Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
B efore heading into their suite, Sam wanted to check on the kids. She stood outside Alden and Aubrey’s room, smiling when she heard whispering. She went in to sit on the edge of their bed. “Why are you guys still awake?”
“We were waiting for you, Sam,” Alden said with a cheeky grin.
“Are you trying to charm me, mister? If so, it’s working.”
He giggled madly when she bent to kiss his sweet face.
“I’m charming, too, Sam,” Aubrey said.
“Yes, you are, my love. How was your day? Did anyone puke at lunch?”
“Not today,” Alden said.
The joyful sound of their giggles filled her soul and brought tears to her eyes as she thought of their selfish grandparents trying to upset their lives once again. She couldn’t entertain the possibility that they might succeed, or she’d be sobbing in no time.
“You need to go to sleep.” She adjusted their covers and kissed them both again. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
“Okay, Sam,” Aubrey said.
“I love you. ”
“Love you, too,” they both said.
Sam took their sweet love with her when she went to check on Scotty, who was out cold with Skippy by his side, the two of them snuggled up to each other, snoring like two old men. Smiling, she bent to kiss Scotty’s forehead and gave Skippy a pat on her soft head. She wondered if the dog had been outside recently, but she’d wake up Scotty if she needed to go, so she let sleeping dogs—and boys—lie.
After she shut off Scotty’s TV and the lights in his room, she crossed the hall to their suite where Nick was in his office, poring over the correspondence and briefing books he brought “home” with him every night.
Sam stood in the doorway for a few seconds, just watching him, before she cleared her throat to let him know she was there.
As he spun around to face her, his smile made her whole damned day. “There’s my lovely wife, home late from running the streets and causing trouble.”
“That’s me, your little degenerate.”
He reached up to take off his glasses.
Sam stepped forward to stop him. “Leave them on. They do something to me.”
“What is this something you speak of?”
She fanned her face as she straddled his lap and curled her arms around his neck. Leaning her forehead against his, she said, “I missed you today.”
He grasped her ass to pull her in tighter against his instant erection. “I missed you, too.” He nuzzled her neck and sent shivers down her spine.
“We might have a teeny, tiny problem.”
He pressed his cock against her. “Nothing teeny or tiny about it.”
She huffed out a laugh. “I’m not talking about that .”
“Well, you caused that , so maybe you ought to deal with that before we discuss this problem you speak of. ”
“Like, right now?”
“Are you busy?”
“I wasn’t, but it seems like I am now.”
“You’ve very busy.” He tightened his hold on her and stood as she wrapped her legs around him and held on for the ride to wherever they were going. Right to the sofa, apparently, as he came down on top of her, capturing her lips in a deep, desperate kiss.
Sam’s mind was full of a million things—Tom’s funeral and the speech she needed to give, her sister’s unbearable grief, the twins’ grandparents’ latest volley, three missing teenagers who might or might not be murderers and concerns over the rumors circulating about Juan and her role in perpetrating a lie.
But with one kiss after another, Nick wiped away all those thoughts, forcing her to focus on him and them and the magical connection they shared.
His hands were under her top, pushing it up and over her head before he resumed the kiss.
Then her breasts were free of her bra, and his shirt was off.
How did he do all that without seeming to miss a beat in the kiss of all kisses?
“Smooth moves, Mr. President. Very smooth.”
“You like that?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Can I take off the glasses now?”
“Not quite yet.” She gave his shoulder a gentle push to let him know she wanted to move.
While they were standing, they helped each other out of the rest of their clothes.
Then Sam directed him to sit on the sofa, grabbed a pillow and used it to cushion her knees as she knelt before him.
“What is happening?” he asked, smiling as he twisted a length of her hair around his finger.
“It’s the glasses.” She wrapped her hand around his cock, smiled at him and then bent to run her tongue over the crown, making him gasp from the pleasure. “How lucky are we?” she asked between strokes of her hand and tongue.
“Luckiest people on earth because we have this.”
“Mmm.” She made sure her lips were well positioned for the vibrations the sound made.
“ Fuck . Samantha.”
“Yes, dear?”
“Don’t stop.”
She continued to tease him with her tongue and lips while he buried his hands in her hair and tried to move things along. “Don’t get bossy with me. I’m busy.”
The sound he made was a cross between laughter and agony.
God, she loved him, and she set out to show him how much, working him until he was a quivering, pleading shell of his usual commanding self. Then she backed off and started all over again, making him groan and gasp, and finally, when she was good and ready, she finished him off with a grand finale for the ages.
For a long time afterward, he kept his eyes closed behind those sexy-as-fuck glasses while he breathed deeply.
Moving up, she straddled his lap, kissing him until his eyes popped open.
“A man ought to be warned before something like that happens.”
She flashed her most satisfied grin. “How much warning does a man require?”
“At least twenty-four to forty-eight hours so he can take his heart medication.”
She laughed. “He’s not on heart medication. Is he?”
“No, but he might need to be after that.”
“Should I give Harry a call?” she asked of their friend, the White House physician .
“Do you want to have to tell him what put me in this condition?”
“Um, well…”
Nick laughed and ran his hands over her back, making her squirm. “If you keep that up, things are going to happen.”
“Things? Like, what kind of things?”
“Oh, some of this.” He moved against her, ready for round two, as he squeezed her bottom. “And some of that.”
“I love when you threaten me this way.”
“I love you all the time, every minute of every day of every week and month and year. I love you more than anything in the whole wide world.”
It was all she could do not to swoon like a teenager in the throes of first love when he said things like that. “Okay, I’ll have more of the good sex with you.”
“That’s all it takes? Some sweet nothings?”
“Those weren’t nothings. They were everythings, and as you know, I’m exceptionally easy where you’re concerned.”
“Easy. Huh. Well…”
“Don’t ruin my good mood.” She raised herself up and took him in, coming down slowly, going for maximum effect.
Nick watched her with those amazing hazel eyes gone hot with desire. “Sexiest wife I ever had.”
“I better be the only wife you ever have.”
“Only one I’ll ever want.” He gathered her in close to him and held on tightly as they moved together in the kind of perfect harmony she’d only ever had with him. He moved just right, gazing up at her with love and desire and all the things. He knew just what to do to get them both to the finish line, straining and gasping from the power of their releases.
His head fell back against the sofa, breathing like he did after a good workout. “That should hold us over for a couple of days.”
Sam deflated at the reminder that he’d be gone for two nights .
“Whoops. Had you forgotten?”
“Not entirely, but I wasn’t actively thinking about it.”
“Sorry.”
“I feel pathetic for wanting to wail about you leaving for two nights, which is insane. What the hell is wrong with me?”
He tightened his hold on her. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with how much you love me.”
“It’s making me into a lunatic.”
“Um, I hate to point out that you were a lunatic long before you met me.”
Sam raised her head, planning to object, but laughed when she saw his amused expression. “I can’t really argue with that.”
“I love that you’re a lunatic.”
“Said no president to any first lady until now.”
“There’s never been a first lady quite like mine.”
She held herself up with her hands on his shoulders while he cupped her breasts and ran his thumbs over her nipples. “Speaking of your wife, the political liability, we might have a problem brewing.”
“I have my naked wife draped over me. I haven’t got a problem in the world.”
“I’m not ‘draped.’”
“What would you call it?”
“I’m sprawled at best, and we need to talk about this, so I’m going to get up.”
“Not yet.”
Sam gave him five more minutes, because she needed it as much as he did, and then she kissed him and got up to take a shower. She turned on the water and put her hair up in a clip to keep it dry since it would be done by a professional in the morning in preparation for the very public Forrester funeral.
Nick followed her into the shower, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her shoulder as they stood under the warm water. “What’s on your mind, love?”
“Avery told me people are finding out Juan is alive, and his roommate, who we interviewed that first day, is telling people I knew he was alive when I came to their place.”
Sam felt him go still behind her, which did nothing to soothe her nerves. “How would he know what you knew and when you knew it?”
“I’m not sure, but that’s what he’s saying.” Sam turned to him. “What’re you thinking?”
“You went to his apartment after you saw Juan?”
“I did because they asked me to work the case the way I always do, and my first stop was his apartment. We talked to Juan’s roommate, Isaac, who’s been his friend since the Naval Academy. He’d reported Juan missing and was distraught over the news of his murder. As you know, I felt sick about the whole thing, but I did as NCIS asked and worked the case. I was led to believe it was possible we might uncover more information that’d be useful to the overall investigation into the Joint Chiefs.”
Nick reached for the body wash and filled his hands with soap to wash them both.
After they’d rinsed, he grabbed towels, wrapped hers around her and then tucked his around his waist.
“You’re freaking me out with this quiet efficiency.”
“I’m thinking.”
“Let me know when you’re done.”
“You’ll be the first to know.”
“Guess what else?”
“What?”
“We got invited to a dinner party at my new friend Cori’s—aka federal Judge Corrinne Sawyer. She promised a friendly crowd who’ll be thrilled to meet us.”
“You made a new friend and want to go to a dinner party with strangers? Are you feeling all right?”
“Haha. I saved her life by capturing Harlan Peckham before he could try to kill her, too, so she’s feeling grateful. But I like her. She’s cool. ”
“Wow, does she know how rare it is that you actually like someone?”
“It’s been pointed out to me that I’m liking a lot more people lately. I may be mellowing.”
“Don’t you dare do that. I like you nice and feral.”
Smiling, she said, “Speaking of dinner parties, I’m starving. Did you eat?”
“Ah, yeah, hours ago.”
“I totally forgot about dinner.”
“What do you feel like?”
“Maybe a turkey sandwich and some chips?”
“I’ll place the order.”
“We’re getting so ridiculously spoiled here.”
“It’s temporary, and besides, we may as well enjoy a few perks to go with the massive downside.”
Sometimes she could forget, for a second or two, that he was the freaking president of the United States. Her husband. The president. Like… what? It was still surreal all these months later, as were the room service, the butlers, the ushers, the deluxe accommodations and the other trappings of White House life.
The downside, though, lurked on the edges, always waiting to remind them that the whole world was watching their every move.
Nick returned to the bathroom, where she hadn’t moved from where he’d left her, standing at the vanity, staring into space.
“They said they’ll be up in a few minutes.”
“Thanks. Now tell me what we’re gonna do about Juan.”
“After the funeral tomorrow, we’ll do that interview before I leave for the West Coast. We’ll say you were told Juan was alive and asked by NCIS to conduct the investigation the way you normally would. We’ll add that you were told it was a national security matter and that you could be most helpful by working the case and reporting any new information you uncovered. ”
Sam leaned back against the vanity and crossed her arms over the towel. “Doesn’t that throw NCIS under the bus?”
“I’ll speak to Secretary Jennings first thing and let him know that we plan to go public with what took place.”
“What if he asks you not to?”
“He works for me, not the other way around.”
Sam smiled and fanned her face. “Power is sexy on you.”
He scowled. “I’m being serious.”
“So am I. But back to business… What if NCIS feels that us going public with this would jeopardize their case against Goldstein?”
“How could it? Juan had nothing to do with the coup attempt that Goldstein orchestrated. Whatever involvement Goldstein had in plotting Juan’s demise would be separate from the treason case.”
Sam considered that. “I guess that’s true. Okay, talk to Jennings first thing and set up the interview for after the funeral. I’ll see Joe at the funeral and will give him a heads-up that this might get ugly.”
“I’ll text Trevor now to make it happen right after the funeral. We’ll come back here for that, and then I’ll head to Andrews.”
“We’re not talking about you going away.”
He stepped toward her, put his arms around her and held her close. “Will you be able to sleep now that we have a plan?”
“Yeah, thanks for that.”
“Are we really going to the judge’s dinner party?”
“I think I might like to, if you don’t mind too much.”
“Anything for you, love.”