Innocent (Inequitable Trilogy Book 2)

by Lesli Richardson

  When he looks up at me with his nose pressed against my pubes, I think about that first night on the plane, my shock to see him standing there, and the crazy roller coaster ride my life became after that.

  I blow him a kiss and love how, even with the head of my cock tickling his tonsils, he manages a smile for me.

  Can I just say that the president-elect of the United States gives a damned good blowjob?

  Because…he does.

  That’s something you won’t see in any history books.

  I wish this was happening in bed with Leo next to us. Meanwhile, I’ll try to live for the moment and be happy with what we have.

  I have a home, and two gorgeous, wonderful men who love me, and want me, and who have gone through great lengths to keep me.

  I have a career I never could have dreamed of.

  I am respected—maybe even feared a little, by some—and never again have to worry about finding a job or supporting myself.

  Life is good.

  Crazy, but good.

  He draws it out tonight, enjoying this brief mental vacation, even though he knows he won’t be able to come until later. He’s been having nightmares nearly every night this week and not sleeping well. I expect that trend will continue until the move is completed and we once again have a stable residence we can safely retreat to.

  Now, it’ll be even better, because we can easily have nooners and sleep a little later every morning.

  Staring into his eyes, I recall his admission that night. The possessiveness in his voice.

  I reach up and touch my daith and get another smile from him, and a renewed effort on his part.

  Indeed—who owns who?

  I think it’s safe to say we own each other.

  And Leo.

  Elliot swirls his tongue around the head of my cock and starts flicking the tip of his tongue just underneath it, and that finally triggers my orgasm. I pull his face deep onto my shaft as I fill his mouth and he happily moans and swallows.

  Us.

  This is us.

  I play with his hair as he holds my softening cock in his mouth. I thought he’d make a move to release me, but he doesn’t.

  “Your call, baby,” I tell him.

  He nuzzles his cheek against my thigh and settles in, his eyes falling closed, happy.

  I can’t deny him this.

  Fuck, I can’t deny him anything. Not when it’s so easy to make him happy.

  I’ll spend the rest of our lives together trying to keep him this happy, too. And God help anyone who gets in my way in the process.

  Even Leo.

  Chapter Sixty

  Inauguration Day Eve

  I know life is about to get infuckingsane in a way that will make me wish for the serenity of the campaign trail.

  I know, right?

  This time around, I have the benefit of having already survived two inaugurations, and I know the routine and all the key players. Everything I needed to handle for Elliot is completed ahead of schedule. The movers for Ciro, Elliot, and Shae are all arranged, and for the sake of appearances, Elliot and I are staying at Blair House on Inauguration Eve, along with Elliot’s parents and Stella.

  Unfortunately, Elliot and I are occupying separate rooms. Tonight, he’s having dinner at Blair House with Ciro and with both their families, and it means I’m not really needed.

  Which is why I took a couple of hours this evening to head to Leo’s apartment.

  In less than twenty-four hours, he’ll be sworn in as president.

  There’s so much insanity, and Shae’s on everyone’s radar, so I’m careful to arrange for the ride-share to pick me up several blocks from Blair House, and then exit the car two blocks from Leo’s and head the wrong way on foot for another block before circling around to approach from a different direction.

  No one’s watching me, no one’s following me.

  Leo will spank me if he finds out I did this without Secret Service protecting me.

  Yay.

  I don’t know if Leo’s home right now and I haven’t checked to see if he’s coming home soon. I could’ve coordinated this with him, but I didn’t want to risk anyone else catching wind of my plans.

  Even if he’s not home, I need to lie in his bed and wrap my arms around his pillow and just breathe for a few minutes.

  I desperately need that.

  When I unlock the door, I immediately know he’s not home because the lights are off and the alarm’s set to away mode. Disappointment fills me but I tamp that down. It also means he’ll be alerted that I’m here, because it’ll send him a notice.

  Okay, that’s fine. It’s not a secret. Not from Him.

  I lock the door behind me and reset the alarm to home mode, because Leo will beat my ass in a bad way if I don’t reset it. He wants me to take every precaution. To stay safe.

  Because he’s terrified someone might hurt me.

  A nervous giggle burps free. If only Leo knew what I did to Grace…

  Well, he’d understand his boy can take care of himself when called for.

  Without turning on any lights, I shed my overcoat and blazer and drape them over the back of his sofa, kick off my shoes, grab my personal and work cells, and walk into the bedroom.

  I’ve missed living here with him, our quiet building, his quiet strength. Coming home, even if he wasn’t here, always felt like shedding all stress and swaddling myself in his love and security.

  I climb into his unmade bed, face-plant, and deeply inhale.

  His pillow smells like him.

  I grab one of the other pillows and wrap myself around it with my eyes closed and just…breathe.

  I breathe in Him.

  Already, I feel a little calmer. This isn’t as good as having Leo here with me, but I’m here.

  Not much longer. Leo will be able to visit the White House at will, because Elliot’s told Secret Service that Leo still gets full, unlimited access. That means I can take him up into the residence during the day without a member of the detail shadowing us.

  Even better? I’ll be able to do that with Leo and Elliot sometimes. Kick all staff out and have a midday struggle snuggle.

  I reach up and flick my daith. I’ve left it up to Elliot whether or not to tell Leo what he confessed to me. We all love each other. Nothing that’s happened changes that fact. Part of me hopes he doesn’t tell Leo, because I don’t want Leo thinking he failed us in some way by not magically reading our fricking minds to know what we were both thinking.

  I keep my personal cell in my hand because I fully expect Leo to call or text me within the next few minutes, once he receives the alerts from the alarm.

  What I’m not expecting is to hear the sound of a key turning in the lock less than five minutes after my arrival.

  Neither of us call out as the alarm chirps its entry warning. I hear the door close and lock, the sound of the alarm being disarmed and rearmed, and the sound of shoes being kicked off.

  Maybe he doesn’t realize I’m here after all?

  I’m about to call out my presence, so I don’t startle him, when his voice slides through the dark. “How long can you stay, baby boy?”

  I choke back the unexpected tears suddenly struggling for freedom. “Not long enough, Daddy.”

  He sighs, the sound curling through the dim rooms and wrapping me with familiar comfort.

  A moment later, his outline appears in the bedroom doorway, where he pauses, studying me as he loosens his tie.

  He walks over and sits on the edge of the bed. As I blink my tears away, he cups my cheek and leans in for a kiss.

  “My good boy.” His tenderness wrecks me. He joins me in bed, holding me as I sob in his arms. Dammit, I’ve missed him. It’s been weeks since I’ve been able to do this with him.

  I didn’t realize just how badly I’m frayed.

  That scares me.

  I’m supposed to keep Elliot’s shit together. How am I supposed to do that?

  No, really, how am I su
pposed to do that?

  I’m thirty fricking years old, and I’m now in control of the president of the United States. I’m responsible for his mental, emotional, and physical well-being. People’s lives hinge upon how well I can keep Elliot’s shredded soul pulled together on any given day.

  If I’m this fractured over what I’ve done for him so far, holding this darkest of secrets—how am I supposed to keep him functioning?

  Leo tucks me against his body and tightly holds me. The way his warm breath brushes against my scalp and the sound of his breathing helps ground me while I deeply inhale, drinking in his scent. I will smell like him before I leave and I need that because I will have to go to Elliot, so I can hug him in private and let him smell me.

  Because he needs Leo, too.

  If there were any way I knew it wouldn’t raise suspicions, I would have Leo join me at Blair House tonight.

  Except the irony is it would probably give Elliot a nervous breakdown. His sister and parents are there.

  We can’t get away with sneaking around like we used to under the cover of Shae, Kev, and Chris. We’ll have to be far more creative.

  Other than Casey and Declan, we stand alone now in this thing we have amongst the West Wing executives, because I don’t want to test Ciro under fire like that. Not yet. Not that I don’t trust him with the secret of us being a triad, but all it would take is him accidentally letting something slip to one of his people, or to his wife, or around his kids, and bam, we have a leak.

  And a scandal.

  That means not forcing him into a position where he has to lie for us. A president in the closet isn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Leo and Elliot are both consenting adults and supposedly single.

  Throw me into the mix? Especially since I work for Elliot?

  That’s a Congressional investigation waiting to happen.

  Eight years.

  I can do this.

  Leo can do this.

  We have to make sure Elliot has all the tools and resources at his disposal to be successful.

  I feel guilty that we’re not having sex tonight, but we can do that tomorrow night in the White House residence, sleep in a little, and not worry about appearances.

  Leo doesn’t speak, doesn’t try to make me do anything except lie in his arms and just be.

  Be His.

  The comfort I soak up from him can’t be quantified.

  Eventually, I tip my face so I can graze my teeth against his throat, above his collar, where he’s loosened his tie and unfastened the top button. “Thank you, Daddy,” I whisper. Doesn’t feel right to break the silence, even though we’re alone. “I love you.”

  Leo slants his lips over mine in a tender kiss that calls up our entire history with every gentle sweep of his tongue across mine. We’ve made countless memories together in this bed.

  “Love you, too, baby boy. You’re my good boy, and I love you so much.” He reaches up and gently flicks the daith. “You’ve had these for a while now.”

  Of course he noticed, but we haven’t had a discussion about them yet. “Yes, Daddy.”

  “Your idea, or his?”

  “Mine.” My heart races in a bad way, skating the outer edges of the truth like this. “But I let him pick which ear we put them in.”

  “Hmm. My territorial pet staking his claim on you, I take it?”

  “Yes, Daddy.”

  He chuckles. “I know he nearly went apeshit when I got your nipples pierced.”

  Now I draw back to look him in the eyes. “Did he tell you that?”

  Leo’s knowing smile always makes my cock throb. “I know my pet, and I know my boy. I saw the look in his eyes the first time I showed them to him. He always scowls a little when he’s feeling possessive of you. Outer edges of his eyes kind of narrow, and he blows a couple of breaths out, thinking he’s keeping himself from reacting.”

  Sonofabitch.

  I let Leo pull me close again. “It’s fine, baby boy. I like knowing he feels that way about you.”

  That’s when it hits me. “You did it on purpose to make him jealous.”

  He has this little noise he makes, sort of a hmph. Does it when he’s amused.

  He makes it now. “Maaaybe. Hey, he wouldn’t let me put a collar on him over all these years. And he deliberately leaves marks on you for me to see. At least I knew every time he saw those on you that he’d be thinking about me.”

  Of course I laugh.

  Because he’s absolutely right.

  We lie there with our foreheads pressed together and breathing in unison for I don’t know how long. At least fifteen minutes. I really should think about making my way back to Blair House and Elliot, but I can’t bring myself to leave yet. I’ll probably snag one of Leo’s dirty undershirts from his laundry hamper and smuggle that back with me, something for Elliot to cling to tonight while alone in his bed.

  Because I know Elliot won’t let me spend the whole night with him, either. I’ll be free to come and go from his room next door to mine, but also highly visible, meaning I’ll have to go to bed, eventually.

  “Does this get easier, Daddy?”

  Finally, a soft chuckle. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.” He sighs. “Either eight or four years left in this. Take comfort in that. It’s finite.”

  “I do.”

  I’m about to sit up when his next words immobilize me.

  “Now that we’re alone, I have another question for you. Why did you take my gun that night, baby boy?”

  Ice fills my veins while my mind races for an answer that won’t entrap me. He loves me, but I can’t honestly know if he’ll turn me in or not for what I did.

  I also don’t want him knowing, because he needs to be able to honestly say he had no knowledge. Conspiracy’s a thing, y’all.

  I’m struggling to come up with an answer when he flips me onto my back, pins my wrists over my head with one hand, and grabs my throat with the other. His weight’s on my hips so I’m helpless to resist.

  In the dark, his brown eyes look bottomless and black.

  “Please…” I don’t know where to go with that.

  “Please what, boy?” The sadist is in the house and Daddy’s sitting back to watch the festivities.

  I gasp for breath not because he’s choking off my air but because fear has me close to hyperventilating. “Please don’t make me tell you, Daddy.”

  The hand around my throat tightens threateningly. “You didn’t shoot someone.”

  It’s a statement, not a question.

  “No, Daddy.”

  “Then why. Did you take. My gun?”

  I don’t even know how he knows I took it.

  His thumb and fingers rest right over my carotid arteries, pressing, releasing, making my vision fade in and out. “Boy, you’re not leaving here until you tell me everything. You don’t have a fucking handgun permit. I’m a retired federal officer and work for POTUS. You work for VPOTUS, who’s going to become POTUS in less than twenty-four hours. Do you have any fucking idea how much goddamned trouble we could both be in had you been caught with it? What it could do to Shae and Elliot?”

  He shakes me. “Tell me what was so fucking important you had to risk everything we’ve spent the past decade building to do that? Was it about the damned drug deals? Did she find out about you and Elliot and blackmail you into buying drugs for her?”

  My eyes must go wide, because the sadist smiles, chilling me. “Oooh, yes, boy. I watched you do it. At least three times. The only reason I didn’t confront you about it is that I also followed you to Grace Martin’s building and stood outside, waiting. You went there several times when you didn’t make a drug buy, but the first time was immediately after your first visit with her. I know you don’t do drugs, so I can only guess they’re related.

  “I was there the night she died, too. I followed you to her building, then again when you left. I heard you giving commands to what I assume is the missing burner phone, even
though I couldn’t hear everything and didn’t know what you were doing, at the time. When I realized you were heading back here, I raced to get home ahead of you. I needed to know what the hell you were up to.

  “When I got here, I realized things in my closet were moved. I looked and saw my gun and one of the burners were missing. That’s why I was in the shower when you arrived, and, sure enough, you put the gun back while I was in there, before you joined me. I was trying to figure out what the hell you were up to, because you didn’t have any drugs on you. I fucking searched your stuff, and I could tell you hadn’t been taking anything.

  “Then I checked your phone and found the texts from her. The next day, when the news broke she was dead, I knew. I knew you had something to do with it, but I couldn’t ask you, because I was afraid it’d fuck your plan. I didn’t want to scare you into making a mistake. I wish I could tell you that you have no idea how many strings I had to pull to make this go away, except I didn’t. Either you really got away with it, or there are people far higher up than me who were glad she happened to drop dead.”

  His grip eases just a little on my throat but he leans in, our noses nearly touching. “You got away with it, but you fucking tell me why you did it, and how, and if it’ll ever come back to bite you or Elliot later.”

  Crying, I confess everything about what I did.

  Not about Elliot’s confession to me, though. That’s his secret to tell.

  Leo immediately releases me and pulls me into his arms, consoling me. He buries his hand in my hair, stroking, rubbing. “Shh, you’re my good, perfect baby boy. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m so proud of you for protecting him.”

  He kisses me, rocks me, and before I realize it, he’s going down on me and has pulled an orgasm from me that I didn’t even have time to process.

  Other than my cock hanging out, we’re still dressed as he kisses me and I taste myself on him, but he cradles me against him again and holds me.

  “You’re my sweet, perfect boy. I love you so goddamned much.”

  “I’m sorry, Daddy. I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t tell you what I had to do.”