“But I love you.” He had changed, damn it. He wasn’t the selfish bastard he’d been for most of his life. She’d changed him. Loving her had made him a better man. “I love you both.”
“I know.” She brushed a tear away. “That’s the hardest part of all. You mean that…in your way. But I need more. I’m going to go back to my cabin. When everyone else is up, we need to talk about where I should stay long-term. I’m willing to go into protective custody if necessa
ry. Like I said, I’m not too stupid to live. I’ll see you later.”
She turned and left the kitchen—left him—but not before Gus approached. She paused, watching as Sara put distance between them as fast as she could.
“I guess that didn’t go well. Are you okay?” Gus had always been there for him, one of his truest friends. He needed her now. She would understand and make him feel better.
“No,” he admitted. “But don’t worry about me. Sara is the one who needs an ear. She thinks I left her all alone and…” Mad sighed, feeling like his world was caving in all around him. Then again, it was because he didn’t have Sara. “Can you please talk to her? Maybe take her some tea and listen to whatever she needs to say? I’d do it, but…”
She didn’t want him anymore.
“I know.” Gus’s eyes went soft. “Of course I’ll do it. I’ll even curse your name with her.”
Gus grabbed the tea pot to make another cup of herbal tea for Sara. Morosely, Mad sat and watched, his need for coffee gone. He only needed one thing—and it looked like he really had lost her for good.
Chapter Seven
Morning light filtered in from the small gap in the curtains, but it was enough to remind Liz where she was.
Zack’s room. She had spent the night in the president’s room and she was naked. She didn’t know what time it was, but everyone would be awake soon, if they weren’t already. They would know that she and Zack had fucked like bunnies all night. Well, “bunny” didn’t properly describe Zachary Hayes. He was more like a ravenous wolf who couldn’t seem to get enough of her, but that wasn’t the point. If she didn’t find a way to sneak out, their secret wouldn’t be a secret anymore.
She rolled over, but Zack was gone. His side of the bed was mussed, an indention where he’d lain his head on the pillow. His side? He didn’t have one since the man took up most of the space, and he hadn’t apologized for it. In fact, he didn’t apologize for much of anything.
After he’d had her on the couch in the office, he’d stood and hauled her to her feet. He’d straightened his clothes and let her fix what was left of hers—she’d managed to grab her bra and clutch her blouse together—then walked out of the library, past the Secret Service agent standing in the hall, like she and Zack had merely had an everyday business meeting.
Nothing to see here, Agent Tall and Grim.
If she hurried out of bed and into some clothes, then acted as if nothing had happened, she and Zack might be able to keep their privacy. After all, the Secret Service were notoriously tight-lipped. Their friends, however, were not.
She needed to move, but every muscle was deliciously sore. Zack had been insatiable all night, as if he’d tried to make up for all the years they had lost. The minute he’d closed the door to this room, he’d been on her again, stripping off her clothes and tossing them aside. He hadn’t even waited until they reached the bed. He had merely shoved her against the wall and impaled her on his cock.
On their third time he finally managed to make it to the bed, and even in between bouts, he hadn’t given her any space. He’d molded his body to hers, his hands constantly stroking her skin.
It had been the best night of her life. Now, it was over. She had to face that fact and find the will to get up and pretend that she hadn’t briefly been the president’s lover. That she wasn’t more in love with him than ever.
Apparently, Zack had made keeping their fling clandestine a little easier. He’d already gotten up and was probably out there with his friends, distracting them. She could sneak down the hall to her room and pray someone had retrieved her a bag from home. She would shower and join the group for breakfast, and likely spend the rest of her life trying to forget how good being with Zack had been.
She forced herself to sit up and glance around the room. She couldn’t help but wince when she noticed her clothes were strewn everywhere. Well, except her panties. She feared they were still in the office where President Carter had probably brokered Middle East peace.
She had to sneak in there before someone cleaned the place up.
Liz was about to stand when the bathroom door opened, and Zack walked out with wet hair, wearing absolutely nothing but a smile. Her mouth watered at the sight. Mercy… Even if they had fifty years together, she would never get used to the sight of him in all his glory. If she’d thought he was gorgeous in a suit, she had no words to describe him in the nude. Sleek, powerful, predatory. Perfect.
“What are you doing? Get back in bed.” He rounded the bed to her, looming close. The nearer he got, the more his cock engorged. “It’s still early.”
She’d seen the clock. “No, it’s after nine. Everyone will be up by now.”
“We’re not up.”
Zack wrapped his hand around her nape, and she could swear the temperature in the room went up thirty degrees. Then he leaned in and covered her mouth with his. After that, she didn’t think anything.
Heavens, the man could kiss. After the frenzy of the first two times they’d had sex, he’d finally slowed down and taken his time. He’d moved her to the bed and kissed her for what felt like a lifetime. He seemed obsessed with sinking his hands in her hair and melding their mouths together. His fingers twisted and gripped her, sending thrills of desire cresting through her.
His kisses made her forget all her good sense, drugging her past logic. She found herself lying back, letting lust take over again. They didn’t have to leave their intimate world for another hour or so. Maybe they could even have the morning to themselves. They could always say they’d been working. After all, she would have to handle the press once the news that Mad was alive broke. None of their friends would question the need for a strategy around that.
His tongue surged in, stroking against her own as he tumbled her back to the bed, his body covering hers. She loved the way he crushed her into the mattress. Her legs parted for him of their own accord. Or maybe he’d already trained her to spread them every time he came near.
She hadn’t gotten her mouth on him yet, and she so wanted to spend time on his cock, learning its shape and feel and taste. She wanted to touch him, know that she could give him ecstasy in return.
She heard a brief knock on the door before it opened. Liz gasped and scrambled to cover whatever parts of her body Zack’s wasn’t hiding.
Zack didn’t move. He merely looked up. “I’m busy right now, Thomas.”
Her heart was in her throat. There was a freaking Secret Service agent in the room. She was fairly certain she’d turned a stunning shade of red.
“I’m sorry, sir. I’m unused to you being busy. I’ll let the team know we have new protocols.” If Thomas was embarrassed, he didn’t sound that way at all. “The vice president has called three times already.”
“Please tell the vice president that I am busy and will contact him when I have time.” Zack’s tone was arctic.
“Yes, sir.”
“And Thomas, if anyone else tries to open that door, I expect you to shoot them. We’ll be out when we’re ready.”
“Of course, sir.” The door closed, but the unexpected visit still reminded her yet again that there would always be someone hovering nearby.
Zack started to lower his head again like nothing at all had happened. She could feel his cock nudging her, trying to find a way inside.
She put her hands to his chest. “Zack, we can’t do this.”
He tilted his hips so that his cock slid inside her, proving they actually could. Despite the fact that she was sore, her body responded, softening and readying itself for more of the pleasure he bestowed so easily and thoroughly. “We can do anything we like, and I fucking love this.”
He started to thrust at a leisurely pace, as though he was satisfied with merely penetrating her. He was forgetting a few things.
“Zack, everyone will know what’s happening if we don’t show up for breakfast. They’ll put two and two together.”
He didn’t seem to care. He simply drew her hands over h
er head, pinning her. “They’re all good at math, Roman especially. Those Ivy League schools know how to educate. When we’re done here, we’ll take a shower. Unless you’re hungry now. Thomas can have food brought in. How do you like your eggs?”
He was missing the point, but god, he wasn’t missing her G-spot. She could barely breathe. “Everyone will know what we’re doing.”
“They probably do already,” he admitted, nuzzling her neck. “Roman and I were supposed to go for a run this morning. He showed up bright and early and I told him to go fuck his fiancée for exercise because that’s what I intended to do from now on. Not his fiancée, of course. You, but I think he got the point. I’m pretty sure Roman told Gus, and Gus is a horrible gossip. God, you feel good. Jogging sucks. This...this is so much better.”
He was right. Lord, he felt better inside her every minute. “I didn’t think we wanted anyone to know. We agreed that we could only be together for one night.”
He froze, his head popping up, his stare burning. His cock still filled her, utterly huge, not ceding an inch of her body back. “I never intended for this to be some one-night stand, Elizabeth. I told you to be sure.”
She was sure how much she loved him, but the situation was more complicated than that. “Just yesterday you were shoving me away. And we can’t not talk about the fact that you’re the president of the United States. Everyone is watching you. We can’t have a fling.”
“I’m not married. I can have a fling if I want one. Tell me right now if you intend to stay with me or not because I would rather not waste my time with a woman who doesn’t want me.”