Only then does Carter release me. I climb into Owen’s arms, wrap myself around him, and cry as we sit there and he holds me.
They told me later I apologized over and over again to him for not being able to get pregnant, while they both tried to soothe me and tell me it was okay, but I don’t remember any of that.
I only remember later, after frantically riding Owen’s cock, the three of us curled up together in our bed, my men on either side of me and holding me, as all three of us spent the entire night together in the same bed for the first time in over a year.
Chapter Fifteen
Two mornings ago, I awoke in Singapore. Yesterday and today, it’s Kuala Lumpur. We got to see some of the region the past two days, and today is a travel day. While it’s been the trip of a lifetime, it’s also been a working trip, for me.
At least this morning we can sleep late, if we want to. Good thing, too, because I’m exhausted. This trip is no longer fun. Yet because of everyone who’s traveling with us, including a few members of the press, I have to be “on” any time I’m not locked behind a hotel room door. Cell phones are everywhere, and even though we’re not in Florida, I am not “safe.”
I haven’t felt good since leaving Florida, honestly. Let’s add motion sickness to the list. I barely made it to the lavatory on the last flight before throwing up my breakfast. I shouldn’t have been reading on a bumpy flight, but I was bored out of my mind, and I wasn’t sleepy.
I also know if I tell Carter or Owen any of that they will order me to a doctor, maybe even while I’m here. I know it’s probably due to my schedule being off, combined with eating or drinking something that didn’t agree with me. I have a sensitive stomach, and traveling wreaks havoc with me sometimes.
Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait until I’m home. I refuse to have any drama attached to my name regarding this trip. It was bad enough what I put my men through just a couple of weeks ago. I’m damn lucky Carter was able to juggle Owen’s schedule the next morning so no one but his security detail knew Owen hadn’t spent the night at the mansion.
It was a weakness I won’t soon repeat. I’m better than that.
I also know, after all this time away from my men, that I owe them apologies, conversations.
I miss them, and maybe I’m not handling this as well as I thought I was.
Maybe I should let Carter make that appointment for me.
Or, maybe these are my karmic dues I must pay. I can’t have a life so blessed in so many ways without giving upsomething, right?
Even if it is something I desperately want.
Somehow, I know I need to come to peace with never having this one thing.
So far this morning, my stomach seems to be okay. I’ve already taken a dose of motion sickness meds to help prevent a repeat of the tummy trouble, since weather reports mentioned storms over the waters between here and Manila. It’s likely to be a bumpy flight.
I’m also wishing I’d pushed Carter to let Dray come with me. It’d be nice to have someone familiar who I could just be myself with behind a closed door. Not to mention, he’s kind of earned a vacation away from my bitchy work mode.
Connie and her husband, Michael, are nice people, but they’re also in their early sixties and not exactly people I can cut loose with the way I could with my men, if they were here, or even with Dray and Gregory.
Except Igetit. Carter needs Dray’s help right now, and sending the bare minimum delegates on this trip means fewer chances for the press to roast us over any spending issues. Connie’s paid for her husband’s trip out of her own pocket. Carter had the lawyers go through everything before okaying me accepting the trip. This is definitely a working trip, and we’re keeping receipts for everything we pay for out of our own pockets, because I’m reasonably certain there will be FOIA requests hitting within minutes of our return to Florida.
There’s good reason for me to be here, though. I’m hobnobbing with governors and lieutenant governors from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and other states in the region, as well as various other high-value state officials.
Valuable connections. Some of them who know Daddy, or know his reputation.
I’ve done more vital networking on this trip than I have in the past four years. When it comes time for me to run for the US Senate, I’ll already have a ready-made group of people to call upon for help with campaigning and fundraising. Sure, they can’t vote for me, and no one in Florida might know who the hell they are…but they can put pressure on regional and national PACs to support me.
Throw money my way.
Because once we’re done with the governorship of Florida, Carter said he’ll loosen his restrictions on where we get our donations, to a certain extent.
Dark money, here I come. Daddy’s connections will win me a lot of cross-party funding I might not otherwise be able to obtain, along with valuable endorsements. I just need to get elected the first time. I don’t care if I piss all those PACs off in the process during my first term. Once I’ve had one term in office, I can get myself elected to a second.
Or, by then, I look toward other career paths, like campaign consulting.
We’ll see.
First, of course, is getting Owen re-elected, and then getting myself elected to two terms in Tallahassee.
I once again pack my suitcase and head downstairs a little after ten to join the others for our private late brunch. The staff will load everything into the busses that will drive us to the airport, and then the next leg of our journey begins as we’re off to Manila.
