Series: Snapshots of the Past
Series: Snapshots of the Past
Story: Man of the House
Chapter 6
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: Liz reached out to her mother on the day the man who attacked Abbey was released from prison; Robert Nolan suggested Abbey hire a housekeeper
Summary: Jed and Abbey attend an Inaugural Ball; Jed surprises Abbey
Rating: NC-17
"Oooohhhh, Abbbeeeyyy. Oh God, that feels good. Yes, right there! Don't stop. Don't ever, ever stop."
"You are so tight."
Jed was lying flat on his stomach on the bed, moaning as Abbey - dressed only in an oversized Harvard t-shirt and panties - straddled him to massage his naked back. He was wearing a pair of silk boxers which she had managed to slip down far enough to give her a peek at the top of his sexy rear.
"No hanky panky until you make this pain go away," he warned, wincing when she rubbed a little too hard.
"And you suggest I do that how if you won't take your back pills?"
"Use those magic fingers of yours, Doc."
The pain had been building since a marathon sexcapade on Friday, Abbey's first night in Washington. It was Monday now - Inauguration Day in the nation's capital - and during the morning of parade festivities, Jed had run out of steam. So the couple retired to their Porter Street apartment to try to relieve his pain before the inaugural balls.
"I mean it, Jed. You really are very tight." Abbey dug her fingers into his flesh to loosen his muscles. At the same time, her eyes glazed over an article in The Washington Post that Jed had left open beside her.
"Must be because of all those extracurricular activities the last few days," he said, grinning. "I don't know what it is about D.C. that gets you so randy."
"It's not D.C. It's just you."
"I never get tired of hearing you say that, my flexible little dumpling."
"Don't ever call me that in public."
"Flexible?"
"Dumpling," she corrected as Jed chuckled.
"But flexible's okay, right?" He clenched when she squeezed his shoulder once again. "OW! Abbey, what the hell?"
His yelp took her attention away from her article. "Sorry."
"What the hell are you reading?"
"My reading had nothing to do with that. I just got carried away."
"Yeah, so you say, but that's the second time you've done that in the past five minutes. So, again, what the hell are you reading?"
"A story about a woman who cheated on her husband and was caught in a rather amusing way. Guess who ratted her out."
"The butler."
"Only in the Clue mansion."
"Since when does the Post do tabloid journalism anyway?"
"It's not tabloid. It's an interesting side column that goes with a relevant story about marriage in the '80s. Are you going to guess?"
"I give up. Who ratted her out?"
"Her pet parrot. The traitoress little fellow imitated the sounds that came out of her during her sexual encounters with her lover. He even shouted out the lover's name during his imitation of the climax."
"The parrot told the husband?"
"Yep!" Her brow arching conspiringly, she asked, "Should we get you a parrot, Jethro?"
"If you think a bird is going to keep the ladies out of my bachelor pad..." Jed was quick to reply, leaving the last part of his statement dangling without a conclusion.
"Your bachelor pad." Abbey dismissed the dreaded phrase with a shake of her head. "And by ladies, I assume you mean the trollops who will no doubt be lured by a handsome, powerful new man in town who they think will pay them a dime's worth of attention if they prance around like the wanton sluts they are?"
"MEOW!"
Jed knew that would light her fire, which was why he said what he did. It was fun to see that glimpse of jealousy that reared its head now and then. He enjoyed provoking her in this kind of silly discourse because neither of them took it seriously.
Abbey expected that Jed would have his admirers in Washington. She assumed that women would find him as charming and handsome as she did, but she trusted him with all her heart. That's because she knew Jed. She knew that fidelity wasn't just a word he recited in their wedding vows. It was a sacred promise that he would never, ever break. As much as he loved her, Jed couldn't imagine ever finding comfort in someone else's bed and if he ever did, he knew he'd lose Abbey forever.
So engaging her in this kind of hypothetical scenario to get a reaction like the one he got was harmless to him because it was never going to happen. And since she knew that, Abbey played along.
"Okay, maybe 'wanton slut' was harsh, but overall, I speak the truth and you know it."
"What truth is that?"
"Any woman who sees that wedding ring and still thinks she has a chance with you is a woman lacking something in the morality department."
Without warning, Jed reached behind him to grab her wrist and force her over to the side. Abbey collapsed on the mattress beside him, laughing hysterically as he climbed on top of her and tickled her unmercifully for the next few seconds. Captivated by her beauty, he stopped to stroke her cheek with the palm of his hand.
"Lucky for us, the only woman I hope is lured by this allegedly handsome and powerful man, is you." He kissed her.
"Don't get me all hot," she said, kissing him back. "We have to go soon."
"We have an hour."
"Forty-three minutes."
"Then I'll just work fast..." His sentence was broken by her wandering hand roaming down his body to cup his swelling shaft covered by the fabric of his boxers. "Apparently, so will you, you naughty little vixen!"
Jed scooped her up by sliding his arms under her back and lifting her to him. He pinned her under a passionate assault of kisses until he felt a bit of resistance, but he was thrilled after he discovered it was just because she was trying to lift her t-shirt over head and throw it to the foot of the bed.
"That's better," she said with her arm hooked around his neck to bring him closer to her.
Abbey arched her back as Jed continued down her body, over the smooth mounds of her breasts, towards her stomach. When he reached the bottom of her belly, he paused, then slipped his fingers under the elastic of her panties and rolled them slowly down the length of her silky soft legs.
"Now THAT'S better." He stared at her, waiting for him with her legs bent and her knees locked together. Placing one hand on each knee, he gently pulled them apart and glided his fingers down her inner thighs until he reached the tantalizing triangle at her center, her most intimate secrets hidden by a thin nest of brown curls that he twirled lovingly around his fingers.
Abbey was lost in the moment. Her breath caught in her throat as she pushed her hips towards him, inviting him to touch her, needing to feel a part of him inside her. Jed watched her reaction. Her eyes, a sea of jades brimming with anticipation, widened to twice their normal size as he sank down and blew his hot breath across her sex.
His finger teased her opening, the tip sliding inside of her to give her a taste of what was yet to come. When he replaced that finger with his mouth, he felt her muscles twitching around him. Abbey cried out for him, her own fingers now tangled helplessly in his hair as she felt the stubble on his chin between her legs while his tongue penetrated her over and over again and his lips sucked ever so slightly on the tender and swollen flesh that guarded her entrance.
Forty-five minutes later, Jed and Abbey rushed out of the shower together. Just as Abbey predicted, they were running late. Jed practically jumped into his pants while a frazzled Abbey removed the towel covering her head to run her blowdryer over her damp hair.
"There's a stain on my shirt!" Jed shouted loud enough for her to hear, he thought.
"What?" He was wrong.
"My shirt!" He held up his white tuxedo shirt to show her the tiny light beige make-up stain on the collar. "Look, it's stained!"
Abbey turned off the blowdryer. "What is that? I can barely see it."
"I assume it's from our dance at the black-tie fundraiser in Boston. You got a little bit of powder or foundation on it, remember?"
"Why didn't you have it cleaned?"
"Did you not see me just pull it out of the dry-cleaning bag? They must have missed it since it's so small."
"No one's going to think it's make-up, you know." She couldn't resist a little ribbing. "They'll just think you're a slob."
"Come on, Abbey. Do what you do."
"Get me my purse."
She rummaged through her belongings and pulled out a bottle of white-out which she carefully administered to the stain, blending it in with a make-up sponge until the outline disappeared. Jed gave her a kiss for her efforts, then left her alone while she finished her hair. Once she was done, she searched her duffel bag for shoes she had yet to unpack.
"The slingbacks with rhinestones or the silver ankle straps?" she asked her husband as she held up two different pairs of clear shoes.
"You know I hate when you ask me about shoes." He pointed to the ones dangling in her right hand. "Those."
"The slingbacks?"
"Yeah, those, whatever they are."
She stared at the slingbacks, then at the ankle straps, then back at the slingbacks. "I'd rather wear the ankle straps."
"Then why are you asking me?"
"I was hoping you'd agree."
"I never know what to say when you ask me about shoes." Jed slipped into his shirt. "How many shoes did you bring with you anyway?"
"Just five pairs."
"And how many feet do you have?" He cruised over to the closet, his unbuttoned shirt giving her a view of his masculine chest.
"Okay, okay."
"You see what I have in here? Three pairs of shoes, total." He held up a pair of leather wingtips. "One for work..." Next was a pair of tennis shoes. "One for play..." Finally, he showed her the shoes he'd wear that night. "And one for things like Inaugural balls."
"You're not a woman. Women judge what other women have on their feet." She cocked her brow at him as she sat on the edge of the bed to dry the moisture off her leg and slide them into a pair of nude pantyhose.
"Doesn't your ball gown cover your feet?"
"Yes."
"Then who's going to know what you shoes you wear?"
"I'll know."
"So you're worried about judging yourself?"
"Jed."
"Yeah?" Jed did love to tease his family. Liz usually bore the brunt of his comebacks because she enjoyed them the most, but he wasn't above annoying his wife from time to time.
Secretly amused, but unwilling to admit it, Abbey tightened her posture and shot him a warning glare. "What's the matter with you?"
"Who really knows?"
She stood to stuff her hosed feet into a pair of slippers as she headed to the closet to retrieve her strapless black lace corset and pull it up over her taut body. "So when do you start legislating?"
"As soon as we get all our ducks in a row."
"What does that mean?"
"In Hill-speak, it means we have to wait until all the first-month kinks are worked out and we've all been briefed on the agenda and the bills that were sandbagged in committee last session. In reality, it means we start as soon as we find a way to manipulate the Republicans into giving us what we want."
"Politics." She shook her head. "All the game-playing, the 'I did you a favor and now you owe me one' mentality every single day. I don't know how you do it."
"I'm not quite sure myself." He coiled his bowtie around his neck, but didn't bother to try to tie it. "But we haven't hit the hard stuff yet. That's up next."
"As in?"
"Tonight."
"What do you mean tonight?" she asked as she gathered her auburn tresses and pulled them into a French twist. "It's the Inaugural Ball. Can't it be politics-free?"
He snickered. "You're so cute."
That earned him a sudden burst of wind from the blowdryer. "I wonder if you'd consider losing the patronizing jackass attitude if I told you I might just not go tonight?"
Jed smoothed his windblown hair with a good-natured laugh. "All I mean is that it's Washington. By definition, the Beltway is never politics-free. Sure, we'll dance and we'll mingle and we'll have a good time, all the while we'll be hammering out a few compromises behind the cameras to get us through the next two weeks."
"I can hardly wait." Abbey handed him her gown so he could help her get into it. Ordinarily, she wouldn't need his help, but since this dress had no zipper, it was up to him to hold the laces while she climbed in, then tie them up her back.
"God, Abbey, the men are going to be ogling you all night." Once she was tied and ready to go, he dipped her ruby necklace over her head and around her neck, fastening it behind her. "Make sure you take your coat."
"I wasn't planning on wearing a coat. The gown comes with a wrap."
"I didn't say you had to wear it. Just take it. Otherwise, you'll be cold."
"Excuse me, is this Jed Bartlet complaining about the cold?"
"Not for me. For you. You get cold a whole 30 degrees before I do."
"We're going from the car to the ballroom. I think I can handle the winter chill for that short a distance."
"We have plans afterwards."
"What plans?"
"What do you care? Just take your coat."
She gave him a sly grin as she tied his bowtie for him, then flung her brown mink coat over her arm on their way out.
The Congressional Ball at the Capital Hilton surpassed Abbey's expectations of elegance. The Bartlets weren't naive and inexperienced. They had danced in the presence of Kings in Sweden and they had been invited to some of the ritziest political fundraisers and personal parties thrown by the most affluent members American society. Yet, when they crossed the flowered arch of the ball, Abbey was awestruck at what she saw.
From the rose-lined dance floor that hosted a string of lights glowing from inside the petals to the Navy band that serenaded the crowd with a melody of patriotic and romantic tunes to the colorful array of red, white, and blue ball gowns on the women that rustled against the black tie and tails on the shoulders of the men, it all took her breath away.
She wore a strapless crimson gown, one that was lightly accented with a beautiful mix of crimson and red Austrian crystals, blending exquisitely with the color of the fabric. Her arms were warmed with a matching satin cape fastened with a rhinestone buckle across the front.
Because her hair was pulled into a French twist, a cluster of genuine rubies could easily be seen on the laces that Jed had tied on her zipperless back, catching the attention of the crowd after the clerk took her wrap and Jed ushered her through a line of senators, representatives, and other dignitaries on the way to the dance floor.
"You want to dance already?" Abbey questioned him. "We just got here."
"Humor me. I got this sudden urge to show you off when I realized everyone was staring at you."
"They were not."
"Didn't you see their faces when we walked in?"
"I think you're imagining things."
"I'm not imagining this. You're the most gorgeous woman in the room."
He pulled her close, dancing with her cheek-to-cheek to an instrumental version of Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love With You. Abbey gripped him tightly, taking in his scent and closing her eyes to savor this dance forever.
In that moment, it felt like they were all alone. In a sense, they were. They swayed with the kind of grace that pushed their bodies into a rhythm the other couples just couldn't match. They moved in a way that betrayed their innocent smiles and allowed everyone a glimpse at the romantic energy between them. It was sexy, the way they held each other as if locked in an eternal embrace, unable to part and unwilling to try.
One by one, the other couples moved out of the spotlight as all eyes turned to the new couple in town - Congressman Bartlet and his wife, Abbey.
When the ball drew to a close around midnight, Jed and Abbey waited for their car. The valet curved the lot, then parked in front of them, but Jed held his wife's hand so she couldn't get in. He took her coat out of the back and sent the man off again.
Confused, Abbey looked to her husband for answers. "What's going on?"
"I told you. We have other plans." He gestured to the white horse-drawn carriage that was approaching them.
"You didn't."
Jed picked up a bouquet of two-dozen red roses that were sitting on her seat. He handed them to her with a smile. "I did."
Abbey took in the scent of the flowers, then accepted his help climbing in to the carriage. "I can't believe you did this."
They began a moonlit ride through the streets of Washington, D.C., holding hands under a shower of light snow. Romantic as it was, Abbey couldn't fight the chill she felt from the blistering January wind. She released Jed's hand and tightened her coat around herself, shivering.
"You're cold."
"Kind of."
"Come here." He opened his arms wide, so wide that he was able to envelope her into an embrace so tight that he warmed her instantly with his own body heat.
Her legs were crossed at her knees and her gown had risen up past her ankles, revealing the clear ankle-strapped shoes she wore. He had noticed the straps before, but he hadn't really paid attention to the silver ribbon that overlapped as it climbed from the straps to a few inches up her calf. He stared at them silently until Abbey caught him spying her feet.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"The shoes?"
Jed nodded. "They do look great."
"I thought they would."
"You did not. You asked me which ones you should wear."
"That's right."
"So if you already knew, then why did you ask me?"
"I didn't know until I asked you. Don't you get how this works? When it comes to shoes, you're clueless, so I ask you for your opinion and whichever you choose, I wear the opposite."
"Oh, is that the deal?" Still holding her in his arms to keep her warm, he turned his head away from her and stared out of the carriage. "Well, I guess we'll see what happens the next time you decide to play those little mind games."
Jed wasn't really upset and Abbey knew it, but she indulged him anyway. Her head leaning on his shoulder, she sat up to respond.
"Aw, don't pout, babe. That's going to ruin things for later." She tucked her hand under his chin until he turned again to face her.
"Okay, but do me a favor?"
"Anything."
"Later..." he whispered. "Wear the shoes."
"And nothing else," Abbey promised as she leaned in to kiss him.
TBC