Loving the Candidate (Capitol Affairs #2) (15 page)

I didn’t say anything. He searched my face for what used to be between us. It was still there, we just had to open our eyes and remember. I knew women threw themselves at him. Deep inside of me, I knew something brought him back to me. Something made him want me, like he never had before.

Hiding my face in my hands, I slumped to the floor and cried. I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. That bitch touching Alex and Ashe kissing me and wanting me to fuck him, played fast forward in my mind. Alex lifted me up against him and kissed me violently, taking my entire mouth. He pushed my body against the wall as he continued to devour my mouth. I was starved for him, and I wanted all of him. I wanted to crawl into him.

“Holy fuck,” he cried out. His hands were on my face, holding me to him, looking into my tear-drenched eyes.

I was afraid to touch him, afraid he would push me away again. I was afraid if I touched him it wouldn’t be the same. “I love you so much,” I said, looking into his eyes. I was lost in him. His pain wounded me. All I wanted was to touch him. I reached up and put my hands in his hair. His hands searched under my coat. I had not felt his hands on me for weeks. Throwing my coat off, I pressed up against him. His kisses covered my face, his tongue thrust in my mouth, his teeth bit my bottom lip. My lip throbbed, and I didn’t care. He reached under my sweater with his soft hands and unhooked my bra. My breasts, heavy and sensitive, wanted his touch, his mouth. I moaned into his mouth as his hands found my breasts and caressed them. My nipples were hard and begging for him. He pulled my sweater over my head, and I stood bare in front of him.

“I missed you. Your body, your heart, it’s mine and no one else is allowed to have it. No one will ever have me, but you,” he said, through tears. He stroked my back as his body pressed me up against the wall.

“Take me to bed,” I whispered in his ear.

His cock was hard against my jeans. I wanted him more than I ever had before. He lifted me and I wrapped my legs around his waist and held on to him. His mouth stayed on mine while we walked up the steps to our room. He laid me on the bed that had brought us back together before. I kicked off my boots, and they hit the hardwood floor, echoing in the quietness of the tiny room. He pulled off his shirt and lay across me. His heartbeat pounded, and I wanted to melt into his body and into his soul. I held him tight, burying my face into his neck, taking in his scent and his being. Sliding his hands between my legs, he stroked me through my jeans. I arched my back, begging for him to keep going.

He undid my jeans, roughly tearing them apart, and I heard the zipper rip. I wanted them off me as fast as possible. He tugged them down my thighs while I lifted my butt off the bed. I helped kick them off the rest of the way. We continued to kiss, and I tried to take his jeans off him. He stopped to look me up and down intensely, like it was the first time he had made love to me. My thong was still on, and he ripped it off with both of his hands. I could hear it tear, and he threw it on the floor. I cried out, wanting him to fill me, to touch what ached.

He devoured my body fiercely. His coarse beard scraped over my skin, leaving my body aching and raw, marking me as his. Every inch of my body was touched by his tongue, his teeth, and his lips. His tears covered me as he bit into my flesh, and I opened my thighs, knowing he needed me as much as I needed him. Licking two fingers, he slid them inside me.

“Alex,” I cried.

Intent on pleasing me, he kept silent. His fingers worked on me, stroking faster before rubbing across my clit, all the while, his mouth trailed across my hips and thighs. The smell of sex filled the air. He shoved my legs farther apart with his head, brushing my aching cunt. His fingers searched deep inside for the spot that sent me over the edge. He looked up at me as I returned his intense stare. He dropped back down between my thighs. He spread me open with his thumbs and pressed his face greedily to my pussy. I struggled against my orgasm, wanting him to keep going all night.

“I love you so much. You have no idea. No one in this world can take your place in my life,” he said, looking up at me again. He kissed my inner thighs and he continued his journey back up my body and to my mouth. I grabbed his smooth, round ass in my hands as I pushed him into me. I cried out his name as he filled me, hard. My sex clenched around him, dripping wet and throbbing. Alex’s body tightened. He looked into my eyes, and the warmth of his cum jetted inside me. I came with him, harder than I ever had. Over and over, he pumped me hard, and I kept coming with each thrust. It was too intense, and I tried to hold him still. He said my name deep from within his gut.

“Prudence, I love you so fucking much,” he said, as he collapsed on me, sweating and breathing heavily.

I held on to him as tight as I could. “I will take my last breath loving you and you alone, Alex Conrad. Don’t you dare leave me,” I cried. He nuzzled his face into my neck and his tears covered me as we lay in each other’s embrace.

“I will never leave you. I won’t live if I leave you. My body and heart can’t take it.”

Our hearts beat together as we fell asleep. Being in each other’s arms was all we needed. We were both exhausted from the two weeks we were alone.

I woke up the next morning, lying between his legs and in his arms. Neither of us had moved. I was afraid it was a dream, afraid I would wake up and he wouldn’t be there. The past two weeks had been awful, waking up without him. I wanted to stay wrapped in his arms and his love.

When I moved, he woke up.

“You’re not a dream. You’re here?” he asked. I looked up at his swollen, tired eyes.

“Yes, I’m here. I will never leave you, Alex.”

We stayed in bed for two days. With the primaries coming up, we wouldn’t see each other as much. We ate, slept a lot, and talked. The last night was the most beautiful night. We made love on the beach in front of the fire. We put down blankets and pillows from one of the beds. It was pure love as we touched and kissed for hours. Wrapped in blankets, we stayed naked and fed each other lobster. It was a night I wanted to last forever.

“The Iowa caucus is coming up after the holidays. I’ll be busting my ass to get the Democratic nomination. Once I clean up Ashe’s mess, I will be back up in the polls.”

“Are you trying to tell me you want me to cut back on my work soon?”

“Maybe a little bit. I know we talked about this and how you want to keep working for a while. I need you more now.” He kissed the top of my head and relaxed more in his arms.

“Oh, I believe I can be persuaded to cut back some.”

“What are your demands, Prudence? Diamonds, clothes, a new car?”

“Ha, how little you know me, Senator. You know I don’t want any of that.”

I turned my head around and kissed him, biting his lower lip playfully.

“I see, you want sex. You are a dream woman, sex over diamonds.

“Not just sex, Alex. I want you to promise me we can have times like this. Even if it’s for a day or just a few hours. I want us to make time for each other, and of course sex will be involved.”

“I think I can meet your demands, quite happily.”

He kissed my shoulder and I shuddered. He still could give me goose bumps.

“I could use a break from the practice, but I’m not giving it up.” I looked back and kissed him. The surf lapped at the shore, and the cool wind blew my hair. I loved listening to the sound of the waves as I sipped my wine and got sleepy in his arms. “I hope all our problems are behind us. And what about your secret, Alex? What if that comes out?”

“It won’t. I’ve checked and double-checked. If Ashe couldn’t dig it up, I’m sure no one can. He was out to get me from day one, and he did his best to find anything he could on me. I fought Ashe’s shit and I will fight whoever stands in my way. I have worked for this since I graduated from law school and some jackass isn’t going to take it from me.”

“This isn’t just the Senate, Alex. They’re going to be into everything.”

“I’m not worried about it, and I don’t want you to be either. We made it this far, and no one is going to ruin what we’ve worked for. That should be the least of your worries, baby.”

“My mom’s AIDS and prison sentence is bound to come out, Alex. That was a big story.”

“I don’t care. I know what you and I are, and no one is going to ruin us. Not now, not ever. We are good people and our love is something many people never find. That will shine through anything they think they can throw at us.”

“I don’t want to fall apart when I need to be strong.”

“I don’t see you falling apart, Prudence,” he said. He kissed me and put his hands under the blanket, groping my warm body.

“I want to stay like this, wrapped in a blanket with you on the beach. I wish this wouldn’t end. I don’t want to leave. Only you and I and the ocean,” I whispered, looking back at him and finding his lips. He kissed me tenderly, his mouth full and buttery from the lobster.

“It would be nice, but we have to keep moving on, baby. If life gets too crazy, we’ll come here and regroup, you and I and Beckett and a slew of secret service. A baby would be wonderful too, don’t you think? Turn around.”

I stayed wrapped in our blanket and turned my body to him. Our naked bodies melted into each other. I straddled him and his warm cock grew hard against me.

“Look at me,” he said, as he lifted my chin. “We are meant to be in the White House. You’re extraordinary, someone made for a great life. You can get through this with me by your side. I’m so sorry for hurting you, and I swear it won’t happen again. We have to fight for this and fight hard. There is no room for quitters or wimps in my book.” He smiled.

“I know, Alex. I’m okay. I will fight for you and we are going to make this work. I know you were made to be the president and I’m going to be the first lady, and soon I’ll be ready for a first baby.”

“You mean it about the baby?” he asked.

“Yes. I would love to have our love inside me growing into a beautiful perfect baby. Are you prepared?” I asked. I was all for being a mom, but I didn’t think I was ready to share Alex with anyone else. I still wanted him to myself and I knew it was being selfish, but I could see how happy he was at the thought of a baby, so I kept that thought to myself.

We fell asleep together on the beach, snuggled up in the big blanket. I woke up the next morning to the view of sunrise, lying next to the most wonderful man in the world.

Chapter 18

I hated leaving Hyannis I watched as we flew into the clouds and my favorite place on earth got farther and farther away. The beach house was our refuge and our home, where nothing and no one could bother us. I was thankful we could go there when life got a little out of sorts. I hoped it would always be our place.

Mark picked us up, and it was back to our regular life. I was elated to have Alex back home where he belonged. Alex and I went upstairs to “christen” our bedroom. The place had been a disaster for two weeks, but the cleaning lady had worked her magic. Everything smelled like cinnamon and vanilla. Our refrigerator was stocked with food. I made spaghetti and chicken that night, and we ate on the back porch in front of a fire. Beulah called the next day to make sure all was well in the Conrad household.

“Thank you,” I told her.

“Nonsense. You could have never made it another day without him or him without you. You needed a swift kick in your ass. Sometimes we all do, Prudence,” Beulah said.

“I do need to get stronger, Grandma. This shouldn’t have bothered me so much.”

“You will. Get to the doctor and get yourself back together. You can do it.”

If I was lucky enough to be first lady, I wanted to be someone other women looked up to. I didn’t want to look like a puppet of my husband.

Veena and I frequented our new favorite outdoor cafe in the heart of the city on our lunch hours. Since it was approaching fall, it was wonderful sitting outside during the warm afternoons and catching up. It was election season. Everywhere you looked, someone was campaigning, either with a button on a shirt or by passing out flyers. Since I could hide my features well, I was still able to go out most times without being noticed if I was not with Alex. It was nice to go out and be like everyone else even if it was for one hour.

“How are things with you lately?” I asked. Veena seemed different, and a little distant. I worried she had fallen back into her old ways, or the idiot ex-husband of hers was giving her problems like when he tried to get custody of baby Prudence. I took him down without a fight. I sent him a letter threatening to expose his drug use and abusiveness if he didn’t back off. I “nailed his ass to the wall” as Victoria would say.

“I’m good. Prudy’s getting a little much to handle. I swear she’s your child, and not mine. Last week she wanted a pair of boots. This child is three, and she didn’t want them unless I took her to the boutique where you shop with her. You’re making her a priss like you, Prude. Two peas in a pod,” she laughed, sipping her coffee.

“It’s our name. We are prisses with a name like Prudence. We expect more in life.”

“Well, whatever. I need to fess up to something, Prude. I haven’t wanted to say anything because I didn’t know how you’d handle it.” She looked away from me and stared off into the busy crowds that walked by.

“What is it, Veena? You’re not on crack again, are you? Pregnant? You miss that idiot of an ex-husband and you want to work it out? What? I can take it.”

“No, it’s none of that. What the hell, Prudence! Give me a little more credit. I wanted to tell you. Well … ” It had to be something huge.

My body became hot, and I got nervous. “Tell me. What is it?” I asked.

“Okay, don’t be mad at me, but Mark and I have been sleeping together for the last month. I thought it was best I tell you, so you don’t find out and get pissed I never mentioned it.” Veena grimaced like she expected me to hit her on the head with something.

I was relieved, to say the least. I’d had my suspicions and I was right.

“You and Mark are an item? I thought something was going on. The way you get all goofy when he’s at the house. He is so not your type. Why didn’t you say something earlier?”