I heard him open a door before taking us into a dark room.
“Jake, this is the Lincoln Bedroom.”
“Is anyone staying here?” He looked around the room.
“No.” I shook my head.
“Then no one will care.” He sat me down on the floor before making sure the door was locked. “I don’t want to wait any longer for you.”
“Then don’t.” I hooked my fingers in his belt and pulled him to me, enjoying the soft groan that escaped his mouth.
“Mad—”
“Shh.” I touched his lips. “Just kiss me, Jake.”
I didn’t give him time to change his mind. I pulled his head down to mine so I could claim his mouth. When he pulled at my dress, I didn’t resist. I wanted my skin against his, to taste him, to touch him. I shoved his tuxedo jacket from his shoulders and made quick work of his belt.
Before I could slide his pants off his hips, his hands reached around my back and slowly unzipped my dress. With gentle fingers, he slid the straps off my shoulders, letting the dress fall open to expose my bare breasts.
“You’re gorgeous.” His words were husky as his eyes drank me in.
“Touch me, Jake.”
He ran his fingers up my arms and over my shoulders, tracing my collarbone before lightly running over my breasts. I sucked in a breath when he cupped them in his hands. He used his thumbs to run over the peaks before gently pinching them. I arched my back and groaned.
Leaning down he caught one of my breasts with his mouth and I sagged against the wall. He sucked it into his mouth before scraping his teeth across the peak.
“Jake!” I cradled his head and moaned when he bit down gently.
“What do you want, Maddie?” He lifted his head to look at me.
“More. Everything.” I gasped when he caught my other breast with his mouth. “I need you inside me, Jake.”
He stood up and began stripping. His shirt landed with his jacket somewhere on the floor.
As soon as he let go, my dress fell to the floor in a whisper of fabric. I dropped to the floor and looked up at Jake. The heat in his eyes was all the encouragement I needed.
Wrapping my hand at his base I slid my hand around him before taking the rest of him in my mouth. His fingers ran through my hair and I moved my mouth down his shaft.
“Fuck, that feels good.” He groaned when I sped up my attentions, sucking and licking as I went. “So good.”
I took as much of him in as I could, hungry to produce more of those delicious sounds he was making. Pulling back I ran my tongue along the bottom of his cock before sliding back down over his shaft and humming gently.
“Oh, Jesus. Sweet Maddie.” His fingers tightened in my hair. “Maddie, that’s too much, my love.”
He grasped my shoulders and lifted me to my feet. He wasted no time, plundering my mouth with his own while his hands traced every curve, dipping under the lace panties I was wearing and it was my turn to groan.
“So wet, just for me.”
“For you.” I sucked in a breath as his fingers teased between my warm folds.
“I want to be buried right there. I want to watch you move underneath me.”
He pulled me backward toward the large four-poster bed. He laid me on top of the bedspread and let his eyes run over me.
“Open for me, Maddie.” He touched my knee and I let my legs spread apart. “So beautiful.”
He traced the growing wet spot on my panties before gripping the material with two hands and ripping it apart.
“Oh,” I gasped.
“Are you still on birth control?” He ran his hands along my inner thighs.
“Yes,” I answered quickly.
“Thank God.” He crawled up my body and positioned his cock at my entrance. “Are you ready, sweetheart?”
“Always.” I reached up and traced his jaw with my fingers.
He turned his face to my hand and kissed my fingers as he slid inside.
I groaned and lifted my hips to meet him as he pressed his head against mine. “I love you, Maddie. You’re my home, my family.”
“I love you too, Jake.” I pulled his face to mine as he moved above me. I ran my hands along his arms, back, and chest, before running down to cup his ass.
“It’s been too long.” He burrowed his head into the crook of my neck. “I’ve missed you so much, Maddie.”
“Then don’t wait any longer.” I angled my hips upward to meet his thrust. “I’m so close.”
He groaned loudly, his movements faster. “My sweet Maddie. My beautiful fairy queen.”
“Close, so close.” I wrapped one of my legs around his hips and my head fell back with the pleasure. “Perfect, my perfect man.”
I gasped loudly when he stiffened over me, my muscles clenching as I fell over that beautiful edge with Jake.
When the world stopped spinning and the stars cleared from my eyes, I rubbed my face against his scratchy jaw.
He lifted up on his elbows and stared down at my face with awe.
“I swear, you must have fairy blood.” He touched my nose gently before tracing my lips.
“I’m not sure about fairy blood, but my family is Irish.”
“That must be it.” He chuckled.
“So, is this it? What is our next step forward? More therapy?”
He rolled over, wrapping me in his arms and settling me on top of his chest.
“Next, we do everything together. Starting with a key to my place. Then we take it day after day, one step at a time.”
“You want me to move in with you?” I looked up at him.
“Absolutely. If you’re ready. The house doesn’t feel the same without you.”
“What else?”
“You finish school, we get a bill passed, and live happily ever after.” He smiled down at me.
“I like the way that sounds.” I snuggled closer to him.
“Me too.” He sighed with contentment.
Epilogue
Almost two years later.
“I can’t believe this is happening.” I gripped the arms of my chair and leaned forward to see better. I felt like my entire life was invested in this one moment and it was hard to breathe right. It had taken two times and a lot of changes to get the bill to where it was right now.
“Your proof is right there.” Jake pointed at the television. “Two more votes and we have it.”
Somehow, despite my distaste for politics, I’d found myself working on things I never would have dreamed of after college: bills to ensure clean drinking water, policy changes, and as the face of several charities.
“What if something goes wrong? What if someone changes their mind at the last minute.” I lifted my hand to my mouth and chewed on my thumbnail. The newest President, Virginia Simmon, was sitting in the audience, smiling as if the bill had been her plan. She could still bomb the bill once it hit her desk, but I had hope she would do the right thing. After Jake had talked to her a couple of years ago, and the fiasco with Caro, she had truly seemed to take his words to heart. Either that or she had gotten soft once she was able to claim her prize title of President.
“Just wait.” Jake sat calmly next to me. His face was serene but I could tell he was excited by the way his right leg bounced in place. He wasn’t worried about his mother but he was focused on something. Our life had been full of happiness, but it had taken work and patience. He still saw Dr. Beaudreau, but not as often. He was so busy with RCVA that I’d been worried he might miss the actual vote.
“Another vote!” One of the aides shouted from another room while a cheer went up and I sucked in a breath, looking back at the TV.
“See? I told you that it was going to be fine.” Jake lifted my hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to my fingers.
“We might actually do this.” I looked up at my boyfriend. “We really might accomplish this!”
A roar resounded from the other room just before a group of people flooded into our tiny office.
“We did it!”
“You did it!” I saw Tony and his wife’s face swim into view briefly, the happy gurgling of their new baby melting into all the other noises.
“Way to go, Maddie!”
I refused to take my eyes from the television as people hugged me and slapped my back. I wasn’t looking away until I saw that final vote roll over. I couldn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.
I stared unblinkingly at the ticker at the bottom of the screen. C’mon. C’mon!
Then it happened. There was no tick sound to mark the occasion, no burst of confetti, just a change in the count at the bottom of the screen, and a spattering of applause in the Senate Chamber. It took a second for the change in the count to register in my brain.
I looked up at Jake with big eyes.
“We did it,” I whispered. “We really did it.”
He scooped me into his arms and spun around the room, despite the amount of people crammed into the tiny space. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and buried my face in his neck so no one could see my tears.
“I can’t believe we did it.”
“Yes, we did!” Jake smiled proudly down at me. “I never doubted it.”
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. It wasn’t an instant fix for all of the animals stuck in the lab, but it was a start. No new primates could be introduced into lab testing and the rest would be phased out over a few years. No one was opening cages to set puppies free tonight, but eventually they wouldn’t be in testing cages at all.
I couldn’t imagine a more perfect moment.
But I’d been wrong.
Jake pulled back from me and dropped to one knee before pulling a small box from his pocket.
“Ohmygawd!” One of the interns whispered loudly as everyone around us sucked in their breaths. These people had been working their fingers to the bones with us for years and based on the whispered yes in the background probably had a pool on when this would happen.
“Jake?” I looked down into his eyes and was moved by the deep emotion swirling there.
“Madeline McGuire, I’m not a perfect man, but I promise to strive for perfect every single day. I promise to love you every single day. I promise to do my best by you in every way. I will walk however many dogs you adopt, bottle feed however many kittens you bring home. I’ll do it all, everything and anything, as long as I get to do it with you.” He opened the box and I stared down at the pear-shaped diamond solitaire in awe. “Will you marry me?”
Tears gathered in my eyes as I stared down at the ring that had once been my mother’s. He must have spoken to my father weeks before to be able to get the ring in our safety deposit box in Colorado.
“That’s my mom’s ring.” I choked on the tears threatening to spill over. “You got my mom’s ring.”
“It was the only ring for you.” He smiled up at me before raising an eyebrow. “So, what do you think? Spend eternity with me?”
“Yes.” I slid to the floor in front of him. “Yes, to marrying you. Yes to eternity.”
He held my shaking hand with his and slipped the ring onto my finger before lifting my fingers for another kiss.
“I love you, Maddie.” He swooped me into his arms for a scorching kiss before pulling me up in his arms and spinning me around again.
There was no holding back the tears this time and I didn’t care who saw them. The last year had been a lot of work, there had been ups and downs, but it had all been worth it with Jake by my side.
“I love you, Jake.”
Acknowledgments
There are times that a book will fly out of an author so fast, she barely knows what she actually wrote. And then there are books that are painstakingly written in blood, sweat, and tears. Bedmates is one of those books. Not because I didn’t love the story or the characters, but because I loved it all so much. This is a genuine work of love.
Jake and Maddie have lived with me for years now, bouncing around in my head and I’m so grateful to have the chance to share them with you and to the people that make that possible.
A huge shout-out to my agent, Rebecca Friedman and my editor, Tessa Woodward, for their saint-like patience. I’m surprised they didn’t drive to Georgia and pry the manuscript from my fingers. I couldn’t seem to let go.
As usual, I have to thank my husband. His patience and understanding is my life-line when I’m having a panicked author moment. A huge thanks to my daughter who always managed to remind me that there is more to life than the fictional characters living in my head.
Thank you to all of my friends and family that have supported me while I followed my dream. Bedmates is my tenth published novel and that is an amazing feeling.
Thank you to all of the readers that continue to support me and my books. Without you, other people wouldn’t find the characters that drive me crazy at strange hours of the night. You guys make it all possible.
Announcement Page
Roll out the red carpet for the next book in Nichole Chase’s American Royalty series,
Coming October 2017!
About the Author
NICHOLE CHASE lives in Georgia with her husband, toddler, superhero dog, Sulcata tortoise, and two cats. When not devouring novels by the dozens, you can find her writing, painting, crafting, or chasing her daughter around the house while making monster noises.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Nichole Chase
The Royal Series
Reluctantly Royal
Recklessly Royal
Suddenly Royal
Dark Betrayal Trilogy
Immortal Grave
Mortal Defiance
Mortal Obligation
The Flukes Series
Flukes
A Christmas Hill Short Story
On Christmas Hill
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
bedmates. Copyright © 2016 by Nichole Chase. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
first edition
Epub Edition October 2016 ISBN 9780062405210
ISBN 978-0-06-240519-7 (paperback)
About the Publisher
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