Scandalous-nook (14 page)

Then he kissed her. Soft as butterfly wings. Carefully, as if she would break. Tasha
knew there were fresh tears on her cheeks, but she could blame them on sub drop. Stephen
would never know the difference.

He pulled back, looking at her as if she were a math problem he couldn’t solve. “I’m
sorry I was rude to your friend. I’ll apologize when we go back down.”

“Thank you. I think you’d like Ken. He’s incredibly accomplished and very easygoing.”

“Have you slept with him?” He closed his eyes and took a breath. “Jesus, forget I
asked. It’s none of my business.”

“No it’s not.” She bit her lip. “But just this once, I’ll put you out of your misery.
Ken and I have played together because he’s a rope genius and he wanted my help with
choreography for a sensuality in movement demo…” She noticed Stephen’s pained look
and smiled. “He’s gay, Stephen. He’s gay and he’s very particular about his type.
Height is a big deal for him, don’t ask me why. Even if I had the right equipment,
I wouldn’t rate his attention because I’m too short.”

Stephen’s beaming smile made Tasha laugh.

“You’re acting like a child who doesn’t want to share his toys, you know that right?”
she teased.

His smile dimmed. “I don’t. I don’t want to share you, Natasha. I don’t want to share
this with anyone.”

“I know.” She snuggled back into his embrace, skimming her hand over the mountain
of bubbles that covered them. “And as long as we’re here, Senator, I’m all yours.
Burke’s wife can find someone else to make out with. Satisfied?”

“For now.” It didn’t sound like it, but she didn’t push. “We should get dressed and
go back downstairs soon. They’re keeping dinner for us.”

Tasha moaned. “You expect me to get dressed and walk after that? I’m not nineteen
anymore, you know. My body can only take so much.”

Stephen snorted in disbelief. “You’re right, you should stay up here and rest, old
woman. When you come down don’t forget to put your teeth back in or we’ll have to
put your dinner in the blender.”

She whacked him harmlessly on the chest. “Look, Senator Washboard, I’m only going
to take so much sass before I lose my sense of humor.”

He reached under the water and tickled her. “You look, Spanky—if we don’t get out
of this water soon, we’ll have failed our mission and I’ll have a lot more free time
to punish you creatively, because I’ll be unemployed. Probably from some falsified
scandal.”

“Okay.” She laughed, splashing as she sought to avoid his fingers. “
Okay.
Because you used one of my preapproved nicknames, I’ll concede your point. We’ve
got work to do. And you have an apology to make.”

He helped her out of the tub and dried her off, and Tasha—feeling weak as a kitten—didn’t
do anything to stop his ministrations. “I have an idea for tomorrow,” she told him.
“Something that could move things in the right direction. Help frame our narrative.”

Stephen’s lips quirked. “What’s our narrative?”

“That you can’t resist me, but you can’t risk your peers and constituents finding
out about me because I’m inappropriate. That I resent it and doubt your affections
and behave like a brat in order to provoke you.”

Which, unfortunately, wasn’t as much of a stretch as it should have been.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“I doubt it. But I’ve been too easy today. He’s going to need to see some tension
between us so he thinks he has something to work with. So he can help you get what
you want.”

“What would this involve?”

Tasha smiled. “Ken Tanaka and some rope.”

The next day, Tasha took the stairs at a leisurely pace, lost in thought. Last night
had been interesting. She’d recognized a few more of her friends, managed to sit Ken
and Stephen down together for a civilized conversation, and talked to Wendi a little
more about the potential Tuscany trip that she knew would never happen.

But she could never get comfortable. Never relax. Every time she turned around, Phil
Burke was watching her. Not the way she was used to men looking at her. He was studying
her as if she were a lab experiment. She knew he was on his own mission this weekend,
looking for something he could use to turn Senator Finn into his plaything. Still,
it was unsettling.

She hadn’t relaxed until they went to bed and she was wrapped up in Stephen’s arms.
He’d been affectionate, still taking care of her after their earlier frenzy. They’d
talked about Ken and his interesting history, including his mentoring programs, and
because Ken had apparently mentioned it, Stephen had asked her about her classes.

It wasn’t a big deal. She’d been teaching U.S. citizenship classes since her senior
year of college. It wasn’t about politics or being patriotic—it was about her father.
Tasha knew what a nightmare it could be to have families separated because the children
were American citizens but the parents were not. She usually taught the bilingual
classes because Spanish was her second language, and she was allowed a certain amount
of latitude in the way she taught her class. She was also allowed to bring muffins
and tarts for her students, which made her everyone’s favorite instructor.

She didn’t think of it as particularly noteworthy, just something she did instead
of taking a spin class, but Stephen couldn’t seem to get over it. Submissive thing
that she seemed to be this week, she’d been ridiculously pleased by his admiration
and pride in her. She fell asleep to his whispered words of praise and the steady
beat of his heart, thinking it was something she could get used to. Something that
felt familiar and right.

But that was just the endorphins talking. It had to be.

There would no doubt be a piper to pay at the end of this house party, but she didn’t
want to think about it until she had to. There were other things that should be occupying
her mind.

Her plan was about to be set in motion. She would be a little more demanding today
and Stephen would pretend to be frustrated, and by the end of the night, Burke would
be rubbing his hands together like an old-school villain.

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs to look in the mirror and adjusted her short
turquoise halter dress. It definitely highlighted her curves and showed a lot of skin,
but it couldn’t be helped. She’d promised Stephen she wouldn’t wear her bikini today
for the sake of his blood pressure, but she was still at a kink party as a senator’s
mistress and she hadn’t packed any turtlenecks.

Tasha closed her hand over the pendant and sighed. She would have to give this back,
regardless of what he’d said. It was too easy for her to pretend it meant more than
he intended it to, and she didn’t want to add fuel to that fire. It would be hard
enough to recover without it.

Another sigh echoed in the foyer. Then a grunt, followed by a low, masculine groan.

Unable to resist, she walked quietly toward the room beside the stairs. That door
was usually closed, wasn’t it? She was headed to the pool party in the back yard anyway,
and the door was right on her way—perhaps she should close it just to be helpful.
And if she
happened
to catch a glimpse of whatever was going on in there…

Tasha bit her lip, fighting a devilish smile. She was a wicked, nosy person who was
probably going to hell, but it would be worth it.

She peered around the corner of what appeared to be Burke’s study and froze with her
arm halfway to the doorknob.

Holy mother of God, yes, it would be worth it—so,
so
worth it.

The beautiful, tattooed Ken stood by the desk, shirtless again, and he was kissing
Brady Finn as if he were struggling to suck the last bit of oxygen from the man’s
body. And Brady was letting him, though his hands were both flexing at his sides.
He was clearly trying not to succumb to Ken’s lethal allure, but from the sounds he
was making, it was a struggle.

Then Ken lowered his hand to Brady’s jeans and worked the buttons with fingers that
shook visibly. Brady must be one hell of a kisser to get Ken so hot and bothered.

She also noticed Brady wasn’t doing anything to keep his pants closed or to stop Ken
from pulling the erection that could have given Jeremy’s a run for its money out of
the jeans and into his skilled, greedy hand.

The sound Brady made then was so full of longing and hunger that Tasha suddenly felt
like an intruder. She started to withdraw, but Brady must have seen her movement out
of the corner of his eye because he broke away from Ken with a gasp.

“Tasha, this isn’t—I was in here to—” He glanced at Ken and pressed his lips together.

Had Brady come in to do some military-grade snooping? If so, what was Ken doing here?

Recovering quickly, she winked at Brady. “You don’t have to say a word. I understand.”
Then she smiled apologetically at Ken. “I’m really sorry, honey. I honestly didn’t
know who was in here. I was just on my way outside and…well someone was noisy and
I was curious.”

Ken looked flushed and surprisingly frazzled, but he shrugged and adjusted his loose-fitting
yoga pants with one last not-so-subtle glance at the hard shaft still visible through
the opening of Brady’s jeans. “The door was open—why wouldn’t you take a peek?”

Brady swore and shoved himself back into his pants, looking miserable and grumpy.
“Could you leave us, Tanaka? I need to talk to Miss Rivera about security. Alone.”

Ken smirked. “Of course. And you’re welcome. Anytime I can be of service again, be
sure to let me know.”

Tasha frowned. Why did it sound like he was talking about more than that kiss?

Stopping on his way out, Ken bent down to kiss her forehead. “Unintentional as it
was, cock blocks have consequences,” he whispered. “Tonight may just be a demonstration,
but you and I now have a play date at the club.”

Oh, dear. She nodded. “Agreed.”

He raised his voice. “I’ll meet you outside. They have a delicious breakfast buffet
and Haley is by the pool teaching anyone who’s interested in breath play. I think
I saw your secret boyfriend wandering in that direction before I came in here.”

After he’d left, Brady instantly pulled his little bug detector from his pocket and
showed it to her. “Nothing. We’re good to talk. Burke’s got them practically everywhere
else, along with enough hidden cameras to start his own reality show, so I’m assuming
this is the inner sanctum. If he’s going to make Stephen an offer, it would probably
happen in here.”

Tasha crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Fascinating. Want to tell me what Ken
was doing in here, other than practicing his own brand of breath play?”

“
Your friend
was already in here when I arrived.”

“Why?”

Brady’s expression was stone. “You’ll have to ask him.”

Tasha spied a laptop on the desk and bit her lip. Was Ken really here to be a responsible
mentor? Up until now, he’d never shown any more interest in Burke’s events than she
had.

What was he up to?

Brady sent her a curious look and she shook her head, laughing. “I swear this party
is turning into a kinky version of Clue. The rope master, in the study, with Mr. Hot
Body.”

He snorted. “I did imagine knocking him over the head with a candlestick.”

Tasha moved closer and noted the pulse at Brady’s temple, the flush in his neck…the
especially snug fit of his partially buttoned jeans. “You don’t have to be embarrassed
to admit you like him, Brady. Or about anything I saw. This is me you’re talking to.
I’d be willing to bet I’ve witnessed more guy-on-guy action than you have.”

“Thanks. That’s comforting.” He ran a hand over his head and squeezed the back of
his neck. “It was nothing. He was just going for shock and distraction. It wasn’t…we
aren’t…”

“He’s not your type either? Man, you
are
as picky as he is.”

Brady met her gaze. “Why do you think he’s picky?”

Tasha shrugged. “I don’t think. I know. The man has serious standards, even when he
plays. He says sex for the sake of sex is wasted energy. Energy he seemed more than
willing to expend on you, Hot Body.”

Brady looked uncomfortable. “Flattering as that is, this is not my scene. And Tanaka
is
not
my type. No offense, Tasha, but your club friends make me nervous. I don’t get it.
Any of it.”

She chuckled. “You’re an apple pie guy, Brady. I’m not surprised. Too bad though.
I hear he’s more skilled in that particular area than he is with rope. And that man
is a god with rope. You’ll see tonight. Did you talk to Stephen?”

He nodded, grateful for the change of subject. “I did. Are you sure you’re up for
that? You two seem to be enjoying yourselves. More than that. I’ve never seen him
like this. He’s usually so coolheaded.”

“We only have two nights left, and Stephen wants this to be done. He’s willing to
do whatever he has to, and you and I are here to help make that happen and keep him
safe.”

The look he sent her was dubious. He knew there was more going on between them. He’d
have to be blind not to. “And when it’s done?”

“I get to sleep in on Saturdays again and you decide what it is you want to do with
the rest of your life.”

They shared a moment of commiseration, neither of them looking forward to the prospect.

“He’s one hell of a kisser,” Brady offered softly.

Her lips parted. “Ken?”

“I’ll deny it to my grave, but it took a lot of willpower to keep my legs from buckling.
I think the rumors of his skill are justified.”

Wow. “Too bad he’s not your type.”

Brady nodded. “And you’re in love with him.”

“With
Ken
?” She gaped at him. “Why would you think—”

“With Stephen. I thought if I told you something true, you’d reciprocate by admitting
how you feel.”

Oh.

Tasha forced a smile. She’d spent all her adult life in denial about her feelings
for one particular Finn—two days of sex and intrigue weren’t going to be enough to
tear down that wall. “One problem at a time, Hot Body. Now come on. We need to make
an appearance. I think I’ll try and talk Stephen into Haley’s breath play tutorial.
Learning can be fun.”