“You are fucking magnificent,” he whispered.
She sighed. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
* * * * *
Caroline took a minute to chat with the limo driver while Jack was trapped on a phone call with Greg. He hated being in the car with her when he hashed out campaign events, particularly when difficult topics were being discussed. Most of his discussions with his campaign manager seemed to involve negative press coverage. Greg couldn’t look her in the eye ever since he’d thoroughly examined (as Jack had put it) the footage from the hotel in Pittsburgh. Caroline had the sinking feeling that Greg now pictured her naked every time he saw her. She had yet to share this theory with Jack.
Her husband slid his phone into his jacket pocket and motioned for the driver to open the door. “Let’s go.”
She climbed into the back seat as delicately as possible. “Is everything okay?”
His voice was clipped. “Fine.”
Jack sat down beside her, loosening his tie. His good mood teetered on the edge. One phone call and her passionate speech to the press had been forgotten. She needed to get him to lighten up, and quickly. The security screen slid up as they pulled away from the hotel.
“What’s that for?” He gestured at the screen.
Caroline brushed back his hair and smiled at him. “Told the driver to take the long way home.”
He cleared his throat. “Why?”
Her smile grew wider. “Have you ever seen No Way Out?”
Jack slid a finger under his shirt collar. “Uh, a long time ago.”
She unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. “Is that better?”
He let out a slow breath. “Yes.” Whatever had temporarily driven him to anger faded away, replaced by curiosity.
“That’s so cute that you’re nervous,” she said. “The King of Seduction, worried about what would happen if he banged his wife in a limo.”
“You caught me off guard, sweetheart.”
“I thought you needed to relax a little. You seemed so stressed out a minute ago.”
“That moment has passed,” Jack said.
Caroline let her fingers drift from button to button. She would take her time with this part. “While I’m doing this, why don’t you check and see what’s in my purse?”
Jack unzipped the small black bag, pulling out a pair of panties. “Are these-?”
“No, Jack.” She tried not to laugh. “They’re someone else’s.”
“Is this why you took so long in the bathroom before we left?”
“Kind of.”
He tucked the underwear into an interior jacket pocket. “You gave that impassioned, serious, downright self-righteous statement to those reporters while you weren’t wearing any panties?”
She batted his hands down when he tried to reach around and unzip her dress. “Yup.”
She slid a hand beneath his undershirt and raked her fingernails down his bare chest. Jack groaned. “Jesus, woman.”
“You don’t like it?”
“I do, I do. I just – you never cease to amaze me.”
Caroline lifted up the shirt and kissed his chest. “I like to keep you on your toes.”
“You were incredible with them. You know that, right?”
“I was just being myself.”
Jack kissed her. “You’re so much more than that. I love you.”
“I love you too.” He still seemed preoccupied. “What did Greg want to talk to you about?”
“My campaign manager took issue with my assessment of your statement.”
Caroline smiled. Though he was a fantastic operative, Greg got too hung up on the small stuff sometimes. “You know what I think of that. Fuck him.”
Jack laughed. “I couldn’t agree more.”
She let one hand drift down his stomach, toward his belt. She loved his suspenders but on some occasions the belt was much more practical. She unbuckled it slowly, never breaking eye contact with him. She didn’t need him to take off his pants for this, but there was something about an undone belt and a disheveled dress shirt. Especially on her husband. So fucking sexy.
She slid to her knees on the floor. “There are other things I can do that are just as incredible. Do you know what I’ve always wanted to do to you in the back of a limo?”
He groaned as she started teasing his legs with her fingers, inching her way up his thighs. “I can take a haphazard guess.”
Caroline laughed softly and unzipped his pants. “I bet you’d be right.”
“Sweetheart, you don’t have to-”
“I want to.” She nuzzled his abs with her nose. “You look so sexy in this tuxedo. You should really wear it more often.”
Jack gripped the edge of the backseat as she tongued the area around his belly button. “I may sleep in it from now on.”
“Sometimes I love fundraisers,” she whispered, taking him in her mouth. She finally started to feel the effects of the shots she’d done with Tom. Christine would be less than pleased. Not only had Jack and Caroline ditched out of her fundraiser early, but Caroline had done her best to get her husband liquored up.
Of course she had very little shyness left when it came to Jack and their sex life, but she didn’t worry nearly as much about what she did when she wasn’t entirely sober. She could feel Jack’s hands gently stroking her hair as he tried to maintain some amount of control. If she hadn’t been occupied, she would have laughed. She stopped to look up at him. “Still having second thoughts?”
He shook his head no. Good. She’d rendered him speechless. She teased the head of his cock for a few minutes before taking him in her mouth again.
“Good thing we’re not in an elevator right now,” Jack choked.
Caroline pulled away from him again. “No jokes. I want to be able to concentrate.”
“Sorry,” he said. “Please, go back to what you were doing.” He gripped the seat again as she took him deep. “Fuck.”
A stream of random obscenities tumbled from his mouth and he brought his hands to the back of Caroline’s head again, tugging on her hair. It stung a little but she found herself enjoying the pain, turned on by the sounds Jack made. She liked to think that she did things to him that no other woman had done, because he’d never had any complaints. His cock hit the back of her throat as he pulled her toward him, and she swallowed to keep from gagging, then drew back slowly and started in again.
“I love you, Caroline,” he groaned. “Holy – fucking – shit. Don’t stop, baby. Keep doing that.”
Jack wrapped his fingers in her hair, loosening her bobby pins. Caroline tried not to grin. She loved this. And he was distracted enough that maybe tonight would be the night when he’d finally let go, let her finish him off. She always wondered why he wouldn’t let her do that. Most of the time it wasn’t an issue since she ended up enjoying whatever ride he decided to take her on, but for once she wished…
She felt Jack tugging at her hair again, this time pulling her backward.
“On my lap,” he ordered. “Now.”
Caroline resisted his request, continuing to suck him while teasing his balls with her hands.
His hands were on her shoulders now. Every word took tremendous effort, which meant he was close. “Caroline, please. I want to be inside you.”
She pulled back, about to tell him that technically he’d just been inside her, but he yanked her up before she had a chance to speak.
Jack gazed at her with hooded eyes, a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead. “I want to take advantage of the fact that your undies are in my jacket,” he whispered. “Maybe I’ll leave them there for the next fundraiser, to give you something to think about.”
When he said shit like that, she couldn’t turn him down. She climbed quickly onto his lap. Her thighs were damp.
He smiled. “I see you’re excited about something.”
Caroline closed her eyes and sighed as he slid a finger inside her, then another. “Your voice does things to me.”
/>
Jack chuckled softly, starting to tease her clit. “I’m happy that my response to what you were doing turned you on.” She leaned into his neck as he pulled his fingers out but continued to stroke her clit gently. He pressed the tip of his cock inside her. “Such a good girl,” he said.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Have you been good?”
She’d almost given him a complete goddamn blowjob in a moving vehicle. He could bet his sweet ass she’d been good. But it took too much effort to be cheeky. “Yes.”
“Damn right you have.” He held her hips steady and slammed into her, groaning loudly. He gripped the back of her head with one hand, the other at her waist, and thrust into her once. “So fucking good,” he murmured, fingering her clit again.
“Don’t stop,” Caroline whispered.
“I won’t,” Jack said, caressing her slowly until she cried out and came hard around his cock. “Good girl. That one belongs to me.”
That phrase. His voice. He killed her with both. He thrust up, shuddering as she rocked against him, until he bit her neck and shattered inside her.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, trying to catch his breath. “Meant to last longer.”
Caroline rested her head on his shoulder. Her legs were still shaking, and he didn’t strike her as being all that steady, either. “Don’t talk,” she whispered. “Enjoy the moment for once.”
She hugged herself to him, listening as their heart rates returned to normal. Jack stroked her hair lightly, trying to avoid getting his fingers tangled in the random bobby pins that had come undone as a result of their passionate coupling. She winced as he accidentally pulled one a little too hard.
“I’m sorry, baby,” Jack said. “Did that hurt?”
“It’s fine,” she said softly. “I told you to be quiet.”
“I’m sorry I kind of skimped out on you. I promise, once we get home-”
Caroline sighed so that she wouldn’t laugh. Of course he would refuse to sit back for the rest of the ride. He couldn’t help but turn remarkably chatty when ordered to relax. “Didn’t you notice that massive orgasm I had?”
“I might have,” he said. “But you always deserve more than one. Especially after that feat you just pulled.”
“I know you’re good for it.” She let out another laugh. “Best quickie ever.”
He kissed her neck. “Your silver tongue has many wonderful uses.”
Caroline threw her arms around him again. “You’ve been saving that one up, haven’t you?” She held onto him for longer than she needed to, then pulled back to look at him. He looked spent but incredibly, dreadfully handsome. She wiped the rest of the perspiration off his face, fixing the part in his hair.
“Maybe.” Jack grinned back at her. “Was it worth repeating?”
She waved her hand. “Eh, moderately palatable. Although I do appreciate your acknowledgment of my many oral skills. If I were you, I wouldn’t whip it out unless I’d been drinking. I’m less critical when I’m not clear-headed.”
“You’re a little more daring too.”
“I go down on you all the time when I’m stone cold sober.”
“I know,” he said hastily. “But holy fuck, you were…wow.”
She grinned again. “There are no words?”
“You heard the ones I used. There is no civilized way to describe the way that felt.”
Caroline batted her eyelashes at him. “Mr. McIntyre, you do wonders for a girl’s self-esteem.”
He kissed her. “You’re fantastic, sweetheart. In so many ways.”
“Am I your good girl?” she asked.
Jack smiled at her rakishly. “I only use that phrase because it seems to turn you on so much.”
It turned her on again just thinking about how he sounded when he said it. “It does. You have no idea what it does to me. What your voice does to me.”
“Oh, I think I might have a clue.” He kissed her again. “I love you. More than you will ever know.”
“I love you too.” She leaned her head on his shoulder again, tugging at his suit jacket. “You are going to give me my panties back, right?”
He laughed. “Maybe.”
Caroline squirmed a little. Their enthusiasm had wrecked their wardrobes. His pants were probably ruined. “I think you better. In the interests of modesty.”
“Guess I forgot about the practical effects of having unprotected sex in a moving vehicle.” Jack pulled her underwear out of his pocket and handed them to her, looking out the window. “Getting close to the house,” he said. “Apparently your long way home was just long enough.”
“Good.” Caroline yawned. “I’m kind of tired.” She laughed when she saw the look on his face. “Don’t worry, I’m not too tired for round two.” She slowly moved off of Jack’s lap, smoothing out her dress and slipping her panties back on as delicately as possible. He gave her an alarmed look. “What?” she asked.
“Your hair is a little messed up.”
He hadn’t noticed before? “Can’t imagine why.”
Jack tried to level out Caroline’s random flyaways. “I didn’t mean to wreck your hair. I guess I got a little overly aggressive.”
She tugged at a random bobby pin, giving Jack her most solemn expression. “Do you think the limo driver will notice what we’ve been up to?”
“Oh, shit.” He started moving his hands to the back of her head, trying to put the pins back into place.
Caroline grabbed his chin. He looked so worried. “Monty, stop. I was joking.”
“Oh,” he said. “I see.”
His panicked face was too much. “You’re very amusing sometimes.” She leaned in for a hug. “Don’t worry about my hair. It’s fine.”
Jack wrapped his arms around her. “You don’t know what you do to me. Sometimes I get carried away.”
She laughed. “I know. It’s kind of fun. You can laugh. It’s okay. I won’t be offended.”
“I don’t want people to disrespect you or make judgments about your virtue because I can’t keep my hands off of you.”
Caroline kissed his cheek. “It’s okay. Give the driver a big tip and I’m sure he won’t see a damn thing. And I love when you get a little…cavemannish.”
“Cavemannish? Did you just make up a word?”
“Yes.” She leaned in to kiss his neck, unable to think of any good reason not to start seducing him again.
“Hmm,” Jack said. “Might have to clarify the definition of that phrase once we get back to the house. I do owe you another orgasm.”
Such language usually meant she’d get many, many more than one. “Can’t wait for that. Should be very illuminating.”
He trailed a finger down her neck to her cleavage, slipping it under the top of her bra. “Indeed it will be.”
Chapter Nineteen
The Past
It should have been a run of the mill Homeland Security hearing but as it progressed it turned into more. Committee hearings were broadcast on C-SPAN, if at all. Usually no one paid much attention to them. Once word got out that Representative Gerard was repeatedly laying into Representative Murdock, the press jumped all over it. Caroline had to field questions from a number of reporters after the hearing ended and was getting a bit bored. She looked over at Katie, who gave her a giant thumbs up while typing frantically on her phone.
Caroline was chatting with a young reporter from The Hill named Paul, if she remembered correctly. After standing there being bombarded with the same questions over and over, she hoped he would soon run his course.
“Congresswoman, was there anything personal behind your exchange with Representative Murdock this morning?”
How many times had different members of the press asked her that in the last twenty minutes? Hadn’t he been paying attention? “Nothing personal about it. Just doing my job.”
“You’re not normally that aggressive with a member of your own party,” he said.
“That’s not true.” Caroline tried not t
o sound too sharp. She had to start improving her tone. She’d been slipping lately. “I’ve made it clear during my time on this committee that given the sensitive nature of what we discuss and the potential ramifications of what we decide, I will not stand for other members or their staffers providing false information to Congress or to the American public. I’ve called people out before and I’m sure I’ll do it again before my term is up.”
“So this had nothing to do with the Murdock ad containing footage from your speech endorsing your husband’s opponent during the last election cycle?”
The ad had come out the week before, and Caroline still occasionally seethed about it. This kid was too antagonistic for his own good, but she assumed he didn’t know how he sounded. “Nothing at all,” she said calmly. “Although as I’m sure you know, that ad was incredibly deceptive.”
“Is that why you finally appeared in an advertisement for your husband’s campaign?”
Caroline was determined not to lose it with this kid. She glanced over at Katie, who motioned for her to wrap it up. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out why she issued the response, but she refused to give Murdock any more ammunition. She remained hesitant to take a larger role in Jack’s campaign, but the summer had taken a vicious turn.
Jack was bound and determined to stay away from negative campaigning, but Murdock took it upon himself to sling every bit of mud he could. After the Inquirer article gained traction, he contacted more old girlfriends, business partners, and former employees…anyone who had anything harmful to say about their experiences with John McIntyre. He claimed no responsibility at all but Caroline knew better.
Using Caroline’s speech against Jack had been the last straw. She demanded to appear in an ad by herself, responding both to the accusations posed by Murdock and to finally explain why her speech was in error. Jack hadn’t wanted to put her in that position but relented after Greg convinced him that it would provide the campaign with a nice bounce.
“It was the right time.” She gave him a charming smile. “Can’t hide me away forever. You know how I love attention.”
The Bellator Saga: The First Trilogy (Dissident, Conscience, and Sojourn) Page 44