True North (Compass series Book 4)
Page 26
God love her, she’s trying to nudge me into running for office if and when the political tide turns and I find myself out of a job. I tried to convince her I’d be happy back in the private sector, consulting or going back to my old law firm, but she’d shaken her head. “I don’t think so, Mr. Lewis, but nice try.”
The more I think about it, the more right she might be. I adore her for trying to repair burned bridges and build them where they’ve never been. Maybe with a woman like her by my side I’d actually be capable of pulling it off. Textbook Behind Every Great Man story, though I don’t consider myself all that great. All I’ve really got to do is pretend, though.
Sidling up to my ridiculously attractive wife, I rest a hand at the small of her back and stroke a thumb over the base of her spine. I have to resist thinking about it too much, but I know for a fact she’s got a straining strapless bra, a wisp of rippable panties, a garter belt, and stockings on under her dress.
I kiss her cheek, not having to pretend to be a doting husband because I am. Press turns a pretty shade of pink before she introduces me to Mr. Creed.
“Joe, this is my husband, Slade.” Of course she’s already calling him Joe. Bet all she had to do was look at him and he probably would’ve handed over his very soul. God knows I did.
“We haven’t met, but I know who you are, Mr. Lewis.” Something like satisfaction surges through me as he firmly grips my hand. He knows me and his appraising gaze makes me think that he likes what he’s heard. “I’ve actually got to excuse myself for a moment because Alice Bramwell just walked in and I’ve been waiting for her, but I’d like to speak with you later. Your lovely wife was telling me you might have political aspirations. If that’s true, we have some things to talk about.”
“Absolutely.”
He studies me for a moment longer, and I wonder if he’s picturing me behind a podium making a stump speech with Pressly by my side. Because that’s what I’m thinking of. Flags waving and people clapping as I smile and wave. I could be that charismatic, right? Especially with Press to teach me how. And until I’ve mastered her lessons, I’ll pretend. That’s what I’m best at. It’s what I do. Except with her.
After Creed’s left, I lean down and talk low into Pressly’s ear. “What do you think? Does anyone else here know what a nasty little slut you are, walking around with a barely there thong on under your dress?”
The resulting squeak is incredibly gratifying, so I push her harder.
“What would they say if they knew I’m going to have you on your knees in a couple of hours, begging for me to jerk off until I come all over your tits? Or maybe I’ll fuck you on all fours like the horny little bitch you are. What do you say about that, you filthy, cock-hungry whore?”
She whimpers, and even from here I can feel the heat gathering in her face. I’ve had to up my dirty-talking game because I don’t feel comfortable hurting her right now. I’ll keep it up after she has the baby, though, because man does it ever get her hot. She’s practically panting against me.
“Who says we have to wait a couple of hours?”
“What are you implying, Ms. Allwyn?” She’s kept her name at work, and that’s fine by me, although it rankles her parents a bit. But I feel awfully smug when people figure out that she’s my wife. Yes, this magnetic woman is all mine.
“That there’s a coat closet?”
I snort at her desperate breathy suggestion. “As tempting as that sounds, neither of us can afford to get caught. Besides, it’ll be so much more fun to torture you, to know you’re thinking about getting fucked within an inch of your life as soon as we get home. Maybe I should strike up a conversation with Gage Cabot?”
“Slade, I swear, if you start talking to that old windbag, we’re going to be here until two o’clock in the morning, and I will have died of sexual frustration. You don’t want to explain that to my parents, do you?”
“No.” I also don’t want to suffer through denying myself for that long either, but she doesn’t need to know that. “I’ll have to be careful to tease you within an inch of your life, that’s all. You have a very vivid imagination. Perhaps I’ll put it to good use.”
Another fun trick I’ve discovered about her. If I give the barest suggestion of a sex act, she’ll drive herself absolutely mad conjuring an elaborate scene, and hell is it fun to make her describe every detail that comes into that delightfully dirty mind of hers.
“How would you feel about kneeling on the floor of the town car and sucking me off on our way home? What do you think, privacy window up or down?”
“Down,” she breathes, and that single word is what my body’s been waiting for. Blood rushes straight to my dick and I get hard. “So the driver knows what a dirty girl I am.”
“Should I come on your face and not let you wipe it off before you get out of the car? He’d see what a cum-slut you are written all over you.”
I’ve forced another peep from her throat and I decide to take pity on her. “Here’s what you’re going to do, Press. You’re going to go into the ladies’ room, lean against a stall door, ruck your dress up around your waist, and stroke your clit until you come. After you do, you’re going to take off your panties and rejoin me. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“Go, you shameless hussy.”
Ten minutes later, Pressly’s making her way through the crowd, a lovely glow on her face. I know her well enough to know it’s a mixture of satisfaction—because I bet she came with a lip-biting shudder while she touched herself and thought of all the filthy words I whispered in her ear—and embarrassment—because I forced her to masturbate in public and what kind of depraved individual does such a thing?
Me, the fucking luckiest bastard on the face of the planet.
When she reaches my side, I can’t help myself. “And how was it?”
“Delicious.”
The way her softly lilting voice curls around the syllables makes me even harder, and all I want to do is pin her over the nearest buffet table and have my way with her. But I exercise some goddamn self-control and don’t. Although I’m sorely tempted to when she slips a hand in my inside coat pocket. I chase her hand with mine, knowing what my fingers will find.
Still warm from the heat of her body and slick with her climax, the silk and lace is slippery in my fingers. The feel of it and thoughts of how it got that way make me groan. “You’re a wicked little thing, you know that?”
“Perhaps I need some…correction.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’m never going to make it through this party. I pinch my cheeky, iniquitous wife on her flawless ass and growl in her ear. “And you’ll get it. But first we’ve got some more powerful people to wrap around your little finger.”
“Happy to, future Senator Lewis.” She hits me with one of those patented Pressly Allwyn smiles that drips with charm. I shake my head so I can see something other than her and then offer her my arm, which she takes with a slide of her fingers around my forearm.
My perfect girl who’s made all my pipedreams come true and has convinced me we’re far from over. My once and forever wife.
Thank you!
Thanks for reading True North. I hope you enjoyed it!
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• You’ve just read the fourth book in The Compass Series, and there’s more to come. Book five will bring you Lucy and Evans’ story, and in book six, the inimitable Reyes Walter will find his own happily ever after. Stay tuned for release dates and pre-order links!
Other Books by Tamsen
The Compass Series
Personal Geography
&n
bsp; Intimate Geography
Uncharted Territory
True North
Standalone Novels
School Ties (September 2016)
Short Stories and Novellas
Craving Flight
Looking for a Complication
(originally published as part of the For the First Time anthology)
Needs
(originally published as part of the Winter Rain anthology)
Anthologies
Winter Rain
Acknowledgements
It takes a team to bring any story to life and I’m so grateful to have the best in the business.
Teresa and AJ are the best CPs a girl could ask for and they make everything I write better while making me laugh. Emma and Lexi H. served as betas extraordinaire, making sure I didn’t muck up DC or my Southern heroine.
Thank you to my other writer friends for listening to me fret about whether I could make Slade likable…redeemed villains are a challenge! And as always, to my small corner of Romancelandia and the Twitterverse, and my chaptermates at NECRWA. I’m so thankful this is the sandbox I get to play in.
To Mr. Parker who makes it possible for me to do my work and for going with the (entirely unexpected) flow, and kidlet for not asking too many questions about what it is exactly Mommy does for a living.
My real-life friends, who help maintain my sanity and enjoy the absurdities of my professional life: MTS, AJ, LG, EH. To Nancy, my fellow coffee shop scribbler, and Jim for introducing us.
To my editor Christa for making Slade more palatable while still letting him be Slade, and making this a far better book in the process. My copy editor, Rebecca, who is the best of the best and lets me know the rules so I can break them. Also my proofreaders Christine and Michele, whose eagle eyes I couldn’t do without, and my cover designer, Amber, who always rocks my covers no matter how picky I can be.
A special shout-out to Taylor Swift and Maroon 5. My first playlist for this book was full of moody, grungy music and the story just wouldn’t gel. I gave up and put on 1989, and apparently my biggest alphahole hero is super into Tay-Tay—the words just flowed, and V followed close behind. Whatever it takes, Slade.
And last, but certainly not least, to my readers and reviewers: I couldn’t do this without you and I appreciate you more than words can say.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
True North: © 2016 by Tamsen Parker
Editing by Christa Desir (editorchrista.com)
Copy Editing by Rebecca Weston (www.raweston.com)
Cover Design by Amber Shah of Book Beautiful (bookbeautiful.com)
Formatting by BB eBooks (bbebooksthailand.com)
ISBN 13: 978-1-942427-06-3
Kindle Edition
All rights reserved. Where such permission is sufficient, the author grants the right to strip any DRM which may be applied to this work.