Off the Record

Chapter 14 HOLDING ON

Liz felt the hammock rock side to side gently, pulling her out of her catnap. Hands traced the sides of her body, and lips captured her own in a searing kiss. She groaned against Brady’s mouth, her body waking immediately. Their tongues explored each other and she wound her hands up into his thick, dark hair. She threaded her fingers through the short strands, tugging lightly. His strong hands held her face in place, and his thumb stroked her cheek. She hadn’t felt this alive since the last time he had touched her.

“Mornin’,” Brady said with a grin before pressing his lips to hers once more.

“Mmm, good morning,” she said, unable to control the giddy smile on her face.

“You chose the gold.” He fingered the strap.

“I almost opted for nothing.”

“We can fix that.”

“Please do,” she murmured softly.

His hands slid under her knees and shoulders and lifted her off of the hammock with ease. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I’ve been waiting all week to get my hands on you,” he growled against her neck.

“No more waiting.” She let the words tumble out of her mouth. No hesitation and no forethought. He made her feel so confident. It was like everything she had ever been embarrassed to say to guys, she said to Brady. He certainly seemed to like that she spoke her mind.

Brady walked them over to a chaise on the deck, setting her down and taking a seat next to her. She finally got a chance to look at him. She nearly melted where she lay. How had she gotten so lucky?

Her body responded to the pure sexuality that radiated off of the man before her. He was dressed down again today in a white cotton button-down rolled up to his elbows, and khakis with a thick brown belt at his waist. His dark hair was short and spiked a bit in the front. His brown eyes seemed to bore into her, as if he knew the deepest, darkest secrets of her soul. Then again, he was her deepest, darkest secret.

Whatever business he had been involved in before he arrived clearly hadn’t required him to be clean cut, because stubble grew in across his strong jawline. She reached up and rubbed her hands against the scruffiness.

“Yeah, I didn’t get a chance to shave this morning,” he said, gripping her hips in his hands and sliding her down flat on the chaise.

“I like it like this,” Liz told him.

“I like you like this,” he said, staring into her open blue eyes.

“How?” she asked softly. “Lying down in a bathing suit?”

“Here. With me. Lying down in nothing.” He tugged on the string around her neck and let the straps loosen.

The top didn’t do a very good job of holding her in when it was tied, and Brady just sat and watched as the top released her breasts. He reached around with one hand and undid the back tie before unceremoniously tossing it over his shoulder and onto the wooden floor of the deck. She lay before him, completely topless in the morning light.

Despite the secluded nature of the lake house, Liz wondered briefly whether anyone could see her. She had never been topless in a public place before, not even on a beach in Europe, when she had gone with her high school friends after graduation. But the way he looked at her washed all of her worries away.

Brady smiled as he bent forward and took one of her nipples into his mouth. Her head arched back as his tongue swirled around the peak. His hand covered her other breast and massaged it demandingly. He moved to the other breast and sucked, pulled, and dragged the nipple between his teeth until she squirmed.

Her hand fumbled out in front of her to try to reach his belt. She needed to get him out of those clothes. He chuckled and pulled back but continued to circle his thumb around her now-sensitive nipple. “You’ll get your chance.”

I hope very soon, she thought.

She was ready for her chance right now. At the very least she wanted to feel him through his shorts…get a glimpse of what she would be having.

He took her hand in his, moved it away from his belt, and then pressed it against his growing dick. Her mind spun as she felt the heat from within and the full length of him pulsing in her palm. Her fingers wrapped around him, gripping him through his shorts, and then slowly pulled up to the tip. He dragged in a deep breath as she repeated the motion.

God, I want you out of those shorts, she thought.

While she was distracted with her own teasing motions, Brady reached down and yanked on the ties holding together the bikini bottoms. Her hand stilled as he traced the edge of the bathing suit with his fingertip, raising goose bumps on her exposed flesh. His fingers moved around the outside of the bathing suit down, so close to her most sensitive skin, and then back up the other side. He hadn’t even done anything, and she felt ready to combust.

He smirked as her cheeks flushed; then he moved the bathing suit away from her body. Liz placed her feet flat on the ground and raised her butt into the air so he could get rid of the last remnant of her clothing while he was still fully dressed.

He tilted his head with a devilish smile as she lowered back down. “Let’s try that position later.”

Liz tried to remain calm while she lay naked out in the open, but her heart was beating double time. She was ready for him. She was ready for everything he would give her and more. So she nodded and seductively said, “Let’s try it now.”

Brady bent down and kissed her lips. “You can’t handle me yet. I think I need to warm you up first.”

She thought about arguing with him, until he started kissing his way down her stomach and between her legs. Then she forgot all sense. Why had she thought about arguing?

His tongue licked up between her lips, spreading her open for his viewing. He swept across her clit and her body jumped. The next time he forced her hips down with his hand and used the other one to stroke down her center. She was already beyond ready for him. He was just toying with her, bringing her closer and closer, and then withdrawing until she felt her body gasping for release.

The longer he held her off, the more she felt her body begin to respond in all new ways. She felt her fingers grip the side of the chaise and her toes curl. Heat radiated from her core until it took over her entire body. She didn’t know how much longer she could hold out as he alternated licking and sucking on her. His fingers delved into her and began a slow, steady pumping motion. Her body arched off of the chaise as the combination of sensations rocketed her over the edge.

“Fuck, I want that,” he groaned as she rode out the orgasm, her core tightening and releasing.

She couldn’t even respond coherently. She was pretty sure all she did was stutter, but he seemed to get the picture. He stood and stripped off his button-down. She opened her eyes long enough to stare up at his chiseled chest and shoulders. He was built beyond comprehension. She was glad they had the entire day, because she was going to explore every inch of those muscles.

His hand found the belt to his khakis, and he made quick work of unbuckling it and stripping off his shorts. He wore Calvin Klein boxer briefs, and all she could think about was how his beautiful body belonged in their advertisements.

“Let me,” she said, stilling his hand poised at the top of his boxers.

Liz sat up, feeling more and more comfortable in her state of nudity. She slid her fingers along the seam and slowly dragged the boxers to the floor, releasing him from his briefs. She swallowed as her hand wrapped around the base, and she looked up at him with her own smirk.

She ran her hand up and down the hard length, and he closed his eyes with a sharp intake of breath. Liz wet her lips and touched the tip to her mouth. He groaned as she licked around the head before wrapping her lips around him. She went to work licking down the shaft until her hand moved smoothly up and down in time with her mouth rocking back and forth, on and off.

His hands dug into her thick, blond hair, gripping her harder each time she took him deeper. She couldn’t believe how much bigger it got as she kept up the work of bringing him closer to climax. She wanted him to experience the same mind-blowing sensations he had given her.

She picked up her tempo as she felt him nearing release, and he started guiding her head with his hands. She didn’t know if he even knew he was doing it, but soon he was pushing into her mouth faster and faster. She didn’t gag easily, but he was pushing her limits. She used her free hand to grip his hip as her lips slid back and forth with each thrust.

“Liz,” he grunted, not even stopping the tempo, “I’m gonna come.”

She felt him strain against the release, but she didn’t want him to stop. She wanted him to come, and she wasn’t going to let up until she got what she wanted.

When he saw that she wasn’t stopping him, he pumped even faster. She had a split second where she thought she wasn’t going to be able to open wide enough to take him all in. He was fucking her mouth, and she was…enjoying it. God she actually really wanted this. She groaned as she felt him pulse in her mouth, and the extra sensation did the trick.

“Fuck,” he cried. His body shuddered and he released into her mouth. He moaned as he finished, and slowly freed her of his tight grip on her hair. Liz sucked her way back to his head and finally released him.

He looked down at her expectantly. She met his direct gaze head-on and swallowed him all the way down. She licked her lips.

“Jesus Christ,” he said, staring down at her with admiration.

She lay back down on the chaise and stretched out for his viewing pleasure. His eyes raked her body as he slowly began to recover his wits. She tried to remain as still as possible as he examined her, but she was sure she was squirming. When his eyes found hers again, he smiled.

“You’re coming with me,” he said, grasping her around the waist and pulling her to her feet. He scooted her toward the open glass door.

“I prefer that,” Liz responded with her pleased-with-herself grin.

Brady smacked her ass, sending her scurrying forward into the living room. “Hey!” she said with a giggle. “Watch how hard you do that.”

“You like it,” he said, following after her. And she did.

It was strange to walk around the house completely naked, but at the same time it wasn’t. She wasn’t sure what to make of the warring sides of her nature colliding. On some level, she felt as if she should cover up so his eyes wouldn’t see every inch of her, but still, she wanted him to see her like this. The way his eyes followed her made her feel utterly beautiful. It was a feeling that she wanted to remember forever.

They walked up the stairs, and when they touched the landing of the second floor, Brady hoisted her back into his arms and carried her to the bed. Apparently walking at a normal pace wasn’t going to be allowed. She almost chided him on being impatient, but really she was getting impatient. How long had it been since they had been in that hotel room?

Way too damn long.

She crawled backward, sinking into the pillow-top mattress, and then pulled the comforter back so that she could burrow into the silky sheets. He slid into the bed next to her and turned onto his side, so they were facing each other. Their legs tangled together under the sheets. His hand ran down to her lower back, pressing her into him. Liz sighed into the embrace.

Soon their bodies heated up at such close proximity. Liz hiked her leg up over his hip, spreading her legs as he moved against her still-wet folds. She groaned at the feel of him between her already aching legs. “Brady,” she murmured, her fingers digging into his chest.

“You want me, baby?” he murmured, pushing her shoulders back into the bed and rolling over on top of her. He pushed softly against her opening, and her whole body trembled with desire. She moved her hips forward, trying to get him to move, but he withdrew.

She groaned in frustration. “I want you!” she cried, desperate to get him inside of her.

“Condom?” he all but whispered as he held himself back.

“I’m on birth control,” she told him. Any other time she might have been embarrassed talking about it, but right now was not the time. Right now she just wanted him to fuck her.

He kissed her lips as he slipped into her. Her body stilled as he filled her, and she let her eyes close. She hadn’t known it was possible for him to feel better than last time, but she had been wrong.

Brady moved in and out of her in one hard, swift motion. Liz tightened around him as the force of it rocked her.

“Fuck, your pussy is tight,” he groaned.

He repeated the motion, in and out. Harder, rougher, quicker each time, until he was slapping against her at a rapid pace. Liz was gasping at the power behind each thrust, but she couldn’t even begin to deny that it felt good. It felt really fucking good.

There were no pretenses in the way he was driving into her. They weren’t making love. They weren’t having sex. They were fucking, plain and simple. And Liz wanted nothing more than that in that moment. She wanted him to take her for his own. She wanted him to ravage her body. She wanted to forget that she was Liz Dougherty for a time and be whoever the fuck he wanted her to be, because the Liz Dougherty back in Chapel Hill would never have done this. And now it was all she wanted to do.

He leaned forward on his elbows and kept up the rhythm. “You like when I talk about your pussy?” he whispered. Her body seized at the mention of the word. She had never used it before, but it sounded sexy coming out of his mouth.

“No,” she whispered. He arched an eyebrow and slowed his movements. Her body tensed at the sudden change. She was already missing him pounding into her; she was getting close.

“Tell me again that you don’t like when I talk about how much I like your pussy,” he said.

“I don’t like it,” she repeated. She took a deep breath and let her walls fall. “I love it.”

Brady smiled in triumph. “That’s my girl,” he whispered huskily into her ear.

He rocked back onto his knees, grabbed her hips in his hands, and pulled her up so that she was resting in the same position she had been in earlier on the chaise. Her feet were flat on the bed and her ass high in the air. He started pumping in and out of her again, and she closed her eyes. Her body was superheating already, and then his thumb started circling her clit.

She gasped and groaned as he hit double stimulation with the move, but he wouldn’t release her. Her arms went over her head and she dug into the pillows, trying to stifle her cries.

“Come for me, baby,” he demanded.

“I…can’t…” she groaned, feeling her body teetering on the edge.

“Just let go. I want you to come when my dick is inside your pussy.”

That pushed her over. She saw stars as her body stiffened and then exploded all around him. Her orgasm sent him over the edge, and he buried himself into her one more time as they came together.

Brady collapsed onto the bed next to her. Liz waited until her breathing evened out and then rolled off the bed and walked into the bathroom. Her cheeks were flushed and her freshly straightened hair was a hot mess. And yet none of it mattered. She felt incredible.

When she finished, she returned to the bedroom and found Brady lying flat on his back dozing off. He was truly an unbelievably good-looking man. She never wanted to erase the memory of his peaceful slumber from her mind.

He cracked an eye open and smiled. “Come here,” he said, patting the bed next to him.

She complied, rolling onto her side and snuggling into his shoulder. She breathed in and out, slowly matching her breaths to the rise and fall of his chest. His heartbeat was music in her ears, and she heard it roll down a gradual slope back to a resting beat.

“I’m going to fall back asleep if we stay here,” she murmured softly.

“It’s still early. You should rest,” he said, kissing her hair. “I’m not done with you yet.”

She smirked into his chest, liking the sound of that. Gradually her breathing slowed and she drifted off once more, wrapped in his strong, capable arms.

They spent the day out on the lake, playing in the water, riding around on his speedboat, and racing on the Jet Skis. He was more skilled at riding, but she managed to unseat him once. That was victory enough.

Liz sped up next to where he bobbed in the water and smiled. She kicked her foot out and splashed him.

“You’re going to get it,” he said, swimming two powerful strokes toward her.

“You have to catch me first,” she said, swinging around on the Jet Ski as he lunged for her.

She watched him swim to his Jet Ski faster than really should have been possible and swing his leg over the other side, and then she took off. The Jet Ski underneath her hummed loudly as she cut across the even water. She could hear him closing the distance between them and laughed out loud at the adrenaline coursing through her.

Liz flew out into open water, veering for the cove that afforded them all the privacy in the world. She felt young and carefree, as if she was finally living. The world was spinning by in a blur and there was only here and now. There was only Brady, and how she felt when she was with him.

She chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw him racing toward her, getting closer and closer by the second. Abruptly she cut to the right, and when he followed her, she darted back to the left. He was so near her that she could see him beginning to pull up alongside her. Taking a drastic turn into the cove, she lost control of the Jet Ski and was thrown off the seat. She landed hard in the water, falling below the surface.

Her hands clawed through the water as she tried to resurface. Her head broke through and she came up gasping. She hadn’t been expecting that to happen, and she was more in shock than anything. Air filled her lungs and she treaded water to keep afloat.

Brady pulled up alongside her, laughing boisterously.

“Don’t laugh at me, you ass!” she yelled, splashing him again.

“I can’t help it if you wipe out so extravagantly,” he said, cutting the engine on his Jet Ski. He dove off the Jet Ski into the water and swam the remaining few feet to her.

“I can’t believe you laughed at me.” She pushed his shoulder lightly.

He grabbed her arm and yanked her into him. His arms circled her waist, pulling their wet bodies together. Liz smiled, instantly forgetting what she had been saying. She wrapped her legs around his waist and slid her hands up around his neck.

Brady held them effortlessly above the water as his lips found hers. She would never tire of kissing him. They tasted like a mixture of sweat and sunscreen, and she couldn’t get enough. She pressed her body into him and forgot that they were in the middle of the lake, where other people could see them.

He pulled back before she was ready, and she captured his lips once more. He chuckled. “We should get back to the house. I had dinner delivered. Nothing special, but it’s good deck food.”

“Sounds perfect,” she said, leaning forward and kissing him again.

They docked the Jet Skis back in their ports and toweled off. Plates of food were sitting on the deck table when they returned. Brady peeled back the covering to show her a cheese and bread plate, a fruit plate loaded down with fresh strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, and melon, and another tray with finger food that they picked at as the afternoon sun faded into evening.

Liz sat down next to Brady on the outdoor bench with her feet tucked underneath her and her head on his shoulder. She yawned, the rush of the day and overexposure to the sun catching up with her, but she wouldn’t dare slip away when she had so little time left with him.

“So, what else do you have planned for the summer?” Liz asked. It was nice knowing that she was asking not for work, but for personal benefit. Though she worried it might come across that way. “I mean when can I see you again?”

“Those are two very different questions.” At least he didn’t tense.

“I meant them the same,” she said.

“Well, to the first one, I try to take each day at a time and let my staff plan the rest out. I have to win the primary in August, and that’s where I’m looking. And in answer to the second, as soon as I can next get away.”

She hoped that meant sooner rather than later. She didn’t know how much she could handle this waiting game. She would wait for him. She knew that she would, but that didn’t mean that she wanted to go weeks without him in her life. In fact, she wanted to spend all of her time with him. And that was a scary thought.

“What about you? What are your big summer plans?” he asked.

Liz smiled. She liked this. It felt comfortable, sitting watching the sunset, discussing the future. She had never been a big one to talk about the future with guys…not that this was that kind of talk.

“Working on a portfolio for my journalism class and running a campaign column,” she told him. The thought of how much work she had got her all flustered.

“Busy.”

“Very. I don’t know how I’ll find time to keep seeing this guy,” she said flippantly.

“You’re seeing a guy?” he asked, turning to face her. She wasn’t sure whether he was serious or joking. She couldn’t read him as well as she thought.

“Well, I don’t know if you would call it that,” she said.

He narrowed his eyes. “If you’re talking about anyone other than me, I’m not going to be pleased,” he said, grasping her chin and pulling her in for a heated kiss.

Liz blinked a few times to try to regain composure when he released her. “How could there be anyone else but you?”

And in the summer-heated night, wrapped up in his arms, lost to his touch, she really believed that. Brady had taken over her world. He captured her thoughts, revealed her hidden desires, and made her feel as if she was actually living. In that moment, there was no one else other than Brady.

“I’m having a banquet near the end of the summer, right before the primary. It won’t be in any of the websites you’ve been scraping to track campaign schedules,” he said with a laugh. “I assume you’re doing that?”

Liz bit her lip.

“That’s what I thought,” he said with a chuckle. “I can give you a schedule if it makes it easier.”

“Then it feels like I’m not doing my job.”

“It feels a bit like you’re stalking me.”

“That is part of my job,” she said with a cheeky grin.

“Well, you won’t stalk me to this event without a ticket,” Brady told her. “I’d like you to be there.”

She wanted to ask whether she was going to be going with him, but she didn’t. She couldn’t ask that. If he said no, she wouldn’t be able to keep the hurt off of her face. They’d had such a nice day together that she wouldn’t want to ruin anything.

“All right. I’d like to go,” she told him.

“In the meantime, will you do me a favor?”

“Sure,” she said, offering him the world and more.

“Don’t get your picture in the paper.”

“What?” she asked, surprised. “Why would I get my picture in the paper?” Liz immediately started looking around the lakefront, as if she were expecting photographers to appear around every corner.

“In your paper. Don’t let anyone convince you that you need to have your pretty face next to your name,” he said, running his hand down her cheek.

“Why?” she asked suspiciously.

“You’re pretty anonymous, right?”

She definitely was. She had been saying not too long ago that everyone knew Calleigh when she was in her position, but no one knew who Liz was. It was probably her own doing. Calleigh liked to be in the spotlight, and Liz preferred the background. Slowly she nodded her affirmation.

“Stay that way.”

She didn’t understand what that had to do with anything, and it must have shown on her face.

“Right now, you’re Liz Dougherty on paper. You’ve written some articles that are unfavorable to me, but no one knows who you are. If you start showing up at all my events, and people already know your face, then your cover as Sandy is ruined…”

Liz started putting the pieces together. That made much more sense. He was protecting her identity and at the same time securing himself a little bit more. So, no pictures in the paper. That was fine by her. She would rather be anonymous than lose out on time with Brady.

“What about your press secretary? Doesn’t she know who I am?” she asked, wanting to cover all the bases.

“Heather? No, she knows you’re a reporter, but she doesn’t know you by face, just by name. And I’ll deal with Heather so she doesn’t put the pieces together,” he told Liz confidently.

“Well…I still don’t have an answer to my second question,” she said, nudging him with her elbow. “When do I get to see you again? I’m not going to have to wait another three weeks, am I?”

“Baby, I never want to make you wait again,” he said, picking her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and carrying her back up the stairs to the bedroom.