Seduced By The Senator

by Alex Elliott

  When faced with the choice...I can’t become another Aunt Bridget, and keeping this secret isn’t hard if I don’t allow myself to become overwhelmed. Bennett’s a capable teacher—a master of himself, then why not me?

  All that’s required is something so simple. Something really commonplace. No more sex and I recoup any potential earth-shattering control he seeks to exert over me. I can learn from him with my clothes on. All of them.

  Plan in place!

  Right. That voice is back and I grit my teeth.

  Pushing open the shower door, I walk out along within a billowing cloud of steam. “Better believe it!” I say with greater conviction than I feel.

  Chapter Eight

  Well, I’ll be Damned

  INSIDE THE cab, I’m rocketing back through Sumner Tunnel when my phone chirps, and from the dimly lit backseat I lift my cell out of my bag and press ‘answer.’

  “Hey, Jon,” I say as my stomach knots. He’s going to ask how things went last night so I take the offensive, and launch into my prepared sound bite. “We worked late into the night. You’re right. Senator Stone’s a regular ballbuster.”

  “No mystery there,” he replies, laughing. “He’s gorgeous, arrogant, and rich. What’d you expect?”

  “Nothing,” I blurt, “Why?”

  “Err...I think he likes you.”

  “Likes me? I don’t know where you got that impression.” I gasp, trying to see where this conversation is headed and how to escape.

  Jon snorts. “Love bug, I’d wager you two butting heads is something our popular Senator Stone doesn’t encounter. He seemed taken by your sass...in a good way.”

  “He’s a taskmaster. I had to run home to shower and change,” I choke out, and let go a shaky laugh. “We can’t discuss him beyond anything aboveboard. That note you wrote...intimate staff nonsense!”

  “Shit. I’m sorry. I almost lost it yesterday when I saw him holding it. You’re right. No more innuendos where you and Senator Stone are concerned.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’m getting ready to come and pick you both up.”

  “Good to hear,” I say, thinking about the day ahead rather than obsessing about Bennett who might be naked in bed.

  “Guess where I’m going to do my dirty work next week for the Post?”

  I swallow and think—glad to focus on something other than Stone. “Veep’s office?”

  “I wish.”

  Jon’s been all over D.C. His new piece could target any number of people. “I don’t know. Where?”

  “Speaker’s office. The Honorable Jackson Carter!” His shout pierces my eardrum. “We’re going to be together. Can you fucking believe it?”

  Yes I can. I should have expected it. He’s been hot and heavy on doing another piece on the Hill so we can hang out together. I owe him...in so many ways; just wish he wasn’t so watchful. No way can I act like that isn’t the best thing since sliced bread, but I’m nervous about the ‘when and if’ we hookup anywhere near the Hill. He might see a sign—something in my face. Well, X then today’s practice session should go over smooth as silk!

  “I’m speechless.” I’m more than speechless, I’m stunned.

  Calm down, I tell myself. The likelihood that Carter and Stone do much together has to be infinitesimal. Carter being the Speaker has to be up to his eyeballs in Capitol crap. Too much to engage in a walkabout aimlessly. Carter and Stone are in different parties, different committees, ergo different worlds.

  Casually, I inquire, “So where is the speaker’s office exactly?”

  Jon replies without missing a beat, “House Office Building. 1011 Longworth. I already memorized the address. I’ve been trolling him since I heard late last night, and geez louise, he’s a hottie—”

  “Wait a second. What happened with Mitch?” I ask.

  “Does the term an extended one-night stand sound familiar?”

  “Oh...” I say slowly, knowing that Jon has had many extended one-nighters. “Well, he is married.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Not with you coming to D.C. and both of us on the Hill. The speaker is gorgeous enough to take my mind off of one scalding attorney.”

  Even though we’re friends and I feel for Jon, I can’t sit through, listening to him fantasize about his future assignment after what I’ve done. I cut him off, cringing at being so rude. But tough times bring out the ruthless side of me.

  “Pretty amazing! Glad to hear that we’re both getting in spur-of-the-moment Hill exposure.” A blast of heat scalds my cheeks, and I roll my eyes, reminding myself clearly this is why a girl doesn’t do her boss. Ever.

  “More than exposure. I’m doing some digging. My editor wants me to find something titillating that will rock the press. Got any ideas? What’s Stone into?”

  “How would I know? We just met,” I reply, clasping my fingers tightly around my cell.

  “Not an inkling? Did he try anything with you?”

  “You’re the one who said he doesn’t do staffers...or interns. Does he?”

  “No—of course not! My editor sometimes drives me crazy. Our readership has dropped and everyone is being called on the carpet to dig and I do mean, deep.”

  “Like tabloid stuff? You can’t be serious!”

  “Hey, I don’t decide which theme the Post is running after. They have consumer groups and apparently a scandal would entice our readership. It’s what the candidates start to do after the initial debates. You know. Mudsling a little.”

  “Jesus, Jon! I want no part in that. Promise me. I’m going to the Hill to make my mark...not to become infamous in some debacle.”

  “Never. Fear. I’ve got your back. When have I failed you?”

  I have to admit, never.

  “You’re right. You’re true blue,” I say, and watch the blinking lights of the tunnel flash by.

  “Pick you up in about an hour. Maybe I can do a quasi-interview with Stone. Did you guys talk about me? At all?”

  “No. We went over campaign strategy and you know that’s off limits to report before it’s official. I just started and my lips are sealed.” I’m so glad he can’t see my face, turning all shades of hot and burning as tiny darts of perspiration break at my hairline.

  The taxi exits the tunnel and the hotel is up ahead, looming in the distance as a sheet of rain falls. So much for arriving calm, collected, and dry. It’s seventy degrees outside and I’m sweating bullets in the backseat. “Call me when you get to the hotel and thanks for what you did. You know with Stone’s office and the connection.” My stomach pitches at the thought.

  “Just like the old saying: what goes around, comes around. Hey, speaking of which, see if you can get me an interview,” Jon replies sharply. “Or I can go about doing it myself. I just need a bone to throw my editor in saying I’m researching flesh-n-blood sources.”

  “Okay,” I huff, before hanging up and not clear why him talking to Bennett would be a problem. Well, maybe because Jon is looking for dirt! “Gotta run. The senator has a full day. Early morning meeting and I have to hit the ground at full speed.”

  “I’ll be there soon.” And he’s gone.

  The driver announces, “Almost there, Miss. Don’t worry, I’ll get you curbside so you don’t get your shoes wet.”

  “Appreciate it. A lot.” I glance out the window as the cab pulls up to the circular drive of the hotel. Gathering my bag, I sit forward, and feel my whole body convulse at the thought in a few minutes, I’ll be face-to-face with Bennett.

  We stop right at the front steps as promised and the driver is out, coming to get my door. The tangy bay air, now ten times more humid from the early morning shower pours in, awakening my nerves—not that the promise of seeing Stone hasn’t already got my panties in a twist.

  I pay the driver as we stand in the front entrance and he hands me my carry-on, then lifts his cap before exiting. Putting away my wallet, I stop and take it out again. Stone’s hotel room key was right here last night. Oh shit. Th
at means he searched inside my wallet. I stare at the picture of Jon and me, wondering if the senator noticed it. What would he even think? Possibly, that I was up to something in having a friend do our driving? Or that I was less than professional? I’d alerted Nora that Jon was my connection and she seemed fine—relieved that the rental car fiasco had worked out. Why would Stone care?

  Before dropping my wallet a second time into the confines of my bag, I remove my own key card. Walking across the lobby, I get the distinct impression I’m being watched. Wouldn’t be the first time, and shift my focus toward the source of my discomfort.

  Bite me.

  My gaze locks with a smoky set of eyes and Bennett raises his mug in my direction, wearing a smug grin. I feel the familiar jolt of recognize jettison within my body. He lowers the mug and quirks his brow as if in challenge. Rising from his table out in the section of the lobby where people go to read and watch the news, he buttons his jacket and advances on me. All my newfound sense of I can handle Stone like no other disappear. Gone!

  With his clean-shaven face and combed damp hair, he looks the part of distinguished congressman, leaving no question in my mind why he won Cosmo’s sexiest senator contest.

  “Good morning, Ms. Kennedy. I trust you slept well,” he says with the cockiest grin known to mankind.

  “Sleep,” I repeat as though the term is foreign. For all my plans, his greeting dismantles my foremost objective in not revisiting last night.

  “Yes. You did manage to get some sleep. Didn’t you?” He breaks eye contact, letting his gaze roam lower down my body.

  Incensed is what I am when he acts so damn cavalier, and I’m coming apart at the seams. Fuck my plans. I have to know why he’s got this hold on me. “What did you do to me last night?” I speak between gritted teeth and notice a gentleman seated across the way turns in our direction. “We need to talk.”

  His gaze rebounds to mine and he nods. “Agreed. I wondered where you disappeared to. I went to your room, hoping we could...talk.”

  “I had to get dressed,” I reply.

  “Yes. I see.” Stone’s eyes lower to my chest and he leans closer, whispering, “Come with me.”

  “I’d rather not.”

  Our eyes lock and the smile vanishes from his face. We’re inches apart—close enough for me to absorb the heat radiating off his body. “You will if I have to hoist you over my shoulder.”

  “Are you always going to be in ‘dominating caveman’ mode?”

  “If that’s what you require,” he replies unfazed as we continue to gaze into each other’s eyes. “Then yes.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” I whisper to him hoarsely.

  Neither of us drops our gazes and he bends farther, coming near to me. The closer he comes, the hotter my face feels. An inch more and we’d be kissing. “Around you, it’s what I hunger to do. I want to possess you. Entirely.”

  At his admission, a flush of heat prickles my neck. I brush my fingers against the scarf I’m wearing and immediately his eyes track the movement. He steps back a foot in front of me, still too close for comfort, and I can see his pupils dilate as we stare into each other’s eyes. Christ, I can’t breathe and my heart rate speeds up. Where is the end to this power he exudes over me?

  “Stop,” I choke out. “Don’t play with me like I’m an imbecile. I fully understand risk and danger when I’m face-to-face with a potential mistake. Sound familiar?”

  “I won’t hurt you.” He stares down at me, a grimace steeling his features, and he looks like he’s in pain or going to say something so offensive that I stiffen.

  “How can I be sure?”

  “Jesus, I deserve that,” he growls. “Give me five minutes.”

  “Why?” I ask, staring up at him in search of the truth...and sensing all that he offers and how much he could potentially take if I’m not careful.

  “Still so stubborn,” he rasps.

  Before I can say yes or no or go to hell, he closes the distance between us, reaches and takes my bag. Bennett swings around, his hand on my elbow, and says. “Better come with me.”

  I can either follow him. Or jerk my arm out of his grasp and watch him walk way. As if my feet have a mind of their own, I step forward, scissoring my legs to keep up with him. We’re back at the elevator and he pumps the call button.

  He glances over his shoulder and curses so softly I barely hear him speak, “Fuck.”

  “Why are you angry?” I ask, not understanding and fearing he might just say, forget all of this.

  “I’m not angry. I’m hungry.” He drags me close to him and leans down, glazing his lips over my cheek to my ear. “Are you on birth control?”

  Chapter Nine

  It’s About Her Mouth

  I HAD A PLAN. A solid one until I got within thirty-six inches of her. Her being Xavia Kennedy, and quickly becoming the bane of my existence. Seeing her walk into the lobby and smile sweetly at the cab driver minutes ago, has me and my dick sitting up and taking notice.

  But oh yeah, I’m in control. I most definitely am not in control as I stride across the lobby, grinding my back molars. Me and my jackass ego are fumbling, and to think, I’d imagined I was going to own this game without breaking a sweat. The girl has me and has no clue.

  Well, in about five seconds she’s about to find out. And I open the goddamn door by asking about birth control. I don’t fuck around without protection but with her, I hunger to have her skin-on-skin. If I’m going to last until Saturday, this is the only type of heat that’ll assuage my appetite...pure friction and hardcore delivery. All I have to do is make it for three more days and then I’ll claim her as my submissive. Own her tight little body. And repeatedly fuck her, all the way out of my system.

  “Why is that any of your business?” she asks flippantly, and her tone sets fire to each and every nerve ending I possess.

  I turn and bring my mouth close to her ear, inhaling her incomparable scent. “Because what I’m so close to doing is something that could get us arrested. I’m going to fuck you up against the first wall we encounter if you’re not careful. That’s why.” Standing on the first floor, in a hall, and I’m ready to find an alcove and finish what I started in that club two months ago. I pull her closer, looking down the corridor for any possible place to haul her off to so I can fuck her senseless. The elevator chimes, stopping me in my tracks.

  “Saved by the bell,” she whispers.

  “Not even close,” I reply. “After you.”

  The gloves effectively have come off and if she gets in, then by rights she knows the score. I need to fuck. Her. I’m a cunt hair away from taking her in this elevator if that beautiful bitchy mouth of hers forces the issue.

  What I need requires a locked door, only this time there will be no edgeplay. A forceful fuck. Her riding me rough. I grit my teeth at the thought of holding back from disciplining her, but I have to. As long as she gives me a dose...a torturous tease of her pussy, I’ll last until Saturday. Then I’ll have her and have my way.

  We both gaze into each other’s eyes and she narrows hers. “Good thing, you’re such a spectacular lay. Otherwise, a question like that might get your face slapped.”

  “The day you slap my face, you’d better be prepared. Baby, you damn well know I slap back.” I gesture to the open elevator doors and she notches her chin up, and surprises me by walking inside.

  There’s a sensual sway to her hips as I let my gaze rove down her body. The one I’m going to strip and lick for hours on end when we get to D.C. until I uncover each and every one of her little secrets. Clad in a tailored suit and scarf, she can’t fool me. My memory is razor sharp where she’s concerned. I have no idea what type of getup she’s sporting underneath, but I note her shoes are the same spectacular version of suggestive heels she wore last night. No delicate ankle straps this time, but the slim heels make her feet arch provocatively while showcasing her long legs. And once again, she’s wearing stockings and I’ll bet my right nut, she ha
s on another pair of lace garters—the ones I thought about as I’d jerked off during the night.

  I walk inside and stand next to her. “You smell incredible,” I murmur, giving her a cocky smile as I tap the screen of my cell and open a PDF file. “I smelled like you for hours and you can’t imagine how hard it kept me.”

  “Tell me, do these lines work with the other women you seduce? Seriously, you don’t have to try so hard...not with me.”

  “I don’t seduce women,” I say, wondering where this is headed, and the muscles along my shoulders and neck constrict.

  “That’s pretty grandiose. Why do girls flock to you and fall over when you flash your green eyes and smile?”

  “Sweetheart, I meant, I don’t pursue women. Period. And I certainly don’t engage in impulsive sex. You’re the first in a long, long time.”

  “You’re lying.”

  The elevator doors open and we don’t move. “It’s not a lie and if you’d care to follow me, I’m going to fuck you first and then we need to talk. Come up with a plan.”

  “Are you delusional?”

  “After last night—maybe. Now let’s go and I assume you can read and walk at the same time.” I lift off the handrail, holding out my phone and my recent medical report is displayed on the screen. Curling my fingers around her elbow, I draw her to me as we exit the elevator. She doesn’t fall in line as willingly as I’d like, but neither do I have the pleasure of a kicking and screaming woman to contend with. I lean close to her, lowering my voice. “Don’t argue with me, XS. We both want sex. We both like it extreme. I’m prepared to show you how far we can go. I promise, you won’t regret, letting me own your body.”

  She glances at my phone and her eyes widen. I watch her read and she looks up, nodding into my face. “I don’t carry around a medical report.”

  “Last night, it wasn’t my imagination, but you don’t have much experience. Do you?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “When’s the last time you were tested?” I ask, already informed of the answer thanks to Archer. Fuck, I’m a quasi-authority concerning this girl.