An Impossible Love_A Forbidden Love Romance Read online

  Table of Contents

  Free Gift

  Copyright

  An Impossible Love

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  An Impossible Love Extended Epilogue

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  Some may call it stalking; I called it lining up the woman I would tame next.

  Little Taylor Swenson made me hot in ways no one ever had.

  Taking slaves had been my way for years.

  Taylor wouldn’t be taken as one, and I could see that from the start.

  Secrets and lies were a necessity for me.

  Could I make her my last secret? Could I bind her to me? Could I silence her, using only my body and special talents?

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  ©Copyright 2018 by Michelle Love - All rights Reserved

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights are reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  An Impossible Love

  A Forbidden Love Romance

  Michelle Love

  When a constitutional crisis means the resignation of the President of the United States, Independent Congressman Orin Bennett is suddenly elevated to the highest office in the land. Young Secret Service agent Emerson ‘Emmy’ Sati is thrust into the political world when she becomes both the youngest and the only female agent assigned to protect the bachelor President.

  Trying their best to stay professional, it soon becomes clear that Orin and Emmy are attracted to each other, but with political and personal enemies snapping at their heels and both of their careers on the line, can they ever be together?

  During a week at Camp David, they give in to their attraction, and afterwards, they continue the illicit affair in the White House, knowing that with every meeting, they risk discovery, the consequences of which could prove disastrous for both of them.

  Romance seems to be only a pipe dream for both Emmy and Orin, and when death threats are sent to the new president, Emmy must remain professional at all times—or risk losing Orin in the worst possible way.

  Chapter One

  Three a.m.

  Washington DC

  Inauguration Day

  Emerson Sati rolled over in bed, groaning at her alarm clock. Who the hell gets up this early? She turned onto her back and tried to blink herself awake. The Big Day. Inauguration. And in a few hours, American’s third bachelor president—and only the second one to win office as an Independent after George Washington—would be sworn in, and she, Emerson Sati, Special Agent, would be standing by, waiting to take a bullet for him.

  She slid out of bed in her tiny apartment in Georgetown and padded to the shower. At four-thirty a.m., President-Elect Orin Bennett would be ready to go for his usual morning run along the Washington Mall and on the path that ran alongside the Potomac, and she would have to run beside him. Not that she minded—it got the exercise for the day out of the way so she could concentrate on her work. Just… why the hell did he have to get up so damn early?

  The hot water helped, and she massaged shampoo through her long dark brown hair. I need a haircut, she thought while drying it. It fell almost to her waist now, and she had to resort to ever more elaborate hairstyles to keep it neat and tidy. She glared at her reflection in the mirror. She knew people regarded her as beautiful, but Emmy couldn’t care less. She wasn’t in her job because she was good looking. She was the first female agent to protect the president—selected personally by him after he consulted her boss. If Emmy had still had her family around, they would have been proud. Zach had been proud.

  Of course, Zach would have been proud if she breathed in and out. He had been her partner in the Secret Service, pure business at first, but she soon learned that underneath the gruff exterior, he was the kindest, most brilliant man she had ever met. They had never let their love interfere with their work, but it was obvious to all how crazy they were about each other. Zach had wanted her to do well in the Service; he had transferred to Virginia right before their wedding and was tasked with protecting the then-Congressman Bennett’s campaign manager, Kevin McKee. Three days before Emmy would have become his wife, Zach was shot and killed by a man with mental health difficulties who wanted to ‘punish’ McKee for some random crime he thought the young politico had committed.

  He might as well have put a bullet in Emmy’s heart as well. She was in shock, broken, and full of rage. Her boss Lucas, head of the presidential detail, had told her to take a sabbatical.

  “Take it or you’re out of here, Emmy, and you know that’s the last thing I want for you.” His voice had been kind but firm.

  She’d fought him, of course, but her need to grieve for Zach overtook everything. She went to India, her dad’s homeland, and spent time trying to find peace. Everywhere she went she saw Zach: his dark blonde hair, choppy and messy when not working; his dark blue eyes twinkling with merriment and love for her.

  Eventually, real life crept back in, and her need to return to her work overwhelmed the grief. Lucas had welcomed her back, delighted to find that her passion for work was still as intense as it had been before Zach’s death.

  In his office that November day, as the rest of America still reeled from the shock of the impeachment, Lucas told her about her new role.

  “Obviously, we can’t have the same agents protecting President-Elect Bennett who protected former President Ellis. President Ellis’s entire team is now under investigation by the FBI, so we have to assume that they have all been compromised.” Lucas smiled at her. “President-Elect Bennett handpicked his new team. You were the first person to be selected.”

  “I was?” Emmy looked astonished. “I’m honored.”

  “But?”

  “President-Elect is what? Six-foot-five?”

  “And change.”

  “And I’m five-five. He knows that, right?”

  Lucas grinned. “Em, you’ve proved over and over that height doesn’t matter. With your record, why should Bennett care?”

  “What’s he like?”

  Lucas considered. “A good man. A little bewildered that he made it to the Oval Office. I don’t think anyone expected that, least of all him. He said he was running simply to make a point about having a fresh start outside of partisan politics, but I think he underestimated the country’s thirst for honesty.”

  “Sing it, brother,” Emmy rolled her eyes. “I’ve never
questioned my country more than in the last few months—not that it affects my commitment to the job,” she added hurriedly, and Lucas laughed.

  “Em, don’t worry. I don’t figure you for a dissident. One thing,” he said, meeting her eye. “You know as well as I do that Orin Bennett is fiercely loyal to his team, and he has a small but select group of people he trusts implicitly. Kevin McKee is one of them. I know that your personal life has nothing to do with your job, but still, I have to ask the question.”

  Emmy had anticipated this. “Sir, I have no ill feelings or resentment towards Mr. McKee. He was no more to blame for Zach’s death than anyone else. The man who killed Zach was sick, and I cannot imagine what hell he was and is going through.”

  Lucas was impressed. “You are one hell of an agent, Emmy. The very best.”

  Emmy thought about her boss’s words as she drove through predawn Washington DC. No, she would never waver from the commitment she had made five years ago when she joined the Service, but like her countrymen, she had been shocked by the scandal that brought down the Ellis government and elected an Independent congressman from Oregon to the highest office in the land.

  Brookes Ellis, once revered as a forward-thinking, inclusive Progressive, had betrayed his voters when it came to light that he was using the office of the president to further his own agenda and had spent millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to do so. And when some of his minions had been found guilty of human trafficking, Ellis’s incumbency was ruined, even though he strenuously denied any links to such atrocity.

  Ellis hadn’t gone quietly and was still railing against the system and the new president. Just yesterday, he had gone on The Today Show to besmirch the fact that President-Elect Bennett was an Independent, the first since George Washington.

  It wasn’t Emmy’s job to get involved with the politics, but she knew there were a lot of disgruntled Ellis voters, some of whom were vocal about their desire to see Bennett dead. Always the crazies, Emmy thought now as she parked her car.

  She made her way to Blair House, the traditional home of the president-elect, on Pennsylvania Avenue. As she showed her ID to the security there—a matter of protocol only because they knew her well—she went to change into her running gear.

  As she liaised with her fellow agents, President-Elect Bennett came to meet them. He grinned at them all. “Ready, folks?” He smiled at Emmy. “What do you say, Agent Sati? Maybe ten kilometers today?”

  Emmy smiled. “Whatever you say, sir.”

  Emmy had to admit, there was no downside to watching Orin Bennett exercise. His tall frame was broad and his shoulders and arms thickly muscled. A former Nasa astronaut and Marine, Orin Bennett was in his mid-forties and ripped like she’d never seen. The man looked as if he’d been hewn from rock. How the hell was he still single?

  Emmy berated herself. She had a job to do—God help her if Bennett took a bullet because she was busy objectifying the man. But there it was—Orin Bennett was hot as hell.

  After forty-five minutes of brisk pacing, Bennett signaled he’d had enough, and they escorted him back to Blair House. “Good run, folks, thank you.” He grinned at Emmy again. “You kicked our butts again, Agent Sati.”

  “That’s my job, sir,” Emmy shot back with a wicked smile. Bennett chuckled.

  “You heard the woman, guys. Better behave yourselves.”

  “Good luck today, sir,” Emmy said suddenly, then flushed red. Orin smiled.

  “Thanks, Emerson.” It was the first time he’d called her by her first name, and she felt a thrill zing through her. His light olive-green eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled. “You, too.”

  Her fellow agent Duke nudged her as they walked back to the field office changing rooms. “Think the almost-pres is sweet on you, Boo.”

  Emmy frowned at him. “Don’t say that out loud again, Duke, please. It’s hard enough being a woman in this job without people spreading rumors.”

  Duke gave her a smile. “Sorry. It’s true, though. Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” he added hurriedly as she raised a tightly clenched fist and pretended to punch his face.

  Emmy couldn’t really blame Duke for what he said. Orin Bennett had made a point of being friendly toward her since she’d joined his team, and at first, it seemed as if he were making a point about her gender and her youth. But yes, after a while, she had begun to think it might be something else, which was flattering… but completely unrealistic. In fact, she might be tasked to be close enough to take a bullet for him, but there was no man farther away from her on the planet.

  Seven hours later, as Emmy watched Bennett take the oath of office, her eyes raked the area constantly for threats with her instincts set on high. Like every other American who had grown tired of the corruption and the absence of humanity in the last government, she felt proud. Soon enough, Orin Bennett would face his critics—and there were already many of them—but today, he stood tall. His speech might not have made history like Kennedy’s or Obama’s, but it spoke of a new dawn over the American landscape, one of hope and inclusion.

  At that moment, Emerson Sati knew she was protecting one of the good guys, and it made her heart swell with pride.

  Orin Bennett, newly minted President of the United States, stood behind the “Resolute desk” and looked at his small team of trusted advisors.

  Charlie Hope—his old friend from NASA, now his national security advisor.

  Moxie Chatelaine—the firebrand from New Orleans, who had run his campaign for president. The proud African-American woman was now his chief of staff.

  Peyton Hunt—who’d begun her career as a comedy writer for a popular Eighties TV show before moving into politics. America’s first female vice president.

  Kevin McKee and Issa Graham—his communications director and press secretary, respectively.

  These were the five people who had fought every inch of the way to make him—goofy old Orin Bennett, space cowboy and military grunt—the freakin’ President. He grinned at them now.

  “Relax, everybody. I just have one question… what the hell just happened?”

  He grinned widely and sat down as they broke into relieved laughter. Orin put his hands flat on the desk. “Can you believe they’ve left me charge of this thing?”

  “Honestly?” Charlie Hope shook his head. “No way, dude. What are they thinking?”

  Orin grinned as his friends joined in. “Insane.”

  “The country’s gone mad.”

  Orin sat back, laughing. “You realize I could have you all recommissioned to Lagos?”

  “At least it would be warm,” Peyton rolled her eyes as she sat down on one of the striped couches. “What was it today? Twenty degrees?”

  “Blame FDR, not me. Okay so… what now? Clock’s ticking on our first one hundred days, and I don’t want it all to be about picking out soft furnishings and pranking former staffers. Well, not all about that, I’m just saying.” Orin was having trouble taking all the pomp and ceremony seriously, but he was also anxious to get to work. America was broken by scandal, and he wanted the process of healing to begin.

  As Moxie and Kevin went through the rest of the week’s schedule, Orin flicked his eyes over to the small dark-haired woman standing silently in the corner of the room.

  Agent Emerson Sati. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen. When her boss had come to talk with him about his protection, Lucas Harper had pushed for Emerson to be included on Bennett’s detail, regaling Orin with a glowing appraisal of her career and work ethic.

  Orin had simply no reason to turn her down; he wanted an inclusive, open team of both men and women, after all. He’d agreed and then a couple of days later, Lucas brought Emerson to meet the president-elect. As soon as she’d stepped into the room, Orin knew he had made a mistake.

  There was no way he’d let this woman take a bullet for him. Her caramel skin was set off by the darkest brown hair tucked up into an efficient bun at the back of her head and the deepest brown eyes he’d ev
er seem. Add in a rosebud mouth and a body that still retained its curves even as it was athletic, and Orin was lost. He knew nothing could ever happen between them, especially now that he was president, but, God, if he’d met her before…

  What are you thinking, idiot? You’re the President of the United States, not some schoolboy with a crush… but spending time with Emmy, especially on their early morning runs, wasn’t helping.

  He dragged his attention back to the room. Moxie was talking about the opening salvos of their administration.

  “Of course, what everyone wants to know is… will you pardon former President Ellis?”

  Orin sighed. “I haven’t made my decision on that yet. I don’t feel as if I have enough information about what he knew or didn’t know.”

  Kevin McKee, a blue-eyed dark-haired Princeton graduate, snorted. “He knew everything, Orin… sorry, Mr. President. Brookes Ellis was corrupt even way before he was elected.”

  “Well, we know that, but the American public will want proof. They’re shell-shocked—reeling.” Orin leaned forward. “Who’s that guy, the pit bull, the one who always shut down any threat—Ellis’s damage control?”

  “Martin Karlsson?” Charlie Hope looked doubtful. “Weasel.”

  “Agreed but useful. We need to get him in here and let him think we’re considering a pardon. Maybe he’ll talk.”

  “He might refuse to come. He’s made some pretty inflammatory remarks about you to the press.”

  Orin shrugged. “I want us to make it a policy to not respond to petty bitching. He, or anyone else, says anything defamatory, that’s a different matter. The country comes first here; that’s what we have to always keep at the top of our agenda. Too many people are on the bread line, or in need of medical help for us to waste time on petty minutiae, agreed?”

  The others murmured their assent. “Talking of minutiae,” Issa Graham, the press secretary spoke up with a grin, “InStyle magazine wants to know what you’re wearing for the balls this evening.”