His Rules, Her Ruin

"I shouldn't be here, Daniel," I hissed, clutching my leather bag against my corporate blazer like a shield. My skin crawled. On a normal Friday night, I’d be at home after work burying myself under a mountain of audit files. Instead, due to my best friend's persistent nature. I was now standing in a club.

Daniel didn’t even look at me. He was too busy adjusting his own velvet mask, eyes scanning the crowd with a frantic hunger.

"Just one drink, Jenny. You’re a mess. You need to drown out the noise of that disappearance case before it drives you insane.” He paused. “And who knows, maybe even have a little more fun, if you know what I mean.” He continued shoving his shoulder into mine.

“Yo, Daniel.” A distant voice called out, then Daniel turned to me “Hey! have fun okay? I'll be right back” he said, disappearing into the pulsing crowd before I could even protest, leaving me stranded.

I stepped further into the club and immediately felt it… the subtle shift of a world I wasn't used to. The scent of expensive whiskey and stale beer filled the air.. It wasn't like any bar I’d been to before.

Everyone in here moved with effortless confidence, their bodies casually swaying in perfect rhythm with the music, with all their faces fully hidden behind silver and velvet masks.

I didn’t belong here.

My heels suddenly felt too heavy, my blazer didn’t feel so fitted anymore. And my presence felt too loud. I kept to the corner of the crowd. Feeling both invisible and seen at the same time.

They were free. They didn't have;cases or deadlines. They just had the heat of the moment. My stomach twirled inside slightly as I felt a sudden resentment toward my own life…

The 'good girl' who worked late, the daughter who never caused trouble, the woman who was twenty-six and had never actually lived.

I was tired of being the person who'd just watch from the sidelines, while others had fun, and lived in the moment.

I didn't just want a drink; I wanted to be consumed by something that wasn't a tragedy or a file. I wanted to be someone else. At least for the night!

Then I saw him…

He wasn't performing, he wasn't doing too much. Matter of fact he wasn't doing anything at all… He was just there. Sitting at the far end of the bar with a glass in hand. He didn't even have to move a muscle to command the room.

I watched as bartenders brushed past other people just to refill his drink, their hands visibly trembling as he set the glass down. I could almost smell their fear.

His eyes found mine.

The gaze wasn't brief nor was it light. It felt like a physical weight pressing against my chest. And instead of just turning away, ignoring it. A reckless urge pulled me to get closer.

I strutted to my feet as I began navigating my way past the crowd. Continueously dodging masked faces, and bodies that moved in a familiar rhythm. I slipped onto a stool just a few feet away from him.

“What’s with all the masks?” I asked the bartender. My voice barely above a whisper. Thin against the music.

The bartender didn't answer right away. He just slid a drink toward me. I took a quick swallow, the burn of it instantly hitting my throat and finally numbing the jagged edges of my day.

“So are you just gonna keep staring at me, or are you gonna answer my question?” I snapped, my irritation masking the fact that my heart was hammering. I had never been this confrontational to a stranger in a strange place before.

The bartender finally looked at me, “You really don't know where you are, do you?” he said as a small smug tugged at the corner of his lips.

I frowned, my expression souring together “A bar. Obviously.”

He gave a humorless laugh as he continued polishing the glass he held in slow, deliberate circles. “It’s a private sex club darling.” He continued his voice slightly darkened this time “And you? You’re in the wrong place.”

“And you say that why?”

He looked me up and down, as he took his time to analyse each detail on me. The corporate tailoring, the fact that I wasn't wearing a mask. The cluelessness of me not even knowing where I walked into.

“I’d suggest you leave, now. The men in here… they ruin women like you. And you’ve got innocence written all over you.”

I almost laughed. Innocent?

He saw the professional blazer, what he didn't see was the twenty-six years of inexperience. He didn't see the girl who had guarded her reputation like a prize to be awarded for.

I leaned in, my voice dripping with a sarcasm I didn't quite feel myself. “Well then… show me the worst of them all. The one who could make me forget my innocence. Completely.”

The sly smug didn't leave his face as his eyes shifted, looking past me toward a dark corner, my eyes followed his instinctively.

And then it was him.

The man was still there. Silver mask. Cold, piercing eyes. He didn't look like the lawyers or CEOs I've ever dealt with before. My brain told me to run, but my body was already standing up, walking toward him as if I were already under his control.

“I don’t want sympathy,” I whispered to myself, as I watched him slowly set his glass down. “I just want to feel completely free for once.”

I stopped right in front of him. Then words gushed out of my mouth before I could even think of choking them back; “I want you tonight.”

The air instantly shifted.

I felt the weight of a dozen eyes turn in my direction, but I didn’t move… my eyes stayed on his, watching as he moved. Slowly setting his glass down without breaking the eye contact between us.

“You want me to fuck you?”

He tilted his head, an evident sense of amusement flickering in his eyes. His voice was low, he didn't even sound surprised. He sounded more like he was deciding if I was even worth the effort.

“Ye… yes.”

The corner of his lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. “Leave us,” he said. The command was soft… but unquestioned. Everyone around us stood and left within seconds. No hesitation. No questions asked.

Okay… who the hell is this guy?

He leaned forward, his eyes locking onto mine. The intensity in his gaze caused a heating sensation in my stomach, I took in a broken breath in an attempt to ease my tensed muscles.

He took a slow sip of his whiskey, quietly watching me over the rim. Then he finally spoke. “Let me get this straight. You walk in here in a blazer, come to my table, and ask me to fuck you?”

‘Fuck you’ the words rang awkwardly in the back of my head. God how do I fill this embarrassing moment?

My fingers stretched the back of my neck, as I let out a nervous chuckle in an attempt to ease the tension his stare was giving me. “It’s more of a favour actually…”

For a second, something flickered in his eyes… interest. But then gone almost as soon as it had come.

I braced myself, waiting. Expecting him to laugh, call me crazy, or probably even have me thrown out.

But instead, he replied with one word:

“Okay.”

I blinked. As something in my stomach did a slow, tight flip inside of me. “Wait… really?”

He didn't bother answering. He just stood up. He was taller than I’d realized, his shadow completely covering mine.

“Follow me.”

My feet obeyed before I could even think of protesting. I followed him towards the private booths in the back. Daniel sighted me from the other edge of the club, his shoulders immediately tensed as he began walking towards us, I flashed him a thumbs up. He halted, a small smile slowly forming at the corner of his lip as he mouthed to me “You naughty girl.”

We reached the room, he slammed the door behind us. The silence was instant. I could hear my own blood rushing in my ears.

I could feel his eyes move, slowly taking in each detail of my body. The tension of his presence alone was enough to make me drip with anticipation for him.

Then his voice cut through the quiet; “Take it off.”

Every nerve in me froze. My lips parted slightly about to say something. But my hands were already moving. And the most terrifying part? I didn’t even try to stop myself.

Just leave, Jenny. This isn't you. Walk out the door. My body completely ignored the paranoid voice in my head, every inch of me felt completely intoxicated by him.

I was about to lose my virginity in a room I didn't belong in, and to a man whose name I didn't even know.

He shrugged out of his suit effortlessly. And I swear it was worth more than anything I had ever owned in my entire life. His scent of velvet creek perfume filled every inch of the small room we occupied.

“On the bed,” he commanded.