On His Terms (10 page)

“Oh god.” She moaned even louder, letting him know she would take almost anything
he was willing to give her. He slid her jeans down and off her legs, pausing to claw
his nails down the side of her thigh. He worked his way over to her panties, feverishly
sliding those off as well.

There she lay, her legs spread open before him. She had never felt so good making
herself this vulnerable. She was on fire, yearning for more of him.

He placed his hands under her back for leverage as he began to gently nip at the area
around her opening.

Damn…
She never knew she could get this wet. She arched her back out as his tongue began
to ravage her sacred space. This time her hands weren’t tied, and she intended on
taking advantage of this fact as she pulled his head in deeper towards her.

He worked her opening harder and faster, synchronizing his speed with the rhythm of
her breath. She dug her nails into the back of his head, pulling him yet deeper into
her as his tongue worked twice as hard.

His hand reached up and began to toy with her nipple as he continued to please her
below
. She couldn’t remember the last time she climaxed.

He looked up at her and saw the ecstasy written on her face.
 
“Come on baby, I want you to come for me,” he said. She was just about to fall off
the edge.

His tongue explored harder than ever as waves and waves of orgasmic pleasure ripped
through her every cell. She lost herself completely with her climax, letting go with
every fiber of her soul.

And when it was over, he wrapped his arms around her and actually held her close.

Here she was, trapped under his
220 pound
frame, in the back of his limo, surrounded by nothing but desolate alley walls. And
yet for some strange reason, she felt safer than she ever thought possible.

“We should get out of here soon,” he smiled. “I’d hate to make the papers in this
fashion,” he said. He took out his phone and sent out a quick text message. “My driver
will be here in a minute.”

She looked at him and brushed his hair to the side with her fingers, savoring the
soft perfect feel of every strand.
 
“You did great up there on the stage tonight,” she said. Of course, he probably could
have just stood up on stage and read an excerpt from an accounting textbook and she
would have been just as mesmerized.

“Thanks. It was easy,” he paused, “once I knew you were there with me,” he said, brushing
her upper cheek with his thumb.

 
“I’m really sorry I freaked out on you,” she said.

“Ally, I’ve moved on. You’re with me right now, that’s all I need to know.”

“Are you always this forgiving?” she asked, comforted by the image of
herself
reflected in his eyes.

“Are you always this apologetic?” he replied, sitting up and adjusting his navy blue
tie sprinkled with hundreds of tiny American flags.

The billionaire’s driver knocked on the limo’s rear tinted window. “Mr. Westbrook?
You all set, sir?”

“Yeah, Keith. Let’s roll,” Hale said as he checked the time on his phone.

* * *

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Ally, Ally, wake up.” Julie continued to shake her from her sleepy coma. “Wake up
Ally, seriously. There’s some guy at the door, said he has a meeting with you.” Ally
could barely move, let alone get out of bed. Her sister’s words were like background
noise at this point.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“For real,
Ally
. Get up. He said his name is Charles. He said he works for Hale Westbrook.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Shit. Charles.
Ally sprang from her bed, nearly landing on her back, still feeling so disoriented
from last night’s events. She paused
ever-so-briefly
, flashing back to her time with Hale in the back of his limo.
Could it all have been a dream?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“You’re a mess,” her sister said. “Here, throw this on.” She threw Ally a fleece sweatshirt
to cover her scantly clad self.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What the hell could he be doing here? Did Hale regret last night and send Charles
here to end things between them?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Ms. Shore, so nice to see you again” Charles was dressed to the nines, as he always
was.
Black suit, dark sunglasses, a handsome leather briefcase, and a toothpick hanging
out of the side of his mouth.
He slid his sunglasses off his eyes and onto his head. “Do you have time to meet?”
He looked at Ally, then at Julie, then back at Ally. “Alone?”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ally looked at her sister and shrugged her shoulders. Her heart was racing. It seemed
that anything to do with Hale’s world somehow got her adrenaline going in one way
or another. “Yes, of course. I just need a minute,” she said.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ally and Charles headed towards
Monagan’s
Trail, their original meeting grounds.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Charles flipped his sunglasses back over his eyes. “I understand you made it out to
Bakersfield yesterday.” Hale’s 6’5” bodyguard or assistant or whoever he was looked
down at Ally. She turned away as naturally as she could, hiding her flushing red face.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Could he know about the two of us in the alley?
 
She wondered how much Hale told this man about his personal life.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I’m
gonna
play this with you straight, Ally.” His voice was deep, and his eyes were polite
but all business. She was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“This election is huge,” he continued. “It’s bigger than you might understand. If
things go well, his candidacy as the governor of California is just the beginning.
We’re closing in on Washington, bit by bit.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“You mean that Hale plans on running for the presidency?”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“He’s young, powerful, and he knows the right people. And Hale Westbrook’s never made
any plans he couldn’t execute.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She shook her head. “Fine.
 
But that doesn’t explain why you’re here with me,” she said.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I’m
gonna
make this simple for you.” He adjusted the toothpick in his mouth and looked down
the trail. “My job is to make sure that things go smoothly. Hale likes you. And he
trusts you. His instincts are good in this department.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She stopped in her tracks. Charles followed suit and looked her straight in the eyes.
“And under normal circumstances his intuition is more than enough,” he said. “But
these aren’t normal circumstances.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ally had been so lost in the romance of this whole situation with Hale that she had
completely lost sight of the political magnitude of what all this meant. Charles was
right, she didn’t understand. And she was starting to feel like the leading female
role in some Jason Bourne movie.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Please, let’s sit for a minute,” Charles said, gesturing towards a nearby bench.
The aide opened up his briefcase and handed Ally a black folder. He nodded towards
the folder. “Why don’t you take a look inside.
”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She opened the folder and read the following two words situated at the center of the
document’s cover page: Confidentiality Agreement.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
She crinkled her eyes, trying to make sense of it all.

“Please, you must understand, this isn’t personal Ally,” said Charles.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“You want me to sign something to show I’ll keep my mouth shut?” Ally was annoyed,
but not nearly as annoyed as she thought she’d be at something like that
..

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Things happen in this world,
Ally
. And we…” he paused, as if catching himself. “…
and
Mr. Westbrook…He just can’t take any chances. Too much at stake.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A sudden revelation hit her like a hundred anvils. “Do you… have to do this often?”
she asked. She wondered if she was among a pool of countless women that Hale Westbrook
conquered and then rendered essentially invisible once he was through digesting each
girl.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I really can’t speak to that question Ally.” His eyes told a story--it was as if
he actually felt bad for her in this moment.

Or maybe she was just going a bit insane with paranoia.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Let me guess, you had to sign one of these things too,” she said.

He fiddled with the toothpick in his mouth, but didn’t bother responding.