Rebecca Zanetti - Blind Faith

Yes, she was. Enjoyment had illuminated her face during the entire talk, and Nate wondered if it was the nature of politics or the challenge of sparring with him that had brought her to life. While watching her the last week without her knowledge, he hadn’t seen nearly the passion on her face for her job as he had in the last two hours.

Years ago, not once in their time together had Audrey expressed an interest in either politics or lobbying. In fact, she’d wanted to work with young kids, hadn’t she?

The door opened, and a slightly graying head poked in. “Sorry to interrupt. Audrey, do you have a minute?”

Ernie Rastus, the senator’s chief of staff, was thinner than Nate had expected from the background files he’d dug up.

Audrey excused herself and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

That quickly, the fun of negotiating disappeared. Nate kept one ear on the conversation between Lilith and the senator, while listening intently to another conversation in the hallway. Had Audrey forgotten about his enhanced senses? Or did she not care if he eavesdropped on her conversation?

“How’s the meeting going?” Ernie Rastus asked.

“Okay. This McGovern fellow isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed,” Audrey said dryly.

Laughter rippled through Nate, and he coughed into his hand to disguise it from the members in the conference room. The brat remembered his enhanced hearing just fine.

“In fact, he spent more time flirting with the senator than dealing with numbers.” Pure glee filled Audrey’s voice in the hallway.

Ernie snorted. “With the senator?”

“Yes. At one point, when the senator complimented him, McGovern actually purred.” Audrey chuckled, and even through the closed doorway, the sound sprang Nate’s cock to life. He’d show her purring .

“So much for you charming him,” Ernie said, a smile in his voice.

“Oh, I don’t know”—Audrey’s voice lowered—“I bet I could still have McGovern eating out of my hand. He seems rather… simple.”

Nate bit his lip to keep from smiling, considering the senator and Lilith had started arguing about state taxes. He’d love to eat out of Audrey’s hand. Or navel.

Ernie cleared his throat. “So long as we get the money, I don’t care what a moron TechnoZyn’s lobbyist is.”

Did that jackass call him a moron? Nate crossed his arms.

“Right, Nate?” Lilith asked, forcing Nate’s attention back to the conference room.

“Absolutely,” he answered automatically, his main focus still on the conversation outside the room. Lilith nodded and launched into another argument.

Outside, Ernie sighed. “I had a decent meeting with Darian Hannah. He said Red Force is willing to fight hard for the Senate military funding.”

Audrey breathed out. “Isn’t everybody?”

“Good point,” Ernie said.

Who was Red Force? Nate pretended interest in Lilith’s tirade and tilted his head to better hear the outside conversation. His gut rebelled. Audrey really was in place to obtain funding for the commander from the U.S. government through the senator’s subcommittee. Nate had always feared that her pathological need to find some sort of connection with her mother would lead her into trouble.

Even so, the thought that the gentle woman he’d once fallen for would align herself with such a monster tilted Nate’s world. His head pounded, and a stone dropped into his gut. How could he have been so wrong about her?

The sound of somebody patting somebody’s arm reached Nate’s ears.

“So, I guess maybe I’ll go flirt with McGovern to help out?” Ernie asked with a chuckle.

Audrey laughed. “I think you’re too nice for him. Seems like a guy who likes to take it rough.”

Oh, she did not just say that. Nate pretended to purse his lips in thought to keep from smiling again.

Ernie snorted. “One of those guys who likes the feel of a whip, like that group who demonstrated outside last year? Remember? They had whips, leather, and some odd contraptions I’d never seen before, and they chanted something about freedom of expression.”

“Definitely. That McGovern is a bottom , without question. Probably has a monstrous dom named Bubba who spanks him nightly.” Audrey coughed delicately.

That was it. He’d never been able to refuse a gauntlet once it had been thrown down. Nate stood slowly. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, Senator. Where’s the restroom?”

“Go left when you leave the room, and you won’t miss it,” the senator said, his gaze remaining on Lilith. “As I was saying, when you pay property taxes, you fund schools, roads, and land development.”

“But, Senator—” Lilith started.

Nate opened the door, gratified when Audrey’s eyes widened. He held out a hand to Ernie and shut the door behind him. “Jason McGovern.”

“Ernie Rastus.” The man’s fingers were long, tapered, and calloused. His dossier noted he liked to build rocking chairs as a hobby.

Nate made sure to squeeze a bit too tightly. “Mr. Rastus, do you mind if I have a word with Miss Madison, here? We were in the middle of a conversation last night when I had to leave, and I’d like to finish up.”

Ernie frowned, curiosity in his eyes. “All right. I’ll catch up with you later, Audrey.” He hastened down the hallway, his gaze on the papers in his hands.

“What are you doing?” Audrey hissed. “We can’t know each other.”

“Dom named Bubba?” Nate asked, raising one eyebrow.

Audrey snorted. “You shouldn’t eavesdrop.”

He stepped into her. “And you shouldn’t challenge me by using words like dom , rough , and spank .” His voice lowered to the tone of gravel in a cement mixer, and anger rushed through him at the blatant danger she’d sought with the commander and politics. How could he be so pissed at her for aligning with the commander and yet want her naked and bent over a table with a desire that pushed everything else to the side?

She blinked, her pupils dilating.

Layers upon layers upon layers. Nate lowered his face, keeping her gaze. He reached out and fingered a strand of her hair, shoving the fury down. “Or was that an invitation to explore a little bit? I never did spank you.” Frankly, he’d love to make sure every time she sat down for the next week she thought a little harder about consequences. Her current path with the commander would get her killed. “Bare hand or belt, baby?”

She swallowed, pink flushing across her fine cheekbones. Desire glimmered in her luminous eyes, and she tried to blink it away.

Oh yeah. They hadn’t had nearly enough time together.

“Knock it off, Nate,” she hissed, slapping his hand. “Stop playing games.”

He kept his hold on her hair, allowing the natural dominance he’d been born with to reflect in his smile. “You started the game. Too late to set the rules.”

“There are no rules,” she muttered.

“Exactly.” Heat filtered through him in response to the rapid pounding of a small vein in her neck. More than ever, he’d kill to have her writhing beneath him, his name on her lips.

Memories assailed him, and he exhaled through the desperate need to taste her.

Footsteps penetrated through the heartbeat roaring between his ears, and Nate stepped back, releasing her hair. Two secretaries walked by behind them and kept on going.

They once again had the hallway to themselves.

Audrey cleared her throat. “Enough, Nate.”

He lifted a shoulder while his brain bellowed for him to get the hell away from her before he broke cover. “Maybe not. We’ll see.” Raised voices echoed from the conference room, and he filed the sound into the nothingness he used to keep from hearing too much and going crazy. “Why do you work here? You don’t like politics.”