Chapter 4

At the furious rapping of a fist on the front door, I shook the sleep from my head. It became louder as I lay on the couch, trying to get my bearings. On the TV, it was half-time; Steelers up by seven points. Outside, fat raindrops were spattering against the patio doors. The fist again pounded.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming,” I growled while heaving from the couch.

Halfway across the floor, I slowed. It was Sunday. No deliveries. Plus, since I was about to travel, I’d ordered nothing. With brows knitting, I was scratching my head while leaning to the peephole.

Laura. My pulse shot skyward so fast the world wobbled. With dark brown hair gathered in a ponytail, she wasn’t scanning the hall. Nope, she was staring at my door. Reddened, her eyes were glistening, which could mean anything. So, my heartbeat kept right on speeding.

With teeth clenched, I tugged the door wide. My brain melted. Well, she wasn’t angry. Nope, Laura Bendix, congresswoman, stared up at me while wearing...

Well, a pink sleeveless crop top. With only thin spaghetti straps, it dangled from that firm chest and was short enough that the underswells of her tits were visible above that flat tanned stomach. Plus twin spikes protruding even further announced she wore no bra. Glued to her waist was the tiniest pair of black booty shorts. Really nothing more than a thin strip of fabric.

Oh, and the pièce de résistance—five-inch glossy black stilettos enhanced those wondrous legs.

“Can I, uh, come in, Deke?”

“Um, yeah. Sure.” After gesturing her inside, I eased the door shut. “I, uh, thought...”

Words stopped flowing when a tear slipped free of her fluttering eyelash. Yet at her side, dainty fists balled. Fuck, it was a trap. She was pissed and about to punch me. Not that it’d do much good, but she seemed the type.

“Why’d you leave, Deke?” Her glossy lips trembled as she spoke. “Um, like that.”

“Uh, bec—”

“You said you’d keep me.”

My heartbeat was spiraling again, but only as my mind struggled to follow her words. Heat soared up my cheeks. For a long moment, she simply stared at me. But at last, her eyebrow lifted and hands relaxed.

“Could I sit?” After a quick scan of my apartment, she sighed. “So, um, we can chat for a minute.”

“What? Oh, uh, sure.” After pointing to the couch, I headed for it. “Have a seat. I was just, uh, watching the game.”

Once seated, I expected her to settle as far away as possible. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. Instead, she landed right beside me. As we exchanged silent glances, the heat from her compact frame battered my arm.

“After...” My voice drifted into an awkward silence. Where to start? “Well, remember what I said. You’re the one with everything to lose, Laura.” After a curt smack of my lips and a cursory glance at the game restarting, I turned off the TV. “What do you think people will say? You know, about me being at your place.”

“So you left to protect me?” Her eyebrow arched. “You weren’t, uh, done with me?”

“Huh? No.” I shook my head. “I don’t know about your world, but I meant what I said. Of course, I want you, Laura. It’s just ... Well, I’ve got no desire to ruin your career.”

For a very long time, those amazing deep brown pools bored ever deeper into my soul. No way she was faking all the emotions swirling behind them. After a lengthy exhale, she clasped both hands in her lap.

“Last night ... After, um ... Well”—another of those endearing giggles left her—”with me all nice and full of, um ... What I mean is, I’d never felt so ... So safe. Cuddled up with, uh, you.” My pulse thundered as she lifted my arm to drape it over her silky shoulders. “In your arms. With your heartbeat pounding me. It was nice. Cozy. Felt so right, Deke.”

“But I thought—”

“That I’d let a bunch of political hacks and festering muckrakers wreck whatever it is we’ve got?” There was that strident tone, but I held my tongue. “And I mean we. I can tell by your face you’re still feeling what we shared.”

“I, uh, do. Except—”

“Look, Deke. You read up on me. It’s all out there.” She started ticking off fingers. “Got knocked up. High school dropout. Married too young. Pregnant again. Several times. While I love my boys, I was way over my head with a man who was always traveling. Um, I don’t do lonely well. So, I fucked around. It was stupid. But I made a promise to myself. If ever I found somebody ... Somebody real, I’d never let them go.”

“I, uh, travel.”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m a helluva lot more mature now. My ex is a drunk. An angry, small-minded man. Everything you’re not.” She gave my crowded coffee table a quick scan, but there was nothing to drink but a half-empty jug of water. “Or don’t appear to be.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“Well”—while smiling at me, she pushed my dangling hand under her top—”if you still want me, you’ve gotta teach me to be a much better slut. Can’t be scaring you off all the time.”

At my first gentle crush of a heated, rubbery nipple, she didn’t whimper. No, a full-throated moan left her as she arched into my palm. When I added a slow twist, she squirmed and pressed against me.

“Mmm, that’s it.” Her eyes glittered. “Mm-hmm, baby. All better?”

“Yeah, better.” I opened my fingers to engulf then squeeze her entire tit.

“So, um...” A hitching, louder moan fluttered from her shaking lips as she tried to stay focused on my growing smile. “Oh God, Deke. Mmm, I love it when you play with me. W-What do you, uh, want?”

“You.”

The utter clarity of that single word shocked her into silence. Hell, it shocked me. And seemed to echo around the apartment as if I’d yelled. Those brilliant brown pools filled with tears. With a growl, she thrust upwards to mash her soft, full lips to mine. Before I could react, her pointed tongue plunged deep.

That’d been the right answer. Let the shitstorm come at us. We’d face it together. As she continued gazing into my eyes, she received that message loud and clear. With a muffled groan, she rolled onto me.

While her sleek, bracketing thighs squeezed mine, she raked her clawed nails along my skull as we made out. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I was a steel rod beneath her squirming tight shorts. Every rolling thrust of her hips against it had her groaning as those heated stems left that crumpled crop top to rub against my shirt. So, yeah, we were both beyond aroused. Yet, I kept my hands roaming her bare back.

Time was irrelevant as we kissed. Nothing else mattered but her writhing, hungry frame. Although I’d love to say I held onto some skepticism over her motivations, I didn’t. Instead, I surrendered to her on that couch. Just as she did to me.

At long last, she slipped from my arms, panting. As she slid off to sit beside me again, she stared at the ceiling while smacking her lips.

“Fuck, Deke, you’re an amazing kisser.” She chuckled. “Is there anything you’re not good at?”

“Hockey. I suck. Hate ice. And being cold.”

At first, she snorted, then laughed. When I joined in, we both spiraled into louder guffawing until neither of us could breathe. That time, my mouth found hers as I toppled her onto her spine. As I shoved my shorts downwards, she rolled hers and her panties off her shaking legs.

“Slut,” I murmured after pulling from her trembling lips.

Even as she hooked one firm, tanned leg over the rear of the couch and spread the other across the coffee table, knocking a pile of magazines to the floor, she nodded. When her hands found my throbbing cock, she thrust her pelvis skyward with a hungry groan.