“That’s the plan,” I sound smug and damn satisfied with myself.
“Ford,” Arden admonishes me while smacking my arm.
Rosealie laughs, the sound clinging to the kitchen long after she’s gone.
It’s a few hours later, when I pull Arden out to behind the house where the fire pit is. She’s devouring her second s’more and she’s so damn cute I can’t tear my eyes away from her.
“It’s so good,” she moans around a mouthful of melty chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker.
“I don’t know,” I tease her, “you like your marshmallows a little charred for my taste.”
She gasps and shakes her head, “Sure, it’s a little crispy, but then the inside is perfect.”
“If you say so,” I fire back and dramatically shiver to display my disgust with her technique.
My cock throbs behind the fly of my jeans when she licks her fingers clean. I’m leaking pre-cum when she cuts her eyes my way. The next thing I know, she’s crawling toward me and reaching for my jeans.
I try to lodge a protest. I try to reach for her. But she’s focused on freeing my cock.
The moment her lips wrap around the tip and she sucks, my fingers thread through her hair and I almost lose myself completely. I desperately need to lodge myself as deep as possible in her throat.
I let her set the pace, her warm, wet mouth feeling like fucking heaven. She’s able to get me to cum far too quickly, but as I’m panting for breath and Arden is looking incredibly pleased with herself, I can’t find it in me to be upset or embarrassed.
CHAPTER 16
ARDEN
It was only a few days after Rosalie returned home to Sagebrush when she sat Ford down and told him how she’s planning on moving to Rafael’s house. She doesn’t want to miss out on time with her grandbaby, but she won’t leave for six months. I’m sure there was part of her which was pained to give him that much time.
I don’t think Ford was surprised, but I do think he was hurt. Rosalie is the only mom he’s known for a long time and after severing ties with the mother who gave him life, he was already a little adrift. Rosalie’s announcement hit him hard.
The next time I saw him, he tucked his head into the crook of my neck and held onto me tightly. It was like he was afraid I would disappear right in front of his eyes.
I cleared my throat as I ran my fingers through his hair. “You’re sure about this thing with me?” My voice was soft, hesitant.
His head shot up and he looked at me for a long time, as if he was trying to measure the true meaning of my question. “The only thing I am sure of is Sagebrush and you, Sunflower.”
I nodded, swallowed hard, and decided to be brave. “Then I don’t see why we need to wait,” I started, my words slow and unsure.
“I don’t understand,” his hand came down to rest on my belly, a reminder about how we weren’t exactly waiting for much of anything as we gambled with nature.
“We’re going to build a life together, one that is just ours, one full of happiness,” I sounded unsure, but I wasn’t. Ford nodded, his expression was still filled with questions. “Then we don’t need to wait to get started.”
He cupped my cheek, his voice earnest, “You need to spit it out, Arden, because you’re starting to freak me out a little.”
“What if I moved in here? I could take over the kitchen duties and running the house. I know it’s not as important,” my words were cut off as I let out a yelp of surprise.
I was up and in Ford’s arms so quickly my hair was still flying around my head. “Don’t do that,” his voice was fierce, “don’t ever downplay the role of the home and kitchen on a ranch. Without fuel, nothing gets done around here and that is true from the tractors to the horses to the men. This ranch house used to be the heart of this land, and I want it to be again, so damn desperately I can’t even put it into words.”
The way his voice cracked did me in. I cupped his jaw and pulled him close enough to kiss him softly. He tried to chase my lips, but I covered his mouth with my hand and smiled.
“This way it gives me six months to learn about everything Rosalie has been doing around here. It might take that long,” I mused.
He nodded and swallowed hard, a mixture of awe and remorse in his gaze. “Thank you,” he rasped. I wrap myself around him, hoping to ease some of the pain he was wrestling with. “I’m going to miss her,” he mumbled after burying his face in my hair.
“I know,” I tried to soothe him.
Just then Rosalie bustled into the room, her eyes wet with unshed tears. “Ford Conners,” she chastised him and his head shot up. The uncertainty in his gaze gutted me; I’m sure it did the same to her. “You better listen to me and listen to me good, I am not abandoning you. Rafael might be my son by blood, but I love you like a son and have treated you like one for as long as you can remember.”
