"Oh, why's that?" I reply in the same tone, looking at him and running my tongue between my lips. It's not like I need him to say it ... but I want him to.
"Celebrating here is fine … but I want to do a celebration of our own once we get home. A naked kind of celebration."
"You're in luck ... " I whisper teasingly, offering him a wicked grin. "I've already saved us some time." He arches one eyebrow, waiting for an explanation, and I just smile and breathe out softly. "I'm not wearing anything under this gown … "
"Jesus," he mutters with a chuckle, stealing my flute of champagne and downing the whole thing at once. "You keep saying stuff like that and I might end up fucking you in front of all these people."
"Doesn't sound so bad," I laugh, but I quickly shut up as a tall man with balding hair steps through the double doors of the ballroom all by himself. Even though I've never him, I've seen his face enough times on TV to know who he is.
Bob Walker, Speaker of the House and Austin's sworn enemy.
I can feel the tension rise in the room as Walker ambles through the ballroom, his beady eyes finding Austin and me. Without a missed step, he makes a straight line toward the both of us, an arrogant smile adorning his thin lips.
"Mr. President!" he greets Austin with his high-pitched voice, offering him his hand.
"Walker," Austin replies coolly, taking the man's hand into his. "Glad you've found the time to show up."
"Oh, I wouldn't miss a party like this for the world, would I? And who is this lovely lady?" he asks, turning to me as his grin widens. He knows exactly who I am, but he's still insisting on a formal introduction. This is the kind of man who needs the political game of intrigue more than he needs the air to breathe.
"My fiancée, Ashley," Austin introduces me, and I offer Walker my hand. He takes it in his and, instead of simply shaking it, he bends over and kisses the back of my hand with a flourish from his free hand.
"Glad to finally meet you," he tells me, locking his eyes with mine. Although I can't say exactly what it is, there's something in the way he's looking at me that just makes me uncomfortable, as if there were bugs crawling under my skin. "I see that the lovely Korean ambassador has been forgotten," he continues, straightening his back and looking straight at Austin. He's provoking him, throwing him the hook and bait in the hopes that Austin bites on it.
"I didn't take you for the kind of man who would read the tabloids," I say before Austin can utter a single word.
"I don't read the --"
"They just print anything, don't they? All they want is to sell … and I guess that some people out there just enjoy their conspiracy theories." I started by being subtle but the more I speak, the bolder I grow. "I'm just glad you didn't bring your tin foil hat to the party, Mr. Walker. Although, I must say, I think it'd suit you," I tell him casually, as if I was commenting on the weather.
"Seems like you've found a smart woman, Mr. President," Walker throws at Austin, completely ignoring my remarks. Then, his gaze falling over me, he looks down my body with an appraising expression on his face. "Perhaps too smart for her good," he whispers, and I can't even tell if he meant for me to hear it.
"I guess it's true; some men are really intimidated by women with a brain," I find myself saying before I even take the time to measure my words. There's something about Walker that just unleashes that combative side of me.
I swear to you, it's like the air goes quiet around me. You ever been in that situation where it seems like everyone is now looking at you?
Well, that's me now.
Walker is quiet. He's sizing me up.
"Sometimes pretty little ladies should know when to just shut up and look pretty," he says with an evil smile.
En garde.
"Sometimes old blowhards should know when they're outmatched," I reply back with a steely voice. I can tell that Austin is looking at the two of us. But my eyes don't move from Walker.
Before Walter can reply, though, Austin grabs me by the arm.
But I shrug him off.
"Old blowhards might know more than they let on," Walker replies back coolly. "Enough to wipe the fake smile makeup off pretty little ladies. Never underestimate what an old man can get up to."
No it's not just Austin. There are literally a circle of people watching me.
And his reply is baiting me. Merde.
"Oh, I know for a fact what old men can and can't get up," I say, eyeing him and pointedly looking at his crotch. "And I'm not worried about what they can try to get up. Because I know it won't last more than an hour when the Viagra wears off."
Touche.
Walker doesn't know what to say. And before he can do anything, I leave him sputtering, turning around and walking the other way.
"Enjoy yourself, Walker," Austin says in a hurrying after me.
"What?" I whisper as he pulls me across the ballroom, leading me toward a quiet place.
"He's a dangerous guy," he says in a hushed tone. "You don't want to become his target."
"It's a bit too late for that, isn't it? Besides, I don't like men like them, always prancing around as if they own the world."
"I'm serious, Ash. I worry about you." He turns to me and looks me in the eyes, an expression of concern deepening the soft lines around his eyes.
"Don't worry about me," I tell him, running my fingers down the length of his tie. "Men like him don't scare me."
"You know, Ash, I like it when you get tough," Austin replies, lowering his voice until it becomes a barely audible whisper.
"You do?" I ask him, taking one step toward him and almost pressing my breasts against his chest. "Why don't you show me exactly how much you like it?" This time I'm the one lowering my voice, anticipation filling my words.
"Just wait till we get home and --"
"Why wait?" I cut him short, the gears inside my mind already turning fast. "I know where all the security cameras are; which means that I also know where the blinds spot are.
He doesn't even try to argue against me. He simply matches up the desire dancing inside my head with his words.
"Lead the way, Ashley."
25
Ashley
Holding his hand in mine, I lead him through the crowd with a kind of coiled patience. I'm trying to act normally, as not to raise any suspicions, but it's hard to act normally with your fluids dripping down your legs. That's one of the drawbacks of not wearing any underwear. Yeah, you didn't think I was just teasing him, did you? I wasn't joking when I told him I wasn't wearing anything under my gown. There's something outrageous and obscene about wearing a gown so expensive it's almost outrageous, and having nothing between it and your skin.
I love it.
"Where are we going?" Austin asks me with a whisper, and I can tell that he's as impatient as I am.
"Broom closet," I whisper back at him, a grin dawning on my lips as I say it. You see, this isn't the first time I'm at the Ritz. I once had a mission that involved a high-ranking lobbyist, and he was staying here at the time. I studied the blueprints of the whole place back then, and I remember a small broom closet that could offer some privacy if needed be. I never got the chance to use it, but I guess that having that information in the back of my mind turned out to be a useful thing.
"Just going to get some air," Austin his security detail as two Secret Services agent try to follow us out of the ballroom. Reluctantly, they stay behind us. I lead Austin down a corridor and, looking over my shoulder to try and make sure that no one can see us, I head straight toward a discrete door.
"Here we are," I say, turning the handle and walking inside the cramped room. Austin follows after me, closing the door behind us and hitting the light switch on the wall.
"Wow, you weren't kidding," he says, looking around at all the cleaning apparel piled up to the ceiling in the small room.
"No, I wasn't," I reply. Grabbing him by his shirt, I offer him a wicked grin and pull him into me. Our lips meet as he rests his hands on my waist and, the moment that happens, I simply close my eyes and submit to all the lust screaming inside my mind. God, I needed to be alone with him. If I had to wait until this whole thing was over, I'd go insane.
And now here I am, inside a broom closet with the President of the United States. Yeah, my life's that crazy.
When I accepted this job, I had no idea my relationship with Austin would become this insane. I thought I wouldn't even have to see him outside of formal functions, for God's sake … But now here I am, hiding with him while we should be out there, greasing the gears of high society … But, oh well. It's so much better to be with him in here.
Surrendering to his kiss, I let all the lust inside my body grow and grow until it becomes something else entirely. Something that I just can't control. Something that I don't want to control.