Читать книгу Capture - Flora Dain - Страница 7

Bewildered, I stare up at him. ‘Swimming, obviously …’ I tail off at the rage in his eyes. I hold his gaze, frowning. ‘Is that a problem? There’s nobody around.’

Darnley looks at me steadily. ‘Sure. Nobody in sight for miles. Let’s go out again. I’ll come too. You drive.’

What now? Why’s he so angry? More unscripted street art?

As we head back out into the bay he’s so silent it’s scary. Something’s very wrong. Looks like I’ll have to wait to find out what it is.

At last he checks his watch and angles it to the sun. ‘OK. Just about here.’

I see we’re drifting roughly where I was before. ‘What are you checking? Are we late for something?’

He glances up, his look dark. ‘Co-ordinates. Longitude and latitude.’

Watching him I feel a tiny thrill as the breeze ruffles his hair and sunlight glints in his dark eyes. And we’re out here all alone, on the wide ocean, and there’s nobody around for miles … ‘We hunting treasure or something?’

‘Cut the motor.’

He’s not laughing now. I feel a sudden unease as he stands up in the middle of the boat and holds out his hand. As I seize it he hauls me to my feet, pulls me up close and winds his arms round me, pressing me against him.

I laugh up at him, relishing his warmth and his power. ‘You’re good in boats. Anyone would think you’d spent all your life on water –’ I break off as he fastens on my mouth, stopping my breath. Startled, I respond instantly. Now? He wants action now?

Water ripples along the sides of the boat. Far overhead gulls scream, like they’re laughing. I’m trapped hard against a tower of sinew and muscle as he flexes to balance, easy as a sailor. He starts to jut against me in a deliberate act of possession, nudging against my yielding softness and finding me only too eager … yes, yes, just there …

He winds one hand into my hair and presses the other tightly into the small of my back, spreading his hand wide, his fingers kneading deep into my rear. He knows precisely what he’s doing. He forces me against him, his grip firm at the base of my spine. He’s doing delicious, wicked, forbidden things to me as the wind whips my hair around us both. His flexing hips, the hard lines of his thighs pressing either side of mine, even the sunlight glowing through my eyelids – everything is sending my arousal into hyperdrive …

He loosens his kiss a little, but only to linger on my lips, his tongue softer now, searching along mine to caress and taste, sending sparks of excitement through me to highlight the hot glow building lower down where our hips are grinding together. When he finally loosens his grip on my tail I almost lose my balance.

‘Hey.’ He clutches me tight again, his grasp on my hips my only balancing point as I grope for the rail. At that moment a sudden breeze lashes a wave against the side. Water splashes over us as the boat rocks violently.

‘You OK? Looks like somebody’s been seriously landlocked. You need some practice.’ He laughs as I bend low and he butts against me in fun.

All at once he lands a hard slap on my rump, and then another. I shout, partly in surprise, partly with laughter. But there’s something darker going on here, some new edge to his manner. It’s play, but something else too. He slaps me again. I’m already bent double but this time I jolt forward so my face swoops down close to the glass panel.

Instantly I freeze. And then I scream.

But not for fun.

I’m staring at something so unlikely I can only gape, too shocked to speak.

Darnley’s laughing softly somewhere over my head. ‘Too hard? Just you wait. You can get up now.’

But I’m not listening. I’m still locked in position, bent double and rigid with shock. I’m staring at a face.

And it’s not my reflection. It’s wearing goggles and it’s grinning.

Somebody’s down there watching.

* * *

‘Face? What kind of face? There’s nobody around here for miles. If somebody was playing around underwater we’d have seen them.’ Darnley’s not buying it. He scowls at the water and then restarts the engine, his expression grim.

I’ve broken the spell. I feel a prickle of guilt. ‘Somebody was peering in. I saw them. He had goggles. He could be anywhere …’ I look round in a panic. ‘He was grinning.’

The shock must show in my face but Darnley’s unmoved. ‘The beach is public land. We get tourists round here even in winter. But there’s nobody out here now. You saw some seaweed. Or maybe a seal.’

When we get to the shore he pulls the boat up the slipway and watches tight-lipped while I replace the cover. Indoors I can hear him on the phone, his voice thick with fury while I rinse sand off my toes in the en-suite. Slowly I tune in to what he’s saying.

‘That’s impossible. Nobody gets through. Check again. It’s supposed to be foolproof, dammit. We’ll be there after lunch. I expect a result by then.’

I frown as I join him. ‘We’re going out this afternoon?’

He cuts the call, his manner breezy. ‘We’re going over to the training complex. You’ll meet some of the people you’ll be working with. Now come with me.’

He’s still not looking at me.

He seizes my hand and drags me through the house and down a couple of flights of stairs to a tough-looking metal door. I’m feeling more and more uneasy.

‘This is the control room. There’s something here I want you to see.’

The room is festooned with cable and lined with screens. Men in T-shirts and jeans, I assume technicians, shoot to their feet looking scared. At Darnley’s scowl they quickly leave.

He turns to me, his eyes cold. ‘Watch.’ He flicks a remote at a screen.

All at once I’m looking out over the bay. Centre-screen a woman is splashing about in the water, glistening and naked. She looks insanely happy and carefree. She dives a couple of times, then floats on her back, upthrust breasts glistening in the sunlight. As I watch she clambers up into a small boat and poses, fully on view as she prepares to dive again. I hold my breath as a dreadful chill steals over me.

It’s me.

‘Keep watching.’

He speeds up the film and now he’s in the boat too and he’s towering over me, looking down at me … and all at once we’re locked in a clinch so intense I feel a throb of arousal just watching.

Slowly I tear my eyes away and glare at him. ‘You took pictures? Why?’

His eyes blaze. ‘This is security footage, dammit. We were doing a random sweep of the bay. The camera’s on-watch even when you think nobody’s around.’

I glare at him, temper rising as icy shock gives way to fury. ‘And whenever you want some hot action? It’s on then?’

My voice is husky. But the footage is still tracking. My voice tails off as I see the boat rocking and me bending over, facing away. He’s grinning down at me, holding me firmly by the hips as I scrabble to balance and all at once he lands an almighty slap on my backside …

My mouth’s gone dry. ‘What are you doing? Those men could have seen this.’

His eyes blaze. ‘Fuck it, Ella, what do you think I’m doing? Of course they’ve seen it. The whole damn complex saw it.’

I round on him. ‘So you serve me up as free soft-core with their coffee? Next time you want fun in a boat, damn well call an escort. You could have said you had cameras watching.’

Sickened, I turn away but an iron hand clamps on my arm and propels me round to face him. His face is like granite, his eyes ablaze.

‘Do I always have to spell it out? Of course I had cameras watching, I always have cameras watching. That’s what security is. That’s what I do. And that was to teach you – and them – a lesson.’

‘A lesson?’ I wrench my arm away. ‘Let go of me.’ I take a few steps back just to make sure. ‘You deliberately let me think we were having some private time in my boat and you were filming it just to give me a lesson?’

‘Keep your voice down. Listen to me –’ He steps towards me and I take another step back.

‘I just listened. And I can’t believe you just did that.’

He lets out an impatient sigh. ‘One of the first things security people learn is to be discreet around their employers, no matter what. And believe it or not, one of the first things employers should learn is to consider their employees’ feelings and not get too carried away. So today they learned their lesson and you learned yours. From now on their behaviour towards you will be monitored. If they get over-friendly, or make you feel uncomfortable, they’ll lose marks.’

‘What? So I’m an exercise now? I’m your fiancée, Darnley. I have a position here. And you owe me respect.’ I dart out of the door and race up the steps.

Fury has strange effects. One of them is it clears things. As I run through the house up to our rooms all that bothers me is how fast I can pack, what I’ll need to take and how I get to the airport. Mercifully no one follows as I ram clothes into a holdall, reach for a thick jacket and check my purse has credit cards, loose change and tissues.

From the feel of it I’ll need plenty – but not yet.

As I make for the door a tall figure bars my way.

‘Going somewhere?’ Darnley’s glaring at me, his presence a powerful bar to my plans.

I catch my breath at the reality of him, looming in front of me. He looks so good … ‘I’m leaving. And don’t try to stop me.’

‘What? Why?’

I stare at him, stunned. ‘Why? Because you can’t do that. You can’t disrespect me like that in front of other people. Is that what you planned when you brought me out here?’

‘It was just a kiss, Ella.’ He’s frowning, like I’m talking in some weird foreign language. Like it’s me who’s unreasonable. ‘Your freestyle antics got a lot of attention. I was making a statement. I wanted to make sure everybody here knows exactly whose you are and why you’re here.’ He spreads his hands, his expression calm, but anger sharpens the tone of his voice, adds a glint to his eyes. ‘And believe it or not, that was the simplest way to do it. Now they’ll think twice before trying anything funny. And with any luck so will you.’ His eyes flare again. ‘And next time, wear your fucking wet suit. That’s what it’s for.’

‘Next time? Who says there’ll be a next time?’

For a second, shock shows in his eyes. I waver, but only for an instant. He was filming that – me in an open boat … what else might he film? Maybe he’s got cameras lined up everywhere. Maybe I’ve walked into some porno nightmare, where everything we do is going to be filmed, packaged up, marketed and sold …

I try to push past him. ‘Let me go.’

He bars my way, immovable as rock. ‘Ella. Please.’ He pushes me back against the wall. ‘There are things I have to tell you about this place. I should have told you before.’ His eyes glint as he glares down at me. ‘First off, that thing in the boat made perfect sense to me.’

I open my mouth to protest but he claps a hand over my mouth. ‘OK, OK, not to you. I get it. But you work with troubled people, Ella. I’d have thought you of all people would understand what I’m trying to do here.’

‘I do understand. And I want to help. But that was plain wrong.’

His eyes glimmer. ‘Was it? Why? Because I take you out in a boat and kiss you? We do it all the time. Other people do it all the time. And in public.’

‘Not for that.’ I break off, startled at the flicker of pain that crosses his face. I summon patience. ‘OK. So tell me why you think that’s acceptable. I’m new here.’

‘Me too, dammit.’ His eyes blaze. ‘That’s what I’m trying to say. We’re all new here.’ He runs his hand along my arm, his touch on my skin like a shimmer of electricity.

His eyelids lower. Like he senses my response, his voice lowers. ‘That’s what this place is all about. Thinking outside the box. I told you that before we came. You knew what to expect. And this is what it’s like. I’m trying out something new here. We’re all learning. Even me. You may see or hear weird things, odd behaviour. Our recruits come from all over. Some of them may be – unpredictable.’

He’s frowning, his touch on my arm magnetic. His hand moves gently on my skin, his fingers folding round my arm. ‘OK, that was a mistake. But I’m relying on you, Ella. Don’t give up on me yet. Be patient.’

And all at once he pulls me close and stops my mouth with his. His attack is so sudden, his tongue so disturbing, I react instantly. I kiss him back in a frenzy as he takes possession, forcing me back hard against the wall, his tongue angry and probing, his erection, hard and rampant, grinding into me.

When he releases my mouth I smile slowly, forgiving him fast. My fierce surge of arousal is a powerful persuader, but I take one last kick. ‘What’s this? Still making a claim? We’re not in the boat now.’

His grinds against me again, pressing painfully into my soft, swelling places, He sets up a steady, cynical rhythm with his hips, sending darts of fire shooting through me.

Oh, yes … almost there …

He rests his forehead against mine and lowers his voice to a velvety murmur. ‘I make statements in public. I take my pleasures in private.’ His breathing’s unsteady now, as his eyes burn into mine. ‘Open your legs.’

He pins my hands high up on the wall with one hand while he rearranges my jeans with the other, tearing at my zip and pushing roughly at my denim so he can reach into my thighs. His hand’s firm and hot, his intention plain.

Deep down inside me fury still simmers. All it does is make everything more vivid. I thrust towards him eagerly, desperate now after all the teasing.

But he pauses, his eyes troubled, like he needs permission. And all at once I get it: he is asking permission.

Something in his expression tells me he knows he’s gone too far. He sees his weird alpha-male thing in my boat has upset me. He’s sorry. And waiting for permission at a moment as raw and urgent as this is how he says so.

My heart melts. For a second I press my cheek against his in a kind of soft, unspoken act of consent.

With a sharp sigh of relief he surges up inside me in a single thrust, a slick ramrod of power that almost jerks me off my feet. It’s like his rage is gathered in his loins, focused in his cock, propelling into me like a torpedo. He pulls away slowly and rams again, his gaze pinning me to the wall as surely as the pounding weight of his lithe, muscular body and the tight grip of his hand.

And now my arousal surges to match as I strain closer to meet him, thrust for thrust. I have territory too … softer than his, maybe, and quietly swollen with waves of desire from my gentler rush of emotions, but just as insistent and just as needy.

His eyes glitter as he draws closer to his finish. It’s part in triumph but partly something new. I can almost feel the pain of delay as he slows inside me, impaling me, holding off for agonising seconds but poised on the brink. It’s another statement of power, another tiny assertion of discipline, that he can make it last, make me beg …

‘How can you do this? Hold off like this?’ I’m breathless, longing for him to finish so I can catch him up. I’m only seconds away, my pressure building, everything deep down poised and aching for his next merciful invasion …

My climax hovers like coming thunder while he holds off the moment, still determined to pay me out. ‘Is this a punishment? It’s unnatural.’

He watches with a gleam as I wince and push against him, willing him in. I was enjoying that … He knows I’m close. I don’t have to tell hm. If I can feel his heat, he sure as heck can feel mine. It must glow all around him, burn in my pleading gaze, ripple through my soft muscles where they’re still drawing him in, craving release.

‘Discipline,’ he says quietly. ‘That’s how. Time you learned some.’

I stare at him, my pleasure peaking now. Any moment …

‘You mean –?’

His slow smile answers my question. My heart sinks.

What was I thinking? Why remind him of all that now? I see a sudden image of him towering over me, bronzed and oiled, his eyes burning into mine as I kneel before him, waiting patiently for him to do things I never knew people did.

Things I never knew people enjoyed.

The image is so powerful I stare up at him bewildered as he surges into me again in a final triumphant thrust that brings him to fruition and sends me careering over some edge that turns out to be far higher than I thought it was and now I’m falling, flailing, afloat on a sea of pleasure …

His low snarl jerks me back to reality.

‘Yes, discipline. Restraints. That’s exactly what I mean.’