Chapter 7

Angela

Angela missed the feel of Blake's cock in her mouth. She took her time licking the head, then ran her tongue along his large pulsing vein.

Blake hissed and grabbed a handful of hair. "By the Goddess, woman, you are incredible."

She lifted her head enough for him to see her evil smile. "I'm only just beginning."

She sucked his cock into her mouth slowly, enjoying the fullness of it and the way he squirmed. When he hit the back of her throat, she moved her mouth to the tip and repeated everything. When she sensed he might be close, she squeezed the bottom of his shaft and gave him a second to breathe.

He lifted his head off the pillow. "I need to be inside you right the fuck now."

She straddled his hips and lowered herself, taking in every glorious inch of him. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed herself up so she could watch his face as she rocked back and forth and lifted herself up and down. They found a comfortable rhythm. The need to come took over Angela's brain. She blocked out everything from her mind except for this moment. Her body opened, and she fell hard over the edge, calling his name as she did.

Blake rolled her onto her back and pushed his cock deep inside her. Each thrust was deeper and faster. She couldn't stop herself and orgasmed again. This one was more intense and took her breath away. It wasn't long before he fell over the edge, his body tense with each spasm.

He dropped to the bed and rested on her, catching his breath.

"Please tell me why we haven't done that in a long time," Angela said.

Blake rolled over and lay next to her. He held out his arm, and she snuggled next to him. "If I had it my way, we'd do that at least twice a day."

"Penny would have a hell of a time fitting that into my schedule."

They laughed.

Angela glanced at the clock on her bedside table. "Um, Benji will be home soon."

"Can we have just a couple more minutes? Who knows when we will be able to do this again?"

Angela frowned. She knew her schedule had been demanding on him. When they first came home, she didn't want to let Benji out of her sight. She felt guilty for spending time with Blake and his family while Benji was held hostage. Blake assured her it was better that she hadn't gotten involved, but she was Benji's mother. She should have taken better care of him.

She got off the bed, looked for her clothes, and then sat on the bed to put on her leggings. "I had an idea I wanted to run by you, maybe even Tristan."

He put his hand on her leg. "If your idea involves my brother, it's nothing like the ideas running through my head right now."

She bumped him with her shoulder, stood up, and finished putting on her leggings. "Are you always thinking about that?"

His eyebrows danced up. "Always." He reached for her and brought her closer.

She kissed the top of his head. "I'm serious. Can you be serious, too?"

He sucked in a nipple. She pushed him back.

"Would you stop?" Angela stretched back.

He pointed at her breasts. "If you put that right in front of my mouth, I will act appropriately."

She stepped away and picked up her bra and sweatshirt. "I want to create legislation that will protect supernaturals."

Blake started getting dressed. "That would mean you'd have to tell people we exist."

She pulled her sweatshirt down and sat on the bed. "Exactly."

He chuckled. "Um, you can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Humans wouldn't be able to handle it. It would be mass chaos," Blake said, sitting beside her.

"Paranormal romance and fantasy have been around forever. Last summer, I read a great series about a lesbian lawyer who inherited a bar and fell in love with Lucifer's twin sister. The dumb author is taking forever to come out with book three."

"Fiction. That's all fiction."

"But those ideas came from real people. If real people create these stories, then some believe that supernaturals exist. Maybe they even know real supernaturals."

Blake's face sobered. "You're serious, aren't you?"

She got off the bed and faced him, hands on her hips. "Yes, I am serious."

He got off the bed and pushed past her. "You can't do that. It would create another witch hunt."

"There's already a witch hunt happening. Tristan showed me pictures of those people hunting shifters like wild animals in the Serengeti. Legislation would create laws against that kind of thing."

"Do you think laws are going to stop that? I can't believe he showed you those pictures." Blake walked to the door. "Angela, get that idea out of your head." He opened it and walked out.

She ran after him. "It's a good idea. It would help in so many ways." She stopped. "It might also get me more votes to win a re-election."

He held up a finger as if to stop her. "Is that why you had that idea? You think it will get you re-elected?"

"It wasn't my main motivation, but it's a possible outcome."

Blake shook his head and walked away.

"Tristan also told me he wants you to go to Arkansas."

Blake stopped.

"And I think you should," Angela said quietly.

She wasn't ready for the hurt in his eyes when he turned around and looked at her.

"What?"

He shook his head, went down the hall, and went into his room.

That didn't go well.

She had the thought the previous night, right before she fell asleep. If legislation existed to protect their rights, they could come out and not worry about hiding. When Tristan showed her the pictures of what happened, she knew what to do.

Why couldn't Blake understand that?

She didn't want Blake to go because she didn't want to be with him, but Tristan convinced her he was the best one to help find the people responsible for hunting shifters.

He was being an ass.

Angela marched to his room and banged on the door. "Blake, open up."

"What?" He opened the door and leaned on the door jamb.

"Why are you mad?"

He didn't respond.

She threw up her hands. "So, you're not going to talk to me now?" She walked away.

"Who will protect you?" Blake said.

"What?"

"If I'm not here, who will protect you?"

"You hand-picked every member of my security detail. Don't you trust them?"

"None of them will protect you the way I can."

Now, I get it.

She walked back to him and put her hands on his face. "Blake, I do not want you to go away. I will worry about you just as much as you will worry about me. We have jobs that need to be done. Tristan thinks the legislation is the right way to go."

"Since when do you listen to what my brother says?"

"He makes a lot of sense. Alistair thinks it would be better if people didn't see us together as much."

He blew out a loud breath. "Angela, was that goodbye sex?"

She scoffed. "No. What are you talking about? I'm not asking you to leave my life forever. There are things I can do to help, and this is something you can do to help." Tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over.

Blake cupped her face. "I get it."

She nodded and held back a sob. "I still remember standing on your mother's porch looking at everyone who wanted to help find Benji. They didn't have to do that but did because they wanted to. This is something I can do to repay them."

He held out his arms, and she stepped into his embrace, resting her face against his chest.

"I can make their life better, to make your life better. You deserve a better world."

He rested his chin on her head. "I've been living my best life for years. I never wanted for anything more."

Angela wiped away a tear and smiled up at him. "I don't want people to think you're a monster."

He held her tighter. "I've never seen myself as a monster."

"But that's what Alistair called you."

Blake chuckled. "Alistair is an ass. You need to get rid of him."

"He may be an ass, but he's been invaluable."

"I think you should give his job to Penny."

Angela stepped back. "Penny?"

"Yeah, she does more work in two hours than he does all day. She knows everyone in this town, and if she doesn't know someone, she knows someone who knows someone."

"Mhh. I didn't know that. It makes sense, though. Her father was a powerful congressman, and she grew up in this town."

"Mom," Benji called from downstairs.

Angela hugged Blake again, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him. "I love you, Blake Sullivan."

She stepped away, but he pulled her back and kissed her hard. "That's the first time you've said that."

She winked and turned to walk downstairs.

Angela had too many ideas in her head to sleep. The possibilities energized her. Blake came into her room after Benji fell asleep and quickly fell asleep next to her. She finally gave up and went to work early.

Sitting in the quiet of the Oval Office, she thought about Blake's suggestion of firing Alistair. She wasn't sure there was a valid reason to fire him, but the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she became. He was good at what he did, but she never felt he was entirely on her side. He did his job for him.

She sat with her back turned to the door, staring out the window. The was rising and burning off the darkness. It would have been a beautiful morning to run, and for half a second, she thought about going back to her living area, changing, and going for a run.

She was startled when the door opened, and she turned the chair around. Alistair walked in without knocking, and she hated it when he did that.

"Oh, good morning, Madam President. I'm not used to you being in this early."

"Mmm, yes. I wanted to get an early start on the day."

"What a good idea."

"Yes, I thought so." She held out the report Tristan had given her.

Alistair took it but put it on the desk without looking at it. "What's that?"

"Go ahead and look at it."

He hesitated. "Madam President, with all due respect, I also have a busy day." He picked up the report, glanced at it, and put it in the satchel he carried.

"I want you to look at it now."

"Excuse me?"

"Alistair, I gave you that report to look at because I want to talk to you about it. Please look at it now. It will not take too long."

He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Fine. What is the report about?"

"Just look at it."

He pulled it out and looked through it. Angela studied his face to see if he had any reactions to the pictures. There were none.

"What am I looking at?"

"There are hunters out there who are hunting shifters for sport. Supernaturals are being hunted by vigilantes who feel that it is their responsibility to kill anyone they suspect is supernatural. Sometimes, they kill people who have no supernatural abilities at all."

Alistair handed the report back to her. "People have been hunting monsters since the beginning of time."

Angela stood out of her chair and leaned her arms on the desk. "These people are not monsters." She opened the report and found the picture of a young woman. "Sally Owen was killed because she won the lottery, and her neighbor thought she was a witch. Apparently, she never had any good luck, and then, one day, out of the blue, she won the lottery." Angela found another picture. "This is Opal McCarthy. She was a fairy who worked as a children's librarian. Would you like to know what her crime was? She kept the library open late because three kids still needed help with their homework. Unfortunately, she forgot to remind the kids to call home and let their parents know where they were. Their parents got worried and claimed Opal was holding them, hostage, while she performed some ritual. The ritual she was performing was dancing. They were celebrating finishing their work."

Angela slapped the desk. "Please tell me how this makes sense and explain why you don't seem surprised."

"Madam President, like I told you, people have been hunting monsters forever. It's just the way of things."

She threw her hands up in the air. "The way of things? The way of things? Citizens that I promised to protect are being killed in cruel ways simply because they are different. And you keep calling them monsters."

"It's survival of the species. Humans must remain at the top of the food chain."

Angela opened her mouth to say something but clamped it shut. She couldn't believe the words coming out of this man's mouth. How could she have worked for two years with this man and not know how biased he was?

She took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. Choosing the right words took an extra heartbeat.

"Mr. McCloud, you have served this administration for the last two years. Your exemplary work has been a model for all of us. However, I cannot let anyone with that much hatred for supernaturals work on staff. I will give you the courtesy of resigning rather than firing you."

"What, you are letting me go?"

"I'm giving you the chance to resign. I'm not letting you go, but that is on you if you see it that way."

"Do you think you can do this job without me?"

Angela clicked her tongue. "Yes, and I think I can do it better."

"I will have another job before the end of business today." Alistair got out of his chair.

"I have no doubt you will."

He placed his hands on the desk, leaned close to Angela, and raised his voice to almost shouting. "You were never qualified for this position. I don't know how you were elected."

A guard from Blake's team stepped inside. He must have heard Alistair's voice. "Is everything okay, Madam President?"

Angela recognized him as one of the python shifters who often guarded her in her personal living space.

"I don't know. Is everything okay, Mr. McCloud?" Angela asked.

Alistair snorted, adjusted the strap of his satchel higher on his shoulder, and stormed out.

Angela unclenched her body. She hadn't even realized she was that tense.

"Do you need anything," the guard asked her.

Angela hated confrontation. She had to overcome that quickly when she took this job, but it was never easy. She was shaking and felt cold but never let anyone see her vulnerable.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you." She pushed back her chair and stood. "I think I'm going to get some coffee and see if there are any muffins."

The guard nodded. "Yes, Ma'am." He opened the door for her and followed her into the reception room. Penny was talking to a secretary.

"Am I happy to see you," Angela said to Penny.

"Um, good morning, Madam President. How can I help you? Penny asked.

Angela rubbed her stomach. "I need coffee and something sweet. Do you know where I can find both?"

Penny smiled and held out a paper coffee cup. "Actually, Ma'am, I stopped on my way in and got your favorite, a double mocha latte with an extra shot." She picked up a paper bag from the desk. "I also picked up a sprinkle donut for you."

Angela took the cup and the bag. She wanted to cry. "Oh, goodness. I can't thank you enough. How did you know I would need this?"

Penny smiled and shrugged. "I knew you had a busy morning and wouldn't have stopped for breakfast."

The hot latte warmed her insides and calmed her anxiety. After two more drinks and a bite from the donut, she was over the confrontation with Alistair. She had no doubt he was not going away. He would be causing her trouble in the future.

"What's first on the agenda?" She asked Penny.

"Well, you have a meeting with —"

Angela looked up to see Senator Van Houten walking toward her.

"Senator Van Houten," Penny finished.

Angela wiped a crumb from her cheek and handed the donut to Penny. "Good morning, Senator. I'm afraid you caught me eating my breakfast."

Beatrice smiled. "Oh, think nothing of it, Madam President. Had I known you liked donuts, I'd have brought you a dozen myself."

"Let's go to my office." Angela nodded to the still-open door.

"Very well."

Angela followed Beatrice. "Let's sit on the couches."

Beatrice sat across from Angela. "I'm glad you had a few moments to meet with me, Madam President."

Angela took another drink from her coffee. "Yes. Well, you did say it was important."

Beatrice handed her a folder. "I wanted to bring you the final result, personally."

Angela took the folder. "The final result from the explosion investigation?"

"Yes, Ma'am. As you can see, it was absolutely due to equipment malfunction."

Angela skimmed the report. At first glance, everything appeared to make sense. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, Ma'am."

And, of course, I'm going to believe that.

Beatrice stood. "I will be presenting the report later this morning."

Angela smiled her best fake smile and stood. "Thank you for bringing this to me, personally. I will make time this morning to read over it."

As Beatrice reached the door, Angela said, "How is everything in Arkansas these days? I've never been there, but I've heard great things about the hunting in your state."

Beatrice turned and gave Angela an even better fake smile. "If you're interested in hunting, Madam President, visit me for a weekend. I'll make sure you have an amazing time."

"Thank you. I might take you up on that soon."

As Angela watched Beatrice walk out of the room, a thought formed in the back of her mind. It wasn't a clear idea but rather a murky concept with no form or detail. Something terrible was happening in Arkansas, and she knew in her gut that Senator Van Houten was in the middle of it.