by Cassia Leo
He slowly knelt on one knee and placed me down gently so I straddled his leg. He exhaled hot, ragged breaths into my mouth as he kissed me. I wanted to stay like this forever, but I knew that soon he would go up to his penthouse suite where he and his wife would sleep in separate bedrooms—at least, that’s what he told me.
He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed my forehead. “I can tell when your mind is elsewhere,” he said. “I have something to ask you.”
No, not here, on a balcony in Vegas, in the nude.
He smiled at the hint of panic on my face. “I want you to meet Katherine.”
Chapter 2
I blinked a few times, stunned by his words.
“She wants to meet you,” he continued. “And I think it’s a good idea to get that out of the way before the election happens and I’ll be… unavailable for a while.”
I had probably spoken a total of ten words to Katherine Underwood since I joined Chase’s campaign six weeks ago. Chase was a master at keeping us apart without raising the suspicions of the press corps who followed him everywhere he went. He even rescheduled a speaking event at a college so I could be with him the day after Katherine and Teddy, Chase’s campaign manager, left town for a CNN interview. The event coordinator was not pleased when I called him to postpone, but Chase insisted the man would forget all about it once I graced him with my radiant beauty.
“What’s your answer, Larissa?” Chase interrupted my thoughts and I gazed at his face as it came back into focus. The chiseled cheekbones and model-perfect lips. And those eyes. A deep brown that, in the dim lighting, appeared as black as the prospect of meeting Katherine.
“Of course, I’ll meet her,” I replied. “Will her lover be there?”
Chase wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. He slid his fingers between my wet folds as he kissed my neck and muttered into my skin. “You’ve already met him.”
I let out a small gasp, a mixture of surprise and pleasure, as he gently stroked my clit. “What… oh, god… what do you mean? Who is he?”
He took my earlobe between his teeth and exhaled into my ear. The whoosh of air tickled and made the hair on my arms stand on end. “Come on, Larissa,” he whispered in my ear, as he slid his finger inside me to release more of my wetness. “Don’t tell me you can’t see that Katherine and Teddy are together.”
My body convulsed as he caressed my hard nub in light circles. I let out an involuntary shriek as I climaxed then crumpled against his chest.
“I can’t believe it,” I said, out of breath and shocked that I had been so completely deceived by Katherine and Teddy’s friendship. “But, isn’t Teddy your best friend? And, what the hell? Why have you been letting me think we need to keep our relationship a secret from him?”
“I never told you you had to do that. I just assumed it would be best not to confuse things further.”
My jaw dropped. “I’ve been driving myself nuts trying to keep this from Teddy! I was more scared of Teddy reading that feature in the L.A. Times than anyone else.”
He stood up quickly and began to get dressed. “I don’t want to talk about the feature right now.”
“Why do you keep doing that? It’s coming whether you talk about it or not and there’s a good chance Heather Rodin is going to blow the lid on us.”
He handed me my dress without looking at me. “I’m going to order some room service. Is Chinese good for you?”
I snatched the dress out of his hand and stomped into the hotel room, kicking up rose petals as I made my way to the bathroom.
“Larissa, stop.”
“I want my furniture back!” I shouted, as I stepped over the fat candles.
“I said stop!”
I stopped just outside the bathroom and turned toward him. His face was furrowed with an expression of rage that sent chills through me.
“Get over here,” he demanded, his voice coarse with anger.
I wanted to tell him to go to hell. He didn’t own me. But that wasn’t true. Even without the non-disclosure agreement, Chase and I were bound to each other by this dangerous secret. We would be bound to each other by these lies for the rest of our lives—or, at least, until he was no longer President.
“I’ll tear up that stupid NDA. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you here. But even if you decide to go back to L.A., I’m not giving up on you.”
Chase spoke those words to me six weeks ago, and I was just now beginning to understand the gravity of their meaning. I would never escape this secret as long as I was a threat to his career. Even if I wanted to, I would never escape Chase. And now that Teddy and Katherine knew about us, there was no way they would allow me to leave. They had to keep me close. This relationship was a bomb strapped to my chest and Heather Rodin at the L.A. Times was holding the trigger.
I let my dress fall to the floor as I approached Chase. He entered the hotel room from the balcony, his eyes locked on mine until we met in the center of the room.
“I knew what I was getting into,” I said. “I just didn’t expect for it to blow up in my face.”
“It hasn’t blown up yet. Gideon’s been hounding the editor at the Times for weeks trying to figure out the angle on this piece. They’re not talking, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to panic,” he said, as he draped his blazer around my shoulders. “But you’re right. I did everything I could to erase our connection to Black Tie Escorts before you joined the campaign, but we have to prepare for the possibility Heather dug something up. In fact, that’s what tomorrow’s meeting with Katherine and Teddy is about.”
“It’s a strategy meeting?” I asked, as he placed his hand on the small of my back and led me toward a red blanket laid across the carpet in the corner of the room. “What about Isa? Shouldn’t he be there to give you the statistics on how all of this is going to affect you?”
Isa was the Campaign Statistician; a position Chase made up just to get Isa on board. Isa graduated last year from Cornell with two master’s degrees, one in political science, and one in statistics. He had been receiving job offers from various politicians for over two years before his graduation. Few were surprised when he decided to work with Senator Chase Underwood. Chase was hard to resist.
“Lie down,” he ordered, and I quickly knelt on the cashmere blanket and tossed his blazer aside. “Why do you think we’re having the meeting? Isa gave me the numbers this morning. The numbers are based on historical data and none of the data is clear, but we’re pretty certain I can still pull off a victory if….”
“If what?” I asked, as I lay down on my back and he stepped over me so he was straddling my legs as he looked down at me.
A candle had magically appeared in his hand and my fingers clutched the blanket as I watched him tip it over my belly.
“If you pretend to be with Teddy,” he said, as the first drop of hot wax hit my skin right below my navel. I drew in a sharp breath as the wax stung my skin for just a moment before it cooled. “You can start pretending right now.”
I could feel myself becoming engorged with pleasure as Chase let another drop of hot wax fall just below the first drop.
“But Teddy’s so… wound up,” I breathed.
“I think you’ll find Teddy can be very charming. I have to make sure I leave you with an experience you’ll be thinking about all day tomorrow,” he replied, and a stream of wax hit the skin just above my pelvic bone and my body tensed as the liquid slid toward my lower lips. My hand immediately shot toward my crotch to keep the wax from burning me, but he warned me off. “Don’t move.”
I drew my hand back and was quite relieved when the wax rolled sideways onto my thigh. He stood above me, his shirt unbuttoned and a hungry look in his eyes.
“Close your eyes.” I shut my eyes and he brushed against my arm as he sat next to me on the blanket. “Put your hands behind your head.”
I clasped my hands behind my head and he immediately poured the wax over my nipple. I yelped with pain
, which was quickly relieved as he brushed the warm wax away with his fingers and took my nipple into his mouth. He gently licked and sucked until the pain was gone.
“Better?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He poured the wax over my other nipple and I gritted my teeth against the pain as I waited for him to relieve it again. He waited a bit longer this time before he wiped away the wax and soothed my pain with his mouth. He pulled away and I nearly reached out to pull him back, but I wasn’t supposed to move.
“Turn over,” he commanded. I flipped onto my belly and even the soft cashmere felt scratchy against my raw nipples. “Spread your legs and lift your ass.”
I followed his orders, laying my face against the blanket as he positioned himself between my legs. He poured a fat stream of wax across my ass cheeks and I gasped.
“Oh, god!” I cried, as the wax dribbled down my ass and the backs of my thighs.
I could feel him moving behind me and suddenly his tongue was in my crease as his finger worked my clit. His tongue licked and massaged my opening and I tried not to squirm. The sensation of both areas being stimulated at once was unlike anything I’d ever felt.
“Oh, Chase,” I whispered, trying not to raise my voice as I was still conscious of the open door leading to the balcony.
“Louder.”
“Oh, Chase!” I cried into the blanket bunched up beneath my head. “Don’t stop!”
“Louder!” he shouted, as my body quaked beneath him.
“Oh, Chase! CHASE!” I screamed, as he stimulated me beyond orgasm. “Please stop.”
He didn’t stop. He continued stroking my clit until I came again, even harder. When he finally drew away, I collapsed onto the blanket shaky and exhausted. He laid his body over mine, brushed my hair aside, and kissed the back of my neck as I attempted to catch my breath.
“What if someone heard me?” I whispered, as his fingers traced the curve of my hip.
He kissed me behind my ear before he replied, “It was worth it.”
Chapter 3
The knock on the door came just as I was slipping on my heels.
“Coming!” I shouted, and my heart raced as I approached the door of my hotel room.
I pushed the door open and found Teddy Holt standing before me in a crisp gray suit and no tie holding a copy of the L.A. Times. The headline read, UNDERWOOD’S TORRID AFFAIR WITH ESCORT.
“It’s show time,” he said, as he pushed his way past me into the hotel room.
He looked around at the dozens of melted candles and wilted rose petals and didn’t even flinch. Teddy was only a few months younger than Chase. From what Chase had told me, they had shared a dorm room together at Yale and had been best friends since. Teddy had handled all of Chase’s campaigns since he became Senator ten years ago at the age of thirty-two. That Teddy intimidated everyone was no secret, but I’d been harboring a special kind of fear for him these past weeks. To see him standing before me as an ally brought forth a whole new set of emotions.
“Larissa,” he said, as he held the paper out to me. “It’s time to get this story straight, so it’s time for you to start paying attention.”
“I thought we were going to lunch to discuss this.”
“I said pay attention, Larissa. We’re getting our shit straight right now. There’s a pack of reporters at every hotel entrance. We’re not leaving here until you’re ready. You got it, sweetheart? This all hangs on you. It’s time to see if your acting skills are up to snuff. Can you handle that or am I wasting my fucking time?”
Fuck! I’m supposed to pretend I’m in love with this guy.
“Yeah, I can handle that,” I replied, as I snatched the paper out of his hand.
“Good. Now, you don’t have to read that shit because none of it’s true. The truth is Chase ordered you from Black Tie Escorts as a birthday present for me, and you and I fell in love. You got it?”
I wanted to punch him in his perfectly chiseled, condescending face.
“You can stop asking me that. I’m not a fucking child,” I replied, and his mouth curled into an impressed half-smile.
“That’s good to hear because I hate kids,” he replied with a wink; and for a brief moment, I could see what Katherine saw in him. “Are you taking mental notes? You’d better be taking mental notes, kid, because they’re going to be asking you these kinds of questions.”
And the moment passed. For the next two hours, Teddy grilled me on my past, present, and future. He wanted to know everything from my favorite color and food as a child to what I had for breakfast this morning and where I saw myself in five years.
“I don’t know,” I muttered, as I fidgeted with the corner of the newspaper in my lap.
Teddy sat across from me on the floor, but I refused to look at him. “What do you mean you don’t know where you want to be in five years? It’s a simple fucking question. And don’t give me a bullshit answer.”
“I can’t tell you because it doesn’t fit the story, okay?”
“Oh, I get it. You want to be shacking up with Chase, maybe with a bun in the oven and a new Mercedes SUV in the driveway.”
I heaved a deep sigh. “Can we move on?”
“If we don’t get this straight in the next hour, there will be no moving on, Larissa. Now answer the fucking question and make me believe the answer.”
I think you’ll find Teddy can be very charming. Was Chase being serious?
My hands began to shake as I imagined trying to convince anyone, much less a reporter, that I was in love with this bully. I tucked my hands beneath my legs to hide the trembling and Teddy reached for my left hand. I drew my hand behind my back and he tilted his head as if he was disappointed with my poor acting skills. After a brief staring contest, I relented and held out my hand.
He took it in his and looked up at me. “Go on.”
I took a short pause to collect myself as I tried to remember all the sense memory and “don’t act, be” bullshit I learned in acting class. I couldn’t act like I was in love with Teddy. I had to be in love with him.
“I want to be with… with you,” I began. “I don’t care where we are or how many kids we have, or don’t have, or how many fancy cars are in the driveway…. I just want to be with you.”
I could see the slight rise and fall of Teddy’s chest as he stared at me in silence. “Okay, I guess you’re pretty good at that… stuff,” he said, letting go of my hand and scooting back a few inches as if I had just admitted to having the swine flu.
He went on to tell me his life story; everything I needed to know about his childhood up to this morning when he had bagels and lox for breakfast—with Katherine.
“Shouldn’t Chase and Katherine be here; I mean, you and Chase are supposed to be best friends. Isn’t it natural to assume that Katherine and I have at least established a rapport, maybe even a friendship? Shouldn’t we get those facts straight?”
Teddy raised his eyebrows as he looked at the carpet between us. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
“Why? I thought it was show time. Isn’t she part of the show?”
“Look, Larissa, you should know that Katherine is not very… fond of you. She sees you as a threat to Chase’s career and she’s pissed the fuck off at Chase for bringing you on as his PA. So, no, you are not going to meet with Katherine and there’s no negotiating that.”
For some reason, this piece of information disturbed me more than having to pretend to be in love with Teddy. I guess I had been under the illusion that Katherine and I would one day meet and she would thank me for taking care of her dear friend Chase. I never imagined she could hate me.
“Hey, if it makes you feel any better, it took her more than three years to warm up to Chase. And she still hates him most days.”
“What’s wrong with her?” I blurted before I could stop myself.
Teddy glared at me. “There’s nothing wrong with her. In fact, you might want to take a page from her book and tone down the makeup,
maybe try to at least appear a little less escort-ish.”
“Excuse me? The campaign stylist told me to do my makeup like this. You’re an asshole!”
“Well, that’s the first time anyone’s ever said that to me.”
I shot up from the carpet and marched to the bathroom where my phone lay on the counter. I hit Chase’s number and he picked up immediately.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, and the sound of his voice immediately calmed me.
“I can’t do this,” I said, as Teddy entered the bathroom.
“Look, I’m sorry. That makeup thing was a low blow. I get it. Just hang up,” Teddy pleaded.
A surge of bile stung my throat and I swallowed it down. “You’re a horrible actor!” I shouted at him.
“Hey, what’s going on over there?” Chase asked. “Are you okay?”
I glared at Teddy as his eyes beseeched me to hang up.
“Larissa, talk to me.”
“I’m fine,” I lied, as I looked Teddy in the eye. “I’m just really nervous. I think I’d feel better if I could get everything straight with Katherine.”
Teddy’s eyes widened and I couldn’t help, but smile. I had to let him know he no longer intimidated me. I was tired of being an actor in this play. I wanted to sit in the director’s chair for once.
The pause on the other end of the line didn’t bode well for my proposition. I tried not to tap my foot as I awaited Chase’s response. Finally, he spoke.
“Come up to the penthouse.”
Chapter 4
My heartbeat throbbed in my skull as the elevator climbed toward the penthouse. I didn’t think this through. I had no idea how I was going to approach Katherine. Should I attempt to be her friend when she clearly hated me? Should I keep it businesslike?
“Relax. She’s not a fucking werewolf,” Teddy said, as the elevator slowed to a stop.