It's always just a few little words.
"For one minute."
The moment they met, he placed her under his spell. From that day on, she had been fighting the attraction. And that moment they stood outside together, and she lied and said she didn't want the thing she desired more than anything else in the world, it took all of her self control to just stand there. And then Mellie came out, and she realized that Governor Grant would never be fully hers. She should have ended it then.
"Say my name."
That day on the bus when he asked her to say his name, to leave behind the formalities that had been keeping them in check, she gave in. It was only a little, but that was the moment when she gave in. It wouldn't be the last time she heard those words from Fitz's mouth: The times when her legs were wrapped around him while he pounded into her as she cried out in pleasure; the time right after they slept together for the first time and she tried to act like it never happened while he refused to deny what they had together, when she tried to return to the formalities and the restraint that went with them; when he teased her, kissing down her body and making one demand before giving her what she wanted; and most importantly, the day she left the president and the white house behind, when she ended everything and he fought to make her stay. But the last time was the time she wouldn't give in, when she began to only refer to him as Mr. President, trying to obliterate her feelings for him.
"Take off your clothes"
She could have turned back. She should have said no. In that moment, she still could have stopped the affair before it began, before she gave him her heart. But she was so consumed by the love and the lust, the tension but had had been building up since she walked into his life. She wanted him in that moment and every moment since. She needed him in that moment, if only to delude herself into thinking that one day she alone could have him.
"I love you."
Those were the words that kept her around, every time she had her doubts. When she would think of his wife and his children, his words made those thoughts go away. Even when she doubted that he had ever meant them, his voice saying those three little words always drew her helplessly back into his bed. When she realized that she was replaceable, that when she left, he just found a younger, weaker model in Amanda Tanner, his professions of love when they danced still drew her to try and get to their spot. To once again lose herself in him. Hearing those words made the tears and the guilt and the shame worth it.
"Sweet baby."
Every time she remembered who she was, that she was strong, independent, intelligent, and good at her job, those words made her powerless. All the times she decided that she was no one's mistress and that she deserved someone who could devote himself completely to her, he called her that, and she was willing to do anything to be with him. And when she heard those words from Quinn's mouth, her heart broke more than it ever had before - more than seeing him with Mellie, more than the pain of acting like nothing was happening between them, like nothing ever happened between them.
Yet despite all the pain it caused, all he had to do was call her sweet baby and tell her he loved her and she fell right back into his arms because despite all of her attempts to prevent it, he was the love of her life and she was powerless to resist him. All it took was a few little words.