“Sounds good,” I said, at the same time Brody came out of the side of his house carrying a tackle box. “If I’m not on assignment, I’ll come watch.”
Asher grinned at me, and I couldn’t help but compare him to Brody. He had his eyes and his jaw, but he had his mom’s mannerisms and kindness. I didn’t doubt that outside of the ring, he wouldn’t hurt a fly, not unless they deserved it.
“Get the rods,” Brody told Asher, and Asher nodded in reply and moved away from me. I’d watched how he was with his sister yesterday, and I could see the concern he had for her and the way she was acting. I wanted to voice it to Brody, but I wasn’t sure how I’d be received. She’d gone into her shell since someone had tried to break into the apartment, and I didn’t know how to make it better. I’d never thought about how someone was feeling after an incident. It was my job to put the bad guys away and then move on to the next case, but it was different when it was someone you cared about.
I pushed off the tree trunk and walked over to Brody, who was putting things in one of the two boats we were using today. We’d spoken briefly about the case since Belle and I had gotten here two days ago. Tomorrow the court would be back in session and we’d get more updates. It was a possibility that I’d have to testify, but the DA knew the importance of keeping my cover under wraps even though it had been blown. Testifying would put any future assignments at risk, and we had to do everything we could to protect that.
“Hey,” I greeted Brody. “Need some help?”
He turned to look at me, his face a mask of worry. I had no idea how he was feeling about the situation, but I could understand he wanted to step in even though he couldn’t. “I got everything for this boat. Asher is getting the rest.” He widened his stance, placed his hands on his hips, and huffed out a breath. “I hope this shit is over soon.”
I nodded, agreeing with him. When I’d first met Brody, I knew there was something off about him, and I’d been right. He was working undercover to take down my then boss Hut, and in the end, I’d helped. Lola had been the deciding factor—that and making sure my cousin Jenna could start over fresh somewhere. Between the two women in my life, I’d tried to do right by them, but since staying with Belle, I knew I’d go beyond anything I’d ever done for anyone else to protect her.
“Me too,” I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. “What happens once the case is over?”
Brody scrubbed his hand over his face. “You come home.” He paused. “And I want to try and get Belle to come home too. I don’t like her being so far away, not when this is happening.” I read between the lines of what he was saying. Even when the court case was over, it didn’t mean it was entirely over. There’d always be something hanging over her head.
“I don’t think she will,” I ventured, but what I really wanted to say was that she definitely wouldn’t. Belle being stubborn was an understatement.
“Thought you’d say that,” Brody huffed out. “She won’t have a choice if he gets off. I won’t let her be at risk and so far away.” He paused as tires kicked up gravel, and a second later, voices we both recognized echoed around us. “Team is here,” Brody confirmed.
I hadn’t seen any of them since I’d gone undercover nearly a year ago, but it wasn’t unusual for us to go so long without seeing their faces. Them turning up made me bite my tongue and not say what I desperately wanted to. He couldn’t order Belle around like she was a kid. She was a grown woman who could make her own decisions, and he was forgetting that.
Kyle was the first one to come leaping around the back with a case of beer tucked under his arm. He was followed by Jord, and then Ryan. “Well, look what the cat dragged in!” Ky shouted, making it to me on the dock in a few steps. He handed off the beer to Brody and then wrapped his arms around me. He was the fun-loving guy of the group, the womanizer. He was energetic and never afraid to say what he thought, though he never actually thought about what he was going to say before it came out of his mouth.
“Hey,” I said, feeling him trying to crush me in his embrace, but it would be impossible because I was twice as strong as he was.
He pulled back with a huge grin on his face and slapped my back several times. “You look older,” he commented, and I replied with a punch to his arm. The fucker.
Jord greeted me next with a handshake and hug combo. He was a man of fewer words than Ky, but it was nothing compared to the silent but contemplative Ryan. He was the serious, broody one of the group, even broodier than me.
We caught up, all standing on the dock in a weird kind of circle. The case would never be far from our minds, but today was about being together and having fun. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t be aware of our surroundings at all times. We were in the open and would be out on the lake, so it would be easy pickings for someone to try and get to us, which was why I’d be on high alert.
Footsteps pounded on the dock followed by a bark, and all the guys turned around in time to see Belle running toward us. One by one, their smiles grew, and even Ryan looked happy to see her, but it was Lottie trotting beside her with her tongue hanging out that had Kyle backing away.
“What the fuck is that?” His voice was high-pitched as he grasped on to the back of my shirt.
“That’s his new dog,” Brody grunted. “He adopted it from the shelter Belle works at.”
Kyle snorted. “That girl has you so wrapped around her little finger—”
“Uncle Ky!” Belle shouted. He let go of my shirt and stepped toward her, wrapping her in his embrace and picking her up off the dock. He wasn’t wrong in what he was saying, she did have me wrapped around her little finger, but she had every other male in this family wrapped, too. She wasn’t the kind of person who used it to her advantage. In fact, I wasn’t even sure she was aware of it.
Lottie halted in front of me and sat down, her dark-brown eyes focusing on mine. She’d been sleeping in Belle’s room the last couple of nights, so she wouldn’t see me until the morning. I wondered if she was confused about what was happening and why I wasn’t in the room with her. She may have only been a dog, but she was a clever one.
“I missed all you guys.” Belle’s voice broke through my thoughts and stare-off with Lottie, and I turned to face her. She met my gaze briefly, her cheeks pinking, and then she glanced away.
“Wouldn’t miss us if you came home,” Jord commented.
Belle groaned. “Not you too, Uncle Jord.”
“What?” he asked, trying to sound innocent, but it wasn’t working for him at all.
“You know what.” Belle raised her brows. “Don’t think you’ll persuade me to come home. I only have just over a month left of this year.”
I hid the quirk of my lips behind my hand and stared at the dock as Lola walked toward us with Cade and Aria behind her. I’d lost count of the number of times Brody and Lola had tried to persuade Belle to come back home where it would be safer.
“We all ready?” Lola asked, her gaze swinging between all of us.
“Yeah, darlin’,” Brody said, holding his arms out for her. “The kids can go on the other boat, and we can be on this one.”
Lola nodded. It was what we normally did. Asher, Belle, Cade, and Aria would go on the smaller boat, and the rest of us would go on the bigger one. But I couldn’t let Belle be out on the lake on her own. And as soon as Brody’s gaze met mine, we both knew I’d be going on the boat with Belle.
We loaded up onto the boat, and Lottie was surprisingly eager to get onto it. I held my hand out for Belle to help her on, and as soon as our hands touched, a spark flew, and my breath caught. I hadn’t been able to touch her for two days, not in the way I wanted to, and it was driving me insane. If this vacation was going to teach me anything, it would be how much I wanted Belle.
Her gaze met mine, and something swirled in the dark-blue depths, something I knew would be showcased in my eyes too. She moved her foot onto the side of the boat and pushed up, her body coming dangerously close to mine. For a second, I didn�
�t move. I let there only be a few inches between us until I remembered who was around us and let go of her hand so fast she stumbled a little.
Belle’s grimace mirrored mine. We’d been good the last couple of days, but the tension between us was building, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could be around her and not press my lips against hers or feel her body against mine.
I shook my head and spun around, trying to get out of my own head, and then headed toward the steering wheel. It was fully enclosed on three sides with an opening on the left to get in and out of. Cade was manning the steering wheel, and when I told him, “We’re all set,” he started the engine and then pulled out ahead of Brody’s boat.
My shoulder leaned against the plastic frame of the enclosure, and I stared out the front of the boat. Belle and Aria were sitting in the seating area with Lottie next to them, staring at the lake and barking each time water splashed up the side of the boat. Asher lounged across from them, his shirt having evaporated into thin air. An open notebook was on his bent knees, and his pencil flew across the paper as he drew. Asher wasn’t just about MMA fighting. He was also an incredible artist.
“So…” I cleared my throat and glanced at Cade, then back at Belle and Aria. “How’s Tyson doing?” Cade snorted at the nickname I had for Aria. It had stuck over the years, and it was all because she’d knocked someone out with one punch. Aria wasn’t a violent kind of person, but she was desperate at the time. Desperate to be seen, to be heard, to feel something. I felt a kindred spirit in her. I remembered being a teenager and having no home and no family who really gave a shit. I had to take on all the burdens and be strong for myself because there was no one else who would do it for me.
“She’s great,” Cade murmured. His gaze met mine, and I could still see shadows of pain in his eyes. They’d been through so much together, and I’d never forget the way his eyes died and his body had bowed in when he’d found Aria on the ground all those years ago, helpless to the demons which had captured her and taken over. “She’s just changed one of her meds, and she seems to be doing better than ever.”
“That’s good,” I said, and I really meant it. You’d never have guessed the dark and tumultuous past Aria had, but she was working through it each day, and I had a feeling it would always be something she had to work on.
“Better question should be, how’s my sister?” Cade asked, his voice deeper now. “She seems okay, but god knows the women in this family like to hold shit in.”
I couldn’t have agreed more with him. I remembered a time where Lola put on a brave face, day in and day out, and she had everyone fooled. Everyone but me. I saw through the walls people tried to erect around them, just like I did with Belle.
“She’s as okay as she can be.” I moved off the frame and pushed my hands into my shorts pockets as Cade slowed down. We were far out on the lake now, so much so we couldn’t see the house. “She wants to finish this year at college before she makes any decisions, but if all goes to plan, she’ll be back to her normal life in a week or two.”
Cade raised his brow as he turned the engine off and dropped the small anchor in the lake so the boat would stay where he placed it. “You really think he’ll stop looking for her—or for you?”
I knew the honest answer deep down, but I couldn’t voice that to Cade, so I nodded and stepped back. “Life will go back to the way it was,” I told him, my voice now emotionless. It didn’t matter how much I didn’t want things to go back to the way they were before.
Before I’d kissed Belle.
Before I’d felt what it was like to have her body pressed against mine.
None of that mattered, because when it came down to it, I knew we couldn’t be together, not how we were when we were alone and in the safety of her apartment, but I promised myself I’d cherish every moment until that time came.
* * *
BELLE
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been lying in my bed and staring at the window, watching as the blind waved back and forth from the morning breeze. For the first time since I walked into that club a few months ago, my mind was empty, not a thought in sight. And it was bliss.
Until a couple of gentle knocks echoed through my room.
My gaze moved from the window to the door, and I looked at it for a couple of seconds, debating whether to get up or pretend to be asleep. I’d been at the lake house for four days now, which meant it was only three days until we went back to my apartment, and I hated to admit that I was dreading it.
I didn’t want to go back, but I knew I had to. I refused to be weak, especially when I was surrounded by people who were constantly strong. I had to live up to their expectations, even if they were self-imposed.
“Belle?” a deep voice whispered through my door, a voice I craved. “I’m coming in.”
I sprung up into a sitting position, and my eyes widened as the door opened, and Ford slipped into my room. His gaze met mine, and he didn’t look away as he closed the door slowly behind him. His feet were bare, and a pair of shorts hung low on his hips. That was all he wore. He was trying to torture me, but I didn’t mind it one bit.
“Ford?” I murmured, and my hands started to shake as he stepped closer to my bed. His abs tensed with each step he took, and my fingers twitched with the need to touch them—to touch him. I expected him to at least look around my room, but then, he already knew what it looked like. Not much had changed in the last ten years. It was still painted a dark purple, the closest to black Mom would let me have.
“Your dad and the guys are all out on the lake fishing,” he told me, taking another step and coming to the end of my bed. He leaned down, his hands pushing into the comforter and gripping it. “Your mom and Aria have gone to the store for supplies.” He ripped the comforter off of me and threw it down to the floor. “Which means…”
“We’re alone?” I asked, my voice a breathy whisper. The breeze from the window drifted across my exposed legs, causing goose bumps to rise.
“Yeah, Baby Belle. We’re alone.” Ford placed both of his knees on the bed and crawled over me, his body hovering, and it was driving me insane. I needed to feel his skin against mine, and I needed it right then and there. Four days was too long to go without him. I’d never been so desperate to touch another person in my life, and I knew deep down that it wasn’t normal to feel the way I was. It meant there was more there, but there had always been more with Ford. He made me forget who I was, and right then, it was exactly what I needed.
I placed my hand on his chest and let my fingers drift over his pecs and down to his abs. His smooth tan skin felt like velvet against my fingertips. “I missed you,” I murmured, staring into his eyes so he could see how true the statement was. I had missed him. He may have been here with me, but he wasn’t next to me when I wanted him most—in my bed.
“Fuck, sweetheart,” he groaned, jerking as my fingers flowed over his abs and played with the waist of his shorts. “I missed you too.”
His face was centimeters from mine, so little distance, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to close it. The torment of waiting was one I enjoyed, and from the way Ford’s hazel eyes darkened and swirled, I had a feeling he felt the same. His hand grasped my waist while his other one held the side of my face, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could wait for our lips to connect.
“I’m not sure I can go slow,” he warned me, and I nodded because I didn’t need slow. Not right then. I needed hard and fast. I needed Ford. I needed us.
“Fuck me, Ford.” I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist, and pulled him down onto me. “Fuck me like you’ve never fucked me before.”
He growled, the only answer to my demand, and then his lips slammed down onto mine. He pushed his tongue into my mouth, and at the same time, he ripped my panties, the material falling off me in two pieces from the force.
His fingers trailed over my clit, rubbing against the spot I’d needed him. A gasp left me, and I tried to close my leg
s, but it was impossible with him between them. The pace he was going at was too much, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to last long. Not when I’d been watching his every move the last few days, imagining what it would be like when he finally touched me again.
It was all too much.
His fingers on my clit, his mouth moving down to my nipples and sucking on them. And then there was the fact I was in my bedroom at my parents’ lake house. We were taking a risk doing this here, and that made me pant even more. In the back of my mind, I knew Ford wouldn’t have come in here if he thought we’d get caught, but there was still the possibility, which was making me more eager for him to put his cock inside me.
“Yes,” I groaned out. “Yes, Ford, right there.”
I widened my legs, needing more of him, and he took the opportunity to yank his shorts down and thrust inside me with one fluid movement. He didn’t give me any warning, and I bowed my back at the sensation.
“Look at me, Belle,” he demanded, and I flung my eyes open, capturing his gaze in an instant. He thrust a second time, causing me to move up the bed, but his hand didn’t stop rubbing against my clit, pushing me closer and closer to the place I wanted to be most.
“It’s too much,” I gasped out, feeling sensations I’d never experienced before. Was this what it was like all the time? Or was it just because it was Ford?
“Feel it,” he ground out, slamming inside me again. “Feel all of me.”
I clasped on to his biceps as his hand moved faster, pushing me off the cliff and making me tumble to an orgasm that overtook my entire body. Ford stilled inside me as I dug my nails into his skin, sure to leave marks, but I didn’t care.
All I could feel was him and the burst of energy from the fireworks exploding inside of me. And then it was gone, but Ford was still there, staring down at me with awe in his eyes.
“You’re so fuckin’ beautiful, Baby Belle.” I bit down on my bottom lip as he whispered his hand over my face. “I’m gonna fuck you real hard now, okay?”
Torn Bond: Bonded Duet: Book One Page 16
