Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

GARNER

A hot flush washed through my body as soon as he said the word "love" in reference to me. I guess a part of me had already known it, had felt it for several years.

Kenan Harper loved me. He cared for me like I was precious. I'd excused or explained it away as simply part of doing his job, but deep down I'd known the truth.

No other bodyman would care for their president the way he'd always cared for me. He noticed when I hadn't eaten. He noticed when I was exhausted to the point of making mental mistakes. And he noticed when I was overwhelmed or depressed. During the midterm elections, when there'd been several key congressional seats that would take all night to be decided, I'd found a colorful children's book on my dresser in the residence. It was called Patrick Picklebottom and the Longest Wait and was about how hard it was to be patient.

I'd snorted and caught myself grinning in the antique mirror above the historic dresser. The only person who could have possibly put it there, and the person who most intimately knew how much the wait was killing me, was Kenan.

"You love me." I'd meant it as a question, but as soon as the words leapt off my tongue, I'd known them to be true.

His cheeks flushed a surprising deep red. "I don't want to pressure you."

I pulled his shirt open and shoved it off his shoulders. "You're one of the only people in my life who's never made me feel pressured."

He blew out a breath. "Good."

My hands moved to his pants. They were already open, so I pushed everything off before moving my hands around to feel his ass cheeks. He was muscular and fit, with an ass I'd caught myself staring at many, many times. Even one of the women on my staff had mentioned what a great ass Commander Harper had. Not to me, of course, but to some of the other staffers who'd been gossiping outside the Roosevelt Room one afternoon.

And now, Kenan was mine.

"I…" I wanted to admit my serious feelings too, to let him know so he wouldn't wonder about it. But it was nearly impossible for me to say the words.

He grinned and pulled my shirt down until it pinned my arms to my sides. "You what?"

I squeezed his ass, happily content for my hands to be frozen in that particular place. "I have feelings for you too."

"Feelings?" he teased. "What kind of feelings, President Ashley?"

My cheeks heated at the title. He was doing it on purpose to toy with me. "Strong feelings," I admitted. "L-…lovely feelings."

He finished pulling off my shirt before reaching to cup my face again. His leaking cock, still wet with my saliva, brushed the front of my pants before he pressed even closer.

"I'll take lovely," Kenan said on a soft laugh before leaning in to kiss me. It was tender and soft, nothing like the sexually charged moments from earlier. I felt worshipped and adored. Not rushed. Not pushed.

I tried to tell him what I really meant, what I really felt , with my kisses and touches.

"I want you inside me," I finally confessed against his warm lips. "Please, Commander."