CHAPTER 24
Viveka
The sound of a phone ringing pulls me from the most delicious sleep I’ve had in a long time. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t get any sleep last night, what with being attacked and all. A lengthy emergency room visit, stitches, and coming down from fear-induced adrenaline should have knocked me out last night, but I hardly slept at all. I was worried about the hearing, and more worried about what Ford was going to do when he saw me.
Frannie had urged me repeatedly last night while we were at the hospital to call Ford, and I still don’t know if I made the right decision to keep it from him. I didn’t like blindsiding him, but I thought the courtroom would keep his emotions in check.
Clearly not.
Regardless, the hearing is over and the chips will fall where they may. Ford wasn’t kidding with his game plan for the rest of the day either. He made me sit in his living room and tell him every excruciating detail of the attack. He did this while holding my face gently with one hand, turning it this way and that to study the cut from every angle.
“How many?” he’d asked.
Stitches is what he was asking, by the way he took my face gently and peered closely at the cut as he counted them out loud.
There are seven on my two-centimeter cut, by the way.
Afterward, when he had exhausted his list of questions and expended himself cussing Drake Powell out, he did indeed use my body so well I forgot all about what had happened to me. How could I think of much of anything when he had me bent all the way over the back of his couch and pounded away inside of me until we both had orgasms that melted into one another?
He came inside of me for the first time ever without a condom, and it felt amazingly right, like it completed something tiny that was missing between us. I’d been able to get into my doctor just the week before and started the pill the very next day after that. Technically, we were still one day short from when the doctor told me I should be good to go for pregnancy protection, but we really just weren’t thinking about it.
Ford had driven me crazy by stripping us both, laying back on the couch, and pulling me on top of his face. I had never in my life done that. Nor had that done to me. I came so hard I thought I would pass out.
Then he was hauling me up with a strong arm around my waist, carried me to the back of the couch, and pushed me over it with my ass in the air.
He kicked my legs apart and put one large hand spread out across my lower back. I felt the huge tip of him press against me, and he grunted, “You’re on the pill, right?”
He didn’t even give me a chance to answer, but just plunged right into me. My mind went blissfully blank, and I didn’t even think about the repercussions of only having six days of being on the pill rather than the seven the doctor told me I’d need to be safe.
The phone continues ringing, and I start to really come awake. Ford moves slightly. Since I’m lying on his chest, I move with him. I open my eyes and see his arm stretching out to his bedside table where he nabs his iPhone. We’d moved into his room for round two, which was the slow lovemaking he’d promised.
“Hello,” he says into the phone, sounding all gruff and clearly waking up from that nap we’d taken.
“Yeah… she’s here,” he says, and I lift my head to see him rubbing his fingers over his eyes. His hair is sticking up all over the place, and he’s absolutely edible. He winks with one side of his mouth curving upward. To whoever is on the other line, he says, “Hang on a minute. Let me put you on speaker.”
My body tenses as Ford hits the speaker button and whispers, “It’s Midge.”
I immediately fly off his chest, scramble backward, and yank the sheet over me like Midge can see through the phone. Ford stares at me like I’m bonkers and then starts chuckling low.
“Okay, we can both hear you now, Midge,” he says into the phone.
Bewildered, I let my eyes convey a very clear message I can’t say out loud. How the fuck does she know I’m here with you?
He understands and just shrugs.
“Hello, Viv,” Midge says in that smoky voice that’s both sexy and terrifying at the same time.
“Um… hi,” I mutter, clutching the sheet to me harder. Ford smirks and playfully tries to tug it away. I slap his hand hard, and it’s loud.
“Two interesting things happened today,” she says without any preamble. “The first is that I got a visit from Drake Powell.”
“How is he?” Ford asks drolly.
“Got two black eyes and a swollen cheek,” she replies dryly, and there’s a tiny bit of censure in her voice. “He’s terminated our representation of him and his company. Not happy with the way you handled the case.”
My stomach drops, and my eyes actually start to mist up. Ford is in so much trouble, and it’s all my fault. I should have never gotten involved with him while this case was going on.
Ford doesn’t seem upset in the slightest. In fact, he tells Midge, “Good riddance. I didn’t like that fucker anyway.”
My jaw drops open, and Ford grins. But he must have some sort of pity for my discombobulation because he takes one of my hands in his to rub the back of it with his thumb in a soothing manner.
To my shock, Midge laughs on the other end of the line. “I didn’t like him either. I, of course, made cordial apologies to him and wished him well.”
“Thanks, Midge,” Ford tells her with pure affection in his voice.
“I also just got off the phone with Judge Boyer,” she continues. “She said she left both you and Viveka voicemails with her ruling, but when she couldn’t reach you, she gave me a call.”
This shocks me almost as much as Drake Powell firing Ford and his firm. I know of no judge who would call an attorney not officially listed on the case, and I’m guessing that’s because Midge is one of those attorneys who sort of knows everyone and commands such respect even from judges that she’s probably the only exception.
Ford’s hand tightens on mine, a comforting squeeze because we’re about to find out who won and who lost.
“And?” he prompts.
“Judge Boyer ruled to give just the most basic protection, only prohibiting cutting of the actual trees with nests. She declined to add safety barriers. As such, all the acreage in between the large cluster and the single tree can be deforested. I’m sorry, Viveka.”
I’m not surprised by this ruling. I am surprised by Midge giving me sympathies since this ruling is to her benefit.
I finally find my voice. “Miss Payne… you owe me no apologies.”
“It’s Midge,” she says curtly.
“Midge,” I repeat, but I continue. “I understand the ruling. I’m not happy about it, but that’s the way the law works.”
“Yeah, well,” she says dryly. “It doesn’t always work out fairly, right?”
“At least there’s some protection in place,” I say softly, grateful the nests will be saved. Whether they’ll be able to propagate once the surrounding trees are cut down is another matter.
“There’s actually a lot more protection in place,” she says vaguely.
“What do you mean?” Ford asks.
“It means I called Drake Powell to give him the news before I called you,” she tells us, and I can hear the slyness in her voice. “He was still pissed over the fact you beat him up, and he wasn’t overjoyed with the news. I took an earful from him and let me tell you, you know I have no patience for assholes. I promptly informed him I was going to change the layout of the subdivision and add a protected wildlife area. Essentially, I was prohibiting him from building on the acreage in between the clusters, so it looks like Viveka’s birds are going to get the utmost protection they can.”
My jaw drops open again, this time wider. Ford grins at me before saying into the phone, “You’re amazing, Midge.”
She laughs and then asks, “You think so, too, Viv?”
I give a slight shake of my head, wanting to make sure I’m not dreaming, before I murmur, “I don’t know what to say, Midge. I never expected—”
“Someone to be so generous and awesome as me?” she cuts in. “It’s a hard concept, I get it. But there you have it, kiddos. The case is over, and now you two can quit skulking around.”
“We weren’t skulking,” Ford tells her.
“You weren’t doing much of anything as far as keeping it a secret,” Midge cuts in. “Judge Boyer knew something was up.”
“Fuck,” I murmur.
“It’s all good,” Midge assures us.
Well, assures me.
Ford doesn’t appear worried at all.
In fact, his eyes sort of get a little hot as he stares at me, and he tugs on my hand that he’s still holding. He pushes it down his naked chest and right in between his legs, forcing my fingers around his cock. He squeezes, and in turn, my fingers squeeze him. He starts to thicken in my palm, and my face heats up that he’s doing this while Midge is on the phone.
“Well, we have to go now,” Ford says thickly, and I give him a hard stroke. He bites down into his lower lip.
“Bye, Midge,” he says, and he doesn’t wait for her to respond. He disconnects, tosses his phone to the floor, and puts his hand to the back of my head. When he pushes my face toward his lap, I manage a smile just before his cock slips into my mouth.
♦
The cuddling is nice.
I mean, the sex is amazing, but the cuddling is nice.
I hadn’t realized how much I missed it. Adam was a cuddler, but that was dependent on him being around.
And not just cuddling after sex. Cuddling during a movie, or a hug goodbye that lingers. Spooning during the night, or stepping back into Ford’s body in the shower while he wraps his arms around me.
These past three weeks, we’ve cuddled a lot.
Right now is even better.
The case is over, and I got the best possible outcome. Ford says he sees a long future with me, and this makes me happier than the outcome of the case. I hadn’t been looking for him but now I found him, I don’t want to let him go.
“Do you think the dogs would do well here at the apartment?” Ford asks. I’m once again stretched out across his body, my head on his chest. His hand rests on my lower back where he’s idly stroking my skin. His voice is relaxed and mellow.
I smile against the skin of his chest, enjoying the slight tickle of his hair against my neck. “I don’t know. We’d have to take them out on a leash to do their business. Given I have a fenced-in backyard and a dog door, they don’t get a lot of leash practice.”
“I see your point,” he says thoughtfully. After a small pause, he says, “Maybe it’s time I move out of the city. That way I can have a fenced-in backyard for them, too.”
I can’t even respond. The fact he’d actually think about selling his downtown condo for a house to make my dogs comfortable is almost more than I can bear.
I finally manage to croak out, “Maybe.”
Ford squeezes me, I think understanding the effect his words have had. “You’re mine, Viv. Get used to it.”
My hold on him tightens, and I burrow into him closer. “I don’t want to get used to it. I like everything about the way you make me feel.”
“I’m glad, baby.” His head shifts, and I feel his lips press against the side of my head. “And we owe it all to those fucking woodpeckers.”
“Hail to the peckers,” I say with a laugh.
“Hail to the peckers,” he agrees.