Commander in Chief

  I only hope I can calm myself enough tonight to give her the time she needs to enjoy the wedding, before I take her to Camp David and get a little peace and quiet for us both.

  I eye her in that sexy-as-hell blue dress that accentuates her curves, and it only heightens the need I have to see her naked body—to claim my wife.

  I set my drink aside and my gaze pins her down. “Excuse us, we have a few heads of state I need to look for.”

  “Nice to meet you.” She’s laughing as she says goodbye, and she tugs at my sleeve. “Matt, wait. I think the kids are waiting for me to finish dancing with them.”

  I’m stopped by the President of Mexico as she goes to say goodbye to the kids.

  “Hermosa, la primera dama,” the president says. “Beautiful, the first lady. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you for coming, sharing the joy.” I grin, and we begin discussing the longstanding treaty between our countries when I watch her approach the group. Little Matt Brems steps up with his hand outstretched and pointing back to the dance floor.

  She accepts. I plunge my hands into my pockets as she takes him to the dance floor, her hair falling over her back, and the cameras are flashing like crazy. When the dance is done, she bows her head, and then she retrieves something from nearby. She kneels before the boy and gives him the gift, and the boy just stares at it, then at her in full wonder, and she glances at me with a smile.

  I smile in return, knowing what it is. Then I flash on an image of a younger version of me, with her kneeling before him . . . our child. I clench my hands, a fierce want hitting me.

  I shake it off, smiling at her, and continue talking to the President of Mexico, telling myself now isn’t the time. But thinking of the years ahead, I don’t know when that will be.

  “I gave little Matt the photograph of his visit to the White House, the one with you in it that I asked you to sign,” Charlotte says, back at my side.

  “I know.”

  “For luck.”

  “You’re gorgeous. I’m looking forward to whisking you out of here.”

  26

  CAMP DAVID

  Charlotte

  Marine One takes us to Camp David, where we attack each other the moment we walk into the Aspen Lodge. Matt crushes me between his body and the door, his tongue plunging relentlessly, his hand fisting my hair, pulling me back so his mouth can roam down my throat, ravenous and damp as he reaches between our bodies to pull up my skirt and lift me.

  I let him hold me up by the ass, then brace me against the door as he lowers himself between my legs. I feel his mouth wander down my abdomen and between my thighs, the stubble of the day on his jaw rasping the sensitive skin there as he pulls my panties aside and gives me a long, wet lick.

  I groan and grab his thick, silky hair, groaning yet again when he repeats the motion with his tongue—a long, delicious lick, covering my opening and caressing my folds.

  He inserts his thumb and looks up at me, his hair mussed, his eyes glistening, his lips wet.

  “Please don’t let me come without you,” I beg.

  He licks me again, a low growl leaving his chest. “What do you want?”

  “I want you naked,” I breathe, and before I know it, he’s setting me on my feet and standing back, looking at me as his fingers begin working on his shirt.

  I reach behind me and undo the buttons at my back, panting as he shrugs off his shirt and unbuckles and unzips.

  Him naked.

  There’s something about him naked.

  Primal and powerful.

  In his element as man.

  It turns me on.

  He is mine.

  Just mine, mask off, tie off, suit off, all the power of the executive branch off. Just his muscles. His lips. His words.

  I’m married to the president. I don’t care that he’s president.

  But who he is.

  I’m married to my childhood crush, the man I love.

  It makes me quiver. He does.

  He’s the only one I’d ever want to spend forever with.

  And the girl in me still marvels that from his pick of women, he picked me. Loved me. Saw me.

  Sees me now, as he stands before me, all lean muscle and man, watching me shed my blue form-fitting travel outfit.

  He’s breathing hard, his gaze raking me.

  I take a step and he grabs me, gathering my hair above my head in one fist. He leans his lips to my ear. “I fucking love the hell out of you,” he whispers, touching my breast with one hand, caressing the taut peak.

  “I love you so much. I want you inside me as soon as possible.”

  He kisses me. I sort of lose all my thoughts, reaching between us to touch him—hard and pulsing. I groan when he scoops me up, carries me into a large bedroom with a king bed, and throws me on the mattress. He falls on top of me and ducks his head to my breasts, and Matthew’s mouth becomes the center of my galaxy. I can’t get enough. I groan as he licks and sucks hungrily, taking his time to enjoy me, taste me, tantalize me, his mouth often coming back to mine, gentle but fierce.

  “What does my wife want?”

  “God, you know what,” I say.

  He rewards me with a kiss. I never thought a man would kiss me with this passion, would want me with this passion, would love me with this passion—I never thought, when I once told him innocently that I wouldn’t mind being by the president’s side, that I’d actually end up by his side. That he’d be the man I would not only be with for his first term, and maybe second, but for the rest of his life and mine.

  And I think this is why we’re kissing like this—because we’re not the president and the first lady when we’re together. Because him proposing, him marrying me, has nothing to do with the circumstances that he’s currently the commander in chief and I’m his first lady. It’s despite that.

  He asked me because he wants forever with me—and the thought of forever with him makes me the happiest woman alive.

  It doesn’t matter that our forever will grace the history books. It’s our history, his and mine.

  Matt sets his forehead on mine and looks intently into my eyes.

  “Are you on the pill, baby?” he asks thickly and when I motion ‘yes’ with my head (having started when Matt asked the White House doctor to prescribe me), he kisses me deep, opening me up so he can enter me.

  I groan. He lets go a rumble that tells me right off the bat that he loves the feel of me—the feel of us without anything in between. And god, I feel full—full and ready to splinter into a million delicious particles from the pleasure of feeling Matt—long, thick, hard Matt—driving inside me like he belongs here.

  He does.

  He folds my right leg over his shoulder, opening me up even more. I can feel the ripple of muscle from his shoulder and arm under my calf, and he thrusts, and suddenly he’s even deeper—deeper than ever.

  A whimper of pleasure leaves me, and his mouth is there to eat it up. “How deep do you want me?” he asks, pulling my other leg over his shoulder too.

  I’m nearly at the peak already.

  “Oh god, Matthew,” I pant.

  Keeping my legs draped over his shoulders, he drives in deeper.

  “Like that,” he rasps.

  He fills me as if he doesn’t plan to leave. As if he belongs inside me. As if my body was made to fit every inch of his. He groans when he’s fully embedded, and I clench my legs around his shoulders, wanting more, wanting everything, my muscles gripping his hot length every time he drives in and even more so when he’s pulling out.

  “How right you squeeze me,” he purrs, licking my lips. “Make room for me, Mrs. Hamilton. Take all of me.”

  “Yes,” I pant. “I’m all yours.”

  I cry out in pleasure and Matt watches me, making me come, letting me come, watching me with desirous eyes and a wolfish smile on his face—as if he couldn’t relish anything more than having me lose control.

  He comes with me with a roar, his mouth capturing m
ine for a wild kiss as we climax together.

  For the next minute, we lie tangled, our bodies naked and damp from making love. Matt goes to the restroom and returns with a tissue, running it between my legs. He cleans me, disposes of the tissue, then comes back to bed and looks at me as he stretches out beside me. There’s no hiding the blatant heat in his gaze as he takes me in. He curls his palm around the back of my head, pressing his forehead to mine.

  “Can you take me again?” he asks, his voice gruff as he nuzzles my face with his and caresses my side.

  He finds the tight pearl of my clit and starts rubbing as he kisses me.

  “Can you take more, Charlotte?” he asks, switching his fingers on my clit from his index finger to his thumb—his index finger penetrating me.

  I arch up and catch my lower lip to stop a sound of pleasure from leaving me. His scent drugs me, makes me dizzy with want. His finger exits and he rubs my clit again, getting my juices all over me. I start thrusting my hips up to his hand, desperate for more. He eases his finger back in, then out, once again rubbing my clit. I’m thrashing, tossing my head, fisting the sheets at my side, undone by the way he touches me.

  “I want you,” I breathe.

  He doesn’t make me wait for long.

  He groans and squeezes my breasts, licking the tips, sucking them. I arch up to his hot mouth and clutch him by the back of the head, fistfuls of his hair between my fingers as I press him to my mouth and Matt fills me again, as deep as he can go, deep enough that I feel my soul leave me as I shatter for him.

  The living room has a fireplace, and in the middle of the night, Matt gets it going.

  Soon there’s a warm fire crackling.

  He smiles and strokes his hand down my back, exhaling contentedly as we lie on the couch after another round of delicious sexual intercourse.

  “So many nights I wished I could . . . feel you hold my hand”—I lift his hand and set my own against it—“and look at you without fear of everyone seeing what was written in my eyes.”

  He holds me by the back of the head, his cock stiffening beneath my lap at my words, kissing me with his long, wet, roving tongue.

  “Now . . . you’re my husband.”

  He looks at me. “I love you.”

  He takes my hand and licks my ring finger, from root to tip. Mmm. This man is going to be the death of me. I remember him doing that the day he told me little Matt was visiting the White House, and suddenly . . . light bulb moment!

  “This is how you measured my ring? With your mouth? Mr. President, I’m shocked!”

  He smirks. “You will be pleased to know there are other things I can do with my mouth.” He expertly eases me out of his white button-down shirt (which I slipped into to lounge around in) and nibbles on my bare shoulder.

  “Oh, I bet. You’re very adept during press conferences.”

  “My mouth is even more adept at finding warm, sweet locations to suck and taste.” He slips one hand under the blanket and caresses the skin of my stomach, then tugs the blanket downward and ducks his head to kiss one of my nipples.

  I giggle.

  He lifts his head. “You’re cute.” He smiles, his eyes so gorgeous I have trouble breathing.

  “I wonder what the country would think of your fetish with the letter C,” I tease.

  “That I’m commander in chief. And am allowed to enjoy any fetish,” he says thickly, “that involves my wife.”

  I grin. “Your father, if he could see you now. His only son, the president, and doing a damn fine job.”

  “He’d be just as happy knowing I’m settling down.”

  “With me?”

  “No, with Jack.” Matt just grins and runs his thumb along my jaw. “With you,” he says, his voice raspy now.

  “You think so?”

  “I know so.”

  “He’d approve of me? Good pedigree? Daughter of a senator?”

  “My father had great respect for your family—but you charmed him. And there’s no word for what you did to me.”

  “I’ll have you know, I’m just getting started charming you, Mr. President.”

  “Are you now?” He smiles, then frowns as he looks at me. “Did you tell whatshisname you’re taken?”

  “He doesn’t need to be told. He knows all bets are off. He didn’t stand a chance against you ever since I started campaigning for you. Nobody does—did. Even before.” I raise a brow. “Did you tell all your groupie fangirls? Even the staffers have a crush on you the size no other president has ever enjoyed.”

  “I’m taken. I’ve got a ring right here to prove it.” He taps his wedding ring with his thumb.

  “So I heard through the grapevine . . .” I begin.

  “You have some big ears, don’t you?”

  I nod with a kittenish smile and swipe my tongue out to lick the top of his chest. “I’ve got a very warm tongue, too.”

  “Hmm. Give me more of that tongue. Lower.”

  “So I heard . . . Matt, are you listening?” I say, as I lick the center of his chest.

  “What?” He laughs, obviously distracted.

  “I heard . . . the bill passed. Education.”

  “God. Yes.” He squeezes his eyes shut, throwing his head over the back of the couch. “I’m so fucking relieved. For a moment there, I thought we’d miss by a vote.”

  “Matt, I’m so proud of you,” I say.

  He looks at me, smiling, stroking his hand down my hair. “Healthcare is next.”

  It’s surreal that the next morning, I wake up in Camp David—a married woman. I am married. From now on, people will address me as Mrs. Hamilton.

  Matthew didn’t seem to get excited by the idea of a paparazzi circus if we headed anywhere else, and so Camp David it was. I’m so glad this was his choice. It’s absolutely quiet. Peaceful.

  It’s so early the sun is barely rising. I can tell from the parting in the curtains that it’s close to dawn. I glance at the ring on my hand, identical to the thicker, larger ring on his hand, and drink in the man sleeping next to me, cuddling closer to his warm, hard chest to catch some more z’s. There’s nowhere I’d rather be.

  We wake up at 9 a.m. and have morning sex, then we do a breakfast cookout on the terrace. It’s relaxing. It’s the first time I’ve ever been alone with Matt Hamilton without sneaking or hiding. We are alone—truly alone (I suppose we’ve reached the point where the Secret Service and Matt’s shadow don’t count, especially when they’ve been doing their best to give us our privacy and stay on hand, but out of sight)—and this feeling of privacy is a nice change from the limelight of the White House.

  We turn on the television as we wash plates, only to see pictures of us on every channel. We decide not to watch.

  So we head out and explore the wilderness. Matt tells me about how he would golf with his father, and enjoy just wading through the trees that surround the cottage with Loki, one of his pets then.

  It’s almost 1 p.m. by the time we get back to the lodge, and I’ve never felt happier or more at peace than I do now.

  We walk into the living room, then the bedroom, and Matthew heads into the shower, turning on the water. He gazes at me expectantly, his eyebrows rising a millimeter.

  “Oh!” I gasp. “You want me to . . . you expect me to . . .”

  Ever so slowly, he nods as he starts unbuckling and unzipping, the corners of his mouth lifting a tiny fraction. “I do.”

  It’s the hottest shower sex ever. He makes love to me against the shower wall, then he pulls out and finishes off, his semen raining on my abdomen, his eyes on me, and it is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. Hottest sex of my life. With the hottest man on the planet.

  We laugh the rest of the afternoon, and make love in the kitchen, and talk policy and politics, and we even call the White House to check up on Jack, and ask them to bring him to us at Camp David by car.

  He arrives hours later, bounding happily to the cottage when he sees Matt at the door, and we spend the next day walk
ing the wilderness, with Jack barking, dashing, and wagging his tail.

  After a glorious Saturday evening, going out about the camp—relishing the fact that Camp David is paparazzi proof, because of it being a military base—and then curling up in bed to make slow, foreplay-laden love, it’s Sunday afternoon, and we’re back on Marine One heading home, Jack peering out of the windows.

  I look at the wedding and engagement rings glinting on my finger with a smile on my lips and then study Matt’s thoughtful profile as he gazes out the window. I can tell his mind is already drifting back to work.

  I’m sad to let the calm of Camp David go. But as we approach the District, I look at the Washington and Jefferson monuments as we get ready to descend over the South Lawn of the White House and feel a sense of peace and amazement seeing the city from this vantage point. I absorb the lights streaking over columned walls, and I know that this is where Matthew needs to be. This is where he belongs. Where we belong. No matter how much we sometimes wished to freeze inside a simple, normal moment forever.

  27

  LIFE

  Charlotte

  “This girl in the photograph,” my husband says as he stares at his gift, tapping a finger to the glass, raising an eyebrow. “I want her. Always.”

  “I’ll let her know,” I croak, breathless at the look in his eyes.

  He sets it aside and strides to me, in a towel, ready for bed. “I’m assuming she intended to give me a hard-on, what with the come-hither look.”

  I laugh. “Not a come-hither look! Alison told me to think about you and I just did . . .”

  “That’s the expression on your face when you think of me?” he asks, leaning forward.

  I nod breathlessly as he cups my face.

  “Think of me now,” he commands, his voice husky, watching me.

  I scan his face. “I can’t. I’m too busy looking at you.”