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.”