" How much will you change?” Nella asked, uneasy.
“Oh, not too much. Enough so that your signature won’t match the bots’ programming. Outwardly, you’ll never know the difference. Unless, of course, you’d like me to make some modifications.” She ran an eye up and down Nella, like a dress designer trying to decide where to put more pleats or frills.
Rio’s arms tightened around her. “Don’t you dare change a thing. She’s perfect the way she is.”
Nella’s face heated. “Not really.”
“You don’t believe me?” Rio said, his voice taking on a dangerous note.
“You’re very flattering,” she said.
His playfulness vanished. “Flattering? You mean I’m lying?”
“I didn’t say that. I . . .”
He confused her. All her life Nella had been taught to be banally polite, to have the correct remark for the correct person at the correct time, always. Everything she said to Rio seemed to provoke a reaction opposite of what she’d been taught to expect. But then, Rio was nothing like any male— any human being— Nella had ever met before. He did nothing as expected. Maybe that was part of his attraction— his unpredictability.
Abruptly, Rio spun Nella around and lifted her over his shoulder. She squeaked in surprise as her world went upside down, too startled to do anything but gape at his tight, leather-clad buttocks. “You’re still having a problem with trust,” he said. “One I’m going to have to cure.”
Planting his hand on her backside, Rio hauled Nella out of the room, completely ignoring her shout of protest. "
― Allyson James , Rio (Tales of the Shareem, #2)