as effectively as his muscled forearms, his tight grip and his fierce hunger.
This time we come almost at the same moment, me tipping over the edge just seconds before he does. Maybe my spasms fire his climax – maybe it’s simply the ecstatic moan of pleasure that escapes me as he jolts me into my final bliss. Our embrace fuses us together for long seconds.
We finally stretch out to relax, then I twine around him and nestle in the crook of his arm. I’ll keep my questions for later. This close, I sense he’s still keeping something back.
The glint in his eyes is a warning. Something’s not going to plan. And I’ve an uneasy feeling that it’s somehow linked to me.
* * *
At last we set off for the complex. We cross the highway and drive towards the foothills in Darnley’s flashy new convertible. With the wind in our hair and an open road it makes a welcome change from the cushioned privacy of his limo. Without his driver we feel reckless, like kids.
On the way he fills me in on some of the detail about his new venture, his hand straying constantly from the steering wheel to stroke my thigh.
I try to focus as he does this, but it’s an effort.
‘There’s renovation work still going on. The new intake’s on short, intensive courses, just to give them a taster, a feel for the conditions some of their future employers may expect.’
He slows to steer round a motorcycle and then eyes it in the rear-view mirror. ‘And some of the recruits are – well, you’ll see when you meet them. They come from different backgrounds, shall we say.’
‘Like ours at the Academy?’
He grins briefly and then squeezes my thigh. ‘That’s partly why I want you on board. You’re brilliant with difficult kids. Your Principal thinks so, anyway.’
I roll my eyes. ‘He never said. Maybe if he had I’d have stayed in Boston.’
He squeezes my thigh again. ‘Do I detect mutiny in my troops? This may need a touch of discipline.’
A spike of alarm brings with it a stab of arousal so acute I ache. ‘Maybe we should talk about this another time.’ I try for carefree, but it comes out husky.
He laughs and lowers his voice. ‘It’s a date.’
The complex is being set up in a former sports and leisure facility. It’s being extensively refurbished. Workmen are everywhere.
The site seems huge. It’s mostly bushes and scrub but here and there it’s dotted with cactus and yucca. I can hear shouting from one of the fields like there’s football going on somewhere.
I make out a golf course and a shooting range. Cabins and outbuildings cluster round a half-emptied pool. Sports fields seem to stretch all around us. As we cruise along the freshly paved driveway up to the low ranch-like building at its hub I learn that the site was too far off the highway to turn a profit.
‘The caterers tried to keep up hotel standards. Got too costly to run so they had to sell. But the isolation makes it perfect for this. Ah, here she is. My temporary manager and our guide for today.’ He eases the powerful car to a purring halt and glances at me with a sardonic grin. ‘But I was forgetting. You two already met.’
I feel myself stiffen. Walking towards us I see my new manager. And that sour look on her face tells me she’s just as thrilled to see me. Freda.
‘Hi there, we meet again. Enjoy your dip? We all did.’
My heart sinks. So she still dislikes me.
‘Hi.’ I smile politely, ignoring the rest.
To my surprise her face softens. ‘Saw a whole new you out there, Ella. I’d no idea you had it in you.’ She gives a short bark of laughter. ‘I mean, I can guess it’s in you pretty much most of the time, but still –’
‘Enough.’ Darnley’s scowl cuts her off.
She grins. ‘Lighten up, cousin. We’re in the fun state now. Let me show you both around.’
She walks on ahead, her boot heels clicking on the new wooden floors. We look into various rooms as we pass. Recruits, some working on equipment, some peering at whiteboards, glance up as she glares in at their instructors and waits just long enough to disrupt the teaching before moving on.
It’s an unpleasant display of power. Weirdly, it seems to be aimed at me. Darnley pays little attention. He’s busy murmuring into his phone.
She’ll be a nightmare to work for, I think. I vow to tackle him about some aspects of my stay here.
I slip away now and then and talk to some of the new recruits, guessing some of them will be my pupils too. While Darnley takes his cousin aside to ask her how things are going I sidle up to one group after another and say hi.
It’s worse than I thought.
‘Wow. You mean you’re …’
‘Hey, you guys, guess who this is?’
‘You mean you’re gonna teach here? Phew …’
All too aware what this is really about, I steel myself to laugh it off.
Inside I’m seething. How could he do this?
‘Hey. You making friends already? Time to go.’
The recruits take a step back as Darnley touches my arm. They quickly turn back to their task – in this case, something on laptops. They’re working on a new ID system. The best one may be developed at Wolfe Security HQ.
When I mentioned surfing I learned that none of them here actually swims. So who was it under my boat this morning?
Now I turn to my fiancé with a calm smile.
Freda eyes me calmly. ‘You off, then? Cool. Have fun in your new boat. We’ll look forward to it.’
Her earthy chuckle follows us out into the sunshine as we head for the car. Out of earshot I shake my arm free of Darnley’s grip.
‘How could you do that? That was the most excruciating half-hour of my life. After a stunt like that you seriously expect me to teach these people?’
‘Calm down.’ His eyes snap. ‘Wait till we’re on the road. They’ll hear you.’
‘They’ve seen me. That’s bad enough.’
His face softens. ‘Hey, chill. They like you. Here, you drive.’
He throws the keys at me. Miraculously I catch them.
With a snort I take the driver’s seat, peer at the controls and then gulp. ‘What? Me drive this?’
He’s eyeing me from the passenger seat, his arms folded. ‘You heard.’
My
