you knifed John.” He laughed and kissed her forehead.
“You okay? Are you hurt?” Charley’s face was a mask of concern. His eyes travelled over her, taking inventory of all of her unbroken parts.
She nodded. “I’m okay.”
“You’re more than okay, baby. You’re a bad-ass.” Charley grinned, touching her cheek with his paw of a hand. Evie smiled, bathed in his warmth. Charley had never called her “baby” before. She liked it.
Evie suddenly looked up. “Boone?”
Ford’s voice held genuine relief. “He’s okay! He was tied up and has a nasty lump on his head, but he’s going to be fine. He’s already demanded a raise,” Ford grumbled, his eyes twinkling with good humor.
“Thank god,” Evie breathed. “Did the police leave yet?”
“Yes. The ambulance took John to the hospital, under police escort, of course, and they finally got Charley to shut up long enough to wrap things up.”
“I had a long statement to make!” Charley pretended to take offence.
Ford grinned down at Charley, his dimples making a reappearance that nearly melted Evie’s memory of the horrible day. “Charley tried to talk them into making us all honorary deputies.” A deep laugh rumbled in Ford’s chest.
“Hey, I was hoping the position might come with handcuffs. We could have fun with handcuffs, couldn’t we?” Charley looked at both of them, and Evie reveled in the feeling. Like they were all three together. Together in life, in love, in bed.
What was even better was that Ford seemed to embrace it.
Ford kissed Evie’s head and then bent to kiss Charley’s lips, his green eyes practically glowing with adoration. He squeezed Evie closer.
She relished the safety she felt in Ford’s arms again, but there were questions to which she needed answers. She looked up at Ford, not daring to hope that he’d accept the love she felt all around them. “You were going to save me even when you thought I had betrayed you, that I wanted to leave you and go with John.”
Ford’s jade eyes brimmed with emotion. “It took me until that moment to realize… I can deny it but it doesn’t make it any less true. I’m gone, Evie. Gone. I’m yours. You and Charley’s.” He gripped her to him. “I’m so sorry about this morning. What I did to you—” His face was anguished. “Can you ever forgive me?”
Happiness and relief flooded her. “I’ll try if you’ll try.”
Ford grasped Charley’s shoulder with his other hand, his gaze intense. He looked back and forth between them. “Is it really true what you and Charley have told me? Could you love me as just as I am? Will you love me just as I am—dominate, demanding, selfish?”
“It’s the only way we know how to love you,” Evie whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
Ford kissed her with such passion that she couldn’t breathe, but he demanded the kiss, commanding her body to respond to his. And it did. Her blood coursed through her joyously, relishing in his control. She broke away, lungs heaving.
“I’m not done,” he growled and kissed her again, moving to devour the skin along her neck. Her head dropped backwards, her breath coming in gasps. His fingers tweaked one of her hard nipples and she groaned in response. “I love you, Evangeline.” He spoke against her skin, into her mouth, “I love you.”
Charley knelt up and he treated Charley to the same overwhelming, deep kiss before pulling back to meet both their eyes. Evie’s were wet with emotion for the second time that day, but this time it was happy emotion—thrilling, blissful, joyous emotion. “I love you both. I never thought I could say that to anyone. Thank you for fighting for me to see it. I don’t want to live without either of you.”
“I love you too, Ford,” she whispered.
“Love you so much,” Charley croaked, his voice thick. His smile was dazzling in its pure happiness.
Ford’s mouth crooked in a wicked smile. “And you’ll keep loving me, because that’s what I want, and I always get what I want, don’t I?” He gripped Evie’s hand and moved it to his crotch, forcing her to touch his growing erection. “Feel what you started already.” He ground her palm against him. “Now that the police are gone, I expect you to fix this.”
Evie bit her lip, giving him a coy look. “If you insist.”
Ford shook his head, and his face grew ominous with mock disappointment. “Threatening to leave us?” He tsked. “I should punish you severely for that.”
Evie’s core twanged with yearning in response to his threat of corporal punishment. Now that he wasn’t trying to push her away, she knew he’d be focused more on her pleasure…and his. But he’d be no less insistent about it, and god, that got her hot.
She pressed her thighs together and her excitement tingled through her as Ford continued. “But for now, you are going to let Charley and I use you until we’re both completely satisfied.”
Charley groaned and slid his hand down her thigh, spreading her legs.
“Okay,” she whispered, and her panties felt instantly wet thinking about what the two insatiable men might do to her.
“That’s ‘yes, sir’, Evangeline,” Ford admonished. “And you’re going to come too, more than once, screaming my name.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Hawthorne.” And she knew it was true. Ford would ensure it. “But, wait.” She had to ask now, before she was too distracted by these incredible men and their hands all over her. “The year. What about the year Ford? I don’t how I’ll deal with the end when it comes.”
“Ah yes, the year.” Ford’s lips twisted into that bad-boy smirk, and Evie sensed Charley holding his breath. “I’d like to renegotiate,” he said.
“Oh?” Her heart leapt. “What length of time did you have in mind, Mr. Hawthorne?” she asked, drowning in the love she saw in his eyes, still not quite sure she could let herself believe it.
“Forever,” Ford answered, and his face transformed with a smile so genuine and drenched in peace that Evie’s heart stuttered in joy, as much for him as for them all. “Forever. Is that too much to ask?”
“Forever’s not even enough,” Charley said, looking up at them with the eyes of a man who’d found a home. A family.
“Agreed,” Evie laughed. “A deal’s a deal. I’ll stay forever.” And she closed her eyes, wrapped in the arms of the two men she loved, and she knew she was finally safe. She got more than her fairy tale ending. She got two Prince Charmings.
The End.
*****
Thank you for reading episode seven of Come When Called. I hope you enjoyed the full journey of Evie, Ford and Charley!
If you liked Come When Called, don’t miss my next book! For early information on new releases, plus exclusive excerpts, please sign up for my newsletter at www.pipertrace.com. You can also follow me on Twitter at @PiperTrace or like my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/authorpipertrace.
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Thank you again for reading my book! I’m so happy I got to share it with you.
~Piper Trace
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