Read Online One Night in His Custody by Teri Fowler - Free Book Online Page A

“I think you like to get a little rough.”
    Michael's hands stopped rubbing lazy, soothing circles up and down her back , and she heard him suck in a ragged, shaky breath. His fingers bit into the flesh of her hips, and he tugged her forward, pressing their already connected bodies closer together.
    “ I remember when we used to play fight. I knew exactly when it was going to stop, because it was always at the precise moment you got a hard-on.”
    “ I didn't think you noticed.”
    She laughed. “How could I not have noticed? Nothing about you is small.”
    “ Which is why,” he said, pulling away and putting a few inches between them, “it can never happen. What if I hurt you?”
    “ I'm tougher than I look.”
    Olivia expected him to scoff, but he surprised her by nodding in agreement. “I know that.”
    “ And I would tell you if you hurt me.”
    “ I know that, too. The problem is, Liv, it would be too late by then, wouldn't it?”
    “ Why is it such a big deal if I get a little hurt? I know that sounds daft, but hear me out. Are you saying women shouldn't be fire-fighters, or play rugby, or do contact sports because they might get hurt?”
    “ No, but that's a whole different thing, and you know it.”
    “ I'm not some delicate little flower, P.C. Williams. And I expect you to damn well believe me when I tell you that.”
    Michael put up his hands, as if trying to placate her. “I believe you think you can handle it, but what if you are wrong?”
    If he'd known her a little better, he might have been able to tell what she was about to do. As it was, Olivia had the element of surprise at her disposal , and she took full advantage. She reached out, grabbed his huge wrist as well as she could with her relatively small hand, placed the other on his chest and yanked him hard, turning as the momentum carried his weight forward and sent him tumbling over her hip.
    He landed with a satisfying grunt and a loud, floorboard rattling, thud. She worried for a second that his weight crashing to the floor might have shaken loose some of the plaster in the living room below. If it had, it was worth it just for the look on his face.  Olivia moved to stand beside him, unable to suppress the urge to lord it over him for a while. “Delicate enough for you?”
    Michael stared up at her with wide eyes, his mouth clamped firmly shut , and she couldn't tell if he was absolutely livid, stunned into silence, or maybe even hurt. “Are you okay?” 
    When he didn't answer, she leaned down to tap his cheek, worried now that he wasn't responding. The moment she touched him, his hand clamped around her wrist , and he tugged her towards him. His knees came up and met the front of her thighs, just as her legs were about to slam into his, and he catapulted her weight forwards, rolling her over his head to land flat on her back on the carpeted floor behind him. He leapt up before she had a chance to scramble to her feet, and straddled her body, pinning her to the floor with strong hands around her biceps and his ankles under her heels, rendering her legs useless.
    “ Judo?  I'm impressed.”
    “ Kyushindu, actually.”
    “ Never heard of it.”  Michael got to his feet and turned to walk away. Olivia felled him again with a sweeping kick and leapt on top of him, her knees pinning his arms to the floor.
    “ It's a mixture of judo and karate, and suitable for the vertically challenged among us as it doesn't rely on brute strength.”
    His eyes held a grudging admiration at first but that faded , and he shook his head again, apparently rejecting the idea she could handle herself.  “I don't care how skilled you are at some martial arts discipline—”
    “ Black belt, first Dan.”
    “ Congratulations.”
    Being patronized didn't help her mood at all. She knew he could get free and toss her across the room any time he wanted to, and the fact that he didn't even try made her angry.  “For fuck's sake, Michael.  Do you think