Page 170 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

‘Then let’s dance,’ he said, and took her hand.

She hadn’t thought their one night might be romantic, and she’d never thought she could feel glamorous in clumpy black shoes, but as she danced under the dark sky the tiny side street was the most romantic, sensual place in the world.

‘You make me feel light-footed,’ she said, as his face came down to her cheek. ‘I can’t dance. But...’

‘You can,’ he told her. ‘You can do anything.’

‘I haven’t done very much at all,’ Susie said, and she rather thought they weren’t discussing her dancing any more. ‘I’m very, very boring...’ she warned.

‘I don’t think so.’

He lowered his head and she stretched to meet his mouth.

This was no awkward first contact.

It came as a relief.

The weight of his mouth on hers felt perfect, and he was heavenly to kiss and to be kissed by. His lips were like velvet, his chin rough, and his body so warm. Closing her eyes at the bliss of his tongue, she tasted him back, and it was both passionate and so good.

His hand slid under her coat and hooked her waist. And then he either pulled her towards him or maybe she just shaped herself into him, as if a mould had been cast.

‘I stand corrected,’ Dante said. ‘I do like sour cherry ice cream.’

He went back for another taste and she clung to his head, kissing him back. The music was silent now. And truly she didn’t care if the students were all leaning on the windows and looking out as he kissed her against a wall...

Actually, she did.

Her eyes sprang open. ‘I was worried...’ she gasped. ‘That we were being watched...’

‘We’re just kissing.’

‘Really...?’

She couldn’t quite get her breath, and she could feel him hard against her stomach, and she felt swollen herself, just too hot to be out in the cold.

‘Come on,’ he said, and she nodded as he took her hand and they started to walk.

Still holding her hand, he led her to his house.

They reached Coro Garibaldi... ‘How far?’ Susie asked as they walked along the elegant avenue.

‘Nearly there...’

Except they kept stopping for kisses. And even as they climbed the steps to his door she was impatient. It wasn’t just a matter of him taking out his keys, she was almost inside his jacket, trying to find them.

Kissing and laughing, they almost fell inside.

‘I’ll get the lights,’ Dante said.

And that might have been his intention, but first he took off her scarf and hung it over the banister, then he removed her coat and his.

‘Let’s go to bed,’ he suggested.

But she sat on the stairs and removed her horrible shoes and groaned in relief.

‘You ache?’ he asked.

‘I ache,’ she agreed, wincing a little as he picked up one foot. ‘Please don’t.’