Both Misternik and vmc312 have had a part in editing and critiquing this chapter, but it has been somewhat rewritten by me since then and not proofed by either of them. Suffice to say their input has undoubtedly improved it no end but any mistakes you might spot are most definitely my own.
Feeling exceptionally bleary eyed the following morning Andrea dropped Sophia off at school. She sat on the bus in a daze, not realising how far she'd travelled until her stop was called. When she got to work, she noticed Connie watching her more than usual. She commented on how tired Andrea looked, but didn't ask any more questions.
Andrea felt very apprehensive about going anywhere near his room, she wanted to avoid seeing him again at all costs. She managed to swap her rota with Maria without raising too much suspicion. She wondered if she could find out who he was at front desk and how much longer he was booked in for.
Stephano managed to get back to the room early. He planned to be there half an hour earlier than he'd arrived yesterday, he was relieved to find it hadn't been cleaned yet. Would she be back today he wondered. He'd cancelled his lunch meeting so he could try and see her again. He had to see her again, he'd hardly slept, and he needed to try to figure out why she affected him so strongly.
He was pacing around the room. What was wrong with him? What was happening to him? It had taken every last scrap of self-control not to just tear that ugly uniform from her body and take her right there on the bed. He felt his heart quicken just thinking about it. But he couldn't just take what he wanted, what must she think of him, he needed to talk to her, to try to make a mends.
He sat down, and then he stood up again. He dragged a hand through his hair. He hoped that he could somehow salvage the situation. He wanted to make sure she was okay but more selfishly he just needed to see her again, he wanted to explore this attraction more thoroughly. The urge to have her was so strong he could hardly think straight.
He was still pacing when an entirely different chambermaid arrived to clean, she nearly jumped out of her skin when he emerged from the bedroom. They stared at each other open mouthed for a moment.
"Shall I come back later?"
"Where is she?" at her confused expression he impatiently clarified "the girl that was here yesterday instead of you, why isn't she here?"
"We swapped rotas. She... she said she needed to leave early."
He tried to control his emotions as an irrationally possessive rage bubbled up inside him. How dare she try to avoid him. He decided he was going to find her. He considered asking the new girl for help, but then thought better of it. He stalked out of the room and down the stairs to look for her.
The day dragged on. Everything seemed to take forever and she was being so scatty that she had to make an extra trip to supplies twice to get stuff she'd forgotten. Finally she was finished. She was the last to push her trolley down to drop off the dirty sheets and towels. She sighed in exhaustion and relief as she dumped them in the laundry room. She was toying with the idea of buying a bottle of cheap wine on the way home just in case she couldn't sleep again. She slipped out of the laundry room, pulling the door closed behind her and started to leave.
It was then that she spotted him. He was leaning against the corridor wall watching her. He looked angry, His dark eyes contained a challenge that she wasn't sure she could meet. Her insides seemed to lurch when she saw him, but whether it was with fear or attraction or a bit of both she couldn't be sure. She panicked and started to back away, trying to pluck up the courage to turn her back to him so she could run for it. But he moved fast and suddenly he was right there.
He grabbed her wrist pulling her towards him, preventing her escape and then he was all around her trapping her with his arms. She was captivated by his familiar scent and what had happened in the bathroom the day before came flooding back. Their eyes met and, she found she was unable to look away.
He didn't speak he didn't say a word, he just leaned past her and turning the door handle so that the laundry room was open he pushed her inside. He immediately closed it again, shutting them in. She knew perfectly well that there was nowhere to go, he had the only exit covered, but she still backed away as he closed the space between them. His pupils looked huge making his eyes seem impossibly dark. She spotted lust in them but there was a hard edge too, she shuddered.
He was pressing his body against hers. She felt her back hit the tiled wall as he grabbed her jaw in his hand, turning her face towards his. He trapped her in a punishingly aggressive kiss. She slid her hands between their bodies and pressed them against his chest, trying to push him away. Determined to reclaim control of the situation before it got completely out of hand, terrified that this reluctant attraction to him that she felt would defeat her.
She was met with an immovable wall; he was very strong. She began to feel overwhelmed with the helplessness of the situation. As he ground his hips into hers, she could feel herself begin to succumb to the arousal that was starting to build.
Fleetingly she noticed how cold the tiles felt, even through her uniform. He wasn't kissing her any more, he was breathing heavily and gazing at her intensely through hooded eyes, his body pushed up against hers, pinning her to the wall.
"You have to stop this. Let me go." She had meant for the words to come across as strong and assertive but her voice betrayed her, she sounded shaky and frightened.
"No" was all he said in response.
"But you have to, I don't want this." She wanted to cry with frustration.
"Don't you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. The confidence present in those two simple words was galling.
Deftly pulling her skirt aside and sliding his hand down between their bodies he grabbed the crotch of her pants and yanked, hard. They tore and he pulled them out of the way and dropped them on the tiled floor beneath their feet.
She yelped. What was it with him and her underwear?
He slid a finger into her and then slowly pulled it out again, flicking her clitoris as he did, drawing an involuntary moan out of her. She couldn't deny the dampness he found there.
"It feels like you want it to me." His voice was rich and deep and tantalizing. He continued to stroke her lazily with his finger.
She stared at him unsure of how to reply. He leant forward and kissed her again, it was a long slow lingering kiss. She was rapidly losing her ability to think, finding it increasingly difficult to remember why this was supposed to be a bad idea.
Sensing this, he seized the opportunity. Pinning her against the wall with his hips, he started unbuttoning her blouse, exposing her chest. She clung to his shoulders, her heart in her mouth. He slid his hands into her bra and cupped her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples. She let out a shuddering breath unable to prevent herself from reacting to his touch. He was looking down at her as if he wanted to eat her for breakfast.
"Why didn't you come to my room today?" he demanded.
"I was on a different rota."
"The girl who came, she told me you changed with her."
She looked at him, eyes wide with fear. Maria! She hadn't considered that he might..."You didn't...?"
"No," he barked. "Of course not, I'm not in the habit of seducing my chambermaids." He scowled, looking insulted.
He wasn't?
She was still trying to make sense of that statement with her lust addled brain when he gripped her jaw roughly and lifted her chin up, turning her face towards the wall behind her. Andrea's cheek was pressed against cold hard tiles, exposing her neck. He trailed his lips across the flesh there, along her collarbone up her throat. Shivers of involuntary arousal coursed through her veins, she balled her fists her fingers dug into the palms of her hands, the pain somehow helping her to remember why this shouldn't be happening.
Her heart was beating so fast she felt like it might burst out of her chest. He leant in and began to nibble and kiss her neck, occasionally biting a little harder, eliciting involuntary gasps from her when he did. He inhaled and she heard him groan appreciatively. His face pressed against her, his lips tickling the particularly sensitive area behind her ear.
The sound effected her profoundly, it spoke to her of the dark, unspeakable desires she was feeling and before she could stop herself she'd rolled her pelvis towards his, pressing her hips into his erection, arching her back. The action sent a delicious frisson of arousal bubbling through her and she sighed.
Almost immediately she realised her mistake. She had surrendered to him; she had given him the undisputable message that he was having the effect he was trying for.
He grabbed her hair in his fist and pulling firmly he forced her to face him. She was cringing with embarrassment as reluctantly she met his stare. He chuckled darkly, his face a picture of mischievous satisfaction. His eyes burning with unfettered arousal. He returned her thrust gleefully. Moving his hands back down to her waist he kissed her forcefully, pushing her back even harder up against the cold tiles, delighting in her unintended response.
She turned her face away from him, brimming with shame and began to struggle a new but she knew was losing the fight. What she couldn't decide was who the fight was with? -Him, or her own dark, sensual desires.
He was kissing her again, whilst simultaneously rubbing his crotch up against hers; she could feel his erection pressing into her. Despite both their clothes the sensations the friction was causing were unbearably, tantalisingly delicious.
Propriety be damned, she was teetering on the brink of begging him to take her in the cramped, musty smelling laundry room. He slipped his hand back beneath her skirt and cupped her mound, grinding the heel of his hand against her. It was her undoing.
"Please..." she whispered wretchedly.
