Fatal Scandal: Book Eight of the Fatal Series (16 page)

“What’d you want?”

“The woman you hit at the gym today...”

“What about her?”

“She’s mine. She says you’ve been hassling her for a while now.”

“She lies.”

“No, she doesn’t.” Freddie took a step closer. Even though the guy was bigger than him and probably a whole lot meaner, Freddie was running on adrenaline and rage. He felt like he could kick the shit out of a raging bull if he had to. “Let me make myself really clear. Stay the fuck away from her, or you’ll be dealing with me.”

“You think I’m afraid of you?”

Freddie moved so fast Elliott never saw the knee to the groin coming. He cried out in pain as he went down hard. Without giving him time to recover, Freddie punched him in the face, in the same area where Elin had been hit. Then he took a handful of Elliot’s hair and forced him to look up.

Freddie brought his face down close to Elliott’s. “Stay the fuck away from her, or I swear to God I’ll fuck you up. Are we clear?”

“I’ll have your badge for this.”

“No, you won’t. We don’t think much of scumbags who hit women around here.” He pulled hard on the handful of hair. “
Are we clear?
”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t hear you.”

“We’re clear.”

Freddie released his hold on Elliott’s hair and pushed him aside, leaving the man slumped on the floor, cupping his injured testicles. On the way out of the cell, Freddie walked past the camera before he pulled his hoodie off it.

At the desk, he handed the key to the Delany.

“Everything all right?” Delany asked.

“It is now. If you could forget I stopped by, I’d consider it a personal favor.”

“Never saw you here.”

“Thanks, Sarge. Happy New Year.”

“Same to you.”

Freddie went up the stairs two at a time, propelled by the same surge of adrenaline that had brought him here. He retrieved his weapon from his desk and was on his way to the hospital five minutes later. Only when he was back in Elin’s room, his hand swelling from the impact to Elliott’s face, did the adrenaline leach from his body, leaving him cold and shaky as he leaned over the bed to kiss her forehead.

Sagging into the chair next to the bed, he accepted that he’d risked his hard-won career by going to the jail. But he’d do it again to protect the woman he loved.

* * *

Sam and Nick waited an hour after Scotty went to bed before heading up to their loft on the third floor. On the way up, Nick went into Scotty’s room to check on him. He was asleep with most of his covers on the floor, so Nick covered him up and shut off the bedside lamp.

When he got upstairs, Sam was on the phone, apparently with Gonzo.

“We do have some threads, and we’re pulling them. Carlucci and Dominguez are working on Lori’s financials tonight, and we’re looking at the church she belonged to. They protest at veterans’ funerals, among other unsavory things. I’m going on TV with the chief tomorrow to talk about Springer, and I’ll take advantage of the opportunity to direct the heat off you.”

Nick lit the beach-scented candles, turned on the music they’d loved on their honeymoon in Bora Bora and shut off the overhead lights. He sat next to her on the foot of their double lounge chair, put his arm around her and kissed her neck. He was fine with starting without her. She’d catch up. She always did.

She leaned into him. “I know,” she said to Gonzo. “It totally sucks that people are saying that, but the people who matter know the truth. Just remember that. I’ll check in tomorrow, and I’ll keep you posted. Try to get some sleep.” She ended the call, then tossed her phone aside. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem. I managed to entertain myself.”

Laughing, Sam began tugging at his shirt.

He put his arms behind him so he could watch her push up the shirt she’d bought him to replace the ratty one she hated. “What’s this about TV?”

“Oh. You heard that, huh?”

“Yep. What gives?”

“So, things with the chief are bad. The press is doing a number on him. I suggested he go out there and tell his side of the story.” When Nick pulled the T-shirt over his head, she trailed her finger from his neck to the waistband of his jeans, sending all the blood in his body to his cock, which surged against his zipper.

“How’d you get roped into it?”

Sam bent to kiss the same path. “I might’ve offered to use my, you know...” She waved her hand. “What do you call it?”

“Your stature as the wife of the vice president of the United States?”

“Yeah, that.”

Laughing, Nick fell back on the bed. “You are so funny, you know that?”

“How am I funny?”

“You don’t even know how to play the game, do you?”

“What game?”

“The
fame
game. You’re
famous
, Samantha. Everyone in this country knows who you are now. Go out there and use that to square things away for your chief.”

“Use it.” She bit her lip the way she did when she was thinking. “Isn’t that kind of...unethical?”

“Not at all. It would be unethical if you asked me to get involved behind the scenes to make it go away. If you go on TV and take advantage of the interest in us to change the conversation then that’s not at all unethical.”

“It feels icky.”

“Welcome to politics, babe.”

She unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. “I don’t want to talk about politics.”

Twirling a lock of her hair around his finger, he said, “What do you want to talk about?”

“I want to talk about how sexy my husband, the vice president, is and how every woman in America would like to be me right now.”

“Sure, they would.”

“Speaking of not knowing how to play the game.”

“I don’t want to play this particular game with anyone other than my beautiful wife.”

“Spoken like a true politician.”

“Or a smart husband.”

“That too,” Sam said with a laugh. She kissed a path from his belly to his chest, ending at his lips.

He wrapped his arms around her to keep her there, losing himself to her kiss and the way she made him feel. Her mouth opened and her tongue tangled with his. God, he could kiss her forever and never get tired of it. As he kissed her, he pulled at her clothes impatiently, breaking the kiss only to tug her top over her head. The scent of lavender and vanilla filled his senses and made him greedy for more of her.

Nick released the clasp on her bra and pushed the straps down, gasping at the exquisite feel of her breasts pressed against his chest. That was one of his top five favorite things in life. As he pushed her jeans down, he uncovered one of his other top five favorite things—her gorgeous ass. Truth be told, he loved every incredible inch of her, and the way she responded to him was a constant reminder of how damn lucky he was that she loved him.

And then she broke the kiss and reminded him all over again why he was so lucky. She pushed him onto his back and kissed a path straight down the front of him.

He drew in a sharp breath when she took him into her mouth, sucking hard enough to make him see stars.
Goddamn
, she was good at that. “
Samantha
.”

“Hmm?” She knew the vibration of her lips against his shaft made him crazy.

“You’re going to end this before we get started.”

“Let me have my fun.”

Her idea of fun was his idea of heaven. He gathered her hair so he could watch, which was almost as sexy as what she was doing with her lips and tongue. Then she took him into her throat and nearly finished him off with the tight squeeze. “
Sam
.”

She released him slowly, taking her time and circling her tongue over the head.

He reached for her and pulled her up to him, their mouths coming together in a clash of tongues and teeth and lips. He couldn’t wait one more second to be inside her, so he turned them and plunged into her. Surrounded by her heat, her scent, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his hips, Nick took a moment to enjoy the sheer bliss he found with her every damn time.

Then she began to move beneath him, needing more. He raised his head to look down at her swollen lips, the clear blue eyes that looked up at him with love and desire and the hint of vulnerability that she saved only for him. She let herself go with him, and he loved that she gave him that.

“What’s wrong?” she asked after a long moment of quiet during which he pressed deeper into her, but made no move to speed things up.

“Not one damn thing is wrong.” He framed her face with his hands and kissed her softly. His Samantha liked it hard and fast, but tonight he wanted to take his time. He wanted to savor her. He started with her neck, kissing and nibbling while she squirmed beneath him, trying to break his control.

Cupping her breasts, he sucked on her left nipple, drawing it into his mouth and running his tongue over the tip.

She grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged as she tightened her legs around his hips. Her internal muscles rippled and squeezed his cock, testing his resolve to go slow.

“I know what you’re doing,” he said.

“What am I doing?”

“You’re trying to take control.”

“I’m trying to get you to
move
.”

“I will. When I’m good and ready to.” He laughed at the frustrated face she made at him. “You may be the boss at work, but here,” he said, knowing he’d probably make her mad, “I’m the boss.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.”

“I never agreed to that.”

He withdrew from her so quickly, she gasped.

“What the hell?”

“Turn over. I want you on all fours, head down.”

“Nick.”

“Do it, Samantha.” He got up from the lounge. “You’re not in charge right now.”

Nick caught the glare she directed his way, but she did as he told her to do. Taking direction was a challenge for his wife, but he was determined to do this his way. He crossed the room to get what he needed and returned to the lounge and the incredible sight of his wife’s delicious ass raised in the air.

“Spread your legs some more.”

Hesitantly, or so it seemed to him, she did as he asked.

“What’re you doing?” she asked.

“No talking.”

Her deep sigh was so filled with annoyance that he had to hold back a laugh. She was adorable and he loved her madly, even when she was willful and determined to get her way all the time, even in bed.

“I love you like this,” he said, cupping her buttocks and squeezing.

“I thought we weren’t allowed to talk?”

“You’re not. I am.”

“Not fair.”

He bit his lip to keep from laughing. “Shhh. Just relax and let me love you.”

“But I want to—”

He silenced her with a spank, a quick pop of his palm against her cheek that made her shudder. Discovering that his sexy, gorgeous, willful wife enjoyed being spanked had been one of the highlights in a year of incredible discoveries. Always careful to keep the focus on pleasure and not pain, he did it again and again and again, until her bottom was pink and her moans were all he could hear.

He spread her cheeks apart and bent to lick from her anus to her clit, sucking on the tight bundle of nerves as he sank two fingers into her. She came instantly, crying out from the force of her release. It was all he could do to hold back his own need to come as she let go so completely.

Taking himself in hand, he removed his fingers and replaced them with his cock, pumping into her and catching the end of her orgasm. Damn, she was amazing and tight and hot and so wet. He picked up the tube he’d placed next to him and squeezed out a dollop of lube that he spread over her back entrance.

She reacted immediately, gripping him with her internal muscles and gasping as he pressed two fingers past the tight ring of muscles. With his other hand he reached around to her clit.

“Jesus,” she whispered, making him smile with the knowledge that he’d succeeded in emptying her mind of everything other than what was happening right here and now. He gave her his fingers and his cock, alternating so she was filled at all times while he pressed rhythmically against her clit. He loved her like this, completely at his mercy and accepting the pleasure she deserved.

The only thing that would make this better was if he could see her face, which he knew would be flushed and rosy from desire. He picked up the pace, hammering into her until he felt her come hard, her entire body seizing from the release that took him with her, surging into her until he was completely drained.

He withdrew his fingers and wrapped his arms around her, his face pressed against her back.

Sam’s arms gave out and she slid to the mattress.

He went with her, still buried deep inside, feeling her muscles twitch in the aftermath of her release.

“You should not still be hard after that,” she said after a long moment of silence.

Chuckling, he said, “I can’t help it if once is never enough with you.”

“You almost killed me with that one. Not sure I’ve got a second round in me tonight.”

“I bet I can change your mind.”

“I have no doubt that you can and will change my mind.”

He cupped her breasts and toyed with her nipples.

“That was incredible, babe,” she said softly.

“For me too.”

She grasped one of the hands he had under her. “I love you.”

He hugged her tightly. “I love you too.”

Chapter Fifteen

Ensconced in his parents’ guest room with Christina, Gonzo was wide awake. He stood at the window and stared out at the light snowfall that had covered the yard. Alex would be excited to wake up to snow in the morning. Gonzo’s parents had insisted on setting up the portable crib in their room so they could get up with him in the morning.

“Sleep in,” they’d told him and Christina, knowing they were upset and afraid.

Sleep in. Right. How was he expected to sleep at all when he was so churned up over Lori’s death and the suspicion that had focused on him—and Christina. They’d both had motive, the opportunity and the desire to see Lori permanently removed from their son’s life, said one of the talking heads on cable news, which had gleefully picked up on the salacious stories coming from the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department.

Except neither he nor Christina would ever kill anyone, least of all the woman who’d given birth to Alex. Sure, he didn’t like her very much, but she’d given them good reason not to like her. Starting with the day they’d met Alex when he was a couple of months old and found out she hadn’t bothered to give his son a name.

Lori certainly hadn’t endeared herself to his family, friends and colleagues when she came to the hospital after he was shot to stake her claim on Alex. Thankfully, he’d anticipated that possibility and had taken legal steps to ensure she couldn’t take his son away from Christina and his parents if he were ever injured on the job.

Standing in front of the window, wearing only a pair of flannel pajama pants, he was cold, but he couldn’t bring himself to go back to bed, where he would only lie there and spin.

“Tommy,” Christina said, her voice sleepy and sweet.

“I’m here.”

“What’re you doing?”

“Looking at the snow.”

“Come back to bed.”

He’d rather stay up and pace all night, but that wouldn’t help anything, so he joined her in bed.

“You’re freezing! How long have you been up?”

“I don’t know. Awhile.”

She held out her arms to him, and he snuggled up to her.

Shivering, she said, “It’s like snuggling with a polar bear.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m not. I love snuggling with you, even when you’re freezing.”

She was trying to take his mind off his worries. He knew that, but it wasn’t working.

“You know what the worst part of all this is?” he asked.

“What?”

“All these years I’ve spent doing the right thing, chasing down criminals, taking scumbags off the street, earning promotions and commendations and getting shot in the neck and nearly dying not all that long ago. And it’s like none of that ever happened. They just automatically assume, because I’ve had a beef with her, that I must’ve killed her.”

“I know, baby.”

“They just throw my name out there like it makes no difference whatsoever that it’s untrue. That all the good stuff I’ve spent my whole career doing doesn’t matter.”

“Would you consider talking to Darren? He was good to you after the shooting.”

“That would be risky with so many people pointing the finger at me.”

“So go on the record and say you had no reason to kill her. If your goal was to keep your son, that certainly wouldn’t be the way to do it. You could also say how insulting it is to have your decorated career as a police officer swept aside in a sea of accusations and innuendo when there’s no proof whatsoever that you had anything at all to do with Lori’s death.”

“You know, sometimes it’s very convenient to be sleeping with a political operative.”

Christina released the low, sexy laugh that he adored.

He wouldn’t have expected to smile, but she always made him feel better.

“I take that to mean you like the idea?”

“Yeah, I do. I want to talk to Andy first, and make sure I won’t be making anything worse.”

“You need to talk to a criminal defense attorney, not a family law attorney. Maybe Bill Springer will take your case.”

“Ha! Very funny. Can you imagine if I called him up and asked him to represent me?”

“It would give the reporters something else to talk about.”

“No defense lawyers, for now anyway. The one thing I know for sure after all my years in Homicide is that the minute you lawyer up, everyone thinks you’ve got something to hide. I’ll see what Andy says about talking to Darren and go from there.”

“Do you feel any better?”

“Yeah,” he said, “surprisingly I do.”

“I find it always helps to have a plan.”

“I find it always helps to have you. I don’t know how I ever would’ve gotten through everything that’s happened this year without you.”

“And I couldn’t have gotten through it without you.”

He caressed her face and kissed her. “We really ought to get married one of these days.”

“Any day you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep.”

“You don’t want the big white deal?”

“I just want to be married to you. I couldn’t care less about the big deal.”

“Let’s get past all this, and then we’ll get serious about making that happen.”

She rubbed soothing circles on his back. “I’m very sad about Lori. I wouldn’t have wished this outcome on her, no matter how much trouble she might’ve caused for us. But we both know the truth—that we had nothing to do with it—so we can’t let it suck the life out of us, you know? It’s a challenge we have to get through, but it’s not like when you were shot, and I didn’t know if you were going to live. That was something else altogether.”

“I know, honey. And you’re right. I need to calm the hell down. All the accusations in the world don’t change the truth.”

“No, they don’t. And tomorrow you can talk to Andy and maybe Darren and set the record straight.”

“I just hope it doesn’t do more harm than good.”

“So do I.”

* * *

Sam’s day began with a call from Lindsey at six. “Are you awake?” Lindsey asked, sounding chipper.

“Mmm, yeah.”

“Sam. Wake up.”

“I’m awake.” Sam opened her eyes, looked around at the loft and realized she was alone under the comforter. “What’s up?”

“I got DNA results for the semen found in Lori Phillips’s vagina. We’ve got a match for your guy Hughes, but there was a second profile. I’m running that one now against the database. Thought you’d want to know there was a second guy.”

“She had a busy last day, that’s for sure. Booze and coke and two guys.”

“Are you getting any closer to figuring this one out?”

“We’ve got a few leads to pursue today. We should know more by the end of the day.”

“The morning papers have banner headlines, tying her to Gonzo and rehashing the custody case.”

“Fantastic,” Sam said. “That’s just what we need.”

“At least they aren’t leading with Springer versus Farnsworth today.”

“There is that. Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll check in when I get to HQ.”

“Tell your husband I said to have a good first day in the West Wing. Terry was up at four thirty because he was too excited to sleep. Thus my early arrival today.”

“I’ll tell him. See you later.” She ended the call feeling guilty that she’d almost forgotten this would be Nick’s first official day at the White House. It was probably more that she’d blocked it out. If she didn’t think about it, it wasn’t happening, right?

She’d no sooner had that thought when the vice president himself came up the stairs looking gorgeous and sexy in a dark suit with a white shirt and a red and blue striped tie. He was showered and shaved and breathtaking. A pang of fear struck her in the breastbone. Every woman in America would want him when they saw him on the news later in the day, because surely his first day would be big news.

For now, for this moment, he was all hers, and he came bearing her robe and a steaming cup of coffee. Sam sat up and let the comforter fall to her waist. She ran her fingers through her hair, straightening it. “You look good,” she said, letting her gaze roam from his face down the front of him.

“You look
amazing
,” he replied, his gaze fixed on her bare breasts. He sat on the edge of the lounge and leaned in to kiss her. “Morning.”

“Morning.” She took the mug of coffee from him and took a sip. “What time is it?”

He kissed her neck and made her squirm. “Six.”

“You’re leaving already?”

“Soon.” He cupped her breasts and toyed with her nipples until they tightened. “I might be enticed to going in a little later though.”

“You’re all spiffy. I wouldn’t want to mess you up.”

He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her lips. “I love being messed up by you.”

She offered a weak smile in return.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, why?”

“I know that look. Something is on your mind.”

She ran her hand over the silky length of his tie. “Other than the fact that every female in America is going to be lusting after my sexy husband today?”

“Stop it. They will not.”

“Nick, honey, trust me. They will.”

Bending his head, he went to work on her neck, kissing and nibbling, not hard enough to leave a mark but just enough to make her squirm. “What about all the guys who’ll be lusting after my sexy wife when she goes on TV this morning?”

“You smell so good.”

“Is that your way of dodging the question?”

She shrugged.

“Do I have anything to worry about where you’re concerned?”

“No,” she said forcefully, surprised he would ask such a thing.

“Neither do you. You have absolutely nothing to be worried about. Every woman in the world could throw themselves at me, and the only one I’d want is the one I was lucky enough to marry.”

Touched by his words, Sam took his hand and spun the wedding ring around on his finger, remembering the matching inscriptions on their rings that hadn’t been planned. “I was pretty lucky that day too.”

“We both were and we continue to be.” He nuzzled her neck some more, setting off a surge of desire they had no time to accommodate. “Last night was so hot, babe. I’ll be thinking about that all day today.”

“You’ve got more important things to think about today,” she said even as a heated flush overtook her face when she thought of the things they’d done.

“God, I love when you blush. It’s the hottest thing ever. Well, second only to the sight of your sweet pink ass—”

Sam kissed him to make him stop talking.

He came up for air laughing. “What? Am I not allowed to talk about—”

She kissed him again. “Shut up about it or it’ll never happen again.”

“Oh, it’ll happen again. As soon as possible, in fact.”

“Don’t you have a country to run? Go away and leave me alone, you sex-crazed beast.”

He kissed the end of her nose and then her lips again. “To be continued. Don’t you have somewhere to be at seven?”

Sam groaned at the reminder of her TV date with the chief. “Me and my big mouth.”

“I
love
your big mouth.”

“Somehow I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing here.”

“I could show you what I’m thinking about.”

“I don’t have time for one of your demonstrations.”

“All right, if you’re going to be that way and send me off to my first day at the White House with an embarrassing hard-on.”

“You did that to yourself.”

“Um, I believe your bare-breasted hair thing did it to me.”

“What bare-breasted hair thing?”

“You sat there, bare-breasted, and gathered your hair into a thing.” He spun his hand around.

“A bun?”

“Yeah that. Again, with the bare breasts. That’s really all it takes. In fact, thinking about that later will have the same effect.”

“Are you really thirty-seven or seventeen?”

“A little of both when it comes to you.” Seeming resigned to his fate, he stood and held her robe for her.

“If I get up, all bare breasted and whatnot, is that going to lead to other things we don’t have time for?”

“You’ll have to do it and see what happens.”

Sam placed the mug on the table next to the lounge and got up slowly. Though her body ached in quite a few places, she felt languid and satisfied overall. She loved watching his gaze heat as she stood naked before him. Then she turned and he wrapped the robe and his arms around her.

“You’re a sexy vixen.”

She laughed. “I like that word.”

“You dazzle me.”

“Right back atcha, Mr. VP.”

“We need to do something awesome for our anniversary.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“I’m not sure yet. Let me think about it and get back to you.”

“I’ll await your reply.”

“Plan to take that week off, okay?”

“Can you do that?” she asked.

“I have no idea, but I’m doing it.” He pushed his hard cock against her bottom. “And doing it, and doing it and doing it for a whole week.”

“Nick?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Sometimes I still can’t believe I get to have this—you—every day for the rest of my life.”

He hugged her tighter and nuzzled his face in her hair. “Neither can I. I look at you and think, damn, I’m the luckiest guy in the history of the world.”

“I never thought anyone would feel that way about me. You may not know this, but I’m kind of a pain in the ass.”

“No! I had no idea.”

She pressed her elbow teasingly into his belly. “Hope you have an awesome first day at the White House.”

“It’s already an awesome day, no matter what else happens.” He held her for another minute or maybe it was two before he let her go.

Sam tied the robe around her waist, picked up the mug of coffee and took his outstretched hand. “You had to clean up all the clothes from last night, huh?”

“Of course I did. Do you know me at all?”

“You’re an anal-retentive freakazoid.”

“I’m neat. There’s a difference.”

“Freakazoid.”

“Speaking of anal...”

“Do not speak of anal. We have to go to work.”

“I want to speak of it.”

“No! There’re Secret Service agents at the bottom of the stairs and a boy sleeping in his room who’d be scarred for life if he overheard that. Now be quiet and behave like the second most important man in the free world, will you please?”