Ford's body was at war with itself. Nothing should ever have felt that good. Nothing should ever make him feel so certain. It was dangerous. But the absolution and the restoration he'd felt deep inside of Callie tore away the warnings chanting in his mind. He needed more. Desperate to heave himself upon the pyre in sacrifice, he knew precisely what he wanted and what he needed to do.
He gently eased his cock from her. He was so hard he could've driven fenceposts with his greed, but there was something he had to do before he gave himself to her. Turning her in his arms so she was facing him. "I know you're sore, baby. I'll be gentle this time."
She trembled in his arms and nuzzled her face against his chest, scattering kisses over his sweat-covered pecs. When she spun her tongue over his collarbone, tasting him, he groaned and tried to cling fast to some kind of control. She was far too good at making him lose his grip on anything but her.
Sliding away from her just a few inches, he removed the condom. Nothing would block any part of the liquid redemption buried so deep within her only he could access it.
Shock danced in her eyes lit by the cloud-covered sunlight trying to filter into the room. "Are you sure?"
"Never been more sure of anything in my life." With that, he laid her back underneath him, and gently baptized himself deep in his saving grace.
Another tremble coursed through her and pushed him closer to the edge. Her warmth, her tenderness, her smarts, all of those questions she asked that she thought no one had answers to, he vowed to himself to be those answers. He needed to be her everything. It was the only thing in his life that had ever made sense.
Prior to that moment, he'd allowed life to happen to him. Not anymore. He was going after the life he'd always wanted and that was nothing more than to be able to hold her tight in his arms every night and to be the man she needed every day.
He sank to his hilt letting her healing tides wash through him with nothing between them. "Gonna fill you full, sweet baby. So fucking full of me." It was a groaned warning.
"Yes," she whimpered. Her eyes closed in ecstasy.
"Look at me," he soothed. "Be right here with me."
Those beautiful brown eyes opened, and he saw it. He wondered if she knew, if she felt it the same way he did. They'd skipped right over attachment and had already fallen in love. It was right there in her eyes as she stared up at him as he made them one.
A harsh shudder quaked through him as her pussy gave gentle twitches, urging him deeper. "That feel good, sweetheart?"
"It's amazing," she assured him as she laced her arms around his back and held him to her. Her soft skin melded into his rough edges. She took him all and smoothed out the pieces he'd wished he could rid himself of. She seemed to want them.
Unable to help himself, he pressed deeper, lost his rhythm. It was too much to try not to take all she offered. The spasms of her pussy cinched tight around him. Her body milked his release. It shot through him like wildfire unrestrained.
As he bathed her walls with hot cum, soaking her down with his seed, nonsensical words of promise and of love flew from his mouth. To his surprise, her body bore down so strongly on his that another climax overtook her. She seized, and just like before, he held her tight and coaxed her through it until she lay sated and calm against him.
All his.
As the sun struggled to burn away the last of the storm clouds, Callie knew it would be a sunrise she would never forget. A few of her brain cells tried to remind all of the others that she should be panicking, but she just didn't have the energy. Most of her simply didn't care that she was likely making the very same mistakes she'd made with Derrick. She was getting all wrapped up in Ford's world so she wouldn't be alone.
Only, that wasn't at all how she felt lying on his chest and letting him soothe her back to sleep. That sense of belonging she'd felt when he was deep inside of her hadn't vacated when he’d eased himself out of her. She still belonged right where she was.
Contentment was a heady sensation for a girl who'd never belonged anywhere.
"Where's my girl?" Ford's gruff tone sounded particularly sweet after all they'd shared.
She chuckled. "I'm right here."
"Part of you is, but where's your mind? I know you've got dozens of questions going on in there. Ask me."
"I was just thinking about how amazing that was." That wasn't a lie. It was the single most satisfying experience of her entire life. She'd had sex before, sure. But she'd obviously never made love before. Sex with Derrick was rare, obligatory, and highly unsatisfying. Always her on top which she hated. Just like everything else in his life, he didn't ever want to put forth much effort.
"It was amazing," Ford's vow wiped away all thoughts of Derrick's lackluster bedroom skills. "Are you hurting?" Concern tensed in his words.
"In all the best ways," she assured him. His responding growl was more than worth it.
"Now that I've had you like that, I'm going to be insatiable, baby. I'll want more of that constantly. Just promise you'll tell me if I get to be too much."
Grinning at that, she leaned up on her elbow so she could try to show him how truthful her statement was. She needed to look into his eyes. "Ford, you're never too much for me. I promise." His eyes narrowed, and something he wanted to say seemed to be right there on the tip of his tongue. "What?" she urged. He shook his head, and she couldn't stand it. "We promised never to keep things from each other."
"Fine." He drew her head back to his chest and cradled her tightly again. "Pretty sure I've already fallen in attachment."
God, what a stupid word she'd used. So, he was on the verge of panicking as well it seemed. And that drew the truthfulness from her. Saving him was the most important thing in her world. "Me too."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but..."
"I know," he soothed. "It's been way too fast. I pushed too hard."
"No, you don't know because that's not it at all. It's just..." she shrugged, "maybe I don't know either." Defeat robbed her words of her earlier volume.
"Wanna keep not taking it slow and just let life have us, see where it spits us out?"
Spoken like a man who'd been spit out far too often. "What if...?" She tried to think of some way to explain her take on the world.
"What if what, sweetness? Just say it. Whatever it is."
"Okay, so, I've always thought that if you ask the universe for something, a lot of times it will give it to you. You just sort of have to see yourself having it and be aware when the sign comes so you don't miss it. What if we ask the universe for a sign about what we should do? That way we'll know for sure."
"What if we don't get some kind of sign?"
"We will. I promise."
"All right. I'm down. But fair warning, I'm not just going to picture us getting a sign. I'm going to picture exactly what I want to happen. I'm sick to death of letting life beat the crap out of me. I'm fighting back this time."
"What exactly do you want to happen?" She already knew but needed to hear him say it.
"I want what I've got in my hands right now."
And there it was hanging in the universe between them. She just had to figure out if this was what she wanted. A cowboy's wife? She didn't even know how to be that. Not that he'd out-and-out proposed. Nothing about being in his bed was getting her closer to being a successful photographer. And what if he lost interest the same way Derrick had?
As if he could somehow hear her thoughts, he urged, "I've got to get up and go check on the cattle and see what damage that storm did. Come with me. Bring your camera. You’re bound to get some good shots this morning."