Chapter Nine
By the time the afternoon rolled around, Caroline had been through a roller coaster of emotions she could barely handle. She had spent the whole day not thinking much about Jack Reiner. Her mind was occupied with the worry of being implicated in the death of Alyson.
By comparison, she was holding herself together better than Ella who had been calling her all day every time she was suffering from a panic attack. All that she might have been able to handle had it not been for what happened in her apartment after Alex arrived.
For as long as she had known Alex, Caroline had suspected that he cared about her. Initially as a brother figure, but progressively more protective and invested in her safety and well-being. The way his eyes lingered on her... The way she caught him staring at her… With the growing influence Alex had on the campaign and the contributions she knew he was making to her father’s career, she had noticed how his affection had grown.
All the while knowing she couldn’t do much about it. Not that she wasn’t tempted, but the temptation was never overpowering enough to force her to do something about it. The decision to not settle down until she was twenty-five had been iron clad in her mind, and she couldn’t possibly see herself breaking his heart. For she knew, his eye begged for a happily-ever-after she couldn’t deliver for him. To distract her from the pressure, she had her picking of other guys to satisfy her physical urges and complete her research. So, she had been pretending to not see or hear anything and playing the role of the clueless younger sister.
All that was until she hugged him in the doorway of her apartment, at the same place where hours prior Andre was handcuffed and dragged out the door. Holding him the way she did, she didn’t expect herself to feel a longing bubbling inside of her. Feeling the intensity of his embrace, his heavy breathing, the surprisingly fit body she hadn’t expected was hidden behind the baggy suits he customarily wore, in the excitement of the moment, she needed him more than ever. She had the instinct that he would protect her. There was no one else by her side. No one cared as much.
For all the public glory the Senator enjoyed, Caroline knew fully well that he was nothing without Alex and other staff members that covered for him. She knew they did the dirty work that needed to be done behind the scenes to create the allure of a seamless movement for her father. It was that same behind the scene effort that we realized was going to save her from demise. She knew there was at least police questioning in her near future. The inevitable questions would be asked. And she couldn’t afford for her role to be made public. She suspected her security detail reported everything to Alex.
Without so much as thinking about it, Caroline had tucked her face on Alex’s shoulders, letting her tears stream from her eyes into his inflamed skin, when she heard his confessional. That he would be there for her. Always. That was a big promise. It was the kind of promise that came from a place of yearning, which she had ignored for so long. Out of pity, or perhaps some sort of payback for what she knew she was going to need from him, Caroline brought her face closer to him and planted her moist and soft lips on his cheek.
The shock of the contact, the explosion of desperation he had trained himself to control for so long had rendered Alex incapable of stopping himself. He plunged into her receiving lips with such fondness and gratitude. Clumsily kissing them as if he had been starved of food all his life. A manliness he had quashed for so long possessed him totally. His muscles flexed as he lifted her and held her against him, stumbling his way to the couch in the living room.
Caroline was surprisingly into the experience. A debt of gratitude to be paid back. In her mind, she had entertained guys with a much lower ground for hook up. Sometimes for curiosity. Other times for research. Didn’t she somehow let Andre spend the night with her? If anything, what was happening with Alex felt so natural, emotional, and real. Such intensity and passion she could never have enough of.
The first time, the first kiss was always the best, her research had borne out that result clearly. Something about that first crossing of the chasm that brings out the most of erotic pleasures in her. All that was progressing couldn’t have been happening to a better person, she kept thinking as Alex ripped her loose fitting summer dress from her. Her hand had instinctively unbuckled his belt and held onto the throbbing and long manhood that surprised her still. Everything about Alex, it turned out had been understated in her mind and masking the real man inside. She couldn’t have been more overjoyed.
In a matter of a couple of minutes, the had progressed from the doorway to the couch, Alex leaning over her in his unbuttoned shirt and a freely swinging cock, Caroline spreading her legs beneath him when the constant calls to their phones made for a distraction they couldn’t ignore any longer. Caroline had heard her phone ringing and decided not to pay attention to it. It was subtle anyway. But the ringtone on his phone was louder. More persistent. He was the type of person who couldn’t afford to miss phone calls.
Caroline held him down, pleading with her eyes to ignore the phone calls. Alex knew he couldn’t. His job demanded it. The more he thought about his job, the quicker the guilt of what he was about to do grew out of proportion. He realized, to his frustration, he was taking advantage of a grief-stricken friend. In her moment of despair, he had allowed himself to be overtaken by emotion. One… two…. three seconds passed by while he was agonizing over his decision. It seemed she wanted him badly enough. But he couldn’t let it be.
“I am so sorry, Caroline,” He leaped off the couch and scrambled to collect his trousers. His worst fear was realized. He had missed many calls from the Senator. If he knew what was going on? If the security guys outside heard what was happening inside? He panicked and sauntered away from the living room. Hopping on one leg as he put on his clothes and nervously buttoned his shirt. A few buttons were missing. Not a great sign. He needed to get to the hotel as quickly as possible and change before he would see the Senator.
“I’m so sorry, Caroline… This should never have happened…”
“Why do you say that?” She asked, lying down on the couch with her legs crossed and her head rested on her folded arm.
Caroline looked like an angel to him. At least a model in her beautiful lingerie. In the microseconds that ticked as he stood there dazed by her beauty, every aspect of her was etched into his memory. From her toes, painted in sparkling red polish, to her hair. Everything about her was more than he had ever imagined when he let himself go, or in one of the many wet dreams she had been a facilitator of… Now her smile, her clear intent in wanting to be with him was too much to bear.
“It shouldn’t. I need to go now. Please stay here. Stay away from friends until the issue is resolved. I will keep you posted. I am so sorry again.”
“Don’t say that. I am not sorry. I have wanted for this to happen for so long. For years…” She said, with such a soft voice that melted his heart.
Alex didn’t know what to think or believe. Could it really be that she had wanted him for as long as he did? The thought of it made him smile, imagining a future they may have together. Before any of that could happen, he needs to protect her. He needs to figure out how he could make himself worthy of her.
Seeing that he had nothing to offer her that she didn’t already have, at least in the material sense, his heart ached. He would have been able to handle a life of what if without the knowledge of her desire for him. Now, burdened with the feeling of her body on his fingers, the sensation of her hands on his cock, the way she smiled and gave him her body, he couldn’t imagine he would survive.
“Yes, Senator, sorry I missed your call. I was busy.” Alex said. He dialed the number as soon as he left the apartment. He scrambled to make sure his suit was in order before he exited the door. Being on the phone and looking busy saved him from having to talk to the guards on standby. He walked northbound. With no intent or destination other than to clear his mind.
“Didn’t you say you were going to check on Caroline?”
“Yes, sir. Eh… She is doing alright...” Alex realized the one purpose he had gone to visit Caroline about had been forgotten. He was there to debrief her on what happened the night before and talk to her about the loss of her friend.
“Was she involved in any of this madness?” The Senator asked pointedly.
Alex was stuck. Either he has to lie or obfuscate the issue.
“She is distraught, sir. Not very easy to handle this kind of news. They were close friends. I figured we ought to give her some time before badgering her with questions.” He lied.
The lie didn’t have anything to do with her involvement in the pressing issue. The lie concerned with how distraught he made her appear to her father. With his body overwhelmed by the heat and humidity, and the memory of touching her soft body, he came to the realization she was the farthest from being affected. She looked as if what was happening between them was taking place in a neutral environment. He imagined if he were ever lucky enough to have her, to be with her as she made it known to him, they would spend the first instants the same way.
“Well, it can’t be easy to lose a close friend,” the Senator said with sympathy. “I wanted to see how she was doing. I presume she had lunch with her mother. I thought she might want to have dinner. If you think it is not a very good idea and we ought to give her space, I wouldn’t object to it. I have been trying to call her.”
“I think so, too, sir,” Alex said. He knew quite well the Senator was busy capitalizing on the window of opportunity he had in Boston. “Laying low may be a good idea instead of being seen around town.”
“Well, I will talk to her. Keep an eye on what’s happening at the hospital. Seth told me it was a brutal attack. Let’s make sure we have covered all the basis. I don’t want anything pointing back at Caroline. I know they run in the same circles. Still, this seems to be out there. Keep me posted, will you?”
Alex eagerly expressed his promise and continued walking. It might not be such a terrible idea to have the night cleared of any family obligations. The Senator could have his fun, and he would have plenty of time to clarify his thinking and come up with a strategy on what to do about Caroline. The sudden precipitation of his luck seemed like a snow storm in the middle of summer.
Regardless of their thing, Alex would have to talk to her anyway to make sure her name is kept out of the investigation. He decided to walk the rest of the way to the hotel, to burn off the excess energy that had consumed him. Took off his coat and opened the top buttons of his shirt. The third was missing. He smiled feeling the warm breeze cool his chest, sticking out into the open with more confidence this time. He had been worried for no reason. For the first time in his life, Alex Cochran felt understood. Can Caroline McKenzie honestly be thinking of him and wanting him that desperately?
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