I put my hands to his chest and tried to push him away, but he was too strong. His kisses were becoming more forceful by the second and I couldn't do anything. He probably wasn't even noticing my resistance. He held my face in his hands and I could barely move.
I knew I was supposed to be terrified. But I wasn't.
However forcefully he was holding me, it didn't feel threatening. The light scent of his aftershave, the feeling of his stubbles against my face, the sweet Italian words he whispered in between the kisses – it all provided a sense of safety I'd never felt before.
I kissed him back. My fingers went through his hair and I heard my breathing speed to match my heartbeat. He groaned softly and lowered his lips to my neck again. I held my eyes closed and shuddered as his lips touched my throat.
I lost track of time.
I felt the pressure of his body on mine weaken, and I opened my eyes to see him putting his arm under my knees and lifting me up. I felt dizzy and rested my head on his shoulder. I couldn't care less where he was taking me, as long as he wouldn't let go of me.
Above me, I saw the golden ceiling and then the curtains of a four-poster bed. And then it dawned on me.
He was carrying me into the bedroom.
Oh no.
This involuntary thought shocked me. I wasn't feeling scared or reluctant. I was disappointed.
The realisation sunk in. I was obviously nothing more to him than a fling. A one-night adventure.
Of course I was. He'd met me at the party, and five minutes later he'd taken me with him. What did I expect?
Secretly, I'd hoped to be something more to him than that. Silly me.
Well, there was no way this was happening. I opened my mouth to tell him to stop, but he'd already pushed me down onto the bed and he was kissing my neck again. It blurred my thoughts. The only sound I managed to make was a muddy grumble.
I closed my eyes and surrendered.
The next thing I saw was the light falling in through the high windows. I groaned and put my arm over my eyes to hold onto the darkness. The pillow had an unfamiliar, sweet scent. Where was I? This wasn't my bed.
A few seconds later, reality caught up with me and I jerked upright.
"Good morning, miss Taylor," I heard. I quickly turned my head and saw him standing to the left of the bed, facing away from me, fastening his tie while looking in the mirror. I could see his face in the reflection, just like my own figure sitting in the bed with my hair all tangled and my lips dry. I looked like a mess, so I quickly looked back to him. He was wearing black trousers and a black blouse with long sleeves. As he pulled the knot of his tie, I could see a smug smile on his face.
I closed my eyes and pushed a lock of hair out of my face. I felt panic forming in my chest. "Did I... Did we-"
"Trust me, you'd remember if we had," he said conceitedly. He studied himself in the mirror with satisfaction as I collapsed back into the pillows in relief. Then, a different emotion took hold of me. I could just slap him in his beautiful, arrogant face. Who did he think he was?
I pushed the sheets back and put my feet on the floor. The floor heating was on, and it felt pleasantly warm. I realised that I was only wearing my underwear. I quickly grabbed my skirt, which was draped over a chair, and stepped into it.
"What did you think you were doing?" I snapped.
He turned around in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"You know bloody well what I mean." I zipped up my skirt and looked for my blouse. He took it off the floor where he was standing and threw it at me.
"Well, it sure didn't seem like you were objecting." He frowned.
"You didn't give me the chance to!" I shrieked. I put my arms into my blouse.
He gloated. "Right. You hated every second of it." He took a step towards me. "Don't go home with me and then call me out on it. You know as well as I do that I did nothing wrong." His accent seemed to be more pronounced when he was angry. It was actually quite– no, stop. Don't think about that.
"Well, then we have nothing more to talk about." I buttoned up my blouse.
He chuckled arrogantly. "If you say so."
I looked at him incredulously. How had he seemed so nice and attractive last night? Now that he'd gotten what he wanted, the façade was gone and he was just like the rest of them. I could just kick myself for falling for it.
I picked up my bag from the floor and walked past him.
"I'll let myself out."
He walked with me anyway. "Until we meet again, miss Taylor," he said when I walked out the door. I shot him a furious glance as I walked away and saw that he was still standing there, smiling.