He slapped her bottom once, then twice, then three times. “Yes, sir.” She moaned. “I see exactly what you saw that day.”
His cock throbbed to sink deep inside her. This needy, confident side of her might be his favorite yet. Not wasting time, he unbuttoned his shirt, leaving the fabric open, then grabbed a condom from his wallet. She spread her legs, awaiting him while he dropped his pants right before he lowered to one knee. His mouth watered when he leaned in, and while he sheathed his cock, he said, “Tell me what you want, Olivia.”
“Your tongue,” she begged.
“Where?”
“Deep inside me, sir,” she moaned.
Which turned into a gasp when he grabbed her ass, spread her open, and licked her hot slit. She shivered, pressing herself against his mouth. He tickled her clit with his tongue until those soft moans became closer together. She tasted sweet and perfect, and he needed to be deep inside her where she wanted him to be too.
“Stare at yourself in that picture,” he told her, rising and grabbing the base of his cock before entering her.
She gasped her pleasure, and his eyes shut at her tightness. He sensed how close she was to coming, and he knew he would get there equally as fast. That photograph, the eroticism of it all, fueled this moment. This wasn’t about a slow sensual experience. This was about fucking in a public space in a dirty way and a good hard ride.
He did not dare to draw this out. He held on to her hips and while she looked at the photograph, he stared down at her perfect ass as he pounded into her tight heat. Waves of pleasure washed over him, his pelvis slapping against her jiggling bottom. His deep grunts echoed her moans, and with every hard thrust this became more than about pleasure alone. The claim to keep her brushed over him, pumping adrenaline into his muscles. In the highest peaks of his pleasure, he knew he wanted her to only, and always, look up at him while she pleasured him. That mouth belonged only and always on his cock. That heart he could see in her eyes when she smiled in the picture was handmade for his protection.
Beneath his touch, she began quivering, her breath hitching. He became lost in the same intensity, making his thrusts wild and fast, slamming the table into the wall. He didn’t care who heard them anymore. He wanted the world to see how good they were together. Because when she broke apart around him, and he followed her, he knew somewhere along the past few days he might have commanded her body, but she had touched his heart.
Chapter 11
The next morning, Olivia woke up with bedhead that a hairbrush had no hope of fixing. In Paige’s apartment, she dragged her feet, eyes half-open until the cold water hit her face. But really, being wide awake only made her see how tired she still looked. Her late nights with Noah were catching up with her. And she wondered how he fared this morning. Probably put together like always.
Last night with him had been intense. Emotionally. She needed a little room to breathe to catch up. And that was the reason she had come home instead of taking him up on his offer to spend the night.
Things had felt different last night. His touch felt different. And it was very easy to get lost in that touch. But should she? The question would not stop echoing in her mind.
It wasn’t until she left the apartment with Paige and ordered a coffee from the coffee cart on the corner of the street that she stopped thinking about herself. “What’s going on in Paige-land?” Olivia asked, suddenly feeling like the world’s worst friend. Lately, it had been all about her. So much so that Paige had skipped leaving early this morning to fit in time to talk since she’d had a late night at the bakery.
“Pfft, please,” Paige mused, stopping at the intersection and pressing the walk button. “Like I want to talk about me.” The corner started to crowd, but that didn’t stop Paige from adding, “Tell me everything about Noah.”
Olivia moved closer to Paige, wanting to keep the conversation private. “Things are good. No, not good. Well, yeah, they’re good.”
Paige sipped her coffee then lowered the paper cup. “Did you just hear yourself?” She laughed.
The light turned green and some guy in a suit banged into her shoulder, causing her to spill some coffee on her hand. “Ouch,” she gasped, then called to him, “Sorry, was I in your way?”
He didn’t even look back.
Paige snorted. “Douche.”
Olivia agreed with a nod, keeping in stride with Paige as they crossed the road behind the long line of pedestrians. Once back on the sidewalk, Paige asked, “So, why are things good but not good? Is Noah not relationship material?”
And this was where everything got tricky. After he dropped her off at home last night, all the things Olivia had thought about while she took a long bath still remained on her mind now. “It’s not that he’s not relationship material,” she explained, trying to figure it all out in her mind too. “It’s that what we have isn’t exactly real. It hasn’t been from day one.”
Paige twisted her body to get out of the way of the couple approaching. “Because you met him through SiR?”
Olivia sipped her coffee and nodded. “That’s one of the reasons, yeah. I mean, can a real relationship really start with a BDSM dating app?”
Paige paused, obviously pondering, then shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Relationships have happened in weirder places.” She moved out of the way of another man walking by and asked, “Besides, isn’t the sex amazing? Are you really ready to give that up?”
“The sex is epically amazing,” Olivia admitted, noticing an elderly lady giving her a look at that.
Paige didn’t seem to notice, sighing dramatically. “I am so green with envy, girl, you have no idea.”
“I think I would be jealous too, but…to be honest, he’s so much more than just an incredible lover. He’s this really great, kind man.”
Paige nodded. “I could see that. He seems really genuine in the media.”
“Without a doubt,” Olivia said, glancing up at the sun glistening on the skyscrapers. Her late-night thoughts filled her mind. She sighed when those thoughts kept bringing her back to the same place and gave Paige a knowing look. “But he’s a career go-getter, and you know how that is. Never home. Always on the road. It’s a situation that I can never see myself in. I want a boyfriend who’s in my life, not barely there.”
Olivia cringed.
Paige stopped dead and pointed at Olivia’s face. “Oh my God, you do want that. You like him.”
“What?” Olivia waved her off, attempting to move forward and get far away from this conversation.
“You do.” Paige wasn’t even blinking. “Olivia Watts, I have known you forever. You like him.”
Olivia sighed and rolled her eyes, finally admitting that particular truth aloud. “Okay, I like him. How could I not? You should have seen him at the town hall with the public. He’s so kind to others, Paige. He’s so sweet to me. I feel like he’s helping me through all my shit and that he doesn’t mind one bit. I’ve never met anyone like him. He’s so good, so strong…so everything!”
Paige cupped her hands to her chest and sighed. “My romantic heart is so damn happy he’s as wonderful as I thought.”
“He’s doing really great things for me,” Olivia said softly.
Paige smiled. “Well, that you deserve, so I’m glad.” She strode forward, slower this time, and Olivia stepped into stride with her, when Paige asked, “So catch me up on all this. If that is all true, then why do you seem so conflicted about him?”
Olivia mulled that over then stopped a few feet down from her office, intending to keep the conversation far away from her coworkers’ ears. “Because no matter how incredible he is, in bed and out of it, isn’t all this too soon? Am I really even ready for anything more than a fantasy?”
Paige nibbled her lip then offered, “What if it’s not about being ready or not? Maybe all this is about living an experience
until the experience runs its course.”
Olivia nodded in total agreement. “That’s what I keep telling myself. Don’t look too much into all this. Enjoy him for as long as you can. And yet…I feel like I’m standing here vulnerable in ways I don’t ever remember signing up for.” She paused, not even sure if she was getting any of this right. “I just wasn’t expecting this, you know. I thought we’d have this week of hot sex and that would be it. A fantasy and then that fantasy would end.”
“And it’s not like that?”
“It is, and it isn’t,” Olivia said with a shrug. “It’s like he has this magical way of bringing me back to me. Somehow in all this I feel like the person I was before everything happened…hell, maybe even the person I was when I met Cameron.” She took in Paige’s serious expression and laughed. “I don’t know…this is all suddenly confusing.”
Paige smiled softly and took Olivia’s hand. “Everything you said is amazing. Awesome, really. So I’m not getting why you’re not all over this and spending your nights at his house, not mine.”
Olivia gave a knowing look. “Because again, is it real? Or is this all happening because we’ve created this fantasyland where everything is perfect?”
Paige lifted a brow. “Or maybe it is perfect and you’re overthinking all of this.”
“Maybe,” Olivia admitted with a heavy sigh, leaning against the brick building behind her. “Then again, some things can’t change. A week ago, the last thing I wanted was a relationship. And a week ago, neither did Noah. Can that even change in only four days? Can he even be the type of guy that wants to go home to a girlfriend and not work all the time? Would I ever fit into his life? Am I even ready for a relationship?” She paused and drew in a long breath. “But then, he’s so incredible that I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t want to be with him. It’s all so perfect. But is it really that perfect?”
Paige suddenly threw her arms around Olivia, squeezing her tight. “Okay, girl, slow the motor. That’s a hella lot of questions.” When she leaned away, she gave a soft smile. “All I know is if something is making you feel happy and feel good, that can’t be wrong.”
“Olivia.”
At the sharp, low voice, she whirled around and spotted Isaac. “Good morning.”
He frowned and tapped his finger on his watch. “You’re five minutes late. Is girl talk really that important right now?”
Yes, it is. Instead of letting the words she wanted to say free, she turned to Paige and smiled. “I’ll see ya after work.”
“Mm hmm.” Paige glared at Isaac before striding past him and heading toward her bakery a couple of blocks away.
Olivia went to move past him too, when Isaac said, “Don’t make this a habit, Olivia. And perhaps tell your friend it is rude to glare at your boss.”
“Ye…” The sir nearly came out of her mouth. She had said the title hundreds of times before today. Now she realized he didn’t deserve that respect. She glanced over her shoulder. This time, this one time, she said, “I’m afraid my friend would never listen to me. She’s got real issues with bossy men.”
He blinked.
At that, she walked inside with a smile.
* * *
—
Late into the day, after a handful of out-of-office meetings, Noah exited a black sedan into a bright sunny day with a sky full of big clouds. He gave his daytime driver a nod goodbye and got two steps forward before a soothing voice called his name.
He smiled and turned to find his mother standing behind him, obviously having just exited another car. In her late fifties, Audra Grant was a beautiful woman. She dressed well, stayed active, and also paid her plastic surgeon a pretty penny to keep her looking like she was still in her late forties. “Mother.” He moved to her and kissed her cheek. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you’re here.”
“Of course you shouldn’t be surprised.” She gave her wise smile, her eyes sparkling at him. “You’re the talk of the town.”
Somehow knowing others talked about his personal life did not bother him as much as it once would have. Though her presence also told him that word about bringing Olivia to the town hall meeting yesterday must have reached her. Which was also not a surprise. His assistant had placed this morning’s newspaper on his desk. When Noah saw himself smiling at Olivia in a photograph in it, he knew his mother would be calling him. Even he could see his affection for Olivia in the photo.
With the blazing heat blasting on his shoulders, he slid out of his jacket, draped it over his arm, and offered her the other arm. “It’s a beautiful day for a walk.”
“It most certainly is.” She smiled and slid her arm into his then patted his hand.
In silence, he led her across the road and then they entered Central Park. They strode down the sidewalk hugged by mature trees, which created much-needed shade on the sunny day. “Will this new woman in your life be at the fundraiser tonight?” The fundraiser was a garden party in support of his father’s close friend, Nathan Michaels.
Noah gestured to an empty bench along the pathway. “How do you know that she wasn’t simply one of my voters?” The newspaper hadn’t mentioned who Olivia was, or focused on their relationship, talking more about the town hall meeting itself. Though Noah knew his mother. He got his knack for reading people from her.
Audra lifted her brows, giving him a measured look.
He chuckled, and waited for her to take a seat, then joined her, draping an arm on the back of the bench. “I wasn’t planning on bringing her, no.”
Head cocked and eyes curious, Audra asked, “Why? You seemed smitten with her in the photograph.”
“Smitten, really?”
She smiled and patted the hand resting on his leg. “No woman has ever made you smile like that, Noah.” She studied the pedestrians walking by them before glancing at Noah again. “This one…she’s different, hmm?”
He had always been close to his mother. Far closer than he was to his father, even though they had a good relationship. He had never held anything back when it came to her, mainly because she knew when he was holding something in. “Yes, this woman is different.”
“Do you plan on telling me who she is?” Audra asked with a sly smile.
“Olivia Watts. She’s a graphic designer here in the city.”
Audra’s eyes widened, curiosity twinkling in their depths. “A graphic designer. How did you meet her?”
“Through a friend,” he answered, not prepared to say anything more. Some things a mother did not need to know.
“Well, she sure is beautiful.”
He agreed with a nod. “Not only on the outside.”
Audra smiled at a couple who waved at them then set her focus back to Noah. “Did she grow up here?”
“She grew up in the Bronx but is living in the city now.” He hesitated then got to the point he knew she was asking. “And no, her family is not anybody that you would know. But if they raised her, I can only imagine they are good people.”
Audra gave him a knowing smile. “She has no ties to anyone we know, and she isn’t in the political game. That’s quite the step away for you.”
Wasn’t that the truth? If he did date, it was always with a woman somehow connected to politics that would advance his career or strengthen a relationship with someone he knew. He always figured if he had to endure vanilla sex, he might as well get something out of it. “I’m finding that I enjoy that she’s not tied to politics. She’s untainted.”
“I suppose that would be refreshing,” Audra countered, not playing coy.
The political game was dirty sometimes, and she knew that as well as Noah did. “You would like the way she sees the world,” he told her. “It’s really quite lovely.”
Audra hesitated then and examined him intently. “Help me understand this. If she’s all these wonderful things, the
n why not bring her tonight so your father and I can meet her?”
A valid question. But he had a valid answer too. “I’m hesitant to ask her to endure my political life.”
“Endure?” Audra retorted with a frown. “You make it sound like your life would be something hellish for her. A political life is the one I’ve had with your father and I have no regrets.”
His mother did not know that was the very reason Noah had refused to have a steady girlfriend since Colette. He’d seen how lonely his mother looked sometimes. He remembered how she always had to put on a front of happiness when he knew she was not happy. He recalled how drained she looked after events, always having to be on. And he could never forget the moment Colette had given him the ultimatum. What he’d realized in the quiet moments before he went to sleep last night—and that had stayed on his mind all day today—was that he would be setting Olivia up for that exact same life. “You’ve faced the dirtiness of politics,” he told his mother. “You know the game. Olivia doesn’t.”
“Yes,” Audra retorted, “but it’s a game she’ll choose if she loves you.”
Noah bowed his head and ran his hands across his tired eyes. Of course he was growing fond of having Olivia in his life. She was sunshine in a dark sky. But the same thought came back to him over and over again: Could he make her happy? Or was he wanting her all for his selfish needs because she was making him happy? “If I decide to run in the next election, my competition will rip her apart.” That was unavoidable and part of the game.
“Does she have anything to hide?” Audra asked gently.
Noah dropped his hands and glanced into his mother’s tender eyes. “Normal things that any woman has to hide. A life of growing up, making mistakes, and living through heartbreak.”
Audra hesitated then said softly, “This life is not an easy one. Campaigning is exhausting. She will always be in your shadow. She will have her personal life shared, and sometimes exposed, all to make you look bad.” Audra placed a comforting hand on his arm, extending him her warmth. “But you are missing something very important.”
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