Scandalous-nook (12 page)

It was a command she had no desire to defy.

“Wait a second, Finn,” Burke said as she took a step away. “Don’t go disappearing
for the rest of the night now. I thought we could all eat out here and get to know
each other better.”

“The steaks will wait.” Stephen’s voice was deeper than usual. Unshakeable. “We both
have women to see to first, wouldn’t you agree, Phil?”

“Of course.” Burke yanked Wendi down beside him and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
She smiled weakly at Tasha once more before burying her face in his chest. “You’ve
got the right priorities, Senator.”

Tasha walked away without another word, her bare feet taking her through the small
crowd that had gathered around the pool and into the house. Still more people were
inside, talking or playing at the BDSM stations that had been set up in the movie
theater-sized living room.

Too turned on by Stephen’s actions outside, she had no interest in any of them. She
couldn’t get over what had just happened. What Stephen had done. He hadn’t hesitated
with his intimate caress, hadn’t cared who watched him claim her with his fingers
and his words… He’d left her reeling.

Despite her confidence in Stephen’s desire for her, it had always been there—the small
voice that wondered if he’d never broken their rules before now, never pursued her
when what was between them hadn’t dimmed with time or distance, because he didn’t
want anyone else to know how he felt. Because he was ashamed of how he felt.

That’s your mother talking,
she told herself sternly.

Maybe it was. Stephen was a good man. One of the best she’d ever known, right up there
with Jeremy and her father. But her father had never written her back and Jeremy had
never been hers—not the way she’d wanted Stephen to be.

His behavior was messing with her head, making her think about things—want things—she
never had before. Things that weren’t realistic. Weren’t possible.

Someone reached for her hand before she made it to the staircase, spinning her around.

“
Rivera?
Tasha, what are you doing here? I saw you on Friday for the ceremony, and you never
said a word about coming to Burke’s bash.”

She focused on the shirtless man in front of her with an apologetic smile. “Ken. Sorry,
I didn’t see you.”

What was he doing here? And how could she have missed noticing him until now? Kenneth
Tanaka wasn’t the kind of man you failed to notice. He was tall and muscular, with
full lips, eyes such a light brown they were nearly golden and skin like warm honey.
He was also covered in stunning tattoos and had ink-black hair falling in a silken
braid to his waist. But it was his smile that made him truly beautiful. He got teased
a lot about that smile. People said when Tanaka smiled, angels fell and the devil
got nervous.

He was using that smile on her now—until he looked into her eyes. Then it faded into
concern. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

What’s wrong is you know me too well.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be here either,” she replied weakly. “You hate this kind
of thing as much as I do.”

Ken was a dear friend and a master with rope, and they’d bonded years ago over Ruby’s
lasagna and their common status as mutts—he was Scottish and Japanese, a devastating
combination.

He grimaced. “Yes, well, I’m not here for my own enjoyment. Unfortunately I take my
job as mentor seriously, and Burke specifically requested more demos than usual for
this party. Variety. The man I’ve been working with begged me to come. It would have
been irresponsible not to.”

Ken took his rope work very seriously, but Tasha still smiled. “Is he cute? This man
you’re training?”

Her friend raised his eyebrow. “Of course he is. He’s also straight and too short
to be my type. The beast watching you from the doorway, however, has a body that was
made to be worshipped. I might hate you if you tell me he’s yours.”

Tasha turned, thinking he was talking about Stephen, and instead found Brady in full
bodyguard mode, his arms crossed over his massive chest, his narrowed gaze trained
on them. She gestured for him to come over. “That’s my boyfriend’s bodyguard.”

“Your boyfriend?” Ken sounded mildly surprised. “I didn’t know you did boyfriends.
What happened to your buddy system?”

“He happened,” she answered softly, wishing it didn’t have to be a lie. “A while ago.
He’s kind of a public figure, so we don’t advertise our relationship.”

Ken gripped her chin with his fingers and forced her to look up at him. “You’re talking
about the senator,” he said softly, his eyes narrowed. “I heard he was here. You came
with him? You’re dating him?”

His direct gaze was making her nervous. “I did. I am. I know he doesn’t seem like
my type, but I’ve known him for years. Trust me, he isn’t as vanilla as he seems.”

“I wasn’t expecting that,” he murmured, almost to himself. “But I can see it. Why
wouldn’t he advertise? You’re a catch.” 

“You’re sweet, but think about it, Ken. As soon as anyone got wind of the two of us
together? Senator Squeaky Clean with someone like me? The media feeding frenzy could
ruin his career.”

Ken frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that. I thought Owen’s brother was supposed
to be smart. What kind of man cares about reporters when he gets to come home to you?
Nobody hides Natasha Rivera in a corner.”

“Don’t throw
Dirty Dancing
quotes around or I won’t introduce you to Hot Body Man.”

Brady announced his presence by wrapping his fingers around Ken’s wrist and gently
removing his hand from Tasha’s face. “Is this man bothering you?”

Ken’s laugh was a little breathless as he looked down at the strong fingers on his
arm. “Now that’s a grip. Hurry and tell him we’re friends before he wrestles me to
the floor and frisks me for weapons.”

Brady dropped Ken’s arm as if it were on fire.

Tasha leaned her head on Ken’s bare chest and smiled at the overprotective Finn. “We’re
friends. Ken, meet Brady Finn, former Marine, bodyguard, sexy,
single
man about town.”

Brady glared, but she was undeterred. “Brady, meet Kenneth Tanaka, expert in basically
every martial art in existence, host of the local strongman competition, computer
hacke—computer
genius
and highly sought after rope master.”

She studied them both and sighed. You’d have to be dead not to respond to those gorgeous
specimens. “Look Ken, someone taller than you. How often does that happen?”

“Not that often.” Ken held out his hand to Brady and smiled his magical smile.

Brady hesitated before giving it one shake and taking a telling step back. “If I’m
not needed…”

Stephen put a hand on his shoulder as he appeared at his side. He didn’t look happy.
“Brady, we’re going to our room.”

Obviously relieved, Brady nodded and marched away from them, heading up the stairs.
Was he planning to sweep the bedroom again? Tasha didn’t have time to ask before Stephen
wrapped one arm around her waist and started after him.

“Wait, I wanted to introduce you to—”

“No.”

“No?” She looked over her shoulder to see Ken shaking his head, a thoughtful expression
on his face. “That was rude, Stephen. Ken is a good fri—”

His arm tightened so he was practically dragging her up the stairs. “Not another word,
Natasha. Not until we’re alone.”

When they
were
alone, she was going to give him a piece of her mind. And then another, and another,
until he agreed to apologize to her friend.

Brady was walking out of the door as they arrived. “Clear,” he said quietly.

Stephen nodded. “Keep your eyes open.”

He pushed her inside, less gently than she would have liked, and closed and locked
the door, leaning against it in silence.

Tasha spun around to face him, her hands on her hips, anger making it hard to catch
her breath. “You’re an arrogant ass. Ken knows me and now he’ll never believe our
story. Why? Because I don’t date assholes.”

Stephen, who’d changed into another pair of khaki pants and a polo shirt for the pool,
started to strip in silence.

When his shirt landed on the floor she shook her head. “We’re not doing this, Senator.
Not until we…get this sorted…out.”

He’d slipped off his pants and straightened, giving her the perfect view of his impressive
body. He was still aroused.
Extremely
aroused. The tip of his hard shaft was glistening with pre-cum. She had the sudden
urge to lick it.

Stephen walked toward her, gripping the base of his erection in one fist. He reached
her, slid his hand into her hair and tilted her head back, kissing her with the kind
of intensity that turned a girl’s bones to pudding.

When he finally lifted his mouth so they could both gasp for breath, Tasha complained,
“This isn’t fair. Kissing me like that isn’t fair. I’m mad at you.”

“I don’t care,” he rasped, bending his head to scrape his teeth along her jaw. Her
neck. “I couldn’t wait. Not long enough for you to find someone else to kiss in front
of me, or to introduce me to one of your play partners. I need you.”

“It isn’t like—”

Stephen whirled her around and pressed her back against the wall, sliding the hand
in her hair around to clasp her throat. She moaned in surprise and arousal.

“I don’t care,” he repeated in a low, dangerous tone. “Right now I only want to hear
you saying ‘Yes, sir’ and ‘Please.’”

“Yes, Sir.”

Please.

Stephen kept his hand on her throat, kissing her resistance away as he swiftly undid
the knots of her bikini top and let it drift to the floor. He reached for the breast
Wendi had touched, pinching her nipple hard enough to send her to her tiptoes.

“Ahh, Stephen—”

“Yes, sir or please,” he reminded her, replacing his fingers with his mouth.

Tasha’s hands fluttered up to land on his shoulders as he sucked her nipple against
the roof of his mouth, then opened wider to take more. She could feel every tug in
her core, everything inside her focused on his touch, his mouth on her. “Please.”

His other hand dipped into her bikini bottom again, fingers sliding easily through
the slick arousal soaking her sex. He groaned his approval, gently pulsing his grip
on her throat. The conflicting sensations made her tremble.
“Please.”

He lifted his head long enough make a demand. “Push your breasts together for me.”

She swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.”

When she obeyed with shaking hands, Stephen rewarded her with a low groan against
her breasts and a finger sliding into her sex.

“Jesus, I love hearing that. Maybe too much.” He thrust inside and traced both nipples
with his tongue. “Did you like it, angel? Everyone watching while you kissed her?
While she touched you?”

I liked
you
watching.
“Yes, sir.”

“I’m not sure I did. It made me crazy. There I was, trying so hard to be careful,
to remember why we’re here, then you kissed her and the next thing I knew, my hand
was between your legs and all I could think about was tearing your mouth away from
hers and filling it with my cock.”

She shuddered against him. “Please.”

“Fuck!” Stephen broke away from her and she felt his absence like an ache. “Take that
off and get on your knees, Natasha.”

“Yes, sir.” She stepped out of her bikini bottoms and dropped to her knees without
hesitation. She couldn’t think about anything but giving him what he wanted. What
she
wanted.

When she licked her lips, he groaned and tangled his hands in her curls. “You’re so
fucking sexy.”

Pleasure warmed her like a shot of whiskey, heating her limbs, and she smiled up at
him.

He shook his head. “So beautiful.”

Letting her go again, he walked toward the bed, leaving her shaking on the floor.

She frowned. Wasn’t he impatient for her? God knew she was impatient for him. Where
was he going?

He opened the small chest in the corner and chuckled as he pulled out one package
after another. “I saw all this earlier. The Burkes are thoughtful hosts, you have
to give them that.”

Tasha watched curiously. She’d been to enough of these parties to know there could
be just about anything in that chest.

“I think these will do.” He walked behind her, and when she started to turn, he said,
“Don’t move until I tell you.”

He dropped to his knees behind her and tore open the packages. What kind of toys had
he chosen?

As if he’d heard her, Stephen said, “This plug promises hours of enjoyment. We’re
expected downstairs soon, but I’d rather test this out on you. What do you think?”

She
thought
she’d rather have him, but saying so wasn’t one of the options he’d given her.
Yes, sir or please.
That one simple command had rendered her powerless to do anything but accept him
or safe out, and the last thing she wanted to do was end this.

“Yes, sir,” she said grudgingly.

“I was hoping you’d say that, angel. Lower yourself onto your elbows while I get you
ready.”

Tasha did as he asked, quivering at the feel of his fingers massaging lube into her
ass. She was still a little sore from last night, but she wanted to tempt him, to
sass him…whatever it took to get him inside her. If it took a plug, she was down with
that—though hopefully he wouldn’t wait hours to give her the real thing.

She blew out a ragged breath at the first push of the plug against her already sensitive
flesh, whimpering as Stephen took his time, filling her inch by aching inch.

“God, I love your ass, angel.” He bit one cheek while pushing the plug in the rest
of the way and then laughed at her yelp. “You did say biting was a thing, didn’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a small growl in her voice as her body stretched to accommodate
the toy.