Red After Dark (Blackwood Security #13) - Elise Noble Page 0,37

was trying to make you do earlier. Again.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Did I read the book? Yes, I read it. I was curious.”

“What did you think?”

I leaned over him again, and my hair brushed across his chest where my ponytail had come loose. He fisted it in one hand and pulled me closer.

“I don’t understand why a man would want a woman to submit to him like that.”

“Well, that’s something we have in common. I don’t understand why a woman would let a man boss her around either.” I started to push myself away from Rafael, then quickly remembered where I was. “Outside of work, obviously. I’m getting paid for this shit.”

This time, he shoved me off with both feet.

“Don’t hold back on my account,” he told me.

“Fine, I won’t.”

“Again.”

Okay, I was getting used to this. Crawling between his thighs didn’t feel quite so weird anymore. I wrapped my hands around his neck again and squeezed harder. Let’s see what you’ve got, buster.

He raised his pelvis, and I just caught sight of the oversized bulge before he hugged my arms and slammed his hips back down. Fuck! I didn’t even have time to freak out. My arms felt as if they’d snapped, his shirt rode up, and I ended up splattered against his bare stomach, close enough to lick his belly button. Fortunately, I managed to resist.

“That’s what you do if your opponent is stronger. Now, let’s switch.”

“Oh, brilliant.”

“On your back, Sunshine.”

“Sunshine?”

“Get too close, and I’ll burn.” His hands came to my throat. “Now, get me off.”

Get him off? How? He weighed twice as much as I did. My mind went to entirely the wrong place before I remembered to cross my arms over his to break his hold. Rafael had been Mr. Nice Guy at the beginning of the session, but now he wasn’t cutting me much slack. It took me two hip-bumps and a bit of a struggle before I managed to kick him away.

“Bien hecho.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well done. It’s Spanish.”

“Where are you from?”

“Colombia. Again.”

He didn’t wait for me to get my breath back, just dropped his weight on me. But with him, I didn’t panic, not the way I had with Alex earlier. All I had to do was mouth my safe word, and I trusted Rafael to yield. Arms, hips, legs, kick. With that trust came strength, and I was able to buck him off faster than the last time.

“Good. Again.”

Rafael was a hard taskmaster, emphasis on the hard—his muscles were solid. But although he was tough, he was also fair. Yes, I came away with a few bruises, but I hoped he did too, and for the first time since I arrived, I thought that maybe I could do what was being asked of me. At the end of the session, I wondered if he might do a debrief, but he just announced I’d be running with Alex first thing tomorrow morning and then walked out. Talk about confusing.

“Yes, I met Rafael,” I told Hallie. “He’s…”

“Intimidating? Moody? Oh-so-serious?”

“He’s big.”

Hallie laughed. “Yeah, that too. Did the training go okay?”

“It was challenging.” Not to mention awkward.

“I know the feeling. Dan’s got me learning about science and procedures and legal stuff. And she tosses random questions into the middle of conversations to try and catch me out. ‘Hey, where do you want to get lunch? And what’s the half-life of Rohypnol?’ I’m reading old case files in bed at night.”

“Like murders and stuff? How can you sleep?”

“Oh, easily. I used to listen to true-crime documentaries to nod off, so this isn’t much different. And next month, I’m starting a six-week secondment in the forensics lab, so I’ll probably switch to textbooks for a while.”

“Rather you than me. I think I prefer the bruises.” I nodded towards the stack of files on the table beside her just as the microwave pinged. “Did you find anything new on the Emerald case?”

“Not a lot, and I’m beginning to understand why it went cold. Come and look at this video.”

I took my dinner out of the microwave and juggled it over to the table. I really needed to find the oven gloves. Or even a tea towel. This place was so damn tidy. Back in London, the squat I’d lived in had shit everywhere. There was usually a tea towel or two lying on the floor. At Riverley, there was a full complement of shiny cutlery in a caddy on the table, and I burned my tongue as I took the