Commander Read online

  It had taken all my strength not to punch him. The man thought he could use the same tactics he’d used on the girl who had to choose between the boy she loved and her father’s career and livelihood.

  To my surprise, Ashur had stepped in as he’d done the other day and asked his father to leave if he couldn’t show me respect.

  “Senator Kumar-Camden has been playing interference by having the children in the room, but I think she has reached her limit for her father’s antics.”

  “Got to love Sam for trying. What about Jacinta? Minesh loves her, and she can usually occupy his time with discussion about Texas business for hours.”

  Leara winced. “I believe Senator Camden-George is no longer his favorite after she told him not to talk down to Senator Kumar-Camden or question her parenting.”

  “Jacinta’s pregnancy has caused her to lose her tolerance for drama. Let me go in and focus his wrath on me. I’m a tough gal. I can handle it.” I squared my shoulders and prepared myself for the meeting.

  “I know you can, but that isn’t why I’m here. President Kumar wants a word with you in private.”

  “About?” I asked, not understanding why my heartbeat jumped a notch as I thought about being alone in a room with Ashur.

  It wasn’t as if we hadn’t spent time by ourselves before. It had been a weekly occurrence since Ashur had taken office. It was during those evenings that our friendship had grown. We’d discuss everything from pop culture to politics and our various stances on everything and anything, many times us being on opposite sides. However, until two days ago, we’d never crossed the line to anything physical, even with the undercurrent of desire constantly lingering between us. Now that we’d knocked down the wall I’d erected, there was no stopping either of us from acting on our attraction.

  A tingle went up my spine and a pulse of desire began a steady throb between my legs.

  “Where should I meet him? His office?” I glanced at Casey, who stepped back from the Yellow Oval Room doors.

  Leara shook her head. “In the master suite.”

  I licked my lips and then swallowed.

  What was the man up to?

  I’d never spent any time in the master bedroom. Even when the movers brought my things in, my assistant had supervised.

  I wasn’t the naive eighteen-year-old who believed in happily ever after, and Ashur wasn’t the up-and-coming college graduate who viewed me as the most precious person in his life. This time, there wasn’t any expectation other than what was stated in the contract. We both knew where we stood on things, especially the past. This was a business arrangement, nothing more.

  Now, if only my heart could remember this.

  At least I’d have the children I’d always wanted. Even though this wasn’t the way I’d planned to have them.

  “He said you don’t have to knock and to go right in. He wants to greet everyone together.”

  I nodded and walked down the hall, pausing for a brief moment before I entered the bedroom.

  The first thing I noticed was the elegant simplicity of the space. It possessed little of the over-the-top old-world glamour of Ashur’s predecessor. The colors were a combination of light tones of creams, whites, and grays mixed with furnishings that were stylish and usable.

  There was the scent of spiced cologne and soap in the air, telling me Ashur was in the shower.

  My pulse jumped and need flared to life in my core.

  I walked over to the seer curtain-covered windows, setting my purse on a nearby table. Tucking my loose hair behind my ear, I pulled back the drapes and gazed out at the breathtaking view of the manicured lawn.

  Never in a million years would I have believed Ashur Kumar, the boy whose heart I’d broken when we were barely out of our youth, would want to marry me almost fifteen years later, much less want to have children with me.

  And even more unfathomable was that me, Tara Rayna Zain, controversial human rights attorney, was about to become first lady.

  At that moment, the door leading out of the bathroom opened and a whiff of steam billowed into the room.

  “You could have joined me, Tara. It isn’t as if you haven’t seen the goods before.”

  Chapter Nine

  I turned to face Ashur and came to an abrupt halt.

  Instead of the impeccably tailored suit I expected him to be in, he wore a large towel wrapped around his waist. He rubbed his damp hair with a small cloth as beads of water trailed along the tanned skin of his broad shoulders and washboard abs.

  It took all my effort not to lick my lips.

  His honed form was a work of art.

  He no longer possessed the lean physique of the boy I’d fallen in love with but that of a man who’d built his muscles from years of military training. There wasn’t an inch of unnecessary fat on him, and his chiseled abs would put a bodybuilder to shame. The only things marring his gorgeous form were the slight scars on his waist and chest. He’d incorporated them into the Indian-inspired tattoos that covered most of the left half of his upper body, making me want to trace each design around them. Not just with my finger but my tongue.

  And then there was the way the towel clung to him. Dear lord, a woman had to be dead not to drool and hope for a peek at the package hidden under the cloth.

  Shit, what was I doing?

  Get your hormones in check, Tara Zain. Your entire family is waiting for you down the hall.

  I ignored my self-reprimand and continued to examine Ashur’s body. Politicians were supposed to be balding with potbellies. Not sexy as sin, covered in tattoos, and looking like they should be on the cover of a wet Wednesday calendar.

  “Want me to lose the towel?” A smirk touched his lips.

  Damn. He’d caught me staring at his body.

  “I’ll let you touch me anywhere you desire. I only ask that I get to return the favor.”

  I crossed my arms and tapped my foot and desperately hoped he hadn’t caught the heat on my cheeks or the pebbling of my nipples.

  “Why are you taking a shower now?”

  “Tyler and I went for a run.”

  “I didn’t know you were still training for the marathon.”

  He wiped the stray water from his hair. “I’m not, but I needed something to take the edge off and a long, hard run is only a small consolation for what I really want.”

  His gaze bored into mine as a wave of heavy lust flooded my system.

  “Will you get dressed? Our wedding party is waiting for us.” I gave him my most no-nonsense voice, the one that I used during negotiations. “Samina is probably on the verge of stabbing your father at any moment.”

  “Are you sure you want me to put on clothes? The way your body reacts every time I’m near tells me otherwise.”

  “It tells you nothing.” I was such a liar. He knew it. I knew it.

  If I didn’t want him, I wouldn’t have nearly let him take me in his office, against an antique side table, in the only spot a camera couldn’t record us.

  The memory added to my desire and I barely held in a moan.

  He walked toward me with a predatory gleam in his eyes that made me want to retreat.

  “Oh, but it does. Want me to list the ways?”

  I lifted my chin and challenged, “Go ahead.”

  Why the hell did I say that?

  He took a step. “I’ll start with the way your breath changes when my hand grazes your lower back as we walk into any room together.”

  Step.

  “Then there is the flush that tinges your skin as you watch me and think about how I’d fucked you if you hadn’t imposed the no-sex rule.”

  Step.

  “Then the most telling sign is how you unconsciously press your thighs together whenever I’m near you.”

  Oh hell, he’d caught that.

  “I think the ‘hot president’ title has gotten to your head.”

  My back hit the wall, and one of his arms braced against my side.

  “The only
thing that has gotten to my head is you.” He grabbed my hand and pressed it against his growing cock.

  I jerked as if the fire had burned me, but Ashur kept my palm pressed against him.

  “I’ve spent the last two years thinking about the many ways I planned to fuck you. Our sex life was fantastic in the past, and I know it will be even more scorching now.”

  “Then one more day shouldn’t be a burden,” I said in a breathless whisper.

  “I don’t think you have any idea what it’s like to see your clothes moved into our closet and not have you here. I want to feel you under me, over me, and everything in between. I want the game we’re playing to end.”

  “Ashur, please.”

  “Do you really want to wait?”

  “Yes,” I gasped, trying to resist the urge to wrap my fingers around him and failing as I began to stroke his firm, terry-covered erection.

  A pleasure-filled groan came from him, and he dropped his forehead against mine. “Then I suggest you stop. I don’t have the will or the inclination to do it.”

  I should put an end to this madness. We were due to see our parents at any moment. But he felt so good in my hand. I’d forgotten how thick and long he was. I twisted my wrist, gliding up to the flared head of his cock, and squeezed.

  “Harder, Tara. Harder.”

  I released my hold on him long enough to yank his towel free, and then gripped him again, pumping my fist up and down. The velvet heat of him made me want to drop to my knees and engulf him in my mouth.

  “No. That is not where I want your mouth right now. The taste I had of you in my office has consumed my mind, keeping me from clearly thinking about anything else.” His fingers threaded into my hair, pulling my head back, and he covered my lips with his.

  At first, his kiss was gentle, and then it moved to demanding. With a snap, all the need and pent-up desire I’d reined in with my workout erupted. He was the only man who’d ever made me this insane with wanting.

  I cupped the back of his neck with my free hand and opened my mouth under his. Our tongues rolled and stroked, tasting and savoring each other.

  Desire flooded my core, causing my cleft to swell and grow damp.

  God, this man’s kisses were intoxicating, like a drug I couldn’t get enough of.

  My nipples hardened and my breast pressed against the soft fabric of my lace-trimmed bra. Pre-cum dripped onto my hand as I continued to pump his cock.

  Ashur’s fingers tugged up the hem of my floor-length dress until he reached the lace edge of my thong. He pushed aside the fabric and teased my aching clit. He circled and rubbed, making my pussy contract.

  “You’re so wet. God, I can smell your desire. Let me have you, Tara. Let me sate this inferno, and I promise to take my time later.”

  “Yes.” I gasped, arching my neck and allowing Ashur to graze his stubble along my throat.

  In the next second my underwear was ripped from my body, and my legs were wrapped around his waist. His six-three frame made it impossible for me to have any control except to hold on.

  The blunt tip of his cock slipped past my sopping folds and to the entrance of my pussy. He slowly nudged forward, making me close my eyes at the delicious sting of his erection stretching me.

  Fuck, it almost felt like it had when I’d given him my virginity, except this time there was no barrier between us. We were skin to skin. No condom, no contraceptive.

  “Oh God,” I whimpered. “How the hell did I forget you were hung like a porn star!”

  He pulled out and repeated the shallow thrust.

  “Damn you’re tight.” He clenched his jaw, released a heavy breath. “I have to get control or I won’t last. I’ve been waiting for you for two years.”

  After a few more moments, he pushed a little deeper and then pulled out, rolling the head of his cock around my slick entrance. My body responded instantaneously, growing damper and readier.

  Ashur repeated the slow, shallow thrusts and rolls until I thought I would lose my mind.

  “Stop teasing me, Ashu,” I cried out.

  A smile touched his lips, and I realized what I’d called him.

  I pulled his head toward me for another deep kiss and then murmured, “I need you to fuck me. Make me regret making us wait.”

  “Your wish is my command.” He slammed into me so hard I saw stars.

  My back pressed against the wall, causing my shoulders to rub against the textured wallpaper.

  I gasped and moaned with each slide of his cock through my pussy walls. I threw my head back, clutching his shoulders and digging my nails deep.

  Ashur hissed and then lightly bit my neck. “If you draw blood, how am I going to explain it?”

  “What do you expect? The only thing keeping me on this wall is your cock and a hand on my hip.”

  “Well let’s change that.”

  Ashur gripped both my ass cheeks, keeping his cock buried deep inside me, and carried me to the bed. He laid me down but remained standing, only leveraging his arms on either side of my head.

  “Now I plan to fuck you as I wanted to in my office.”

  Before I could respond, he pulled out to the tip and slammed back in, setting a hard and fast pace that triggered tiny spasms inside my core.

  “Ashu,” I whimpered, clutching his body to mine with my thighs. “I’m almost there.”

  “I know, baby. Come for me.” His fingers slid between our bodies to the sensitive nerves of my clitoris.

  With the first stroke if his hand, my body detonated. I cried out, convulsing around his pistoning cock. I felt tingles and waves of ecstasy in every cell in my body. I’d waited years to feel this euphoria. This need. I clenched my eyes closed and dug my fingers into his arms, letting the cascade of sensation engulf me.

  Ashur pummeled my soaked and spasming core, until his rhythm faltered, causing him to push more of his weight on to my body.

  “I can’t hold off any longer,” he said through gritted teeth as his cock swelled and he followed with his own release, shooting hot spurts of semen into me.

  I continued to grip his arms, loving the way his body flexed above me while the last of his orgasm shot through him.

  Watching him come was one of the sexiest things I’d ever encountered.

  “I knew it would be like this,” Ashur said, gasping for air and staring into my eyes.

  “I completely agree.”

  I slid one hand up to the side of his face and leaned up to kiss him but stopped as a knock sounded on the door, and then it opened.

  Ashur and I froze as Samina stormed in. “Ashur, you better get in there or Papa won’t make it through the night. And where the fuck is Tar… Oh God, my eyes. Someone kill me now.”

  “I’m going to leave now and go scrub my eyes with a brillo pad.”

  We remained still as Samina backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.

  “Well that was awkward,” I said, not sure whether to be mortified my sister-in-law caught me fucking her brother, or laugh.

  “She deserves it after the number of times I’ve walked in on her and Devin fucking in some random corner of a building. At least we were in our bedroom.”

  Our bedroom.

  Dear God, we’d made love in our bedroom. This was no longer the off-limits place I’d done my best to avoid. I belonged in here as much as he did.

  Ashur dropped his head against my shoulder as he steadied his breathing. His cock was still hard and pulsing inside me.

  My core contracted, and Ashur lifted his head and grinned.

  “Want more, do you?”

  “Maybe.”

  A smile touched my lips as he leaned down and glided his mouth alone mine in soft and gentle passes. I lost myself in him, enjoying his tender kiss. I wanted more, like what we had when we were kids.

  All of a sudden, a tinge of panic hit me. This was too intimate, too believable.

  What the fuck was I getting myself into?

  I broke our kiss and w
hispered, “We have to stop. Our families are waiting.”

  Ashur studied me for a second, running a thumb down my throat, making my pulse jump.

  “I suppose you’re right,” he said as he reluctantly pulled from my body and stepped back.

  Almost immediately I missed the feel of him, the weight of him, inside me and on me.

  He reached over to the side table, grabbed a few facial tissues, and then handed them to me. Not saying a word, I took them from him and slid off the bed. The slick wetness that coated my thighs brought forth a sense of sadness and want.

  I would have his child. I may not conceive today, but soon, and then what?

  I wiped his cum from my skin and then tugged my skirt back into place as I walked toward his bathroom.

  I couldn’t help but gawk as I stepped into the ornate bathroom. This room was extravagant and something out of a magazine.

  “I know it’s over the top, but you’ll get used to it,” Ashur said as he followed me inside.

  His cock was still hard and jutted out past his bellybutton. His muscular thighs flexed with each step toward me.

  A spasm of desire coursed through my body. I was horny and desperate for release again.

  I took all of one time to turn me into a nymphomaniac, thinking about the next time I could get his cock inside me.

  I blew out an unsteady breath. This was going to be a long evening.

  Our gazes locked in the mirror over the sink. Lust and need filled his eyes, and his erection had grown harder.

  “Looks like I’ll need at least another time to take the edge off.”

  Moving to the sink, I turned on the water and washed my hands. “We can’t.”

  I dried my hands on the towel hanging from the wall hook and tried to check my makeup. Something that was impossible to do with a very aroused man behind me, who I wanted to fuck me again.

  “Tell me you don’t want me as much as I want you right now.” He braced an arm on either side of the counter around me. “Tell me while we’re entertaining the wedding party, you aren’t going to think about the slide of my cock inside you or the orgasms you know I can give you.”