“Sam...” Oh God, she was seriously good at that with just the right amount of suction and tongue and hand action. Christ, she was totally making him her bitch again, one tug of her lips at a time, and that was before she opened her throat and took him deep. “Fuck,” he muttered, clinging to control by a hair.

She cupped his balls and squeezed, sending him into orbit. After she licked him clean, she stood and eyed him triumphantly. “Wasn’t much of a challenge. You might want to fight a little harder next time.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, still breathing hard as she conditioned her hair and finished getting washed.

“Gotta get to it, Senator. Have a good day.”

“Sam.”

“What?”

He reached for her. “Come back.”

With a quizzical expression, she moved closer to him. “Why?”

He bent his head and kissed her softly. “I love you.”

“I know you do. I love you too, even when you’re being an ass hat lughead.”

“I don’t give a shit about Hill, and I know you don’t either.”

“Then why do you insist on pushing my buttons where he’s concerned?”

“Because pushing your buttons is always fun.” He waggled his brows for emphasis.

Her mouth fell open in disbelief. “So wait, did you just totally play me here?”

Smiling, Nick shrugged. “Now, babe, that’d be awfully devious of me, wouldn’t it?”

Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she poked him in the belly and stepped out of the shower. “This means war,” she called over her shoulder.

“I’ll look forward to that.”

* * *

Well into his tenth month of sobriety, Terry O’Connor cherished his new routine. He’d all but moved into the Adams Morgan home of his girlfriend, Dr. Lindsey McNamara. He loved nothing more than waking up to her gorgeous face on the pillow next to his. Some mornings, like today, they lingered in bed for as long as they could, laughing, talking and making slow, sweet morning love that left him completely sated but with no time for the AA meeting he attended most days before work.

He’d catch the noon meeting on the Hill or another after work if he got tied up in the office. Terry tried to make a meeting every day, but because of his crazy schedule during the campaign, he occasionally missed a day. Not many of them, though.

His hard-won sobriety was one of the most important things in a new life that was so much better than his worthless old life there wasn’t even a word to describe how different it was. The relationship with Lindsey was by far the best part, with his job as Nick Cappuano’s deputy chief of staff ranking a very close second.