Page 20 of When The Night Falls

I inhaled sharply. He couldn’t have been more wrong. With eyes that sought acquittal, I replied vehemently, ‘No, of course not. It’s got nothing to do with that –I don’t mean to objectify you. I just assumed that sex with no strings attached was mutually understood and agreed upon.’

‘Well, you assumed wrong,’ he retorted. ‘I mean, for fuck’s sake. I thought I made myself clear when I said I’d like to see you again.’

My lips quivered. I could scarcely believe I was having such a candid argument with a stranger.

‘Well, I’m sorry. I do’ – I paused and gestured to him – ‘fancy you. I’m just not interested in anything more than one night.’

He was silent for a beat, contemplating. This was it, I realised.

‘I suppose I’ll just have to fuck you so well that you’ll change your mind,’ he finally asserted.

Air stormed out of my lungs like somebody had just punched me in the gut. I doubted I would ever get used to the shocking, yet somehow arousing, effect of his vulgar tongue. Frankly, I wondered at that moment just what else his tongue was capable of.

‘But if you don’t mind my saying,’ he continued before I could catch my breath, ‘I think you’re being ridiculous. Law isn’t an easy path of education either, and I completed my degree at Cambridge. Even so, I still found time for romantic endeavours. That should speak volumes.’

I gaped. He had studied at Cambridge? No wonder his intellect had impressed me earlier.

Smirking, he put his forefinger below my chin and closed my mouth.

‘Something to consider,’ he said. ‘You can gape later, when we’re naked in my flat.’

The mouth of this man rendered me speechless. It must have earned him a slap or two.

He didn’t bother waiting for my response. He started toward the entrance of an elegant white building with warehouse-style windows. A Starbucks dwelled on the ground floor. Was he a regular there?

I looked down the busy street, seeing herds of people outside a great number of pubs. It must get noisy here during the weekends, I thought.

He entered a code on a keypad to unlock the front door and stepped aside to let me enter. As if I had walked into a past era, I gazed around the splendid reception area, where marble made up the floor and walls.

‘Nice building.’

He didn’t reply. His hand on my back, he ushered me to the lift and pushed the button. The doors opened immediately. On a keypad inside, he pressed the digits of a code again. As we watched the doors slide shut, I mentally thanked myself for having shaved earlier that day.

Gravity tugged at my gut as we rode up, but it was nothing compared to the magnetism the man beside me exuded. He seemed electric, and it was making me increasingly nervous. Looking over, I saw that he was completely composed. Was I the only one struggling to resist sexual urges? It seemed that way, and it bruised my ego so much that a pout dominated my face.

‘I hope you’re not a Patrick Bateman,’ I said, hoping to lighten the atmosphere. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his lips twitch.

‘An American psycho? How could I be? I’m not a Yank.’

‘Ha-ha.’

He grinned. ‘I’m afraid the only thing I’ve in common with Mr Bateman is a taste for the finer things in life.’ To indicate what he meant, he lowered his hand from my back and gently patted my bum.

A second later, we arrived at our destination – the top floor. The doors parted and revealed a vestibule, where a dark brown entrance door interrupted the wall straight ahead. With a gentle shove, William encouraged me to approach it.

Here as well, a code was required to unlock the door. He entered it quickly. Turning the handle, he revealed a marvellous and spacious flat. Complementing the front door, the floor was made of dark brown wood. Surrounding it were cream-coloured walls decorated with a fair number of contemporary paintings. The interior was undeniably modern with a touch of old-fashioned moments.

He stepped in first to hold the door for me, and when his eyes met mine again, they were lit with desire alone.

‘Please, Sandra, won’t you come in?’ he asked, and his voice was an invitation in and of itself.

4 | satisfied?

I walked in with my breath stuck in my throat and was just about to remove my heels when William clasped my wrist and tugged me harshly toward him. As I slammed into his strong body, the little air I had left was knocked out.

‘I’d rather you kept those on,’ he purred and dipped down to engulf my mouth. Wide-eyed, I mellowed against him, utterly at his mercy. The effect this man had on me was beyond my comprehension. I felt like a snake hypnotised by its master’s flute.

He shut the door while his mouth demanded possession of mine. My heart missed a beat at the sound of it being locked. I was both literally and figuratively trapped, yet I harboured no desire to escape. Then, was I truly trapped? Perhaps I was suffering a mild case of Stockholm syndrome, because I was surely in favour of my captor. The taste and scent of him was intoxicating. How had it come to this? I definitely hadn’t been expecting his attention earlier tonight, and yet here I was, about to explore every bit of his tantalising body.

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