Chapter 194

While everyone is in a state of shock, Miles turns away from Edward and storms off the stage. When he reaches me, he grabs my hand and drags me along behind him. We don’t slow, not to speak to the reporters waiting backstage. Not even to speak to the aides on our side, who are ready and waiting to help us spin everything that happened tonight.

Instead, Miles drags me back to our private room and after pulling me inside, closes the door.

“Miles?” I’m worried about him. Regardless of what happened out there, he needs to calm down before we can talk about anything. Right now, he looks furious, his brow lowered, his lip turned upward in a snarl. “Miles, deep breaths, okay?”

He looks at me and his eyes focus so intensely that the breath sucks out of me.

He takes a step toward me, and then, in the next moment, we’re kissing. His kiss is a whirlwind, unrelenting, demanding. I hold onto his shoulders as his arms wrap tightly around me, yanking me closer to him, as close as can be. His tongue delves into mine like he intends to lick the whole of my mouth, claiming it as his own.

When we break apart, his lips find my ear. “I need you. Please, Esther.”

“Here?”

“Here,” he says and takes my earlobe between his teeth.

I’ve never been able to deny him, and I likely never will. Right now is no exception.

“The door is locked?” I ask.

“It is.”

“Then… okay…” He kisses across my cheek, traveling back to my mouth. Before he can swallow my voice again, I say, “But we have to be quiet. And quick.”

Miles growls in agreement, his mouth fully occupied. He pushes me back towards the vanity that takes up the entirety of one wall, with the mirrors behind it.

Ripping his mouth away, he turns me so that I’m bent over the vanity, facing the mirror. Through it, I can see him hike my skirt up, pushing it up to my waist. He admires my ass, before gripping my panties and sliding them down.

With me exposed to him, I bury my head in my arms, embarrassed to watch him, and myself, in the mirror.

He teases me with a finger, pressing it inside.

“Miles…” I say in warning. “We’re supposed to be quick.”

“Quick, not rough,” Miles grumbles. “I need you, but not if you aren’t wet enough.”

I’m plenty wet enough. I’m trained like a Pavlov’s dog reaction. The minute Miles kisses me, my body prepares.

He slides his finger in an out of me a few times, then adds a second, just to quirk them forward and press into the most tender spot inside of me. I nearly bounce up off the vanity. Miles immediately presses a hand flat onto my back pushing me back down.

After he removes his fingers, I hear the telltale sound of a zipper being pulled. Then the shuffling of fabric. After a second more, presumably for him to roll on a condom, he lines himself up to my entrance and slams inside. His thighs hit against mine. His hips smack my ass.

Holding me down, he begins to fuck me in earnest, pulling out and pressing in with a fast-pace rhythm that leaves me breathless and wanting. I want to contribute, but I’m pinned like this. All I can do is take it and enjoy it.

Curiosity soon wins over embarrassment, and I lift my head to peek at him through the mirror. His teeth are grit with exertion. There’s sweat on his brow. His eyes meet mine in the mirror, and my cheeks heat up, but I don’t look away.

He’s captivating, even like this, so dedicated to his lovemaking to making me feel good. As he fucks me, he moves closer, bending over me. He can’t reach my skin, but he bites at my clothes on my shoulder like he’s desperate to taste underneath.

At the same time, he snakes a hand to my front. Slipping between my folds, he seeks out and successfully finds my clit. Without mercy, he begins rubbing it in time with my thrusts.

Using his body to pin me down now, he doesn’t need to hold me down with his hand. He moves it down, over one of my own instead. We lace our fingers together and I hold on for dear life.

It takes everything in me not to moan or scream or cry his name.

He’s giving it to me so good, my whole body is alight with pleasure. I have to bring my free hand to my mouth and bite down on it to keep from making more noise than barely-there grunts and wheezes.

“So fucking hot,” he whispers as his pace starts to become eccentric. He’s close but so am I.

He grunts as he pushes into me, his hand moving double time now on my clit, pushing me to the edge, no longer asking nicely for me to join him there.

With a cut-off, muffled moan, I climax.

Miles pumps into me a few more times, before I feel his dick throb, coming inside of me.

He bites down onto my shoulder and groans.

Later, after we’ve caught our breath, collected ourselves, righted our clothing, and share a few kisses of gratitude and apology both, Miles steps away from me. He crosses the room and sinks down onto one of two leather armchairs.

“I’m sorry, Esther. When he said those things about you, I couldn’t even think straight… I don’t even know what I said.”

“You said, and I quote, ‘Go fuck yourself, Edward.’” He should know exactly how bad things are, even though I’m not terribly mad about it. His words were spoken in defense of me. It’s not ideal, and will take a hell of a lot to spin, but as a woman who cares about Miles and has been hurt by Edward, it felt nice in the moment to be properly defended.

Even if that defense was misguided, given the circumstances.

Miles sinks further into the cushion. Dropping his elbows to his knees, he buries his face in his hands.

“I messed up big time,” Miles says. “I don’t want to even turn on the phone. Dad’s probably furious.” He sighs, peeking up at me through his fingers. “What do you think will happen with the polls?”

I don’t want to hurt him, but as his campaign manager, it would be unkind of me to lie to him.

“You are likely to lose the middle-age women vote,” I tell him. “Mothers won’t like the language you used, especially not on live television. The older generation isn’t likely to appreciate that either. You might pick up some of the younger crowd, but unfortunately they don’t turn out in big numbers at the voting booth.”

He nods in defeat, as if accepting his fate.

“We won’t know until the morning, though,” I tell him.

I won’t lie and tell him something like, Have hope, or Everything will be okay.

Because the honest truth is, he just made this journey a hell of a lot harder. Edward is beloved by much of the populace. Miles telling him off might have pushed more undecided voters in his direction, not based on policy but personality.

Miles’s behavior did kind of screw us.

But…

“I can tell you one thing,” I say. “You won my vote, ten times over.”

Miles gives me a sad kind of smile. “I wish you could vote more than once, Esther. But I’m happy to have it. Just like I’m happy to have you.”

Moving to the spot beside him, I card my fingers through his hair, then lean down to kiss him.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he says.

I can’t tell him he won’t ever find out, not with how temporary things are between us, but I think it. And I vow it. Even if I’m on the sidelines, I will be in Miles’s corner.

Now and for as long as he’ll let me.