Page 168 of Governor

He apparently doesn’t care I’m naked and that, despite the fact that I just fucked a load into Susa, my well-trained body has once again been anticipating…something. Anything. That it might mean suspicious stains on the front of his slacks when he spreads his legs and has me stand between them, my body comfortably pressed against his.

I drape my arms around his neck as Carter’s hands skim down my back, to my ass—hisass—cupping it, pulling and holding me tightly against him when I don’t immediately close the remaining distance between our hips.

I can feel his hard cock straining inside his boxers through the material of his slacks.

His tone remains soft, patient. “Why, Owen, do you think I married Susannah and put myself all-in, not just with the three of us as a relationship, but to get you elected, especially as governor?”

We’ve never really discussed this. I’d always assumed it was because he wanted to. That was Carter—what he wanted, he got. If he didn’t want to do something, he had no problem saying no.

Nothing stood in his way when he wanted something.

Ever.

The way he’d married Susa. The way he’d gotten me elected, and, as a result, was himself now one of the most powerful men in Florida politics.

The way he’d gotme.

“I-I don’t know, Sir.”

He smiles, and something in my heart tightly squeezes, but in a good way. This isn’t the smile of my friend, or the bastard extraordinaire, or the sadist, or the adept politician, or even my COS handling official business.

This is the gentle smile of the loving husband, the smile he reserves for Susa in their most tender and private of moments when they’re not Master and slave but two people in love with each other.

The same smile he also reserves for me in private.

His gaze searches mine for a long moment before he speaks again. “Because I knew from the day we met that the only way I’d ever getyouwas to make sure I took whatever it was that you loved and wanted most and held it so close tomethat you couldn’t help but come with it.” He tips his head forward, the way he does with Susa, only I’m taller in this pairing.

His forehead presses against mine, warm, firm, and the look in his eyes takes my breath away. “Because I love you, dummy. I’ve been in love with you from the day we met. Somewhere between showing you how to fold your clothes and make your damn rack properly, I knew I was in love with you. That’s not to say I don’t love Susa, because you know I do. But I fell in love with her becauseyoufell in love with her first. I knew if I’d just come right out and told you how I felt about you early on, even though I sensed then that you had a slave’s heart, you probably would have bolted.”

I don’t know what to say, except…

He’s absolutely right.

I nod a little, just enough to convey it but not enough to lose contact with him.

I like it when we stand like this, little pockets of private time where I feel like our souls are plugged in to each other.

“I did all this, Owen, because I have always lovedyou. I’minlove with you. I needed to climb inside your soul and find out what made you tick so I could match you there and keep time with your heartbeat. Weave myself into your life in such a way that I knew you’d never make me leave.”

Some people might feel played.

But I’m not some people, and this man has proven to me time and again that, yeah, ever since we first met he’s always put me first in his life. Even to his own detriment.

The prickle of tears in my eyes catches me by surprise. Because like this, open and honest and bared to each other, one thing hits me hard and deep and, surprisingly enough, for the very first time.

Of course I love him—he’s my friend. That I’ve known and admitted for years.

But he’s more than that, really.Muchmore.

Mybestfriend.

My right-hand man.

My lover.

My Master.

But…