In the Running (2 page)

“What the hell is going on?”

He gave her a crooked grin, guilt suffusing
his features. “I was afraid it wouldn’t be quite this easy. I don’t
suppose we could just carry on with the kissing?”

“You’re the President,” she said before
inanely adding, “of the freaking United States.”

“Not yet,” he replied and she raised her
eyebrows at the preposterousness of his comment.

“Tom,” she started before catching herself.
“I mean Evan—”

“No,” he interrupted. “It’s Tom. Always Tom
to you. Noelle, if you’ll just give me a minute to explain—”

“I think it’ll take more than a minute,
Running Man,” she interjected.

“I suppose it will.” He shrugged and
responded to her comment regarding his screen name. “Dammit, I feel
like I’ve been running forever.”

“And here I thought you picked that name
because you were an Arnold fan, not because you were running for
office.”

He laughed. “Well…”

She groaned. “Oh, hell, Arnold’s a Republican
too.”

“Noelle,” he said, “before we get into any of
this hard stuff, I want to ask you a question.”

“Okay.”

“Why did you come here this weekend?”

She was taken aback for a moment, and then
she considered her answer. “I wanted to meet you, be with you.”

He moved closer, pulling her toward him with
firm hands on her hips. “Be with me how?”

Her gaze drifted to his lips and she knew the
answer he was searching for. She raised her hands to his handsome
face and smiled. “If you’re asking me if I was considering having
sex with you, I was.”

He chuckled before leaning down to kiss her
again. She suspected he’d meant to offer her a light, friendly
buss, but once their lips met, the intent changed as their hunger,
their instant attraction sparked once more. For several moments,
they gave themselves over to the sheer joy of kissing, touching,
holding each other.

She pulled away after a moment to catch her
breath. “God, Tom. I didn’t realize— I didn’t know it would
be—”

“So potent?” he asked.

“We just met.”

“We’ve know each other for a year. I know you
better than the people I see everyday at work.”

“This is crazy. You’re the president.”

“No one knows I’m here and I’ve moved heaven
and earth to protect your anonymity. Trust me. I was hoping we
could pretend we’re two normal people celebrating the holiday
together. Noelle, I promise you, this doesn’t have to be anything
more than a stolen weekend—a chance for us to meet face to face. We
can worry about the rest of it later.”

“The rest is sort of big,” she mumbled and he
laughed.

“The rest is gigantic, but I honestly don’t
think I can wait another minute to get you naked and into bed.”

Noelle reached up to run her fingers through
his hair. “Naked sounds good.”

Tom pulled her sweater over her head. “Yes,
but it looks even better. Where’s the bedroom?”

She gripped his silk tie in her hands and
pulled him toward the bedroom, marveling at her ease with him. Her
body had shifted into overdrive the moment she saw him and nothing
short of a hard bout of sex would relieve it. She led him to the
bed, before turning and loosening the knot. She pulled it off and
started to drop it, but Tom grasped her wrist to stop her.

“Put it on the bed,” he whispered. “I may
want to tie you up with it later.” A soft moan crossed her lips at
the thought and he smiled seductively. “You’re so beautiful.”

He bent toward her, taking her lips in a
possessive kiss, both of them succumbing to the incredible lust,
the desperate need to claim one another. She fought with the
buttons on his shirt and considered ripping the damn thing off. He
unzipped her skirt, hastily shoving it and her panties over her
hips. She kicked them off along with her shoes as they both reached
for the fastening on his dress slacks. As they continued to undress
each other, their lips devoured every bit of bare flesh they could
find. Tom’s lips explored the contours of her neck while she nipped
at his shoulder.

“Need you. Want you,” she muttered when his
hands unsnapped her bra, pulling the lacy material away. He dropped
it, and then gripped her breasts firmly, kneading the aching flesh.
She cried out when his lips lowered, taking her tight nipple into
his mouth and sucking hard. Over and over, he teased the sensitive
flesh until she thought she’d go mad with want.

She pushed back after a few moments and
glanced down. The president wore boxers. She gripped the elastic
band as she worked the material over his erection and down his
muscular thighs. She moved lower as well and it was his turn to
groan when she knelt before him.

“God, Noelle,” he whispered and she grinned
as his body trembled with her first small lick. He laced his
fingers in her long brown hair—the seductive touch setting her body
aflame. She opened her mouth and sucked in the head of his cock. As
she reached for his balls, playing with them, she worked her lips
around his erection. Tom began to thrust, his movements shallow at
first before going deeper. She massaged his balls harder and he
tightened his grip on her hair. She felt ravenous, wild, each
touch, each sound from his lips making her want him even more.

“Stop,” he said, but she refused, shaking her
head even as she continued to suck him.

“Dammit, Noelle.” He reached down and pulled
her away. “Not this way. Not the first time,” he said. “Get on the
bed. Open your legs.”

She crawled on the bed and lay on her back as
he bent down to retrieve a condom from the pocket of his pants.
Grasping her breasts, she played with her nipples as his eyes
darkened with need.

“Jesus, you’re sexy.” Once he’d donned the
condom, he climbed onto the bed, pushing her legs apart as he
moved. She sucked in a deep breath when he stopped—his face just a
breath away from her pussy. “So wet,” he murmured, as he ran a
single finger along her opening.

“God,” she said with a harsh breath.
“Please.”

He toyed with her clit for a moment before
pushing the finger inside her. “So wet and tight.”

She closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling
of being touched so intimately. It had been nearly two years.

Tom added another finger to the first as she
pushed her hips toward the glorious pressure. He rubbed her clit
with his thumb and she felt the lovely twinges that announced the
beginning of her orgasm.

“Inside me,” she whispered, but he shook his
head.

“I want to watch you come. It’s been a long
time for both of us. I have a feeling this first time won’t last
long.”

He accompanied his words with a rueful grin
and she giggled. “We have all weekend.”

He rewarded her comment with a third finger
and her body gave way to the climax. She cried out with the intense
pleasure as Tom continued to move his fingers inside her,
increasing the pressure on her clit, dragging out the
sensations.

She closed her eyes, perfectly aware of the
goofy grin on her face, but unable to hide it. He crawled over her
body, chuckling at her obvious delight.

“I take it you liked that?” he asked.

She nodded. “Mmm hmm. Sort of makes me sorry
I voted for the other guy.”

He laughed. “Damn. You voted the party line,
didn’t you?”

“’Fraid so.”

“Lucky for you I’m so forgiving.”

She opened her eyes and smiled. “I think it
helps that you won anyway.”

“There is that.” His cock brushed against her
clit and she gasped, suddenly remembering that while he’d made her
a very happy woman, he’d yet to get his own reward.

“Come inside me,” she whispered.

“I thought you’d never ask.” He pushed his
way into her body. She’d foolishly thought her body was too tired
to be aroused again, but his slow, steady motion proved her wrong.
Once he was fully seated, he bent down and kissed her. The gesture
was so sweet, so loving, she felt tears spring to her eyes.

“Crying?” he asked.

“Good crying.”

He brushed the tears away with his
fingertips, tracing the trail of wetness with soft kisses.
Thrusting slowly, he made love to her and she marveled at the
gentleness, the beauty of it.

“God, Noelle. I’m going to come,” he said
after a few moments. She nodded, his words triggering a similar
response in her body. She didn’t realize how close she was until he
spoke the words. He reached down and touched her clit, pushing her
straight into heaven.

As her climax began, his motions sped up, his
movements harder, stronger and she threw her head back as the
pleasure suffused her body once more.

“God. Yes,” he muttered as he came and she
smiled at the image of utter peace that claimed his face.

“I take it you liked that?” she teased.

“I fucking loved that,” he replied.

“Such language, Mr. President.”

He grinned. “Do you think it would be
politically incorrect for me to add that I love your tits too?”

“Definitely not PC, but thank you.”

He shook his head and his face sobered. “No.
Thank you, Noelle. This past year has been hectic, crazy. Talking
to you, well, it saved me.”

She pulled his face to hers, initiating a
soft, long kiss. He’d done the same for her, but she’d never be
able to thank him enough, never be able to express it. Then, when
he deepened the kiss, she realized sometimes words just weren’t
necessary.

The holiday weekend passed far too quickly
for Noelle. She and Tom enjoyed a private dinner in the room with
Ross and Julia, who surprisingly managed to hold her tongue about
all things political for the entire evening. The rest of the time
they spent alone—in quiet conversation or in bed.

Noelle lay with her head on Tom’s chest,
trying to push down the worry of leaving him the next day. As he’d
promised, they’d spent the entire time avoiding the conversation
she knew they had to have now. Before she could speak, he moved.
Gently pushing her to her back, he leaned over and kissed her.

“I suggested we spend the holidays together
for a couple of reasons. I wanted to meet you face to face, to
explain to you why I have to—” He paused and she smiled sadly.

“Why you have to say goodbye,” she finished
for him.

“In a few weeks, my emails, my phone calls
become public record. I knew this would be hard, Noelle. I just
didn’t know how fucking hard.”

She could see the pain in his eyes, felt it
in her heart. “The president isn’t allowed to date?”

He laughed mirthlessly. “Who the hell knows?
I have the distinct privilege of being the first single president.
I don’t want you to think I don’t want to keep seeing you. I want
it more than my next breath, but I would never do that to you.
Asking you to continue seeing me would make me the most selfish
bastard on earth.”

“Why?”

“You’d be plunged under a microscope. Your
every move, every outfit, every word analyzed and dissected. Your
history would be dredged up for public consumption. You’d be
hounded by paparazzi day and night.”

“Damn, Tom. You really need to stop
sugar-coating it.” She meant her words as joke, desperate to bring
back the lightness that had filled his face all weekend.

He shrugged, but didn’t smile.

“What do you want?” she asked. “Pretend for a
minute, nothing you said matters. What would you want if you could
have anything?”

“I’d want to keep seeing you. I’d want you to
go to the Inaugural Ball with me and I’d want you in my bed every
night.”

“Are presidents allowed to sleep with women
they aren’t married to in the White House?” she joked.

“They’ve done it before.”

They laughed together and Noelle was happy to
see her funny friend reemerge. He was facing four years of a long,
hard road and suddenly, her path seemed clear.

“I want to keep seeing you too.”

“Noelle, I wasn’t kidding about how
hard—”

She halted his words, placing her fingers
against his lips. “I only have one worry. I don’t want to do
anything that would hurt your career. I mean, I haven’t lived a
spotless life. I didn’t get great grades in school. My husband
wasn’t my first lover. I mean if any of that came up—”

It was his turn to stop her. He kissed her
and smiled. “You won’t hurt my career. You’re smart and funny and
good. That’s all that matters.”

“I don’t want to rush anything just because
of your job. I mean, despite our long distance friendship, we’ve
really only known each other a weekend. Dating might be tricky,
but—”

“I understand,” he said. “And I agree. We’ll
just take it a day at a time. However, I’ll talk to the head of the
Secret Service, see if you qualify for protection. I couldn’t live
with myself if someone hurt you to get to me.”

She nodded, his words driving home how
different her life was about to become.

“Second thoughts?” he asked.

“No. None at all. Isn’t that strange? I
should be freaking out, but for the first time since this weekend
started, I’m actually relaxed—body and mind. I think some part of
me knew you were going to try to say goodbye and I couldn’t stand
it.”

He grinned and shrugged. “I had a speech all
prepared. Then I looked at you tonight and knew I’d never be strong
enough to say it.”

She laughed. “You wrote a speech for me?”

“Good practice for my State of the Union
address.”

“Yeah, well, we still have a big
problem.”

“We do?” he asked.

“Yep, I don’t have a thing to wear to the
Inaugural Ball.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. I know some
people.”

“Merry Christmas, Mr. President.” She
mimicked Marilyn Monroe’s breathless tone and he laughed.

“Merry Christmas, Editchick.”