what really fucks with me about House Of Cards is how Claire’s and Frank’s marriage is one of the HEALTHIER het relationships I’ve seen on tv.

Clearly, they’re both power-hungry, bad people. No argument about that.

But they debate. They let each other talk, they rarely raise their voice. they respect each other and the other’s ideas.

They have arrangements with other people and they talk about it and are fine with how - healthy, consensual polyamory.

Claire is aware of and accepts Frank’s bisexuality and does not mind whether his partners are male or female.

And you have such ingenious scenes like both their mistresses talking to each other at their inauguration as POTUS & VP.

You have Frank confronting Tom about sleeping with another woman.

“Don’t cheat on my wife, Tom.” Epic. Unparalleled.

Like? Once again they are Bad People and then there’s the fact Kevin Spacey is cancelled for forever, but the writing of them is just so good and I love them so much.

Brazen Qualities Ch 11

Warnings: Language, politics, angst.
Taglist:@charabs@emilyprentisswife@natasha-danvers@stardust-fray@ineedafinghug@billiedeannovak@vivis-ghost-wife@imlike-so-gaydude@sarcasticmami@wannabe-fic-reader@angelicdestieldemon@gaylorrds@smuttty@infiniteoddball@delphineecormierr

The next morning you felt like you could use about eight more espressos before you were ready to tackle your day. You were certainly off your game and prayed that work wise, nothing major came across your desk, you had enough mess on your hands as is. Punctual as ever, Heather was at your office right at nine, you were incredibly thankful for the extra coffee in her hand, groaning as the liquid soothed through your body.

“You look like crap.” She greeted, half teasing, half concerned.

“I didn’t get much sleep.” You couldn’t help but softly sigh, leaning into her palm as she stroked your cheek.

“You should duck out early today then, take some personal time.” Heather settled into a chair across from your desk.

“I’m afraid that’s out of the question.” Crossing your arms infront of you, you leant onto the desk, “do you remember what the definition of extortion is Heather?”

“What is this about?”

“Whatever the fuck was in that journal! I really wish you’d bothered to enlighten me that you were planning on blackmailing the President!”

“I knew you wouldn’t approve. I took matters into my own hands.”

“When did you go to him?”

“It doesn’t mater I-“

“WHEN!?”

“Thurday night.” She huffed in defeat.

“For fucks sake.” You muttered.

“Why?”

“If there was any chance that he came threatening to me first, I could pursue a case of first degree extortion, get him kicked out of the running if not completely out of office. But you swung first…and now I can’t.”

“He threatened you?” She felt her blood start to boil, why did Underwood need to use you to get to her instead of just coming straight to the source, he could easily leave you out of this.

“Technically both of us. He wants you to drop out of the running.”

“Absolutely not.” Heather shook her head and you sighed in annoyance, “it’s his word against mine, and half the world already doesn’t trust him.”

“Oh he’s got more than enough leverage.”

“He’s lying then. So what if he has the recording from the office, we claim the audio was altered somehow, that it wasn’t actually me saying it, or that it didn’t come from our office at all. Wost thing that happens, I lose out on a few votes, mainly republicans.”

“This isn’t about the votes Heather! Don’t you get that? There is so much more riding on this.”

“What are you talking about?” Sighing heavily you plucked the thumb drive from your purse, clicking it into your computer, crooking your finger at Heather.

“C’mere. I wanna show you something.” She paused briefly as she stood, concerned at your sudden change of demeanour, as if you were teasing her now instead of berating her. Once she was on your side of the desk, you hit play on the video.

“Motherfucker.”

“I don’t know how they got it, but they have it. There’s also footage of the hot tub from a security camera.”

“You’re sure this came from Underwood.”

“He showed up at my door last night.” You grimaced at the memory, “he’s also watched the tape in its entirety.” That made Heather’s skin absolutely crawl, the thought of anyone seeing such an intimate evening was bad, but Underwood himself? Felt like a whole new level of violation

“This is bad.” She pushed off your desk, beginning to pace slowly through your office, “fuck. I’ve got to get that journal.”

“You don’t even HAVE the journal?! Jesus, is the politics rotting your brain?”

“It’s fine! Doug probably feels betrayed by Underwood, we’ll get the journal and fire back. If this leaks then at least something will leak on the Underwood’s too.”

“Heather…” you warned, “you don’t want this getting out.”

“Fuck needing the republican votes, I still have a chance at this! He can’t bully me into dropping out of the race.”

“This isn’t about the election anymore Heather!! Jesus! This cannot get out! Published or leaked!”

“You’re worried about your career.”

“I’m worried about your family! You think you want your seventeen year old son to find it while he’s surfing some porn site? You want all your kids friends to know about it, probably have watched it? Talk about a load of bullying! Not to mention your husband! This will fucking destroy you Heather! You think you’ll be able to take office while you’re in the middle of a disastrous divorce? Hell you just made a speech about the sanctity of marriage last week at the Underwood rumours!”

“He can try to destroy me all he wants but like hell if he thinks he can take you down as collateral damage.”

“I can still be a special prosecutor with a sex tape. You can’t be you. Much less the President. You need to drop out of the race and pray for the best.”

“If we don’t have leverage on him what’s his motivation to destroy the tape?”

Your phone pinged with a notification before you could open your mouth, you swiped the notification that pulled open an app, glancing at the screen before you closed your phone again.

“Anything important?” Heather asked.

“No, just an Amazon package delivery.” Then you froze, the wheels in your head spinning faster, pulling strings together with grace, “do you agree to drop out?” Heather sighed heavily, running a hand over her face, she knew at this point, even if she had the journal, she really didn’t have another choice, ruining her entire families lives wasn’t something she wanted to do.

“Yes.”

“Okay.” You hastily started gathering your things, “call Cynthia, start working on your speech, set up a live appearance for later this week. I’ll call you later.”

“Where are you going?”

“To save your ass! Again! You owe me a raise Dunbar!”

“How about I just up your benefits?” God, this woman had literally no chill sometimes you could hear the smirk in her voice, stuttering in the doorway,

“Okay now is not the time…”

*

“Ms Vanderbilt, it is so lovely to see you again. And so soon. I suppose you’re here to tell me Ms Dunbar’s dropping out?” Underwood was ever the sly piece of crap. It disgusted you the way his eyes seemed to be able to see right through your suit, knowing what was hidden beneath it.

“I’m here to make a deal.”

“You lawyers always think you can save some trouble by making deals. What do you want?”

“Solicitor General. Ms Dunbar takes a seat on the bench. We all know Justice Jacobs is refusing anyone else’s nomination. The tape gets destroyed.”

“And what do I get out of it?”

“Ms Dunbar steps down from the presidential running. On her terms.” You flipped your iPad open, “and this doesn’tget leaked to the press.”

When your phone pinged earlier, it was a notification from your doorbell camera, motion activiated, recording both video and audio. Underwood thought he was being smart by going to your house instead of tracking you down at your office, less cameras, less chance of being seen. In turn, he’d screwed himself over.

“This alone is enough evidence to indict you, and impeachment doesn’t look good on anyone.”

“You little bitch.” He murmured. To be completely honest, he was impressed, you had more fire in you than he’d originally realized, it was a shame he didn’t have you working for him in the first place.

“I didn’t go out of my way to unlawfully survey anyone. That’s another charge I can lay on you. A doorbell cam is nothing out of the ordinary these days.”

“And the journal?”

“Never left Doug’s possession. I don’t even know what’s in it, Dunbar’s the only one who’s read it.”

Underwood cursed under his breath, retreating to his desk, pulling out a flash drive. He made a show of dropping it to the floor before stomping on it, crushing it to pieces.

“The copy on your iPad?” He pulled that out from a shelf on the wall, handing the device to you. You knew how to permanently delete things, triple checking it hadn’t been in any cloud storage, feeling a light sense of relief. Sure, there was still a chance there was a copy out there somewhere, but Underwood seemed to be fully agreeing to the deal. The threat of impeachment was a big one he didn’t want to risk.

“You really care about your reputation this much?” He questioned as you handed the tablet back to him.

“No.” You stated simply, “it’s more about the fact that you’re threatening to destroy Dunbar’s entire family for the sake of your campaign.”

“Oh sweetheart, I think you did that when you decided to get in bed with her.”

“She’s announcing Tuesday at ten thirty. I expect our contracts drawn up and on my desk no later than eleven.”

You didn’t wait for a dismissal, turning and leaving the Oval without a second look back.

*

It was a surprise to you when you arrived in your office Tuesday to find the Manila envelopes containing your and Heather’s new job offers first thing in the morning. You looked over both of them with a fine toothed comb, expecting Underwood to have weaseled some kind of loophole into them, but everything was by the book. You signed yours, sliding it back into the envelope and put Heather’s into your bag to give to her later. Letting out a heavy sigh, you felt the relief coursing through your body, finally, this was all goddamn behind you. You made a mental note to not work on a campaign everagain.

Ten thirty came and went, Heather’s main team by her side as she announced that she was dropping out of the race. She’d come up with some statement that she had chosen to take on the Justice position instead, securing her a guaranteed career for life instead of one with an expiry date. You were on your way out of the building, falling in step beside Heather in the alley as you walked to the car.

“You fucking bitch.”

Fucking Doug. What the fuck was he doing here.

“You bail on me, and then get me fired. Publicy. I’ll never work again, it’s completely humiliating.” He was slurring his words, already teetering more on his feet than normal.

“Doug you need to leave.” You stated firmly, knowing he was drunk, and that he probably knew what was on the destoryed tape. There were still reporters inside the building, the last thing you needed was for your secret to come out after doing everything you could to make sure it was safe.

“Oh fuck you.” He spat.

You saw the flash of movement and knew instantly what was about to happen, the panic in your chest rising at the glint of metal pointed toward Heather. Your instincts took over without even thinking, shoving her behind you, out of range of the bullet right as the shot went off.

The sound of the gun, and the scream from Heather gained more than enough attention from inside the building, and in his state, Doug definitely wasn’t getting away with this. You collapsed into the side of the car, hands clutching at your abdomen where blood was seeping through your shirt at an alarming rate.

“No..no, no, no…you’re gonna be fine, look at me, you’re gonna be fine.” Heather ripped off her jacket, pressing the fabric against your skin. You knew her words were trying to reassure you, but it was getting more painful to breathe each second that went by. Glassy tears flooding her eyes was the last thing you remembered before it all went black.

Warnings: Language, mentions of smut. Underwood being a greaseball of a human.
Taglist:  @charabs​@emilyprentisswife​@natasha-danvers​@stardust-fray​@ineedafinghug​@billiedeannovak​@vivis-ghost-wife​@imlike-so-gaydude​@wannabe-fic-reader​@sarcasticmami​@angelicdestieldemon​@gaylorrds​@smuttty​@infiniteoddball​@delphineecormierr​

The trip back to D.C was a little awkward and uncomfortable, but it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Cynthia hadn’t put it together that you were the one Heather was having an affair with, and didn’t ask a single question, pretending that she wasn’t witness to the argument you’d gotten in the night before. You were sure to check your phone the second the plane landed to make sure Underwood hadn’t decided to leak the information from the bug before warning both Cynthia and Heather to not answer anything and direct any questions to your office instead.

Naturally, you were doing nothing but dodging calls for the next week.

The day after you got back, Underwood was doing everything he could to cover is own tracks, and thankfully, not throwing Dunbar under the bus in the process. He may have been a conniving asshole but he wasn’t that stupid, and you knew under different circumstances, he probably would have called you to make an official statement for him and his team.

Instead, the presumptuous dick was on your office’s t.v screen, making the exact statement that you knew he would from the second you found the bug.

“Myself and my office are coming forward today with a statement of apology towards Ms Dunbar and her team. As stated during the Arizona caucus, there was an electronic recording device that had been left in their campaign office, no doubt to try and get some form of political scandal up and running. It has been confirmed that the device was planted by Doug Stamper, my former chief of staff. While on leave from my team he pursued a career working alongside Ms Dunbar to gain knowledge he would have not been privy of otherwise. I, nor any member from the White House asked him to do this, and would never ask anyone to do something so problematic.”

You couldn’t help but snort a laugh at that one.

“Once he admitted to his act, I promptly fired him. I want a clean campaign and a smooth Presidency, and do not condone such horrible behaviour, especially from someone running my team. Anything that was recorded from the device was not listened to and promptly destroyed and we have no intention of searching out what was said within the private walls of Ms Dunbar’s office.”

“Fucking garbage.” You muttered, muting the t.v. Sure, he’d fired Doug publicly but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still working for him under the radar. As for destroying anything recorded? You knew it was bullshit, he was probably going through it with a fine toothed comb, hell you knew he had listened to it, and if it wasn’t for your quick thinking at the debate, the entire world would know about Heather’s affair.

You sent a quick text to Heather, reminding her to destroy the bug, and to say you were sending over a team to sweep through the office and her home, just to be safe. If there was anything else hiding somewhere you wanted it gone. You’d already done the same with your own office the day you got back.  A second series of texts were sent off to a couple of old cop buddies of yours, you wanted to keep an eye on Doug, make sure he wasn’t meeting with Underwood in secret and you certainly didn’t have enough time to do it yourself.

The rest of the week was drafting up official statements, sending legal advice off to Cynthia to prepare responses to Underwood’s apology and try to keep everything running smoothly. It was a lot of ‘no comment at this time’ and ‘we accept the President’s apology and hold no grudges’ bullshit, but it took up more time than you would’ve liked.

*

It was unbeknownst to you that Heather set up a meeting with Underwood, she didn’t tell you becauase she knew you’d be against it, and she didn’t need you even more pissed off at her right now. You were doing your side of taking care of the drama, and she was going about it her way. She met Frank in a back entrance corridor of the White House, discretion was important at this stage.

“Came to demand an in person apology, did you?” He jeered, curling his way down the metal stairs.

“I don’t care about that and you know it. Some mock up press event to publicly shame someone else so it doesn’t smear your name? How very on brand for you.”

“Then why are you here Ms Dunbar?” He’d reached the bottom of the stairs, sizing up his opponent in an attempt to intimidate her.

“Destroy whatever recordings you have from the bug.”

“Andwhy would I want to do that? Without it, it’s my word against yours that you’re running around with some little harlot. Never would have pegged you to be a switch hitter, it’s not good for the republican support.”

“You destroy the recording and I’ll destroy the journal.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I know Claire lied about the abortion, and I have the journal to prove it.” Underwood stalled, a ball of rage beginning to burn within him.

“You’re bluffing. Doug destroyed it.”

“He lied. And I have it.” Although, she was bluffing. Doug had shown her the journal, but it was still in his possession, but an unknowingly empty threat was better than no threat at all.

“He never would have handed it over to you.”

“For two million, people do a lot of stupid things. Besides, you just fired him on national television, I don’t think his loyalty lies with you any longer. You have three days Mr President.”

Turning, she rapped on the door, and was gone faster than she came. Underwood was furious, he didn’t care if Dunbar came after him, tried to smear his name, but come after his wife? That was unacceptable, he wanted to fire back, half of him was tempted to leak the recording himself right then and there. But he knew he had to dig up something even better to really knock Heather out of the political race.

*

Your week of bullshit news blocking thanks to Heather’s slip up was finally goddamn over. Admittedly, you weren’t actually mad at her for what happened, she slipped, it happened to the best of you. Like she had said the night before the debate, it’s trickier when your opposer is attacking you personally instead of who you’re defending. You were glad that things seemed to be smoothing over, that any hiccups along the way were easily solved and there weren’t any metaphorical road blocks.

You’d finished dinner, the dishes drying in the rack while you settled into the couch with your second glass of wine. Ever so thankful for the mindless trashy reality t.v playing, the perfect way to de stress from the week. Well…there would’ve been one better way, but considering the current situation, you weren’t about to pick up the phone and invite her over. (Besides, you never fucked while in D.C, only on the road).

Your phone pinged, and at first you thought it was a text, but your brows furrowed as you realized it was someone airdropping you an image. The number looked faintly familiar, so you hit the accept button while you waited for the picture to load. You were confused, in order to airdrop someone would have to be at least within your building, and that gave you goosebumps. You practically dropped your phone when the image loaded, it was black and white, grainy, probably from a security camera, but it was certainly was from the hot tub in Arizona. You, propped up on the edge of the tub while Heather pleased you. Your heart started to race, how the fuck could you have been so careless, you should’ve known there would’ve been cameras on that terrace, it was only semi private after all.

You practically jumped out of your skin when there was a sudden knock on your door. Figuring it had to be whoever had sent you the picture, you put down your glass of wine and padded over, pulling the door open. Honestly, you’d expected it to be Doug, so you were taken aback by the view in front of you.

“Uh- Mr. President?” Your head glanced both ways down the hallway, he was completely alone, there was no way in hell this was good.

“Evening Ms Vanderbilt, I do hope I’m not interrupting.”

“No…what can I help you with?” You already had the faintest idea, now realizing that the number looked familiar because it was one of the burners you tracked records for when you vetted Doug.

“You’re going to get Ms Dunbar to drop out of the nomination race.”

“I am?” You cocked a brow, “why would I do that?”

“Because you don’t want that picture going viral…and neither would she.”

Fucking prick.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. What I do on the campaign trail during my personal time doesn’t effect Ms Dunbar’s run for nomination.”

“So you’re telling me that isn’t Heather Dunbar buried between your legs.”

“No.” You blatantly lied, you couldn’t see her face in the picture, it was the best you could do to save her reputation, “I’m publicly out Mr. President, while the overt nature of where the picture was taken might take a hit at my reputation, I see no other underlying issues.” It was a fucking stretch. If he had that still, he probably had the whole video footage, her face may have been hidden in the shot, but the video would definitely confirm that it was her in the jacuzzi with you. It was the way he darkly chuckled that truly worried you.

“I thought you might say that.” He pulled a small tablet from inside his coat, flipping the screen to you, “I also have this. If Ms Dunbar thinks she can go after Claire with that journal, then I’m leaking the tape.”

Your eyes widened as you realized what was in front of you, the screen was crystal clear this time, your hand darting out to hit the pause button right before Heather let out a wanton moan. You had no idea how, but the hotel suite had been bugged, or a webcam had been hacked, either way, there was a very explicit sex tape involving you and Heather, and none other than Frank fucking Underwood had it.

“You do realize this is first degree extortion, right?” He simply smirked.

“Here.” He tossed a flash drive at you that you barely managed to catch, “I made sure to make you a copy. Now…why don’t you be a good little kitten and scamper off to tell Ms Dunbar she’s dropping out of the campaign?”

With that he was gone, and you felt like you were about to puke as you slammed the door shut. Not only was there a sex tape out there that Underwood had, but his wording meant that he had watched it and honestly, you weren’t sure which made you feel more violated. Not to mention you were absolutely fucked. If this had been any other encounter between you and Heather, there would’ve been a chance of brushing it off as a one time, alcohol fueled mistake that never happened again. But that night in Arizona had been different, it was softer, more intimate, and that…meant trouble.

Whatever was in that journal was clearly a pushing point for Frank, and if Heather had threatened him with it, it probably happened this week, Goddammit, she knew better. You’d told her at the beginning that you didn’t condone blackmail…though all things considered, that may be about to change. Grabbing your phone from the couch you hit her contact, typing out a text,

‘My office, nine am. No excuses.’

You downed your glass of wine and immediately poured a fresh one. So much for a relaxing night.

Warnings: Language. Smut. Political drama. 
Taglist:@charabs@emilyprentisswife@natasha-danvers@stardust-fray@ineedafinghug@billiedeannovak@vivis-ghost-wife@imlike-so-gaydude@wannabe-fic-reader@sarcasticmami@angelicdestieldemon@gaylorrds@smuttty@infiniteoddball​@delphineecormierr​

*

Arizona seemed like the perfect escape, even if it was for a week of work. The weather was much warmer than Washington, and nicer than the other States you’d been stopping in along the trail. You knew the sunny days and nights not frozen in your bed would do a wonder for your mental health, you’d finally be able to put this bullshit about the bug behind you. And considering you hadn’t heard any whisperings around the Underwood office, you were sure Heather was taking care of it, whatever that meant.

Heather was taking full advantage of the last stop on the campaign trail (for the nomination, there would still be a whole other campaign for the Presidency after she secured the slot), slyly booking adjoining rooms for the two of you. When it came up at check in she simply shrugged to Cynthia, it must’ve been a convenient slip up on the hotel’s side.

You were taking full advantage of the Ocatilla suite’s semi private terrace, complete with jacuzzi tub and lounge chairs (and the fact that Heather had a few press appearances that afternoon that you didn’t need to be around for). Splayed out on a lounger flipping through a trashy gossip magazine you’d picked up at the airport clad in a deep blue bikini, soaking up the much appreciated warmth and sun.

Heather swore under her breath at the sight when she came out of the bedroom, eager to get this day of pointless meetings over with so she could spend the night having her way with you. You raised your head at the sound of the patio door sliding open,

“We should be back in a few hours, dinner at Frank & Albert’s is booked for seven.”

“Noted.”

“Try not to get in too much trouble while we’re gone.” She teased, pulling a laugh from you.

“How could I possibly get into trouble with you not here?” You smirked back, “call me if you run into any roadblocks.”

“Enjoy your sun.” Heather shot you a wink before sliding the door shut and you turned back to your magazine.

You kept your phone turned on and at your side just in case, but it thankfully never went off, your afternoon was exactly what you’d needed, dozing softly in the sun, finally able to forget about all the bull shit of the past couple of weeks. It wouldn’t be long before Underwood was out of the picture and you’d already been vetting the Republican nominations to know what kind of people you’d be up against in the second part of the campaign.

When you heard the door to Heather’s suite open a few hours later you headed back into your own, freshening up in the shower before you met the team for dinner. You could feel her eyes on you throughout the meal, while she may have been talking shop, you knew that the thoughts in her head were much less than innocent. She admired the way your skin was already sunkissed, the way you had your hair tied up fully exposing your neck. The previous bruise had vanished and as much as you protested she was aching to make another one, perhaps she’d play nice and leave one on your thigh this time. It was a unanimous decision to call it an early night, with the debate the next evening everyone wanted fresh and well rested minds.

The door between you and Heather’s suites had remained open since you’d checked in, it’s not like either of you really needed privacy from each other anymore. You were scanning through a few emails when there was a small knock out the door jam. Glancing up you saw Heather holding a bottle of wine and two glasses,

“I think it’s about time you put that bikini back on and join me in the jacuzzi.” She smirked, waiting for you to scoff with a small grin on your face before she headed to the terrace.

You followed a few moments later, clad in the requested bikini, dipping into the bubbling water. The jacuzzi was seated in the terrace, making it level with the ground. You pleasantly accepted the wine from Heather, humming in appreciation over a large sip. Heather let out a sigh, leaning back against the padded seats,

“I have to say, the day you had sounds much more ideal than mine.”

“Interviews that rough?” You chuckled.

“I’m just tired.” She admitted, sipping back some wine, “mentally I mean. The whole campaigning thing is exhausting.”

“Nobody likes campaigning.”

“You’ve got that right.” You watched for a moment as her gaze zoned out into the distance.

“You miss it…” You questioned softly, though you already knew the answer.

“What?” She turned to you.

“The courtroom….” She laughed,

“The debates make up for it a little bit. I mean, it’s not the same, but it’s the same energy.”

“Except your opponent is going after you and not your client.”

“Ecgh.” Was all you got in reply before she took another sip of wine, “I know you’ve got to miss it.”

“Oh fuck…yes.” You laughed, “the rush? Don’t get me wrong, this whole laid back lifestyle is much easier, but it’s so fucking boring.” She cocked a brow and you hastily added a “no offence.” Before hiding behind your wine.

“None taken…I’ll just be glad when this part’s finished. And if you’re bored now, don’t worry, Solicitor General will keep you more than occupied.”

“Good to know.” Watching as she sighed again, taking a hefty sip of wine, you couldn’t help but smile, “you’re going to make an incredible President Heather..”

“Thank you.” You knew she meant it, the incredibly soft smile on her face as she spoke, “I hope you know how much I value your opinion.”

“I do. I mean why else would you have hired me for this job?” You teased. She playfully slapped at your arm.

“You ever think about running for office?”

“God no!” You snorted, “this is as high as I go when it comes to the White House.” You turned to her with a wicked grin on your face, “though I do hope you hold up that promise you made about the Oval Office.”

“Oh kitten, there’s no argument that will get you out of that deal.” She smirked, her wine glass finding a home on the terrace as she shifted in the water, moving to straddle your lap. Her hand plucked your wine glass from your fingers, placing it up on the ledge with hers.

“Heather…” you warned as her lips moved closer to you, “what if-“

“Fuck it.” Her words were hot on your cheek and honestly, who were you to be able to say no when she was already in your lap.

Your hands settled on her hips under the water while hers wrapped around your neck, pulling your lips to hers. The kiss was unbelievably soft at first, melting against each other, the stressors of the campaign drifting away into the swirling of the jacuzzi. You let out a soft groan as her tongue slipped into your mouth, dancing with grace against yours, your arms wrapped tighter around her, pulling her flush against your body. Her lips detached from yours, gently trailing down your neck, she nipped against the soft skin and you swatted at her ass the best you could underwater.

“None of that…” you murmured. She chuckled, placing a gentle kiss at the spot before her mouth repeated its actions on the other side. Her fingers tickled up your exposed abdomen, cupping your breasts through your suit, pinching at your nipples. You couldn’t help the whimper that escaped your mouth, your hand tugging her head up to capture her lips back to yours. A hand buried into her hair, pulling her impossibly close. Her hands closed around your waist as she pulled away from the kiss, pushing your upwards.

“Sit on the edge.” She murmured. You gave her a quizzical look and she simply smirked in return, nudging you in the direction she wanted you to go.

Pulling yourself out of the water you shivered lightly at the change in temperature, though you knew that wouldn’t matter in a minute. Heather easily rid you of your bikini bottoms, tossing them aside as she pulled your hips closer to the edge of the tub. Her kisses littered your inner thighs, and this time when her teeth scraped against the tender skin you didn’t complain, in fact, your hand laced through her hair, encouraging her to mark you up as your breathing picked up. She sucked a mark into you thigh, teeth biting in heavier than she had on your neck the last time, you knew she wanted this one to last.

Once she was satisfied with her work her mouth moved toward your pussy, eager to taste you again, just the thoughtof the delectable sweetness of your juices was more than enough to get her riled up. Her tongue swiped through you torturously slow, lapping as much as she could before she ever so briefly sucked at your clit. Doing your best to stay quiet you whimpered, hips rolling toward her, your chest heaving in anticipation.

Heather set in a steady pace of fucking you with her tongue, pulling your wetness from your walls, it didn’t take long for your thighs to be slick around her lips. Your hand pulled her closer to you, her face nuzzled against your pussy, groaning over your taste, the vibrations caused a soft cry to escape you.

“Fuck..”

“Quiet kitten…” Heather murmured, her lips brushing against your lower ones as she spoke.

She pulled her mouth up, wrapping around your clit while she easily sunk two fingers into your waiting pussy. You groaned softly at the feeling, her tongue darting around your clit in sporadic patterns while her fingers began to fuck you. She twisted and curled them, knowing your body as well as her own by now, not surprised at the way your hips rocked up when she dragged them over your gspot. She had more planned for the evening, she certainly wasn’t about to let you leave her bed, so she figured she would at least try to make this one quick. The half of her that was out of the water felt the cooling air, watching the way your body was breaking out in goosebumps, although, it did mean your nipples were hardened to very visible peaks through your suit and she wasn’t complaining about that.

Heather’s fingers rocked harder into you, twirling with expertise while her lips sucked at your clit harder, she felt your hand tighten in her hair, tugging heavily but nearly pushing her even deeper against your heat. You felt the coil building within you, your breath ragged as you tried to stay as silent as possible as your orgasm grew within you. Your free hand shot out, grasping at Heather’s where it rested on your thigh, her fingers swiftly interlaced with yours as she gave a particularly heavy suck on your clit, her tongue darting out to flick against it right as her fingers curled into your gspot.

A choked moan broke free of your lips as you came, body shuddering against her face, your thighs attempting to close around her. Heather gently pulled her fingers from you as she kissed at your thighs, then up your bare skin until she was standing, pulling you in for a kiss.

“Christ Heather..” you muttered against her lips. She chuckled, chastely kissing you once more.

“There’s more where that came from.”Stepping out of the jacuzzi she cupped your cheek, “come to the bedroom.”

As much as you needed a minute, the air was chilled, and you weren’t about to let Heather get started without you. Following her lead you grabbed your wine glass, (and scooped up your bikini bottoms), matching her movement into the bedroom. If you thought you were done being on the receiving end that night, you were far from wrong. Heather made you come at least another three times, and you were ever thankful that now volume wasn’t a concern, your body shaking underneath hers, coated in a sheen of sweat as she brought you to your peak over and over again. While she wasn’t busy practically tormenting you, you were sure to flip her over and return the favour, devouring her pussy, taking pride and glee in the noises you were able to pull from her, the way she tugged you insanely close to her body in a kiss as your fingers skillfully fucked her.

By the end of the night, you’d not only polished off the wine, but successfully worn each other out. Heather had you curled up against her body, your head resting on her shoulder while her fingers softly played with your hair. Both of your breathing had finally come back to normal, you could practically feel your eyelids fluttering in exhaustion already.

“That’s one way to burn off some steam.” You murmured, kissing her skin gently. Heather chuckled,

“Never knew a better way to relax before an important event.”

“Glad I could help.” You sighed lightly, “should I go?” You asked, in reference to moving back to your own bed.

“No one else has access to the suite. And the door’s latched just in case.” You felt her lips gently hit your head and not much else before you completely passed out, thankful for the warmth of her body against yours.

*

The next even came sooner than you’d expected, though you had to be graciously thankful that your morning had been interrupted, able to share a room service breakfast with Heather before she met with Cynthia. You lounged around for most of the day, double checking everything Heather had prepped for the debate. As much as Cynthia was an incredible campaign manager, you were used to playing hardball, and very used to mock debating over the past fifteen years. When you ran through debate questioning you often took on the roll of Underwood, not holding back against Heather and doing your best to shoot her down and jab at her with remarks he would likely make against her personal life.

Cynthia was out front already, making sure the cars were ready while you fell into step beside Heather.

“You okay?” You murmured, “you seem..on edge or something today.”

“Like I said last night,” she replied softly, “I’m just drained. One more of these and it’ll be done with.”

“Is this about the bug?” Her head practically shot up to meet your gaze,

“No.” She stated firmly, “like I said, it’ll be taken care of. Underwood knows better. He can’t bring it up without admitting he planted it.”

“Okay.” You gave her a tight smile, “hey…you’re gonna crush it.” You discreetly gave her wrist a soft squeeze before you ducked into the car.

*

In complete honesty, you hated having to be at these debates, but you knew having your face out there supporting Heather would be a good pull for your father’s previous supporters. The thing was, if you had to watch two politicians fight it out you would much rather have been on your couch in pj’s with a pint of ice cream than pressed against the back wall in an expensive suit and heels that pinched at your feet slightly. And tonight..something had you worried, Heather had no problem with the prep, as usual, but as you had asked her, something seemed off. She seemed just the slightest off her game and going into the final debate of the nomination like that probably wasn’t something to your advantage.

Underwood did his usual best to undermine her, taking more blows than normal as he strayed from the original topic or question. She would do her best to dodge, redirect it back to what the moderator had

originally asked, only for him to circle back around to it the next chance he got. You could tell she was getting more frustrated with each blow, trying to stay on the higher ground, not slipping to his low standards of poking into aspects of her personal life. It was nearing the end of the second period when you knew trouble was more than just brewing, Underwood took a particularly heavy jab at her, and it was like lightning. You could recognize that little lip twitch anywhere, the first time you’d seen it was the moment you knew you’d won your case against Heather, that she didn’t have any extra ammo against your client, that she was done for. Tonight though, she was still holding onto a little piece of dirt, and in her over frustrated and exhausted state, the words slipped from her mouth before she even realized what she was saying or doing.

“Well I’m not the one who’s planting bugs in other people’s offices Mr. President.”

The next minutes both dragged on and flew by, it seemed like everything was suddenly happening at once. Your heart dropped to your stomach, what the fuck was she thinking?! If Underwood had the knowledge that you knew abou the bug, first off, it was no longer useable against him and secondly…he certainly wasn’t about to hold back from revealing what information he’d retained from the bug. You had to do something, you had to get her off that stage before this got worse.

“For fucks sake Heather.”

“What is she talking about?” Cynthia whispered to you.

“Get her to the car as fast as you can. No press, no social media replies, absolutely nothing. Straight to the hotel.” You hissed out before you darted from the room, leaving a very confused campaign manager behind.

Underwood attempted a few protests and defences first, and Heather shot back just as strong, attacking his character, and going as far as attacking his marriage (considering the rumours that had been flying around on the news as to why Claire wasn’t on the campaign trail with him anymore, no one was really surprised there). If you had been in the room, you woud’ve seen the moment Frank’s jaw clenched, knowing exactly what was coming after,

“Well Ms Dunbar,” he chuckled darkly, “there may be, very untrue rumours about my marriage but at least I’m not the one—“

The entire room went black, Frank’s voice cut out of the microphone, only those within a very small vicinity around him heard the ‘having an affair’. There was a smatter of shrieks through the room, a number of cell phone flashlights flicking on and concerned faces, security rushing in not knowing exactly what was going on. It only took a matter of seconds before the secret service had the President vanished from the room, a few moments later the back up generators began to flick on and Cynthia was at Heather’s side, urging her to get to the car. There was no telling what the fuck was actually happening right now, and safety was everyone’s main concern.

*

To say you were mad was an understatement, you were absolutely fuming. You’d kicked off your heels, but were pacing back and fourth through Heather’s hotel suite, the news was turned on in case they’d restarted the debate as you awaited her return to the hotel. You heard the key card beep in the lock, rounding toward the door as Heather and Cynthia entered.

“What the fuck were you thinking?!”

“Underwood hit hard, so I hit hard back!”

“Ispecifically told you not to mention the bug! And now you’ve gone and slandered the President’s name on livefucking television and accused him of being the source! Have you lost your mind?! Do you realize how bad this looks!?”

“He planted the bug!”

“We don’t KNOW that Heather!! For fuck’s sake! Did you forget everything you learned in law school?!” You were very glad that Cynthia was standing awkwardly to the side for this, you really didn’t have enough patience right now to deal with a two on one fight, “even if we knew it we couldn’t prove it!”

“Doug was the only one in that office alone aside from the three of us and I highly doubt one of us planted it.”

“And Doug was working for you at the time! As far as we know, as far as we can prove, he took it upon himself to plant that bug to try and gain knowledge to later pass onto Underwood after he went behind your back. There is no literal way to prove that Underwood coerced him into planting that bug! Believe me! I went through all of his phone and email logs when you hired him, including burners. Underwood had zero contact with him after his accident.”

“That doesn’t mean Underwood isn’t guilty of this.”

“Oh my GOD Heather!” You groaned, “it doesn’t matter if he’s guilty or not, what the people saw was you stooping to his level, you were doing so good, this just looks like you’re just as skeezy as he is! That’s exactly what we didn’t want. Did you even hear what he said after it went dark?” Heather’s face hardened slightly,

“I did. And it’s a good thing it’s his marriage under the microscope right now and not mine.”

“Jesus Christ…” you spun around, briefly running your hand over your face before pushing your hair back, “he heard what was on that bug, and he nearly destroyed your entire career in three words tonight, you realize that right?”

“Well I guess it’s a good thing the power went out then.”

“Heather…come on..the power didn’t go out, I flipped the goddamn breaker.” Suddenly it made sense to Cynthia where you’d dashed off to, and honestly she was wishing she hadn’t followed Heather into the room, somehow you not only knew about a bug that she didn’t but also knew things about Heather she hadn’t even realized.

“It’s good to know you still have my back.”

“Of course! I’m not Doug, I’m not going to run off to work for Underwood just because you slipped up!”

“I knew when I hired you that if any kind of mess happened, you’d be able to clean it up, and tonight shows that.”

“Well we’re  fucked now! You realize that right?! Because as soon as Underwood leaks the information and your husband finds out?! That’s one mess I won’t be able to clean up Heather!”

In a heartbeat you were gone from her suite, the door leading to your own adjoining one  basically slamming shut. Heather swore under her breath, you were right after all. She’d let the politics and the drama take over the evening, forgetting about the law, the constitution, the fact that you wouldn’t ever be able to link what you needed to who you needed. Not to mention that it was very obvious Underwood knew about the affair, and wasn’t afraid to drop that bomb. She didn’t know how you’d managed to save her ass tonight, but somehow you did, and you deserved all the thanks the world could give in return. She was only pulled from her thoughts when Cynthia cleared her throat awkwardly,

“All things considered…I’m going to pretend that I wasn’t present for any of that conversation.” She quickly let herself out of the suite with a brief nod.

Heather sighed heavily, just as you had guessed, she had been off her game tonight, and she almost suffered horrendous consequences because of it.

Then again…who knew what was going to happen once all parties got back to Washington.