by Cassia Leo
“I’m fine,” I said, popping out of my seat and throwing my arms around Nina. “I’m just so happy for you guys.”
I watched over Nina’s shoulder as the Secret Service agent held the door open for Chase and Katherine at the back of the chapel. They were leaving through the rear entrance, probably being whisked away to their suite or to a secret exit where a car would be waiting to carry them off to another private lunch meeting.
“Larissa?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, letting go of Nina as I tried to focus on her beautiful floral crown and flowing dress instead of the expression of pity on her round face. “Go. Go be with your husband. Enjoy the reception.”
“You’re not coming?”
“I think I’m just going to go back to my room. I hardly slept last night and I have to rest up for tomorrow night’s fundraiser.”
Her eyes lit up at the mention of the word husband and she quickly set off down the aisle. Isa gazed at me for a moment. He was the only campaign staffer who I was certain knew about Chase and I.
Isa glanced at his new wife as she approached the chapel doors then back at me. “He’s a good man,” he whispered. “You deserve a great one.”
I managed to make it back to my hotel room without another emotional breakdown. I slid the cardkey into the reader on the door and the lock clicked. When I pushed the door open, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
All the furniture in my hotel room was gone and a trail of rose petals and candles cut a path across the floor toward the balcony. The French doors stood open displaying a breathtaking view, but the lights of Las Vegas couldn’t match the radiance of Chase’s smile.
As my feet carried me forward, part of me hoped this was it. He was finally going to properly propose and give me the ring I’d been waiting to wear for six weeks. Another part of me thought this wasn’t right. In my hotel room, overlooking a city known for legal prostitution with his legal wife somewhere nearby.
But, as I approached the balcony and breathed in the scent of rose petals and fire, I knew there would be no resisting. I crossed the threshold onto the balcony and Chase held out his hand. I placed my hand in his and he softly pressed his lips to my ring finger. His eyes were locked on mine as he gauged my reaction then his lips curled into a smile.
“My mother once told me that where you find love is where you’ll find success,” he said, as he pulled me toward the waist-high wall enclosing the balcony. “I told her I had to find success before I could think of falling in love.”
Chase had never spoken to me about his mother, though from the daily phone calls I gathered they were still quite close.
“My dad told me I would find the man of my dreams the moment I stopped looking,” I replied, as we gazed at the shimmering lights of the Vegas strip. “My mom was a little less romantic. She told me I’d find love when I found a guy who didn’t mind the way I looked sitting on the throne.”
Chase laughed out loud, a robust laugh that rattled my bones. “I’m sure you’re quite the vision sitting on the throne,” he said, casting me a sly sideways glance. “I like your mom.”
“Yeah, well, she doesn’t like me very much. I haven’t spoken to her since I left home two years ago.”
He turned to me and I expected to find pity in his eyes. What I found instead was concern. “Larissa, you have to speak to your mother. She has to know about your success.”
You call this success?
“What am I supposed to tell her? I’m working on the most expensive and feverish campaign in the history of the world, oh, and by the way, Mom, I’m having an affair with the soon to be President of the United States.”
He looked as if I had just told him he lost the election.
“I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”
He shook his head then turned back to the city lights. “No, you’re right. You can’t tell your mother about your new job. She’ll question you and that will just lead to more questions.”
Though Chase had kept his word and torn up the non-disclosure agreement he made me sign six weeks ago before I came to work on his campaign, the expectation of silence was more than implied.
I let out a derisive chuckle. “Of course. We have to protect Senator Underwood from the press.”
“Larissa, you knew what you were getting into when you came on the road with me.”
“Now you’re the one who’s right.”
I turned to leave and he grabbed my arm. “Don’t go.”
I gazed at the trail of rose petals and candles then at his fingers curled firmly around my forearm—the same fingers that were curled inside me last night—and my resolve ebbed.
He pulled me toward him and clasped my face in his hands. “The election is four days away. Can we please just enjoy tonight?”
The cool desert air swept up the tiny hairs on my neck and I shivered as his lips hovered over mine.
“The election maybe four days away, but you’re going to be president for four years. I don’t know if I can wait that long.”
“Maybe I can help you make up your mind.”
His lips crushed mine and I gripped his tie so I wouldn’t collapse at his feet. Every part of me throbbed with the need for his touch. He lifted my dress over my head and tossed it onto the floor of the balcony. My nipples hardened under the kiss of the frigid breeze. He gently leaned me back over the balcony wall, taking my nipple into his warm mouth, and I was immediately reminded of our rendezvous at his cliff-side restaurant.
His hands lightly caressed my back and cheeks as he licked and sucked my breasts. I gazed at the twinkling stars above us and, against all reason, I made a wish on the first star I saw: Please let me be strong enough for him.
His tongue traced a line over the hollow of my neck and he took my face in his hands again. “I love you, Larissa,” he whispered. “One day it will be you and me walking down that aisle. I promise.”
I reached down to loosen his belt and unzip his trousers. His belt clinked as his pants dropped and I hastily undid his tie and peeled off his blazer and shirt. I ran my fingers over his hard chest and down his abs until I reached his cock. I lightly rubbed my thumb over the slippery head and he moaned. I crouched down and took him into my mouth.
“Jesus Christ,” he groaned, as I wrapped one hand around the base of his cock and raked the nails of my other hand over his chest.
I bobbed slowly then swiftly, bringing him to the brink of ecstasy before he slipped his hand beneath my arms and pulled me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he lifted me. He fit so perfectly inside me I let out an eager gasp as I clung to him. His teeth dug deeper into my shoulder with every thrust.
I hooked my arm around his neck and clutched onto his rock hard bicep to balance myself. I didn’t know how he had the strength to hold me for so long when he was clearly on the verge of losing himself. We rocked rhythmically, grinding against each other, until his body quivered and he came inside me.
He slowly knelt on one knee and placed me down gently so I straddled his leg. He exhaled hot, ragged breaths into my mouth as he kissed me. I wanted to stay like this forever, but I knew that soon he would go up to his penthouse suite where he and his wife would sleep in separate bedrooms—at least, that’s what he told me.
He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed my forehead. “I can tell when you’re mind is elsewhere,” he said. “I have something to ask you.”
No, not here, on a balcony in Vegas, in the nude.
He smiled at the hint of panic on my face. “I want you to meet Katherine.”
2
I blinked a few times, stunned by his words.
“She wants to meet you,” he continued. “And I think it’s a good idea to get that out of the way before the election happens and I’ll be… unavailable for a while.”
I had probably spoken a total of ten words to Katherine Underwood since I joined Chase’s campaign six weeks ago. Chase was a master at keeping us apart without raising the suspicions of the press
corps that followed him everywhere he went. He even went so far as rescheduling a speaking event at a college so I could be there with him the day after Katherine and Teddy, Chase’s campaign manager, left town for a CNN interview. The event coordinator was not pleased when I called him to postpone, but Chase insisted the man would forget all about it once I graced him with my radiant beauty.
“What’s your answer, Larissa?” Chase interrupted my thoughts and I gazed at his face as it came back into focus. The chiseled cheekbones and model-perfect lips. And those eyes. A deep-brown that, in the dim lighting, appeared as black as the prospect of meeting Katherine.
“Of course, I’ll meet her,” I replied. “Will her lover be there?”
Chase wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him. He slid his fingers between my wet folds as he kissed my neck and muttered into my skin. “You’ve already met him.”
I let out a small gasp, a mixture of surprise and pleasure, as he gently stroked my clit. “What… oh, god… what do you mean? Who is he?”
He took my earlobe between his teeth and exhaled into my ear. The whoosh of air tickled and made the hairs on my arms stand on end. “Come on, Larissa,” he whispered in my ear, as he slid his finger inside me to release more of my wetness. “Don’t tell me you can’t see that Katherine and Teddy are together.”
My body convulsed as he caressed my hard nub in light circles. I let out an involuntary shriek as I climaxed then crumpled against his chest.
“I can’t believe it,” I said, out of breath and shocked that I had been so completely deceived by Katherine and Teddy’s friendship. “But… isn’t Teddy your best friend? And… what the hell? Why have you been letting me think we need to keep our relationship a secret from him?”
“I never told you you had to do that, I just assumed it would be best not to confuse things further.”
My jaw dropped. “I’ve been driving myself nuts trying to keep this from Teddy! I was more scared of Teddy reading that feature in the L.A. Times than anyone else.”
He stood up quickly and began to get dressed. “I don’t want to talk about the feature right now.”
“Why do you keep doing that? It’s coming whether you talk about it or not and there’s a good chance Heather Rodin is going to blow the lid on us.”
He handed me my dress without looking at me. “I’m going to order some room service. Is Chinese good for you?”
I snatched the dress out of his hand and stomped into the hotel room, kicking up rose petals as I made my way to the bathroom.
“Larissa, stop.”
“I want my furniture back!” I shouted, as I stepped over the fat candles.
“I said stop!”
I stopped just outside the bathroom and turned toward him. His face was furrowed with an expression of rage that sent chills through me.
“Get over here,” he demanded, his voice coarse with anger.
I wanted to tell him to go to hell. He didn’t own me. But that wasn’t true. Even without the non-disclosure agreement, Chase and I were bound to each other by this dangerous secret. We would be bound to each other by these lies for the rest of our lives—or, at least, until he was no longer President.
“I’ll tear up that stupid NDA. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you here. But even if you decide to go back to L.A., I’m not giving up on you.”
Chase spoke those words to me six weeks ago and I was just now beginning to understand the gravity of their meaning. I would never escape this secret as long as I was a threat to his career. Even if I wanted to, I would never escape Chase. And now that Teddy and Katherine knew about us, there was no way they would allow me to leave. They had to keep me close. This relationship was a bomb strapped to my chest and Heather Rodin at the L.A. Times was holding the trigger.
I let my dress fall to the floor as I approached Chase. He entered the hotel room from the balcony, his eyes locked on mine until we met in the center of the room.
“I knew what I was getting into,” I said. “I just didn’t expect for it to blow up in my face.”
“It hasn’t blown up yet. Gideon’s been hounding the editor at the Times for weeks trying to figure out the angle on this piece. They’re not talking, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to panic,” he said, as he draped his blazer around my shoulders. “But you’re right. I did everything I could to erase our connection to Black Tie Escorts before you joined the campaign, but we have to prepare for the possibility that Heather dug something up. In fact, that’s what tomorrow’s meeting with Katherine and Teddy is about.”
“It’s a strategy meeting?” I replied, as he placed his hand on the small of my back and led me toward a red blanket laid across the carpet in the corner of the room. “What about Isa? Shouldn’t he be there to give you the statistics on how all of this is going to affect you?”
Isa was the Campaign Statician—a position Chase made up just to get Isa on board. Isa graduated last year from Cornell with two masters degrees: one in political science and one in statistics. He had been receiving job offers from various politicians for over two years before his graduation. It was no surprise to many when he decided to work with Senator Chase Underwood. Chase was hard to resist.
“Lay down,” he ordered, and I quickly knelt on the cashmere blanket and tossed his blazer aside. “Why do you think we’re having the meeting? Isa gave me the numbers this morning. The numbers are based on historical data and none of the data is clear, but we’re pretty certain I can still pull off a victory if….”
“If what?” I asked, as I lay down on my back and he stepped over me so he was straddling my legs as he looked down at me.
A candle had magically appeared in his hand and my fingers clutched the blanket as I watched him tip it over my belly.
“If you pretend to be with Teddy,” he said, as the first drop of hot wax hit my skin right below my navel. I drew in a sharp breath as the wax stung my skin for just a moment before it cooled. “You can start pretending right now.”
I could feel myself becoming engorged with pleasure as Chase let another drop of hot wax fall just below the first drop.
“But Teddy’s so… wound up,” I breathed.
“I think you’ll find Teddy can be very charming. I have to make sure I leave you with an experience you’ll be thinking about all day tomorrow,” he replied, and a stream of wax hit the skin just above my pelvic bone and my body tensed as the liquid slid toward my lips. My hand immediately shot toward my crotch to keep the wax from burning me, but he warned me off. “Don’t move.”
I drew my hand back and was quite relieved when the wax rolled sideways onto my thigh. He stood above me, his shirt unbuttoned and a hungry look in his eyes.
“Close your eyes.” I shut my eyes and he brushed against my arm as he sat next to me on the blanket. “Put your hands behind your head.”
I clasped my hands behind my head and he immediately poured the wax over my nipple. I yelped with pain, which was quickly relieved as he brushed the warm wax away with his fingers and took my nipple into his mouth. He gently licked and sucked until the pain was gone.
“Better?”
“Yes, Sir.”
He poured the wax over my other nipple and I gritted my teeth against the pain as I waited for him to relieve it again. He waited a bit longer this time before he wiped away the wax and soothed my pain with his mouth. He pulled away and I nearly reached out to pull him back, but I wasn’t supposed to move.
“Turn over,” he commanded. I flipped onto my belly and even the soft cashmere felt scratchy against my raw nipples. “Spread your legs and lift your ass.”
I followed his orders, laying my face against the blanket as he positioned himself between my legs. He poured a fat stream of wax across my ass cheeks and I gasped.
“Oh, god!” I cried, as the wax dribbled down my ass and the backs of my thighs.
I could feel him moving behind me and suddenly his tongue was in my crease as his finger worked my clit. His
tongue licked and massaged my opening and I tried not to squirm. The sensation of both areas being stimulated at once was unlike anything I’d ever felt.
“Oh, Chase,” I whispered, trying not to raise my voice as I was still conscious of the open door leading to the balcony.
“Louder.”
“Oh, Chase!” I cried into the blanket bunched up beneath my head. “Don’t stop!”
“Louder!” he shouted, as my body quaked beneath him.
“Oh, Chase! CHASE!” I screamed, as he stimulated me beyond orgasm. “Please stop.”
He didn’t stop. He continued stroking my clit until I came again, even harder. When he finally drew away, I collapsed onto the blanket shaky and exhausted. He laid his body over mine, brushed my hair aside, and kissed the back of my neck as I attempted to catch my breath.
“What if someone heard me?” I whispered, as his fingers traced the curve of my hip.
He kissed me behind my ear before he replied. “It was worth it.”
3
The knock on the door came just as I was slipping on my heels.
“Coming!” I shouted, and my heart raced as I approached the door of my hotel room.
I pushed the door open and found Teddy Holt standing before me in a crisp gray suit and no tie holding a copy of the L.A. Times. The headline read: UNDERWOOD’S TORRID AFFAIR WITH ESCORT.
“It’s show time,” he said, as he pushed his way past me into the hotel room.
He took a look around at the dozens of melted candles and wilted rose petals and didn’t even flinch. Teddy was only a few months younger than Chase. From what Chase had told me, they had shared a dorm together at Yale and had been best friends since. Teddy had handled all of Chase’s campaigns since he became Senator ten years ago at the age of thirty-two. It was no secret that Teddy intimidated everyone, but I’d been harboring a special kind of fear for him these past weeks. To see him standing before me as an ally brought forth a whole new set of emotions.
“Larissa,” he said, as he held the paper out to me. “It’s time to get this story straight, so it’s time for you to start paying attention.”
