Crap.
I tore my gaze away. Focus, Kandi. Pumpkins. Decorations. This was Ford we were talking about. The guy who gave me so much crap when Ben and I were dating that I was certain he hated me. He mocked me mercilessly and coined the nickname Princess that had stuck with all of Ben’s friends. And Ben had told me that on more than one occasion Ford had told him to “just end it with her already.” Heat burned in my face as that lust I felt percolating in my belly churned into anger.
That’s right. Ford was a dick. And no amount of sexy smiling and kitten playtime would change that. He was a jerk who clearly didn’t like me as much as I didn’t like him. He and I could absolutely not happen. We couldn’t even almost happen. I had sworn off men like him after Ben. Ben. That was the key. Talk about Ben.
“So… how’s Ben doing?” I asked. It was a hard left turn into oncoming traffic, but I didn’t care. We both needed the sobering reminder of how we knew each other. Of how we’d met each other. Because never in the two years I’d known Ford had I ever seen him look at me in the way he just had.
He shrugged, grabbing a pumpkin about the size of a soccer ball and placing it on the table behind the others. “I wouldn’t really know,” he said. “We don’t talk a whole lot these days.”
My face twisted as I looked at him. “You’re kidding, right? You two were best friends. You used to hang out three or four times a week.”
“What are you talking about?” Ford asked. “We were friends, sure. But we maybe saw each other once a week… maybe.”
I scoffed at that and rolled my eyes. “I think I’d remember. You and Ben used to go out for happy hour at least three times every week. And happy hour would usually turn into dinner. I really only got a night or two with Ben every week, thanks to you.”
Ford paused, setting another pumpkin on the table before spinning to face me dead on, his arms folded over his admittedly impressive chest. “Thanks to me?”
I sighed. Well, I guess we were doing this. I hadn’t planned on this sort of confrontation, but here we were. “Yes… because of you. I know you hated me. Ben told me. He told me about how you would try to convince him to break up with me.” Damn, I hated how my voice cracked as I said that. It didn’t matter that Ben was a jerk, or that we weren’t together anymore… somehow, the fact that Ford, a person who barely knew me, said those things? It hurt.
Ford pushed a heavy breath from between his full lips and took a step toward me. “I never hated you, Kandi.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, okay.”
“I know you probably won’t believe me. That you’ll take the word of your ex, who for the record is a dickhead, over mine. But he and I aren’t friends anymore because I couldn’t stand the way he treated you.”
My pulse slammed just below my jaw as I stared up at Ford. “Wait, what?”
“I wasn’t out with Ben three nights a week. Think about it… I run a farm, Kandi. I’m up at sunrise five days a week, for Christ’s sake. The only nights I could maybe convince myself to stay out late are Friday and Saturday because I hire staff on the weekends to take care of the animals in the mornings for me to give myself a couple of days off.”
I blinked, hot, salty tears burning the backs of my eyes. “He was lying to me,” I whispered. God, how could I be so stupid? Of course, he was lying to me. He lied about everything else… why not this, too? “Does that mean… you didn’t specifically ask for me not to be out with you guys?”
His brows knitted. “Of course not. I’d never tell one of my friends not to bring their lady around.”
“And… you didn’t tell him to break up with me?”
He went silent at that, his mouth pressing into a blanched line.
My brows jumped. “Oh… so, you did tell him to break up with me?”
His sigh said more than his words ever would. “It’s not what you think.”
I held up a hand, spinning around. I couldn’t face him right now. Couldn’t even be in the same room as him. I started to leave and stopped myself. Oh, hell no. This was my store. My home. “Why am I walking away? Leave.” I pointed at the door.
Ford shook his head and didn’t make a movement toward the door. Instead, he crossed to me, closing the space between us. He towered over me, all broad shoulders and sexy tanned arms and smug grin. Only… this time, he wasn’t grinning. He looked… contrite. Worried even.
“I mean it, Ford. Get out!” I shouted again, pointing to the door.
But instead of leaving, Ford’s large hands cradled my jaw, bringing my gaze to his. “Kandi.” I closed my eyes. My name on his lips was somehow the most erotic sound ever. “If Ben wasn’t out with me three times a week… who do you think he was seeing? And why did he feel the need to lie to you about it and tell you he was out with me… the guy he knew you’d never talk to?”
His question was like a bucket of ice water dousing me into reality. It wasn’t Ford I was mad it. It was Ben. “He… he was cheating,” I admitted. I’d already known he was cheating. I just hadn’t put two and two together that Ford had been the alibi. But it was confirmed as he stood there before me, nodding, brown eyes soft and thoughtful.
“I never saw it firsthand because I think Ben knew I’d beat the shit out of him. But, a few times, I saw him get phone numbers while we were out. He’d say you two were on a break or that you didn’t mind. That you two had an understanding… an open relationship of some sort. It was the sort of bullshit men say to justify cheating all the time, but it made me sick to watch. So, I stopped hanging out with him as much. And when I did see him, yes, I told him to end things with you… not because of you. But because of him. Because I knew he wasn’t being faithful and that wasn’t fair to you. You deserved so much better.”
I licked my lips, and his thumb traced my wet bottom lip as he softly growled a deep, throaty sound that was primal in all the best ways. When I pressed my lips back together, I could almost taste his touch still lingering there. “So, yes,” he continued. “I told him to break up with you. Because he didn’t deserve you.”
In the dim light of the courtyard outside, his eyes were dark orbs that reflected the orange glow of the Halloween lights flickering around us. Before I could overthink it, I pushed onto my toes and kissed him.
4
Ford
I didn’t want to think about my three-year hiatus from dating—this dry spell that I had convinced myself was voluntary. Or the fact that I was standing here with my mouth on Kandi’s… the woman I’d been secretly fantasizing about for years since the first day I laid eyes on her. I just wanted… her.
I moved my hands from her jaw to cup the back of her head, my thick fingers threading through her hair. Her breath caught at the sudden movement, and I grasped her tighter into the kiss, fearful that at any moment, she might pull away and stop me.
I plunged my tongue beyond the seam of her mouth, swallowing her moans as every nerve ending in my body became alive with sensation. I groaned and lifted her onto the table as she shrugged out of her cardigan and kicked off her boots. Anticipation like I’d never known in my life surged through my veins like fiery lava. Her hair fell in wild, soft waves down her back, now messy and chaotic from my hands grasping it.
Her hands drifted down my chest until she gripped my erection through my jeans and she nipped my bottom lip. That single movement detonated an animalistic growl from me as she stroked me through my jeans.
I gently pushed her onto her back, laying her down on the table. A few pumpkins fell and smacked the ground at my feet. I’ll replace the damn pumpkins. I’ll get her another hundred, hell, a thousand pumpkins. Just, God, please don’t stop touching me.
“I sure hope this table is load-bearing,” I said, before climbing over the top of her, bracing my weight on my elbows. I tugged her shirt up to reveal a black lace bra, and my head dropped between my shoulders. Fuck, she was killing me. I felt like a madman. Everything about her made me crazed—the feel of her soft skin, the smell of her arousal, the sight o
f her wet, parted lips. I lowered my mouth to her breast, sucking in a nipple through the fabric of her bra. She whimpered and arched off the table, pressing her pelvis against me.
I pushed her bra up and swiped my thumbs across her pebbled, hard nipples. God, they were fucking perfect. She was perfect. Her soft breasts were perky and lush and her petal pink nipples matched the luscious hue of her lips. I wanted to taste every inch of her body. I brushed the back of my knuckles down the center of her stomach, between her ribs and over her belly button until I reached the waistband of her pants. I curled my fingers inside, my knuckles brushing against her heated skin. With a flick of my fingers, I undid the button of her pants and tugged them down until they were off her body.
I sat back, admiring her as she wriggled, twisting her arms behind her to undo her bra and discard it on the floor along with the fallen pumpkins and other articles of clothing.
Then, she hooked her thumbs into the elastic waistband of her lace thongs and slowly dragged them down her thighs until she kicked them off of her ankle.
Propping herself up on her elbows, her eyes went wide, regarding me cautiously. “What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice shaky and a new, panicked expression tightened her mouth.
I shook my head. “Nothing’s wrong. Absolutely nothing. Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”
I smiled at the goosebumps that erupted across her bare flesh and her legs parted revealing her pink, wet pussy to me. I had no doubt that if I touched her right now… slid two fingers inside her… she’d be slick and hot. I groaned and closed my eyes, but quickly snapped them back open, not wanting to forget a second of this. Nothing had prepared me for this moment—for how stunning Kandi would be beneath me. How needy and gorgeous her big, brown eyes would look, dark with arousal. Her blonde hair fanned out like golden hay around her sprawled out body.
I tore the shirt off my body and kicked out of my own work boots and jeans, leaving nothing but my boxers between us. Fuck me. With the removal of one more article of clothing, I could be plunging inside of her.
I had imagined this moment countless times. Dreamt of it. But never in a million years did I think it could be a reality. We came from such different worlds. But right now? This was a world we both knew. A language we both spoke. And I wasn’t about to let our differences get in the way of this… here… and now.
Resting a hand on each of her knees, I spread her wider and leaned in, inhaling her scent. God… just one taste. I sampled her, a languid lick up her pussy to her clit before sucking it in between my lips.
She moaned, her hips churning beneath me, and I chuckled, looking up at her from between her thighs. “More,” she panted, her belly quivering with a shaky inhalation.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” I lost all sense of self-control with that one simple word from Kandi: More, I devoured her. Licking, nibbling, thrusting my tongue inside her and sucking on her tight clit. She cried out, her hands falling to my hair and tugging in a way that felt so damn good, I was nearly breathless.
She tasted incredible. Not like honey or cream or any of the shit that people claim—she tasted like pussy. Good pussy. And I could have eaten her all night long.
“Now,” she cried. “I need you inside of me now.”
As I shoved the boxers from my body, her eyes went wide, locked onto my cock. It was hard, and thick and needy, and as she stared, licking her lips, I felt my arousal grow harder. “Holy shit,” she whispered, still staring. “It’s huge.”
One side of my mouth tilted into a grin. “Next you’re gonna say you don’t know if it’ll fit. I mean… I’m not going to stop you. Every man likes to hear that.”
I reached down and gripped myself, giving my cock one hard pump. She licked her bottom lip, drawing it between her teeth. Again… still fucking staring.
She reached out and as her hand closed around me, my vision spun, going dark at the edges. It felt so fucking good having someone else touch me for a change. When she squeezed, her thumb brushing my sensitive head, I hissed. Then, in a rare moment of clarity… I froze. “Fuck me,” I groaned.
“Yes,” she panted. “Fuck me.”
“No…” I said, then at the sight of her wide eyes, I shook my head. “I mean… not no to this. I just… I don’t have a condom.”
Kandi gasped, her face draining of color. She sat up on her elbows, eyes wide and panicked. “I don’t either.”
I scrubbed my hands down my face and sat back on my heels, defeated.
“I’m on the pill,” she offered quickly, then rolled her eyes. “Not sure why exactly… I haven’t been with anyone since Ben. What about you?”
I fucking loved the fact that she hadn’t been with anyone since Ben. But another, softer side of myself whispered that maybe I was just a rebound. I pushed the thought away and shook my head, exhaling a heavy sigh. “I haven’t been with anyone in years, and I was tested before that. But… Kandi, I need to say… and I don’t mean this to be insensitive… I’ve heard that Ben wasn’t exactly the safest when he...” My words faded, and I hoped to God that I wouldn’t actually have to finish that thought.
She nodded. “I know. Or at least… I’m not surprised. But… but I’ve been tested, too, after we broke up, and I’m clean.”
“So, to be clear…”
Her hands gripped my shoulders and she drew me down on top of her. Her soft breasts pressed against my bare, muscled chest, those pink, pebbled nipples begging for my mouth. I groaned as she thrusted her hips upwards, my cock stroking her slippery slit. “Fuck me, Ford.”
Christ. I could come right this second, nestled between her folds, if I wasn’t careful. I covered her mouth with mine in a bruising kiss as her legs wrapped around my waist.
My head pushed against her opening and I plunged inside, groaning as her slick body swallowed me whole. Stars burst into my field of vision and I hissed, my arms trembling as I braced my weight above her. Fuck me. It was so damn good. She was so damn good. Every minute of every day that I’d been celibate I had been awaiting this moment with her, and even though there’d been so many nights in the last couple years I had questioned my choice to be celibate… nothing had ever seemed so perfect as this moment here with Kandi.
I was like a fucking teenager again and I wasn’t sure how long I’d last with her writhing body pumping my cock in and out of her beneath me.
“Oh, God,” Kandi panted.
Gripping her waist, I shifted so that I was on my knees, taking her hips with me and positioning her at an angle. I grasped her hard, her heels still pressing into my lower back, bracing against me. I looked down at her flushed body and she pulsed her hips against me in greedy strokes. Her clit was swollen and needy and I pressed against it with my thumb, circling as she cried out, thrusting against me harder.
Her flesh was slick and pink, and the orange glow of the lights surrounding us reflected across her tanned skin. Every muscle of hers tightened. I could see it in her abs, the grip of her hands on her breasts, and I could feel it in her calves pressed to either side of my body.
“Ford,” Kandi sobbed my name. It was the most intensely arousing sound in all the world.
I gnashed my teeth together, pumping in and out of her harder, faster, more erratic, and I felt her explode around my bare cock. Her spasms milked me tighter and harder, drawing me deeper inside her body. My balls tightened, pleasure clawing up my spine as my release came hard and heavy inside of her.
I lifted my head and found myself staring into Kandi’s large, brown eyes. They were softly gazing back at me, and a smile curved on her swollen lips—courtesy of my hard kisses. I pressed my mouth to hers gently, this kiss sweeter, tender. She moaned against my lips and my satiated dick twitched to life with the sound.
I wanted to live in that kiss.
My heart pounded against my ribcage.
Thud, thud, thud.
“My heart’s beating so loudly, I can hear it,” I said, chuckling.
Thud, thud, thud.
&
nbsp; She exhaled a sound that was half-laugh, half-breath. “I can hear it, too.”
Thud, thud, thud.
“Kandi?” A voice called and her muscles went rigid beneath me.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered.
We both scrambled to our feet, a whirlwind of clothes and shoes. Kandi was jumping into her pants, tugging at the zipper. “I totally forgot I texted Yvonne about the kittens!” she hissed and struggled to get her arms through the sleeves of her shirt, finally getting them on and pulling the shirt over her head.
Hopping on one foot, she tugged at her boot. “I’m coming!” she shouted. “Be right there, Yvonne.”
Swiping her hands down her hair, she tried to smooth out the bedhead—or rather, table head—that our romp had caused. Spoiler alert: She didn’t succeed. Her blonde hair was static and rumpled in the sexiest way imaginable. I suppressed my chuckle as she rushed toward the front door. If Yvonne had even half a brain, she’d figure out what we had been doing back here in seconds.
While Kandi let Yvonne in, I did my best to straighten up the table of pumpkins. As my foot slid into pumpkin goo, I winced, having forgotten all about the ones that had fallen until this very second. Oops. I grabbed one of the empty boxes I had delivered them in and began scooping the smashed pumpkins into it.
“They’re right over here,” Kandi said as she walked back to the courtyard with Yvonne, and Steve Tripp followed closely behind her.
Yvonne froze when she saw me, and Steve nearly collided with her before he froze as well. I swallowed and nodded hello at each of them.
“Oh, um, you know Ford, right?” Kandi said, trying to act innocent. “He’s just, uh, you know… um… delivering pumpkins for tomorrow.”
Kandi’s innocent act was failing miserably. We were quite a sight. Her hair was a mess, her cardigan on inside out. My work boots weren’t tied, just sort of slipped on. My t-shirt was wrinkled, and I had no doubt my hair looked worse than Kandi’s.
Bewitching You: A Maple Grove Halloween Novella Page 3
