Taut: The Ford Book (Rook and Ronin Spinoff 2)

“Fucking moms. They are sneaky shits.”

I drag myself up and go to the bathroom to see what the f**k Ashleigh’s gonna do about this diaper, because I’m sure as hell not taking care of that. The door is wide open so I just walk in. This bathroom is not modern and updated like the ones upstairs. It’s the only tub in the house, and it just has a shower curtain instead of glass doors. Ash is not singing or anything stupid like that, but I can imagine her washing her hair under the water because it makes various splashing sounds like she’s moving around a lot.

I have an urge to pull the curtain back.

Normally I do not give in to impulses, but today I want to. I’m shirtless already, so I just slip off my sweats and peek my head inside. She’s got her eyes closed as she rinses her hair. Water drips down her face, her mouth opens a little and catches some, spitting it out. But my gaze follows the stream that runs down her front, right over her ni**les on those absolutely perfect br**sts, one of which is actually bruised from me squeezing it last night.

“Sorry about that bruise,” I say in a low voice.

Her eyes pop open and I expect a little flash of protest, some squeal telling me to get out. Or a scowl at the very least. But she smiles.

I pull the curtain back and step in with her. She takes in my body. Like, thoroughly takes in my body. She checks me out for way longer than I did her. “Turn around,” I tell her.

“Why? Then I can’t look at you and you’ll get a good view of my ass.”

“You catch on fast. Now do what I asked.”

“Wait,” she says, putting a hand up as I try and turn her around. “Are we playing? I need to understand what you’re asking first.”

I am instantly hard and it is impossible for her to miss this. “Do you want to play?”

“We have no timer.”

“I have an internal timer, trust me. Now answer my question.”

“Yes, but I need some satisfaction this time. I can’t take it, Ford. I won’t last.”

“Satisfaction is yours to be had. All you have to do is comply.”

“OK, I will. And then I get satisfaction and another question.”

“But not about my dad.”

“Deal.” She lets out a low cackle. “I’m totally winning.”

“How the hell do you figure?”

“I get two things, and you only get one.”

“Yeah, but I get you, so I’m winning.”

She just stares at me, confused. “That was… almost… nice.”

“I can be nice,” I growl into her neck as I turn her around and bite her ear. My hands glide down her arms and then settle on her hips. “Now bend over.”

Her whole body shivers even though the water is hot and it’s still blasting down her front. My grip on her hips tightens as she leans forward, her ass bumps up against my hard-on, and then she lowers her hands to the floor of the tub. I reach up and adjust the water so it’s spraying down her ass and then lean back a little to take a peek. Her pu**y is fully exposed and even if we weren’t in the shower, she’d still be sopping wet.

“Put your hands behind your back, Ashleigh.”

“But I might fall over.”

“I have you, I won’t let you fall over.”

“But—”

“And no talking.”

Her hands come behind her back and they are flashing signs at me. This f**king girl! I smack her ass, not hard, but the water makes it echo and the handprint appears immediately because of the heat. “How the hell did you know I understand sign language?”

She signs something else. May I speak? she asks sloppily with her hands.

“Speak.”

“I went through all your shit and found a crapload of sign language stuff. You even had a Boy Scout badge for it, you little over-achieving nerd. And for the record”—she tries to look over her shoulder at me but she can’t see much bending over like that—“you should not trust a girl alone in your bedroom. We’re nosy.” I smack her again, this time a little harder. She moans a little, like she enjoyed this one. “What was that for?”

“Fun, mostly. But also for snooping. I’ll get your sign language story later, but for now, what did you need to say that you had to break the rules and talk?”

“I’m not on the pill, just so you know.”

“I’m not gonna f**k you, so it won’t matter.” She almost stands up when I say this but I push hard on her back and force her down. “But I’ll take care of you if you’re good.” She says nothing to this but I can tell she’s unhappy. “What’s wrong now?”

She says nothing.

“You can talk, I won’t spank you.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

I smack her hard on the ass, but not as hard as I did last night. It still makes her gasp but she says nothing.

She’s learning fast.

“If I ask a question, Ashleigh, I want an answer, not a lie. You want me to f**k you? And you may speak.”

“Well, yeah. The whole point of me bending over and baring my ass to you is so I can get f**ked, right? How is this rocket science?”

She is trying to drive me crazy with her silliness, I swear. “I can get you off without f**king you, so what’s the problem?”

“It’s just not…” She tries to look up at me again, but she can’t. “As much fun, that’s all. And I don’t see what you get out of it.”