“Let’s leave now, then,” he said abruptly, and my heart stopped. This was not what I’d expected. There was no way I was going to leave with him now. This was not what was supposed to happen next. All of a sudden I felt like a little kid, and panic and anxiety filled me. I wished more than ever that Anna were here with me.

“I’m here with someone. I can’t just leave now.” It was true. He knew I was here with Xavier.

“That someone is not a threat to me.” He smiled and I stared at his perfect white teeth. This man was gorgeous and fearless, and my heart thudded as he looked me over admiringly.

“A threat?” I frowned. What did he mean by that?

“I’m not worried about any other men in your life.”

“Excuse me? There are not multiple other men in my life.” I bit my lower lip as he leaned closer to me. Was he going to kiss me again? I knew that he was an asshole and that I couldn’t let him kiss me again. I could see in his eyes that he just wanted to have sex with me. I didn’t like his assumption that he could just kiss me again as he pleased, and I was worried that he might try to do something else.

“That’s why I said I’m not worried about any other men.” He stopped moving when his lips were a mere inch away from mine. I could feel his breath on my face and my lips trembled slightly at his proximity. “Xavier is not a threat to me.”

“Stephan, no,” I said, annoyed as he made to kiss me again. I didn’t want him to have the upper hand already. I was already failing Xavier by allowing him to kiss me and lose my head.

“No?”

“That’s what I said,” I snapped.

“Feisty. I like that.” He grinned at me and I watched as he ran his hands through his dark, silky hair. He looked at me thoughtfully. “You’re different from the others.”

“The others?” I took a step back from him and frowned. How many others had there been?

“They don’t matter.” He shook his head. “I want you to do me a favor.”

“A favor? How?” I ran my hands down my side, wondering what he was going to ask me.

“Dance with me.”

“Dance with you?” I said in surprise.

“Yes, unless your boyfriend would have a problem with it.”

“He’s my fiancé and he would have a huge problem with it.”

“We both know he’s not really your fiancé.” Stephan scoffed. “Why did he leave—”

“Lola, there you are.” Xavier pushed open the door. “I’ve been looking for you.” He strode into the room, worry on his face, and he looked at my red face with a disapproving look.

“Hello, Xavier.” Stephan smiled at Xavier wildly and then looked at me. “Like I said, he’s not a threat. Lola, shall we leave now?” He chuckled and I could feel my face burning with shame and embarrassment. I avoided his gaze and looked at Xavier, who was scowling. I had no idea why he’d come up here or what he expected from me. My heart beat with love as I looked at his face. He looked jealous, worried and concerned and I could see the love in his eyes as he stared at me. It was hard to believe that he loved me too. He was too handsome and too rich to be interested in someone like me. I felt confused and out of my comfort zone with all these handsome princes trying to woo me and bed me. Men like them didn’t approach me, and I was glad for it now. I was glad that I hadn’t had to deal with situations like these all my life. I wouldn’t have known how to handle dating men like these when I was younger. Not that I thought that Stephan wanted to date me. Oh no. I knew from the look in his eyes that dating was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to take me to bed. Or rather, he wanted to fuck me. I looked at Stephan and the primal look on his face, and I knew ‘fuck’ was the operative word. He was not a man who made love. He didn’t want to kiss and caress me and ensure that I had an orgasm every single time. He wanted to fuck me. Hard and deep.And take what he wanted. He wanted to dominate in every sense of the word. And a part of me—a part I didn’t even know existed—was secretly thrilled by that fact. A part of me wondered what it would be like to be taken wildly and with abandon. I stared at Xavier then and I knew that I was going to tell him my thoughts. I was going to tell him that I wanted to explore and experiment. I wanted to be taken on a journey of desire, as Stephan had said. Only I didn’t want Stephan to be the one taking me there. I wanted it to be Xavier.

“Shall we leave, Lola?” Stephan said again. “Are your lips aching to be kissed by mine once more?”

I looked down in shame as Xavier glared at me, his eyes narrowing. “Lola’s not going anywhere.” Xavier’s voice was harsh as he spoke to Stephan. “You, of all people, know how this works, Stephan.”

“I know how it works,” Stephan said lightly and then looked at me. “I just don’t think that she knows or is prepared for what comes next.”

“What comes next?” I asked, my eyes wide as I looked to Xavier’s face. His expression was unreadable and I could tell that he was still angry with me. I wanted to explain to him that I hadn’t wanted Stephan to kiss me. I wanted to explain to him that I’d been in a haze and that I loved him. There was no one I wanted more than him.

“Next is the Touch of a Kiss competition.” Stephan’s words sounded lyrical. “I wasn’t going to subject you to it, but I think that Xavier has other plans.”