I expected him to drop the act once we got into our suite and he slammed the door shut behind us. But though he finally let go of my arm, when he turned to look at me, his face was furious.
“What in the hell was that?” he demanded, but he was so upset his accent was in overdrive. It came out more as “Vhat in ze hale vus zat?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I shot back at him.
“What?” He ran both hands through his hair. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about that spanking!” I exclaimed. “You acted like you didn’t want to hit me at all and then you beat me like a redheaded step child!”
“I had to make look real!” he protested.
“It was real all right,” I shot back. And now my ass is really sore!”
“And so to get back at me, you decided to embarrass me at table? To do things…you know you should not be doing?” he demanded.
“Mandy dared me to,” I said. “I had to…to uh, do what I did, in order to get her trust.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “And she might have told me everything if you hadn’t dragged me up here instead of letting me finish.”
“Letting you finish?” Salt started pacing. “I was the one who was about to finish—don’t you understand that, Andi? I was about to come in your sweet mouth. Is that what you wanted?” He rounded on me. “Was it?”
I lifted my chin. “If that was what it took to earn Mandy’s trust and break this case then, well…yes.”
“You…I cannot believe you.” He sat abruptly on the sofa and scrubbed one hand over his face. “What about after case is through? What about—” He broke off abruptly, shaking his head.
Suddenly I felt ashamed. Not of my actions—I had been doing what I thought was necessary. But of how I had upset my partner—the most important person in my life. And I had to admit, if our positions had been reversed and he had gone down on me in public with no warning, I would probably feel incredibly pissed off and betrayed too.
“Look, Salt…I’m sorry,” I said awkwardly, sitting down beside him. “She was daring me to do it and saying she would tell me about the ‘special secret medicine’ if I did. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to explain what was going on. I guess…” I looked down at my hands. “I guess you probably feel really taken advantage of right now.”
“No…not that exactly,” he said heavily.
“Yes, of course you do,” I protested. “I know if our positions were reversed and you had done, uh, that to me, I would feel really upset and confused. You probably feel like I molested you or something.” I bit my lip.
“Molested?” He barked a short, unhappy laugh. “Is that how you think I am feeling right now?”
“I don’t know…” I shook my head. “Look, I have to be honest…” I sighed. “Mandy was daring me but I was also really mad about the spanking. I guess…I was trying to get some revenge, making you be the powerless one for once.”
Salt swore softly and reached for my hand. To my surprise, he intertwined our fingers and squeezed gently. “Andi,” he said softly. “Look at me.”
Reluctantly, I raised my head to look at his face. His eyes were troubled.
“Is not that I feel you took advantage of me. The feel of your soft hands and sweet mouth on me was a great pleasure,” he rumbled softly.
“It was?” I could feel my cheeks getting hot.
“Of course.” He brushed his knuckles gently over my heated cheek. “And one I never expected to feel. So that is not what bothers me.”
“What then?” I whispered.
Salt looked troubled. “I just…do not wish to do anything while we are here that will jeopardize relationship we have back home,” he said. “You are important to me, Andi. More important than any case we are assigned. You understand?”
I nodded. “I feel the same way about you,” I admitted. “I’ve been worried too…worried that we might hurt our partnership with everything we have to…have to do here.”