He buzzed her in without saying a word. A portentous sign but what else had she expected? She rode up in the lift that he'd once made her come in before they'd reached the third floor and when the doors slid open she felt a weight forming in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't realised how much she was dreading this meeting. She dragged her feet towards his front door, apprehensive of what she might find behind it.
He opened the door in shirt-sleeves, just as she'd pictured him mere minutes before, wriggling with lustful expectation in the sweaty pleather of the taxi. But his eyes weren't lit with the salacious spark she'd hoped for. He didn't grab her and pull her inside, smashing his mouth on hers and wrestling her to the floor in a fit of passion. She'd known her fantasy had been too optimistic. The muscle of his jaw twitched in a familiar way and she could feel his anger radiating from him like a wave of heat.
'Go in to the bedroom,' he managed to say, his words laced with venom.
She obeyed, an idea of what was happen forming in her minds eye. Now the moment had come she wasn't sure she wanted it. His tone had invoked a chill worm of fear that was now wriggling up her spine. Though she felt she deserved what was going to happen, craved it on so many levels and had engineered events to move in this direction, she was now unsure if she was prepared for the outcome. But she had no choice but to take responsibility for her actions. She'd laid the track they were now running on and there was no way she could derail the impending events at this late stage. Her feet propelled her to the bedroom, the stage for so many sweet embraces. And one fateful mistake.
She stopped at the edge of the bed, unsure of what she should do, where exactly he wanted her to be. In the split second she'd realised he was standing behind her, his hand was on the back of the neck, forcing her face down onto the sheets. Her knees buckled beneath her and soon she was lying, trapped. His body lay heavy on top of hers and his words, roughened by his anger, found her ears.
'Don't make a fucking sound. Don't try and move. I know this is what you wanted, you little bitch, I know you've been aching for this moment. I don't like being manipulated, Isobel, and you've been playing with me right from the start. I was a fucking idiot not to realise it but now I'm going to give you everything you deserve, do you understand?'
His hand pulled the roots of her hair and his right hand painfully pinched her nipple through the thin fabric of her sun dress.
'Answer me, bitch.' His voice was nothing but a growl and his erection was digging uncomfortably into her back. His grip on her hair tightened and a choked 'yes' was forced from her throat.
'What do you mean "yes"?' he snarled.
'Yes, I understand.'
