“The guards have been put on notice that you are not to leave this base with anyone other than me.” He brushed his lips across her cheek. “You and I both know that you’re not going anywhere, unless you want to try to hop our electrified fence. And you’re far, far too intelligent to do that.” Jack nipped lightly at her ear and she let out a small gasp.
Kiss me. Please.
“You will cooperate with Dr. Haddad until you are cleared to return to duty,” he said. “Be there at two o’clock tomorrow. You are, however, not required to be nice to me, although I know what you really want.” He lightly fingered her earlobe and Caroline clutched at his shirt, pulling him closer to her, praying he would touch her.
Just once. I’ll behave. I’ll be good for you.
Jack cupped her face in his hands. “You can’t fool me, Caroline. You never could. You can say all the rotten things you want but I’m never going to believe a word. Do you understand?” She stayed silent and he stroked the nape of her neck. “Do you understand?” he repeated.
Could he hear her heart jumping out of her chest? Those unsteady breaths? He had to. He knew what he was doing. “Yes,” she whispered.
“Yes, what?”
She told herself that it was a little screwed up for him to blur the lines between commanding officer and spouse, even though he’d come close to doing it before. It reminded her of painfully passionate memories she wanted to strip from her psyche. And she should have known that he’d want to get inside her head before he got inside her body. She bit her lip, the response slipping out before she could help it.
“Yes, sir,” she said.
Jack kissed her forehead. “You’re still the only woman I see. The only woman I need.” His mouth was at her ear again, his voice low and gentle. “I know you’re in there somewhere, sweet Caroline. We’re going to find you and we’re going to help you, until you come home to me where you belong. Then we’re going to finish what we started. Together. I’m not giving up.”
He kissed her cheek, letting his lips linger there for a moment. “I love you,” he murmured. “Nothing will ever change that. You tuck that away and hold onto it whenever you need a reason to keep going.” He pressed his fingers against the back of her hands and she let go of his shirt. He let them linger there for a moment, caressing her wrists before stepping away from her and clearing his throat. Caroline opened her eyes, wondering what the hell had just happened.
“Have a good afternoon, Major.” Jack smiled rakishly at her before turning and strolling out the apartment door.
Chapter Eighteen
Caroline sat at the desk in the master bedroom reading a position paper. Not that she needed to; most of her time was dedicated to philanthropic public appearances and goodwill efforts across the state. She enjoyed it, much more than she thought she would have. Her college self would be so disappointed. All that talk of liberation and ambition and what she thought was the correct definition of success and now she found herself reading Dr. Seuss books to children and handing out teddy bears at charity events. But she was the same person she’d always been. She was serving people in a different way.
There were times when Caroline wondered if Jack had known what he was getting himself into. She gave him his space, offering advice when he asked for it, content to do her own thing. She and Kathleen would spend hours in her office talking about inane topics, laughing at nothing. Caroline had hired a personal secretary but the woman was still getting used to their sense of humor. As Christine often told her, sometimes she and Katie were a little off.
Caroline missed Chrissy, Jen, and Ellen. She popped down to Washington every few weeks but it wasn’t the same as seeing them every day. But she knew she’d made the right decision. She didn’t miss her job. She missed the people. She missed the conversations. She didn’t miss the bullshit. In Harrisburg she could be sincere and honest and not worry about being questioned, since it wasn’t necessary to analyze the First Lady’s motivations. She’d veer into the political, but only rarely.
She and Jack had argued for days about state funding for civil legal aid and improved resources for prosecutors and public defenders. He’d been reluctant to increase the Commonwealth’s budget for those items but after she provided him with solid data to back up her arguments, he relented. He even made a large, clandestine personal donation to the Legal Aid Society. The legal community was pleased, although some bloggers griped that the governor’s wife might have too much influence on the budget process. They’d elected him as chief executive, not her. The criticism stung but Caroline rose above it. Legal services for impoverished and disadvantaged people had always been one of her pet projects in Congress, along with federal funding for law enforcement. She wasn’t about to drop the torch because she no longer controlled the purse strings. Caroline continued to flip through the pages of the paper, smiling as she heard the door open.
“Hey, baby.” Jack glanced at his watch. “You’re up late. What are you reading?”
She held up the paper.
“Transportation and infrastructure,” he observed. “You’re reading that voluntarily?”
“‘Dam safety and the reinforcement of crumbling roads and bridges over our waterways are key to the Commonwealth’s competitiveness,’” Caroline said. “‘The sufficiency of our transportation infrastructure is critical to Pennsylvania’s goals of attracting new businesses, revitalizing local industries, and providing for continued community development.’”
“Did you memorize that or are you paraphrasing?”
She stood up to greet him properly. “How do you know I didn’t write it?”
“You’re not that boring.” He kissed her. “Did you have a good day?”
“I did. This is an excellent piece. Are you thinking of following its guidance?”
“I might. Money doesn’t grow on trees, despite what you liberals think.”
Caroline ignored that comment, mostly because he meant it in jest. “Better to spend money on bridges than to watch them collapse. They don’t last forever.”
“We have to prioritize, sweetheart. We can’t do everything we want right away.”
“Jack, you have to think long term. That’s the problem with government. There are certain things that absolutely have to be handled by the public sector. No one cares about roads and bridges until they’re in a shambles, until one cracks or bends and becomes structurally unsound. It’s not the most glamorous issue but it’s one that government has an obligation to address.”
“Maybe you’d like to run the show for a while?”
She grinned. She recognized that tone. Jack only slipped into it after he caught her accidentally giving a stump speech. “Just give me one day, Governor. One. Day.”
“Having my ear every night isn’t enough?”
“All those sweet policy nothings I whisper when we’re in the sack don’t count.”
“They do with me.” Jack chuckled. “I think about them when my day gets boring.” He raised his voice an octave. “‘Oh, Mr. Governor, tell me more about the proposed new routes for SEPTA.’”
“You know how subway systems turn me on.”
He kissed her again. “Seriously. How was your day?”
“It was okay. I spoke with some very nice women who want me to appear at a fundraiser for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.”
“That sounds uplifting.”
“More than you’d think. Brings me back to my prosecutorial roots. I like those sorts of events.”
“Did you tell them how much you like it when your husband spanks you?”
Caroline backhanded his arm. “No.”
“I think you just assaulted me.”
“I was provoked,” she said, kissing his neck.
He ran his hand across her hair. “I’ll let it slide this one time.”
“Good.” Caroline loosened his tie. “How was your day?”
“Eh, it was all right. Not nearly as exciting as yours.”
“How’s that new intern working out? Kelsey, is it?”
Jack smiled. “She’s still bothering you.”
“I feel like she and I need to have a talk on appropriate professional attire.”
“I thought that miniskirt was hot. I was tempted to ask her where she got it so I could get you one.”
Caroline tugged on his tie. “Didn’t leave much to the imagination. Don’t they cover things like that in college anymore? ‘Don’t dress like a skank for your first real job. Don’t leave the first three buttons of your blouse undone. Don’t fawn over your boss when his wife is in the damn room.’ Perhaps things have changed since I was in school.”
“Are you jealous?”
“No,” she said, perhaps a little too defensively. “I most certainly am not.” She started to unbutton his shirt.
Jack laughed. “You’re jealous.”
Caroline took off his cufflinks and placed them on the desk. “She could try a little harder not to throw herself at you. I can hear her giggling down the hall in the afternoons whenever you do your daily meetings with the four of them.”
“You’re incredibly jealous.”
“I’m not,” she repeated. “I’m merely considering imparting to her some valuable advice.”
“Caroline-”
“It frustrates me that young women throw themselves at you. I can’t help it. Especially after that crap during the campaign with those salad girls coming out of the woodwork. The interns making goo goo eyes at you when they thought I wasn’t looking. The way people responded to you – I knew that if it went on much longer, little old ladies were going to start throwing their panties at you at rallies.”
Jack sat down at the desk, pulling her onto his lap. “It wasn’t that bad. Most people at events were going nuts over you, not me.”
“I know what I saw. I felt like I was at a damn Tom Jones concert half the time. My God, I thought it would never end.”
He leaned in for another kiss. “Caroline, that was your imagination. We’ve been over this. Those women were my past. You’re my future.” He swatted her ass playfully. “And you’re the only woman whose panties I want thrown in my face.”
“I can’t pretend it doesn’t bother me, Jack. Especially the hypocrisy from so-called conservative women who have no respect for that ring on your finger.”
“You’re going to say that after everything that’s happened between us? You have nothing to worry about, baby.”
“I know. I – okay, I might be a little jealous,” Caroline admitted.
Jack kissed her forehead. “That’s adorable.”
She grabbed the lapels of his shirt and pulled him toward her. “It’s not adorable,” she hissed. “Kelsey better know not to fuck with the big girls.”
He swatted her ass again. “You’re sexy when you feel threatened.”
Caroline slid off his lap and pulled him to his feet. “No, just incredibly possessive of my husband. You are mine. No one else’s. Mine.”
He drew her to him. “What would you do if she tried anything?”
She kissed him. Hard. Such gestures never hurt. “They’d never find her body. I know people.” She unbuttoned his dress shirt and kissed his neck.
Jack groaned. “Have I ever told you how attractive you are when you turn into a green-eyed monster?”
Caroline pulled his dress shirt off, tugging his undershirt over his head. “Those women have no idea what you need to be happy. They’re clueless. Completely clueless.” She pushed him down on the chair by the desk. “I’m the only one who gives you everything you want.”
She straddled his lap, tracing a trail down his neck with her tongue. Jack loosened her bun, stroking her hair as she teased him. He tugged at her blouse and she slapped his hand away. “No,” she said. “I’m not done here.” She eyed the bulge between his thighs and leaned in closer, licking her lips. “Something get you excited, Jack?”
“God, Caroline,” he muttered.
“Tell me what you want.”
He pressed his mouth to hers. “Come here,” he said against her lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing her to him. “Fucking closer.”
She kissed him until they were both out of breath. “I know you want more than that,” she said, rocking back and forth against his groin.
Jack leaned his head against the wall. “You’re not acting very ladylike, Mrs. McIntyre.”
She kissed his neck again. “Do you want me to stop?”
He groaned. “Fuck no.”
“Tell me what you want, Monty.”
“Do you know what turns me on?” He fondled her breasts through her blouse. “You with my cock in your mouth.”
Ooh, was he in a naughty mood? She could be naughty. “You like when I do that?”
“Just thinking about you kneeling in front of me, sucking and licking me, taking me in as far as you can. I love it when you do that to me. Especially when you’re looking put together and professional.” He groaned again as she pressed down on his erection. “Jesus, Caroline. Don’t make me wait.” He began to unbutton her blouse and she didn’t stop him. As he brought his lips to the rounded top of her breasts, Caroline sighed.
“Those girls can throw themselves at me all they want,” he whispered. “You’re the only woman I see.”
She ran her fingers through his hair. “They can’t compete with me. If they try, I’ll destroy them. They don’t know what you need. I do.”
“You always know.”
Jack kissed her again before looking down at his zipper. Very subtle. She knew how to take a hint. Caroline knelt on the floor, unzipped his pants, and pulled his cock out of his boxers. He placed his hands on the back of her head and she bit her lip.
“I love doing this to you,” she said, sliding her hand up and down his length. She kissed the head of his cock lightly. “Mine.”
He shifted in the chair. “Yours.”
She took him into her mouth, relishing the taste of him, feeling him pulse against her tongue as she teased him. He tangled his fingers into her hair, straightening the strands. “That’s good, baby,” he groaned. “So fucking good.”
Caroline smiled, her teeth coming down on his cock, and he groaned again. He roughly tugged at her hair, until her bun was completely loose and her auburn locks fell down onto her shoulders.
“Caroline, I want to fuck you so hard,” he said gruffly.
That was usually a sign that he wanted her to stop, but she was enjoying what she was doing too much. Especially with him making those guttural sounds. She kept going.
His hips jerked involuntarily. “Stand up.”
She continued to take him deep as he implored her to rise.
“Please, baby. I want to be inside you.”
Caroline sat back, wiping her lips. “You didn’t like that?”
“You could do that to me all day but I’d much rather you be wriggling on my lap. Don’t you want that? Stand up,” he repeated. “Take off your panties.”
She had no problem obeying that kind of order. She yanked off her satin underwear, tossing it on the floor. Caroline took a step closer to him. “What was that other part?”
“Wriggling on my lap.” He closed his eyes as she pulled her skirt to her waist, sitting on his thighs. She wrapped her fingers around his erection and began stroking him up and down.
Jack slid a finger inside her, smiling at her reaction. “I wanted to be inside you but maybe we can take care of this first.” He kissed her deeply, using his thumb to massage her clit. Caroline moaned against his lips and threw her arms around him.
“So quickly,” he said. “Transportation really does turn you on.”
She started laughing. “Stop it, Jack. Now you’re being a jerk.”
He kissed her again. “No more jokes. I promise.”
Caroline buried her nose in his neck, inhaling deeply, savoring the smell of his skin. Sometimes the gentlest of touches combined with the scent of his cologne and the sound of his voice was all
she needed to get off. Jack pulled his finger out and she protested.
“What was that, sweetheart?” he asked.
“Don’t stop.”
“You have an expansive vocabulary but those are two of your favorite words, aren’t they?”
She pushed his hand toward her clit, gritting her teeth. “Please.” She was so fucking close she could barely stand it.
He grinned. “Message received.” He rubbed against her clit. “Do you want this?”
“Yes.” She shifted forward and he pulled her down roughly, impaling her on his cock. She cried out, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Isn’t this better?” he asked.
“Yes,” she gasped. “Much.”
He stroked her clit. “Are you close?”
“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “I want this.” She rose slowly and he pulled her back down.
“No.” Jack thrust inside her. “I like this better.”
She lifted herself up and he pushed her back down, over and over, until she was crying out his name and clawing and biting at him. She could see the marks on his neck from her teeth. He stopped, starting to stroke her clit again.
“You first,” he whispered. “You’re so fucking close and I want to watch you come. I want to feel it.” He caressed her gently and she nipped at his neck once more, convulsing against him. Short, sweet, and spectacular. She hadn’t needed a giant orgasm. She just wanted him inside her. Her body slackened and Jack smiled as she ran her fingers across his cheek toward his lips, slipping them inside his mouth.
He bit down before pulling them out and kissing them lightly. “Okay?”
“Give me a minute,” Caroline mumbled.
“Not a chance. My turn.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and guided her to the floor. “One of my favorite positions,” he grunted. “Yours too.”
Did he want her to talk? “I-”
“Do you know what it feels like when you come when I’m inside you? All hot and wet and tight?”
Oh, God. Was he going to keep talking while he was fucking her? She hoped so. She whispered his name and he clutched her hands in his, raising them above her head.
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