He couldn’t help smiling too. “It doesn’t bother you that there’s a roomful of people out there?”
“Hey, believe me, I’ve fucked in places a lot more public than this.”
Sometimes the way she spoke still had the ability to make him flinch, but at the same time it turned him on. Especially at times like this when it didn’t matter what the circumstances were, it was too late to turn back. His real-life rock chick was here and he needed her more than he ever had done before.
He pushed her dress up over her hips, holding her tightly as he thrust straight into her, and the immediate feeling of calm he felt when he touched her like this was incredible. When he was a part of her it was almost as if she took over and passed all that bravado and confidence that she carried with her over to him. She made him feel different and he loved her for it. He didn’t care that she was screaming out his name, that she was making it obvious what was going on, he didn’t care about any of that because she was giving him the ride of his life on the night of his life and his head was spinning with it all. He was responding with every shout she made, pushing harder and harder into her until the earth-shattering climax happened in a blur of heavy breathing and rough kisses, both of them worn out from the exertion.
“Jesus, Daniel, you’re fucking incredible when the stress is on! Where the hell did that come from?”
He rested both palms of his hands on the wall, either side of her, his head down for a second as he tried to catch his breath. Then he looked at her, smiling. “Do you see what you do to me?”
“You wanted me in your life, baby. You hunted me down, remember?”
He kissed her gently, pulling her against him. “And I don’t regret a single thing...I could just look at you all night, do you know that?”
She played with the collar of his shirt, his tie loose around his neck. “Yeah, well, you’re gonna be kind of busy soon, aren’t you?” She looked up at him, suddenly feeling very fragile, very vulnerable, and she didn’t like it. That feeling of being weak and out of control wasn’t one she took to easily. It usually made her run from the situation; she had done in the past. But she couldn’t run from this. “Am I going to lose you, Daniel?”
“Hey, don’t talk like that. No. Of course you’re not going to lose me.”
“Even when you’re Mr. Hot-Shot Prime Minister?”
He smiled, stroking her shoulder, kissing it quickly. “I haven’t got the job yet, sweetheart.”
“You will.” She ran her fingers over his rough chin, kissing his top lip, then his bottom lip, then his mouth full-on. “And you’re gonna be the sexiest Prime Minister this country’s ever seen.”
He smiled again, taking her hand in his and holding it tight. “With the sexiest woman by his side.”
She pulled away from him, pulling herself together, looking in the mirror to check her make-up. “I need a drink.” Then she turned back around, walking over to him and straightening his tie. “Come on. I’m sure they’re missing you out there.”
He kissed her quickly. “It’ll be ok, Stevie. I promise you.”
“Yeah, well, let’s just wait and see. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, do we?”
He tilted up her chin so she was looking straight at him. “I know I want you here. With me.”
“I want that too, Daniel.”
He gave her one more kiss then left her alone, walking along the landing and back out into the living room.
Angus looked at him over the top of his reading glasses. “We don’t all need to know what goes on behind the bedroom door, Daniel.”
“Don’t listen then.” Daniel helped himself to another small whisky.
“You didn’t leave us much choice, old chap. She’s a bit of a screamer that one. Is that normal practise or does she just get a kick out of letting everyone know she’s screwing the next Prime Minister?”
Daniel looked at him, taking a drink but saying nothing. Angus left it there. Tonight wasn’t the night to aggravate Daniel Madison.
“The polls close in little over an hour, Daniel, so you might want to get yourself ready. We’ll be leaving slightly earlier than planned; we want to be there when the counting begins. It shouldn’t take long to get the first results in by all accounts.”
Daniel finished his drink, smiling at Stevie as she made her way into the kitchen, but not without mouthing something at him first that he got straightaway and couldn’t help laughing at.
“Is your head together, Daniel? We need focus here.”
“I’m not five, Angus.”
“Like I said, we need focus. This is a big night. Probably the biggest night of your life. You need to get it together.”
“I’m very much aware of how important tonight is, Angus, but at the same time that woman in there is also extremely important to me...”
“You’ve worked hard for years to get this far, Daniel. You’ve known her five minutes.”
“And you think that matters?”
“Yes. I do.”
Daniel didn’t want to get into this tonight. He wasn’t in the mood and he didn’t have time. “I’m going to get ready,” he said, slamming his empty glass down on the sideboard. “I shouldn’t be too long.”
Angus waited until Daniel was back in the bedroom before going into the kitchen, standing at the back, watching as Stevie opened a bottle of beer and took a drink.
She turned to look at him, leaning back against the work top. “See something you like?”
He came over, standing close to her. “That cheap mouth of yours might do something for Daniel, Ms. Stone, but it doesn’t impress me.”
“Oh, this cheap mouth does a lot for Daniel alright. Things you wouldn’t believe.” She recognised this man. He’d been by Daniel’s side every time she’d seen him on TV. She hadn’t liked the look of him then, and she liked him even less now she’d finally met him. She took another drink. “And I wasn’t trying to impress you. Whoever you are.”
“Angus Gordon. Soon-to-be Deputy Prime Minister. If tonight goes to plan.”
“I’d like to say I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Gordon, but I’m getting the feeling I’d be lying.”
“He has no intention of divorcing Samantha you know.”
“I never asked him to.”
“He just needs to get you out of his system, and then we can all return to normal.”
She continued staring at him, her stomach dipping at the tone of his voice but she wasn’t going to let him get to her. She’d faced worse than him in her time. “With every fuck I give him he’s getting in deeper and deeper, Mr. Gordon. Literally. So I wouldn’t hold your breath that I’m going anywhere any time soon.”
“Smart mouth you have there, lady.”
“And wouldn’t you like to know where it’s been.”
“You don’t belong in this world, Ms. Stone. I know that, you know that. And so does Daniel, but until he stops thinking with his dick he isn’t going to realise that. In time though, he will. And with his wife back where she belongs you’ll be nothing but a fleeting memory.”
“You think so?”
“I know so. Whatever hold you have over him, it won’t last forever. He’s better than that.”
“I think you’re forgetting that Daniel is the one who chased me, I didn’t go looking for him.”
“Then you should have walked away.”
“I’ve never really done anything I should have done – Angus. I do what I want.”
She was a tough one, Angus had to admit she was going to be no pushover. But with enough ammunition...
“You’re an undoubtedly beautiful woman, Ms. Stone. But that isn’t enough. I know Daniel. When he becomes Prime Minister – because that’s almost a given - he’s going to change his whole way of thinking and you’ll soon be pushed into the background, believe me. He won’t have time for his dirty little secret.”
“Dirtier than you could ever imagine,” she smiled, moving closer to him, so she was almost right up
in his face. “And your threats aren’t working, by the way. Your little attempts to make me walk away now, they’re not working. I’ll be here for Daniel, for as long as he wants me.”
Angus looked at her. Stunning to look at, with the mouth of a hooker. “You said it, Ms. Stone – for as long as he wants you.”
She watched him leave, picking up her beer and knocking back a good mouthful, throwing her head back and closing her eyes. She didn’t want to admit that he’d shaken her, but he had. And that was only because she cared so much about Daniel, only because she loved him like she did otherwise she could have seen off Angus Gordon in a heartbeat. He was nothing to her. But Daniel was everything.
She walked out of the kitchen, ignoring everyone else around her as she made her way back to the bedroom.
Daniel was in the en-suite bathroom, naked from the waist up, shaving off the stubble that had made him look that little bit more rugged. She’d liked it. But then, she’d never really been with anyone clean shaven for as long as she could remember.
Walking up behind him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Everything ok?” he asked, dipping his razor in the water before flicking it over the remainder of his un-shaved stubble.
“Everything’s fine.” As it was ever going to be. Under these circumstances. “I’m going to miss you, Daniel.”
“What are you talking about?”
“When you walk out of here tonight, who knows when I’m going to see you again?”
“You’ll see me tomorrow.”
“You’ll have time? The new Prime Minister is going to have time to come home and see his secret girlfriend? You really think that’s gonna happen?”
It probably wouldn’t. He just didn’t want to think about it, because he was going to miss her too. More than he cared to admit.
He looked at her in the mirror, her expression one of sadness. He’d never seen her look sad before. She’d always been upbeat, optimistic. Was he being fair to her, making her feel this way?
“It will work itself out, sweetheart. I know it’s going to be hard in the beginning, there’s going to be a lot to get used to but, I promise you, it will get better.”
She snuggled up against him, just wanting to feel the warmth of his body against her before she had to let him go.
“Will you stay here, Stevie? In the flat?”
“I can’t, Daniel.”
He picked up a towel and patted his face dry and she watched him in the mirror, his handsome face with those beautiful green eyes looking back at her. She’d never fallen this hard or got in so deep before and every time she realised that it terrified her. Daniel Madison wasn’t just any guy. He was so far from that.
He turned around and tilted up her chin, kissing her gently. “Why?”
“Because I can’t be on my own, Daniel. I need to be with people, I can’t just sit around watching all of this going on not knowing when you’re gonna be home. I can’t do that.”
“People? Does that mean...does that mean the band? Mark?”
She ran her hands up and down his arms. Surprisingly toned arms, for a politician.
“The band aren’t the only people I hang around with, Daniel. But Johnny’s my best friend. I need him around, if only to moan at.”
Daniel smiled, resting his forehead against hers. “Jesus, this is harder than I thought it was going to be.”
She felt tears start to burn the back of her eyes and she let him go, walking away from him, turning her back to him because she didn’t want him to see her crying. She’d never cried over a man before, not in a long time. Not in many, many years. But then, she’d never let one get this close to her.
“Stevie?”
“It’s ok,” she said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m fine.”
He came up behind her, kissing the back of her neck. “Maybe we need to face up to things, sweetheart.”
She turned round, looking up into his eyes. “What things?”
“I need you in my life, I need you beside me. I can’t do this alone anymore.”
“Daniel...”
“No, it ends, Stevie. This...this secrecy, this hiding you away like some shameful secret it ends. Jesus, I’m in love with you! I can’t get you out of my head; you’re my every waking thought, my every sleeping dream and if people can’t accept you beside me then that’s their problem, not ours.”
“Don’t do anything rash, Daniel. Don’t do anything tonight, please, not tonight. It’s such a big night for you; I don’t want anything to spoil it.”
He held tightly onto her hands. For the first time in months he’d never felt more sure about anything. Tonight would go however it was going to go, and if the results put him there in Number Ten then he couldn’t be happier, but she was coming with him. Stevie Stone would be there by his side. The game was over, the waiting was finished, the hiding was done.
“Be by my side and make me the happiest man alive,” he whispered.
She moved her mouth closer to his. “Just try and stop me, Mr. Madison.”
As they kissed she felt her heart skip a thousand beats and her stomach turn a hundred somersaults. It sounded so simple but it was far from that because she had to talk to him, she knew that now. Before someone else did. Angus Gordon could know nothing but then again he could know it all, and she didn’t want Daniel to hear it from him.
She watched as he got ready, slipping on a clean white shirt, blue tie and dark jacket. Her handsome politician. All ready to take over the country.
She straightened his tie, kissing him quickly. “Ok, baby. You go out there and knock ‘em dead, you hear me?”
“Will you be watching?”
She smiled. “Yeah. I reckon I’ll have to. TV’s the only way I’m gonna be seeing you over the next few days, if these results go your way.”
“I love you, Stevie. You have to believe that, you have to know that I mean that.”
“I know, Daniel. I know you do. And I love you too, baby. I really do.” More than she cared to admit.
He pulled her against him for one last kiss, one last feel of her incredible body against him as her open mouth touched his, and he wished the world would just go away and leave them alone. He wished that more than anything. But he had a job to do. Even if leaving her was going to kill him.
“Go on, get out of here,” she smiled, brushing imaginary dust from his jacket collar, anything to distract from the fact she was having to let him go.
“I’ll see you soon. Very soon.”
She just nodded, letting him kiss her one more time before he walked out the door, and she looked at the space where he’d been standing just seconds ago, unable to stop every built-up emotion from finally tumbling out as she leaned back against the sink, closed her eyes, and cried.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Daniel Madison. Prime Minister. But Stevie saw him only as the man who woke her up with soft kisses on her collarbone and gave her amazing back massages that always led to sex. She didn’t see him as the man in charge of the country, a world leader, a major decision maker. He was just Daniel. The man she was in love with. The man she hardly saw. But that was about to change. The secrecy and the hiding was about to come to an end. Soon. Very soon.
Daniel had announced his divorce from Samantha not long after his landslide election victory in a move Stevie knew hadn’t gone down too well with those around him, and just two days ago he’d confirmed – via a press statement – that he was in a new relationship. Stevie’s name hadn’t yet been mentioned but Daniel was about to introduce her to the public at a charity drinks function at one of London’s top hotels that evening, and just the thought of it was making her feel sick. The nerves had made her throw up twice already and every time she thought about it she practically hyperventilated. There were people out there who were vehemently against Daniel’s relationship with her but so far he’d ignored them all, proving to her that he really did love her. Beca
use what he was doing tonight was a big risk for him. He hadn’t been Prime Minister long, just a matter of months, so for him to put it all on the line for her was an incredible thing for him to be doing. She just wasn’t sure she was ready. She was getting used to the secrecy. She quite liked the privacy. Going public meant more problems, more things for her to face up to and she didn’t know is she wanted to have to deal with those things just yet. Daniel, however, wanted everything out in the open. No more secrets. But there were some things that Stevie hoped would stay just that. Secret.
Everything had moved on so fast since Daniel had entered Number Ten Downing Street, not least their relationship. She was now full on, head-over-heels in love with the British Prime Minister, which was crazy and ridiculous but it was happening. It was real. And it meant her life was changing at a speed she could barely keep up with.
She still saw Johnny now and again, and they spoke on the ‘phone all the time. He was her best friend and nothing would change that. But she hadn’t seen or spoken to Mark or the other guys in months. Her old life was behind her. It had to be. Daniel was all she could concentrate on. But she couldn’t help missing the past. She was alone a lot these days and it gave her too much time to think.
The sound of the living room door closing brought a smile to her face and she walked out of the kitchen, leaning back against the wall, folding her arms as she looked at him. He was home, and it felt like Christmas morning. “How you doing, Mr. Prime Minister?”
He walked over to her, smiling too, his eyes locking onto hers. “I’m all the better for being back home.”
“The U.S.A. not all it’s cracked up to be then?”
“Not without you around, no.”
“You missed me then?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” He reached out and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Did you see me on TV?”
She slid a hand underneath his jacket, just wanting to touch him again. “Constantly. I had the news on a loop because watching you in full-on P.M. mode really turns me on.”
“It does?”
See You at the Show Page 21