Inferno Anthology (85 page)

I took him into my mouth again and didn’t stop bobbing until he came into the back of my throat. I swallowed his essence, a slightly bitter, but nonetheless tasty, treat. I cast a sly grin at him as I sat back on the seat.

“Did you finish?” he whispered in my ear and I shook my head. “Then lay back.”

His tongue lapped softly at my clit and I clawed the leather seat as my body convulsed. “Oh, yes!” I screamed. “Yes! Yes!”

His arms were locked around my thighs to keep me from squirming as he refused to stop until I came a second time. I collapsed against the seat and he slithered over me until he was on top of me. The weight of him made me feel safe and I breathed a deep sigh.

He kissed the tip of my nose before he rested his forehead against my forehead. “I’m going to do everything I can to make you feel comfortable and secure. I’m going to take care of you. Will you allow me to do that, Miss Jacobs?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, Sir.”

I managed to get my hair and makeup looking halfway decent before we arrived at the hotel. Some reporters had left, but at least half were still waiting, including Heather Rodin and two people I had been dreading meeting for days: Teddy Holt and Katherine Underwood.

We stepped out of the car and I immediately switched into assistant mode. “I’ll schedule that dinner for you and Kitty Stoddard,” I said to Chase, keeping my eyes on him so I wouldn’t have to look at the various faces glaring at me. “And I’ll schedule the conference call with Mercy Hospital for four p.m. to discuss tomorrow’s appearance.”

I glanced at Katherine briefly, taking in her perfectly pressed wine-colored suit and plump red lips before I walked briskly toward the hotel entrance. Heather followed me, a few reporters eyeing her suspiciously as she showed no interest in speaking to Chase. She caught me in the revolving door and squeezed in next to me. I wondered if she could smell the scent of sex on me as the door propelled us into the hotel lobby.

“Can I help you?” I asked, trying my best to keep my voice polite and level.

“What was the hold up? The senator’s car passed the hotel twice, but never stopped until now.” She held her thumbs over the keyboard on her phone, poised to jot down whatever flub I made.

“It was nothing. He received a phone call then he advised his driver to keep going.”

“Really? Was there some kind of threat?”

This girl was not going away.

“I don’t know. You’ll have to speak with Chase.”

She narrowed her eyes at me as we waited for the elevator. “Chase said I had full access to him through you. Are you going to answer my question or do I have to do my own digging?”

I turned on her as the elevator doors slid open. “We were discussing his appointments and he wanted to finish the discussion before we arrived at the hotel and he was attacked by reporters.”

I stormed into the elevator and she followed quickly after me. “I guess I’m going up, too. That lie made me feel extra filthy. I think I need a shower.”

This was not going well. I couldn’t react emotionally to a reporter or I would ruin everything for Chase. I had to befriend her, but how?

“I’m sorry if you feel deceived, Heather, but I assure you Chase has nothing to hide,” I replied. “How about you and I get a drink in the lobby in thirty minutes and we can discuss your feature? I just have to make a few appointments first.”

“You call him Chase?”

Shit!

“He insists I call him by his first name. You know how important it is to him to appear personable and approachable.”

The elevator stopped at the fifth floor and Heather positioned herself on the threshold to keep the doors from closing. “You have an answer for everything. It seems you’ve picked up the senator’s tricks quite quickly…. See you in thirty minutes, Larissa.”

She winked at me before she strode away down the corridor. I jumped as my phone vibrated against my breast. I fumbled around for it in the inner pocket of my blazer and nearly dropped it as it vibrated again in my hand.

“Senator Underwood’s office. How may I help you?”

“Larissa, it’s me.” Chase’s voice instantly relaxed me and I leaned against the wall of the elevator to collect myself.

“Sorry. I didn’t look at the caller ID.”

“I saw Heather follow you into the elevator. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“I told her you made George keep driving so we could finish discussing your appointments. She didn’t believe me.”

The silence on the other end of the line made me nervous.

“Don’t worry about her. I’ll call her right now.”

“I’m meeting her in thirty minutes to discuss the feature.”

“I’ll tell her you can’t make it because you’re going to lunch with Teddy and me.”

Great. I was ditching one hostile situation for another.

“We’re not really going to lunch with Teddy,” he continued, as he probably sensed my trepidation. “I’m taking you shopping.”

The elevator doors opened on the seventeenth floor and I walked briskly toward my room as if Heather were still trailing me.

“Shopping? But you just took me shopping two days ago. Shouldn’t you be meeting with Teddy to discuss tomorrow’s visit to the hospital?”

“This is a different kind of shopping,” he replied, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “Larissa, I’d like to take you ring shopping, if that’s all right with you.”

I nearly dropped the phone as I entered my room. “What—what kind of ring?”

“I know I’m not legally available to you right now, but it won’t always be that way. I want to take you shopping for an engagement ring. I want you to know I’m serious about keeping you, if you’ll have me.”

My limbs suddenly became very weak. I had to sit cross-legged on the carpet to keep from collapsing.

“Larissa? Are you there?”

“I’m here.”

“I know this isn’t really romantic, asking you over the phone, but I promise I’ll make that up to you soon if you promise to be my first
real
wife?”

“I… I have to give that some thought.”

“I understand.”

“I do love you,” I blurted. “I just have to make sure I know what I’m getting into.”

“Of course. Would you still like to go ring shopping, just to get a feel for what you’re getting yourself into?”

I smiled as I realized this could be the most difficult and important decision of my life and he was still able to successfully make light of it. “I’d love to.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

My sniveling broke the hush inside the chapel as I watched Isa kiss his new wife, Nina.

“Sorry,” I whispered to the older gentleman on my right as he cast a disapproving look in my direction. “I’m just really happy for them.”

I
was
happy for Isa and Nina. Just eight weeks after they were both hired to work on Chase’s campaign, they were tying the knot in a swanky chapel in Vegas four days before the election. They were so certain Chase Underwood was going to win the election, they decided to get the wedding over with so they could use their honeymoon as an excuse to celebrate his victory.

As I watched Chase in his dark gray suit embracing Isa and Nina in the aisle, my eyes were drawn to his right: Mrs. Katherine Underwood. She wore an elegant beige sheath dress with tan heels and her dark hair pulled into a neat twist. My gaze fell to my lap where my hands lay clasped over my pink clutch, my left hand still missing the engagement ring I’d picked out with Chase six weeks ago.

I kept going over that day in my mind. Chase had arrived at my hotel room in Baltimore with a jeweler and a suitcase full of rings that each cost more than I made in a year. I didn’t know where he had found a discreet and trustworthy jeweler in such a short amount of time; then again, he was a self-made billionaire who was four days away from being the next president of the United States of America. The countless ways he wielded his power never ceased to amaze me.

“Do you prefer round, oval, marquise, or princess cut?” the jeweler asked in a hushed tone, obviously intimidated by Chase and the circumstances of our meeting.

“Princess,” Chase replied for me, giving my hand a tiny squeeze. “Only the best for my princess,” he continued, as he planted a soft kiss on my cheekbone.

I should have known at that moment I had very little control over the terms of this engagement.

“Larissa, are you alright?”

How embarrassing. The bride was consoling me on
her
wedding day.

“I’m fine,” I said, popping out of my seat and throwing my arms around Nina. “I’m just so happy for you guys.”

I watched over Nina’s shoulder as the Secret Service agent held the door open for Chase and Katherine at the back of the chapel. They were leaving through the rear entrance, probably being whisked away to their suite or to a secret exit where a car would be waiting to carry them off to another private lunch meeting.

“Larissa?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, letting go of Nina as I tried to focus on her beautiful floral crown and flowing dress instead of the expression of pity on her round face. “Go. Go be with your husband. Enjoy the reception.”

“You’re not coming?”

“I think I’m just going to go back to my room. I hardly slept last night and I have to rest up for tomorrow night’s fundraiser.”

Her eyes lit up at the mention of the word husband and she quickly set off down the aisle. Isa gazed at me for a moment. He was the only campaign staffer who I was certain knew about Chase and I.

Isa glanced at his new wife as she approached the chapel doors then back at me. “He’s a good man,” he whispered. “You deserve a
great
one.”

I managed to make it back to my hotel room without another emotional breakdown. I slid the cardkey into the reader on the door and the lock clicked. When I pushed the door open, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

All the furniture in my hotel room was gone and a trail of rose petals and candles cut a path across the floor toward the balcony. The French doors stood open displaying a breathtaking view, but the lights of Las Vegas couldn’t match the radiance of Chase’s smile.

As my feet carried me forward, part of me hoped this was it. He was finally going to properly propose and give me the ring I’d been waiting to wear for six weeks. Another part of me thought this wasn’t right. In my hotel room, overlooking a city known for legal prostitution with his legal wife somewhere nearby.

But, as I approached the balcony and breathed in the scent of rose petals and fire, I knew there would be no resisting. I crossed the threshold onto the balcony and Chase held out his hand. I placed my hand in his and he softly pressed his lips to my ring finger. His eyes were locked on mine as he gauged my reaction then his lips curled into a smile.

“My mother once told me that where you find love is where you’ll find success,” he said, as he pulled me toward the waist-high wall enclosing the balcony. “I told her I had to find success before I could think of falling in love.”

Chase had never spoken to me about his mother, though from the daily phone calls I gathered they were still quite close.

“My dad told me I would find the man of my dreams the moment I stopped looking,” I replied, as we gazed at the shimmering lights of the Vegas strip. “My mom was a little less romantic. She told me I’d find love when I found a guy who didn’t mind the way I looked sitting on the throne.”

Chase laughed out loud, a robust laugh that rattled my bones. “I’m sure you’re quite the vision sitting on the throne,” he said, casting me a sly sideways glance. “I like your mom.”

“Yeah, well, she doesn’t like me very much. I haven’t spoken to her since I left home two years ago.”

He turned to me and I expected to find pity in his eyes. What I found instead was concern. “Larissa, you have to speak to your mother. She has to know about your success.”

You call this success?

“What am I supposed to tell her? I’m working on the most expensive and feverish campaign in the history of the world, oh, and by the way, Mom, I’m having an affair with the soon to be President of the United States.”

He looked as if I had just told him he lost the election.

“I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”

He shook his head then turned back to the city lights. “No, you’re right. You can’t tell your mother about your new job. She’ll question you and that will just lead to more questions.”

Though Chase had kept his word and torn up the non-disclosure agreement he made me sign six weeks ago before I came to work on his campaign, the expectation of silence was more than implied.

I let out a derisive chuckle. “Of course. We have to protect Senator Underwood from the press.”

“Larissa, you knew what you were getting into when you came on the road with me.”

“Now
you’re
the one who’s right.”

I turned to leave and he grabbed my arm. “Don’t go.”

I gazed at the trail of rose petals and candles then at his fingers curled firmly around my forearm—the same fingers that were curled inside me last night—and my resolve ebbed.

He pulled me toward him and clasped my face in his hands. “The election is four days away. Can we please just enjoy tonight?”