The Senator's Secret (A Presidential Affair Book 1)

by Jennifer Rebecca

  “Good morning,” I whisper back and feel his smile against my skin.

  Jake places one more kiss there before slipping free from my body and then lifting me into his arms to carry me into the shower. He does not give me a chance to be shy about what happened between us last night. Instead of worrying about facing him this morning after he made love to me last night, Jake woke me halfway to a climax for the ages and then fucked me hard on my knees. It just goes to show I never know which Jake I have with me at the moment.

  I decide those are thoughts for another time when he walks into the water with me in his arms and gently sets me on my feet. I feel the warm spray as it cascades over us, and I close my eyes and enjoy the way it soothes my aching muscles. It’s been a long time since I was loved like that in bed. Actually, I’m not sure I’ve ever been made love to the way Jake did.

  I open my eyes when I feel a soft washcloth against my skin and am treated to the sight of Jacob washing my body. He gently cups my pussy for a second, and I look to him and see fire flash behind his blue eyes.

  “I’m not gonna lie; I love the look of my cum on your thighs.” I had always known there was a rougher side to Jake. That even though he was born of old money, New York stock, he had gone on to the Naval Academy and then earned his way to become a Navy SEAL. What I did not know was how much I would enjoy the dirty words that flow like water from his mouth.

  “Hmm,” I answer, as I’m unwilling to voice my real feelings right now.

  I tip my head back as he massages shampoo into my hair and then rinses it clean. His fingers feel so good on my scalp, and I can’t help the moan that slips free from my mouth. I feel his hard cock rise up and brush against my waist, and I open my eyes and reach for him, but he dances out of my grasp.

  “I fucked you hard,” he says by way of an explanation.

  “Yes, you did.”

  “I shouldn’t want you like I do.” His voice rumbles against the shower tiles. “But every time I’m near you, my cock is harder than it’s ever been, and I can’t stay away.”

  “So don’t,” I whisper and wonder who this woman is, driven by her baser needs. This isn’t me at all. I am cool and clearheaded—always. But with Jake, I can’t seem to help but jump in feet-first.

  “I was too rough with you this morning,” he says. “You need time to recover.”

  “Then let me take care of you,” I offer, and before he can answer, I sink down to my knees on the shower floor and take his hard length into my mouth.

  “Grace,” he rasps. “Fuck, fuck, Grace.”

  But I don’t stop. I twist his length at the base as I pump my fist up and down his shaft while I swirl him as deep into my mouth as I can take him. Jake tunnels his fingers into my hair. He seems to love to grip it, to pull it when he’s close to losing his carefully leashed control.

  I swirl the tip of him on my tongue before pushing his length all the way to the back of my throat. I hear a little catch of his breath and decide to do it again. He pumps his hips a little as I take him back into my mouth, and I think the move is involuntary, but I love it. I want him to lose control.

  “Grace,” he rasps when he hits the back of my throat and tries to pull back. “Grace, honey, you have to let me go. I’m going to come.”

  I feel my eyes widen in triumph and dig my nails into his ass cheeks to pull him farther back into my throat and suck hard. Jake tightens his grip on my hair and spills in my mouth. I swallow him down and wipe the back of my hand against my lips just before he grips me under my arms and hauls me up against his body, slamming his mouth down on mine.

  My knees buckle a bit when he lets go of me, and I keep my feet underneath me by nothing less than an act of God. Jake backs under the spray to make quick work of his own shower needs and winks at me. His smile’s so happy and carefree that his dimples appear, and I can’t help but smile back.

  When he’s done, he shuts off the water and wraps me in a big, fluffy towel before circling one around his own waist. We part ways to go into our own closets to dress, because the master bedroom in Jake’s family heirloom brownstone has his and hers dressing rooms on either side of the master bathroom.

  I pull on a pair of panties and a matching bra before dropping a sheath dress over my head. I wrap my hair up in the towel so it won’t leave water spots on my dress, but based on Jake’s reaction to me this morning, I shouldn’t walk around in my underwear when I need to be getting ready for work. There’s no need to poke the bear.

  I sit down on the padded bench and roll thigh-highs up my legs before padding back into the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on my makeup. I run a round brush through my hair under the dryer and decided to leave it down today.

  When I look up, Jake is watching me from the doorway. He’s in a perfectly tailored suit and looks ever the popular politician. But his eyes are hungry.

  “Don’t even think about it,” I practically shout as I point at him. “I need food, and then I need to go to work and clear my schedule, so I can hit the campaign trail with you in a few weeks. Otherwise, Rick will bury my body in a cornfield halfway to Iowa,” I joke.

  “He wouldn’t fucking dare.”

  “I was just teasing,” I say, holding my hands up.

  “Well, it’s not fucking funny,” he growls, prowling closer and closer to me. “No one touches what’s mine.” And then he kisses me like his life depends on it before turning on his heels and stalking out of the room.

  I stand there stunned for a minute before turning back to the mirror to fix my lipstick. And then I slip on my heels and put on my jewelry before heading down the stairs to find my mercurial fake boyfriend but very real lover.

  • • •

  I WINCE AS STARS dance in front of my eyes from the flashes of cameras as we step out onto the front stoop. There are more and more of them out here every damn day. They seem to be multiplying like rabbits.

  Once again, Jake is Superman, swooping in to rescue me so videos of me looking like I have a nervous twitch don’t end up on the internet. He pulls me in close to him like a man proud to have the woman he loves by his side. It all makes me feel so confused and conflicted.

  “Good morning, everyone,” he calls out good-naturedly.

  “Are wedding bells ringing, Senator?” someone calls out.

  “I don’t know.” Jake laughs. “But when I do, you won’t be the first to know!” And everyone laughs.

  “Does Ms. Sanders want to marry you?” someone else calls out.

  “I don’t know the answer to that either. I guess stay tuned.”

  “Rumor has it she will be hitting the campaign trail with you for the Midwest leg,” someone else shouts.

  Damn, Rick works fast. I hold in a sigh of frustration before I answer.

  “I certainly am,” I say with a bright smile. “I can’t wait to get out there and support a great guy like Jake.”

  “Will the senator have your vote?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “One more question!” someone shouts, but Jake is already moving me toward our waiting vehicle.

  “If you’ll all excuse us,” he says, “I need to get my girl to the office.”

  He ushers me in, and I slide across the bench seat to make room for him. Jake climbs in behind me and shuts the door. It’s not until we pull away from the curb that I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

  “It’s not so bad, is it?” Jake asks, looking a little concerned. I feel bad he looks so upset on my behalf, and I don’t want him to feel bad. What is happening to me that I don’t want my sexual nemesis to feel bad? Although, truth be told, he wasn’t my arch enemy when he made love to me last night, and he wasn’t my arch enemy when I hit my knees for him this morning either. Maybe Jake isn’t so bad? And little secret part of me whispers that when he’s bad, he is so very good.

  “No,” I say softly. “It’s not so bad. It just always surprises me.”

  I look over at him and he seems… upset over it, and I don’t know why
, but I just can’t stand the thought of Jake upset over my reaction to the paparazzi. I am the reason we’re in this situation to begin with. A part of me whispers that maybe I’m starting to care for Jacob Chancellor in ways I would have if we hadn’t been thrown together. That maybe this is more than just convenience and sex.

  “I’m sorry,” Jake says thoughtfully. “I think we just have to stay the course.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t distract me so much,” I reply, making a face to make him laugh, and he does.

  “I bet I could distract you even better,” Jake says after a moment. His mouth is pressed to the shell of my ear. His hand is on my thigh, sneaking under the hem of my dress.

  “Jake,” I warn. I look at Gus, Jake’s Secret Service agent, and Rob, his driver. Both of them are looking straight ahead as if they haven’t a care in the world.

  “Be very quiet and they’ll never know.”

  By now, the tip of his middle finger grazes the edge of my panties, and he slides it along the leg seam, back and forth, back and forth. The motion is slow and maddening. I try to press my legs together so he can’t get his hand closer, but it’s no use. I am weak.

  He slides a finger under the lace that covers my center and just glides up and down my slit, never penetrating, never touching my clit, just heightening my senses into one brutal point that pulses between my legs.

  Jake pulls his hand out from under my dress like it was never there at all, like I imagined the whole thing. And then the door to the car is opening and he’s helping me out in front of my office building with a wink.

  Stay the course, my ass.

  Jacob is turning me into a… a… sex fiend! This is unacceptable.

  I spend the whole elevator ride with Jake and Gus thinking how great a sex diet would be. We shouldn’t have sex for a while. Sex is bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. It’s clouding my judgement. I would never have let him—or anyone else for that matter—finger me in a car with other people sitting up front. Jake is making me lose my mind.

  When we walk down the hall, Carter is there waiting for me with a smile and a cup of coffee. “Morning, boss.”

  “Good morning, Carter,” I say distractedly.

  “Mind giving us a few minutes?” Jake asks, and I narrow my eyes on him.

  “Sure,” Carter responds quietly, and I can tell by the look on his face that I’ll have some explaining to do in about twenty minutes. Here’s to hoping I can distract him with campaign trail planning talk.

  “Don’t be mad,” Jake says with a rueful smile playing on his sinful mouth. “I’ll make it better tonight.”

  “No, you will not,” I reply, and it comes out much sharper than I meant it to. Jake raises one eyebrow in question. I rush to explain. “We have the One Soldier, One Mission Gala tonight.”

  “Fuck,” he bites out, pulling me into his arms. “I forgot. I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’d be happy to put you out of your misery now—”

  “Absolutely not,” I interrupt, swatting his arm. “I think we need to focus.”

  “Focus?”

  “Y-yes,” I stammer under the full weight of his gaze. “We need to focus on our mission. Without getting distracted.”

  “Distracted?”

  What? Is there an echo in here?

  “Yes. Distracted. We need to worry more about pulling our bacon out of the fryer and less about sex. Yes?”

  “No.”

  “I’m glad we agree,” I tell him as I begin bustling around my office and trying to herd him out the door.

  “I didn’t agree with you,” he says, and there is a funny look on his face. It’s like a mix of frustration and amusement.

  “What?” I ask, but it ends a little shrill, because he pulls me into his arms again.

  “I said I don’t agree with you,” he explains gently. “We’re not going to stop kissing and touching.”

  “No?” My voice sounds pretty breathless even to my ears.

  “No.” He smiles, and those twin dimples wink at me and make me go stupid. “And I’m going to make love to you like I did last night.”

  “Okay.”

  “And if you run, I’m going to chase you,” he says, and his voice is rough like velvet over broken glass.

  “Yeah?”

  “And then I’m going to fuck you like I did this morning.”

  I open my mouth to reply, but I don’t get a chance, because Jake crushes his mouth to mine, his tongue fighting me for what we both know we need. But I can’t help but feel like half of me wants to run toward him and the other half wants to run far, far away.

  I stumble a little and have to take a half step back when he lets go of me. And then with a promise to pick me up in enough time for me to get ready for the gala, he leaves me standing there like an idiot as he walks out of my office.

  “What the fuck was that?” Carter screeches like a little girl when he rushes in my office and slams the door shut, so we can talk privately. His timing is impeccable. He had to have been watching for when Jake and Gus walked out the door, because as soon as Jake left, here was Carter.

  “I’m in love with Jacob Chancellor,” I say without any inflection.

  “Well, I know that, silly,” he replies. “Is there trouble in paradise?”

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  “Well? What happened?” he practically shouts. “Did you fight? Did he cheat?”

  “No,” I answer. “No, none of those things.”

  “Well then, what is it?”

  “I think I’m really in love with him. Not ‘I was in love with that lobbyist three years ago but wasn’t bothered when he fucked that intern at Jules’s station on camera,’” I explain. “Like ‘if it doesn’t work out, I’ll be devastated’ in love with him.”

  “Oh, honey,” Carter sighs like he’s watching a goddamned Hallmark movie. “You found your penguin.” If there’s one thing Carter loves, it’s other people finding their forever person since he found his. Carter is a true romantic.

  “Yeah,” I say as I burst into tears. “Isn’t it terrible?”

  He gathers me into his arms and rocks me like a giant baby. When I have finally calmed down, Carter assures me that everything will be all right. He knows how I really am? How I’ve never made time for another person in my life, how I never thought that I would find love so I never bothered, and worst of all he knew how attracted I always was to Jake even if I never told him all of the sordid details like I did with Jules. Then he tells me my hair and makeup stylist is booked for tonight and that she’ll be at the brownstone at five because above all else, he’s damn good at his job which is managing me.

  “We need to clear the dockets and hand off the cases we have,” I tell him.

  “Why?” he asks.

  “We’re going campaigning with my penguin,” I explain, making him laugh.

  “Excellent. I’ll coordinate everything with the henchman.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Let’s go and win your penguin the White House!”

  “Our Favorite Senator May Be on the Outs with Campaign Manager.”

  Chapter 13

  Fake it till you make it

  “You have got to be shitting me.”

  Jake picked me up right at four o’clock, so I wouldn’t be late to meet my hair and makeup artist. Cara has been making me look good for formal occasions for the last year and a half, and I like to think we’ve become pretty good friends in that time.

  Cara is a single mom to the prettiest eight-year-old little girl with dark, rich brown hair like her mom’s and startling green eyes. She’s a couple years younger than Jules and me, but not by much. And as far as I can tell, her baby-daddy has never been in the picture. She has never, not once, ever mentioned an ex to me or Jules.

  “Hey, Auntie Grace,” Rachel says when I open the door to greet them.

  “Hey, kid, what’s up with you?” I ask as I tousle her hair, making her laugh.

  “Sorry,” Cara says when she rolls her tote into the
house behind her daughter. “My sitter is sick. I think being sick means she’s getting laid.”

  “Oh the good old days,” I say wistfully, making Cara laugh.

  “Here,” Gus says, taking the heavy tote on wheels from Cara and lifting it into his arms like it’s no heavier than a sheet of paper. “Let me take that for you.”

  “Thanks,” she says with a sweet smile.

  “Wow,” I whisper with my eyes wide. “I think our stoic Gus might be smitten.”

  “Oh hush, you.” She laughs. “Now show me what you’re wearing so I can work my magic.”

  “Right this way, boss.” I lead her up the stairs to the master suite, and she whistles as she takes in the palatial digs.

  I lead her into the closet and show her the whisper-pink gown with a gold beaded sweetheart neckline and pink flowy skirt that all comes together to be equal parts sexy and sweet.

  “Holy hot Cinderella, Batman!” Cara whispers. “I fucking love it.”

  I’m pairing the dress with my crystal-studded Louboutins and earrings that are big shiny flowers made out of clusters of diamonds. I really pulled out all of the stops for this one. Ironic it’s the first time I won’t be going to one of these things on my own; instead, I’ll be dressed to the nines to be someone else’s arm candy. I hold in a sigh, and Cara doesn’t seem to notice, as she’s lost in her own thoughts.

  “Okay,” she says suddenly. “I’ve got it. Let’s go set you in rollers.”

  I follow her into the bathroom, and she brushes out my long blonde hair before wrapping it this way and that in large hot rollers. I have a feeling that when I’m done, I’ll look something like a movie star from the forties.

  “All right, you know the drill.” She laughs as I roll my eyes.

  “You just like to see me in my undies,” I say.

  “Don’t you know it. And don’t mess up my rollers either.”

  “I won’t,” I reply as I step into my closet. I pull on a pair of white lace panties and a matching long-line strapless bra that wraps around my waist and dips low in both the back and front with molded cups to hold up my breasts.