Knight (Political Royalty Book 1) (15 page)

Unable to push the words past the tightening in her throat, she nodded and then he kissed her again and nothing mattered but the feel of his mouth on hers, his hands on her hungry skin. She dealt with the last few buttons before pushing the polished cotton off his shoulders, baring a chest better suited to an athlete than a politician. Pulling back so she could drink him in, she ran her palms over the flat planes of his stomach, feeling the ridges of muscle under his tight skin. A light dusting of hair covered his chest, narrowing to a trail that ran down his stomach and disappeared under his waistband. She wanted to trace the trail with her fingertips and then with her tongue.

When she reached for his belt, he caught her wrists, pinning her in place.

“Not yet,” he said, guiding her to the edge of the bed.

Shep found the clasp on her pants and unhooked it. A quick tug of the zipper and he pushed the gray fabric over her hips and to the floor. Taking her hand in his, he helped her step free, and then she was naked except for a pair of pale-pink lace panties she never expected anyone but her to see.

“Up on the bed, beautiful.”

He urged her onto the cloud-soft duvet, and she scrambled to the pile of pillows at the headboard. When she turned around, hugging her knees to her chest, he’d toed off his shoes and socks. She watched as he climbed onto the bed, wearing nothing but navy pants hung low on his hips, and started to stalk toward her like a predator scenting its prey.

He brushed a quick kiss over her lips before grabbing her ankles. He gave a quick tug and she let out a squeal as he positioned her so she was stretched out on the bed.

“I can’t wait to taste you,” he said, his words sending a wave of heat to her already molten core.

Hooking his thumbs under the waistband of her panties, he pulled the lace over her hips and down her legs, baring her completely to him. The fierce hunger in his eyes answered any questions she had about what he felt. He positioned himself between her spread legs, gazed up her body to meet her eyes and then kissed her, open-mouthed and demanding like she was something delicious and he couldn’t get enough. He flicked his tongue over her clit, and she gripped his hair, needing a way to anchor herself while he set about trying to fracture her with the pleasure of his mouth on her aching flesh.

His lips wrapped around her clit, and he sucked, drawing the sensitive bundle of nerves into his mouth while the tip of his finger teased her opening, dipping in and out, winding her up without ever giving her what she needed. She tangled her fingers in his hair, losing the last of her reservations against the delicious onslaught of his tongue. Sliding his finger inside her, he stroked, curving to hit the spot that had her bucking against him. When a second finger joined the first, she thought she’d lose her mind. Using his hand and his mouth, he drove her on, taking her closer and closer to the edge until her body clenched around him and the orgasm rolled over her, leaving her breathless in its wake.

“God, I fucking love feeling you come apart underneath me.” He pressed a damp kiss to her inner thigh and let his forehead rest against her hip. When she tugged to pull him up to her, he held fast, wrapping his arms around her waist. “This is enough for now. I don’t generally carry condoms with me.” His voice held a rueful edge, and she wondered if he really believed she’d let him get her off and not take any pleasure for himself. She wasn’t about to let him try. Reaching beside the bed, she dug around in her bag until she found the foil packet.

“I carry everything,” she said, dropping the packet on her damp curls in front of his face.

“You really do have everything in that bag, don’t you?” he said, wonder in his voice. “I’m not going to ask why. I’m just going to be grateful because there’s nothing I want more than to be inside you right now.” The rasp in his tone combined with anticipation had her desire spiraling in on itself again. She was lost in the feel of this incredible man.

Shep climbed off the bed just long enough to shed his pants and shorts. His long, thick cock sprang free, and her mouth practically watered. Not willing to wait, she shifted to lie on her stomach, facing him. Gripping his hips, she pulled him close enough to wrap her lips around him. When she slid down his length, taking as much of him into her mouth as she could, he let out a groan filled with such longing her body went liquid in anticipation.

“Fuck. God. Haven. Fuck.”

Knowing she’d reduced this man who made speeches for a living to simple words with just her mouth was almost more than she could take. He gathered her hair into a ponytail at the back of her head and used it to guide her up and down his length. She pushed farther, taking him deeper, wanting to feel him fall apart for her. Needing to give him back a fraction of the pleasure he’d given her.

“Not this time, beautiful,” he said, pulling back with what felt like Herculean effort. “I want to come inside you. I want to look in your eyes while I’m fucking you.”

The tender sentiment combined with his dirty words was enough to get her partway gone. She scrambled onto her back and spread her legs for him, wanton and more than ready. He picked up the foil packet off the bedspread where it had fallen, and she watched as he sheathed himself. Kneeling between her spread legs, he palmed her ass, angling her hips for him. Keeping his gaze locked on her face, he wedged the head of his cock against her swollen opening, and she sucked in a breath, desperate for him to take the next step. To drive them both over the edge.

In one smooth movement, he buried himself inside her. Her body clenched at the sweet invasion. His jaw tightened. She saw him fighting for control, and then he started to move and her whole world narrowed to the point where his body joined hers.

With long strokes he moved inside her, driving her on with his punishing rhythm. His fingers dug into her hips, and she knew she’d bear his marks in the morning. Meeting his gaze, losing herself in his eyes, she couldn’t fight the feeling that he’d already marked her. Everything in his body felt tight, as if he were fighting hard for every scrap of control. She wanted to take him over the edge, to feel him fall apart in her arms. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she dug her heels into his ass, making room for him to go deeper, to touch more of her.

He let go of her with one hand just long enough to play his fingertips over her aching clit. That’s all it took to shatter any plans she’d made. The orgasm ripped through her, tightening her body and shattering her.

“Walker,” she whispered as the climax stole her breath.

He bent over her, his elbows resting on either side of her head. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging to him as his thrusts became faster, erratic, desperate. Cupping her head in his hands, he cradled her against his chest as he drove into her in a gesture so simultaneously tender and demanding, he slayed her. In a flash, she recognized her true weakness. This man could have all of her.

“Haven.” He cried out as his orgasm caught him and she felt him pulse as he emptied himself inside her.

F
RESH FROM HIS SHOWER, MATT pulled back the covers and nudged the woman sleeping in a tangle of sheets next to him.

“Jess, come on. Time to get up or we’ll miss the bus.”

She groaned, pulling the covers over her head. Matt grabbed the edge of the passable duvet and yanked it and the sheet off his sleeping buddy.

“Fuck you, asshole.” She buried her head under the pillow. She had a tongue sharp enough to cut glass, but she also had a truly fine ass. He’d managed to put both to very satisfying use before they collapsed the night before.

“You already did that, darling,” he said, bringing his hand down on the sweet curve of her ass with a satisfying smack.

His palm stung, and she jumped up like she’d been electrocuted, murder in her eyes.

“Don’t get mad at me,” he said, going for the guileless, innocent look that had served him so well over the years. “I could have just let you sleep. We’d have been halfway to Manchester by the time you woke up on your own.”

He knew without a doubt, the truth of his words were the only thing that saved him. He and Jessica had been friends since college and on-again, off-again fuck buddies whenever it suited them. She was a notoriously horrible morning person and campaign buses had a tendency to take off at the ass crack of dawn. It was one of the reasons she’d agreed to pool their respective travel budgets. She’d get an alarm clock that couldn’t be snoozed, he wouldn’t have to worry about picking up a cocktail waitress in every town they came to, and they got to sleep in halfway decent rooms with a lower incidence of bed bugs. It was a win-win.

And regardless of how many times they hooked up, he knew Jess would never expect more from him. She’d always known he was a dog and seemed content to accept him for it. It might get awkward if one of them ever managed to stumble onto a story, but that seemed less likely at every stop. Matt dug in every corner he could find and as far as he could tell, Senator Walker was a boy scout.

A reluctant Jessica grumbled something unintelligible and headed for the bathroom. He heard the sound of the shower running and ten minutes later she was back dressed, wearing a minimum of makeup and looking much closer to human. He handed her a cup of coffee he’d made from the tiny in-room coffeemaker, thereby cementing his status as a decent guy.

The bus was crowded, but like most people, the press and campaign staff were creatures of habit. They’d staked out their spots early on and so far everyone seemed to respect the boundaries. That would change if they scented blood in the water, but so far that seemed improbable. The more likely scenario was that they’d travel from one mind-numbing rally to the next, listening to the Boy Scout talk about feeding hungry people.

Matt edged out Jess for the window seat. Coffee and mutual orgasms were as deep as his chivalry ran. She rolled her eyes at him and pulled out her tablet. He leaned back in the seat with his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. She might be slow waking up, but he had no doubt she worked a hell of a lot harder than he did.

“Have you found anything other than boring ag statistics to rehash?” he asked, not bothering to open his eyes.

“Besides how badly he lost to Collins? No.”

He felt her shift in the seat beside him and then she poked him in the ribs.

“What the fuck?”

“Payback.”

“They were right. It is a bitch,” he said, narrowly dodging her hand again.

“Do you wonder about the wife?”

“Whose wife?”

“Walker’s, you moron. She’s almost never on the campaign trail with him. I mean, I know they have little kids, but other candidates’ families have joined them. She wasn’t even there for the concession the night he lost Iowa.”

It seemed stupid because Matt was just supposed to cover Walker, not try to be his friend, but he’d felt kind of bad for the guy. He’d come in third, and aside from some volunteer groupies, he hadn’t had his wife or anyone else there to console him. That had been a couple of days and dozens of stops ago. The guy sure as hell seemed to have bounced, but Matt still felt sorry for him. Hopefully New Hampshire wouldn’t be quite such a disaster.

“I just assumed it was because of the kids,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Maybe,” said Jess, in a way that clearly meant she didn’t believe it. “I wonder if there’s something going on with him and his campaign manager.”

Matt glanced over his shoulder to the area of the bus occupied by the senior staff. The campaign manager huddled in the seat with that Justin guy, who always seemed to be within arm’s reach of her. They were bent head to head over some papers, looking like they didn’t realize there was anyone else on the bus with them. The senator sat on the opposite side of the bus, absorbed in his own stuff. He didn’t even glance her way.

“What would make you think that?” he asked Jess. His editor had been pushing and pushing for him to dig up something on an extra-marital affair. She called them
Walker’s Women
and insisted they had to be out there somewhere. Like father, like son and all that. Despite the fact that that kind of coverage seemed to fly in the face of the player’s only bro code, Matt hadn’t seen any sign it was true. “They’re hardly ever together and even then it’s in a group.”

“Exactly,” said Jess.

“You’re so weird.”

“I’m right.”

“About what?” he asked, cutting his gaze in her direction.

She sat holding her tablet and looking very sure of herself.

“You don’t know anything.” He gave another glance back over his shoulder, starting to feel like he might be missing something and not sure he really wanted to find it. The senator had some cute kids and they were still young enough to be mostly unaffected by what went on around them. That would change if their daddy became president, but it didn’t have to be because of something he’d written.

“I may not know anything for sure,” said Jess. “But if there’s something there, I’ll find it.”