Picking up the thick white towelling robe, she slipped it on, tying the belt firmly around her waist. Yet still she was shaking. She had half expected Alex to follow her. She walked into the bedroom and glanced around; it was pleasant, if a bit like a hotel room. A double bed in the centre of one wall. At one side a soft-cushioned sofa and an occasional table, a cabinet that housed a television, video and CD players. Against the wall to the left of the door was a desk and office centre. The three guest bedrooms of the apartment, Lisa knew, were all equipped in the same fashion. Alex had told her this was his base in the UK, so it also doubled as a company apartment. The master suite and his study remained locked when he was not in residence, but the place was occasionally used by visiting executives and for corporate entertainment. A bitter smile twisted her soft lips. Alex had failed to add he also used it for strictly personal, sexual entertainment.
In the distance she heard a door slam. Had the luscious Margot left? She didn’t know and she no longer cared, she told herself. She had no illusions left. She had made a horrendous mistake, marrying a man she hardly knew, but she would get over it—she had to. She closed her eyes for a second and immediately saw in her mind’s eye the face of Margot, and the expression in the woman’s eyes came back to haunt her. Margot had looked at Alex with slavish, sick desire, and how had Alex reacted? By ordering her out. Yet, for two years, if Margot was to be believed, he had used the woman quite shamelessly.
Lisa opened her eyes, and in that moment she vowed she would never become so enslaved to any man again, especially not her husband. Alex had betrayed her trust, and it hurt. How it hurt. But he would never get the chance to do it again… She raised her hands and swept the tangled mass of her hair back from her face and straightened her shoulders. The shivering had stopped and she began to think logically about the night’s events.
Dear heaven! She shook her head, appalled at her own stupidity. She could see clearly now. Alex, Margot and Nigel were all alike: immoral, money-hungry, selfish. What sort of fool did they take her for? The only way Margot could have known Alex was going to be alone tonight was if Alex had told her. A harsh laugh escaped her. Her over-sexed husband had made one mistake. In his hurry to let Lisa seduce him he had forgotten to ring his girlfriend and tell her their date was off. Thinking about it now, Lisa supposed she should be flattered his desire for her had overcome his usual controlled efficient self. But she wasn’t.
‘Lisa, open the door.’ Alex’s deep voice broke the silence of the night. She saw the handle turn and then he knocked. ‘Open the door, Lisa, we have to talk.’
Not in this lifetime, she thought bitterly. She had nothing to say to him.
The banging got louder.
‘Please, Lisa, open the door. I really need to talk to you.’ The husky, sensual tone of his voice enraged Lisa; it was all an act.
‘Get lost,’ she yelled back.
‘Open the damned door Lisa.’ The doorhandle rattled ferociously.
‘No.’
‘I will count to three and then I will break the thing down,’ Alex declared.
It was too much to hope that he would leave her alone. Wiping her damp palms down the soft towelling covering her thighs, she reluctantly turned the key in the lock. She had to jump back as the door swung in and Alex burst into the room.
‘Lisa!’ His hands grabbed her shoulders and he pulled her towards him. ‘What do you think you’re playing at, locking me out?’ His eyes flared angrily; his fingers gripped her shoulders.
She planted her hands on his chest and shoved hard. ‘Let go of me,’ she cried, and lifted her knee, her intention plain. He jerked back, but did not release her.
‘Lisa, Lisa, calm down and let me explain.’ He tried to appease her, but she was having none of it.
‘There is nothing to explain. I saw it all. And as for calming down,’ she said angrily, her blue eyes like chips of ice, ‘I’ll calm down when you get out of my sight.’
‘You don’t mean that,’ he growled, pulling her hard against him once more. His mouth swooped on hers with savage anger. She twisted her head—anything to avoid his kiss. But one hand tangled in her hair, as his arm curved around her waist, clamping her firmly to his long body. She tried to wriggle free as he took her mouth with a ruthless passion that would not be denied.
But, even as she felt insidious warmth building inside her she recognised his strategy and was sickened by it. He was blatantly using his sexual prowess to overcome her. Her eyes clashed with his and she saw the implacable intent in their black depths, and she froze in his arms.