Page 39 of The Key Holder

Every boom of thunder made my flinch, but I told myself Ford knew what he was doing. And he was right. I couldn’t remember there being any trees on this side of the house. My bedroom and the kitchen were closer to the woods

I closed my eyes, trying to process the last hour. A tree had fallen on my room, my naked ass fell on the floor, where Ford found me, and now I was in his bed, while he was out in the apocalypse, trying to cover up a hole in the roof.

My hand found the cage through Ford’s sweatpants.

He had seen it, acknowledged it, and then…nothing. It wasn’t the ideal time for Twenty Questions: Chastity Edition, but I really wanted to know what he thought.

All he said was, ‘Does it hurt?’.

I thought he was asking out of curiosity, but maybe he was concerned it got crushed when the tree landed on me.

Honestly, it didn’t matter. Ford was the same man he had always been: kind and protective. He carried me away from a nightmare and surveyed the damage. He hadn't judged me. He hadn't even batted an eye at my naked body. He had simply cared for me.

And now he was trying to save the house.

And my room!

I hadn’t even thought about all my stuff until now, but there wasn’t much I was going to do about it in my current state.

A knot had formed in my stomach.

It’s been too long. Something’s wrong.

The agonizing minutes stretched into an eternity. I squeezed my eyes shut, and told myself out loud, “He’ll be okay.”

I didn’t know what I’d do if something happened to him.

Was that the door?

I held my breath, listening.

“I’m back and I’m in one piece!”

I exhaled through my nose and slumped back into the pillow. With my eyes glued on the door, I watched the faint light grow brighter as he climbed the stairs. I couldn’t help but smile as he came into the room.

Naked?

Ford was holding a towel in front of himself—soaking wet, of course—but as far as I could tell, completely bare-assed.

“Where are your clothes?”

“It’s a mess out there.” He shrugged. “I figured I already have enough to clean up in here, I’m not about to track mud all over the place. I shucked everything off on the porch and washed off in the rain.”

Christ, how was that the hottest thirty-second story I’d ever heard?

“And the⁠—”

“One sec,” he said, placing the lantern on the nightstand and turning around, giving me an eyeful of his sculpted ass.

While my brain short-circuited from that image, he headed into the hall and returned a few seconds later, carrying several items.

“I found your phone, still works, and grabbed a few things from your room.”

He placed them on the nightstand next to the lantern. He had saved my wallet, lip balm, earbuds, and a few books. At least it was something.

“That was sweet of you, but wasn’t there glass on the floor?”

“I was careful.” He smiled, then turned away again.