Chapter 10: The Price of Innocence

POV RUBY

I emerged from the bathroom with trembling legs, wrapped in the cream-colored silk robe that felt like a sinful caress on my still-damp skin. Nevan's master bedroom was an extension of his own personality: vast, dark, and decorated with an elegance that bordered on military. The shadows of the velvet curtains were cast over the four-poster bed, and the only sound was the crackling of the wood in the black marble fireplace.

He stood there, next to the bay window, looking out over the mansion's grounds with a cut-glass goblet in his hand. He was no longer wearing the silk shirt; he had left it open, revealing the white bandage I had placed over his wound, now slightly stained with red. Hearing my footsteps, he turned with the slowness of a predator who knows his prey has nowhere to run.

"You took your time, Ruby," he said, his raspy voice cutting through the air like a knife. His eyes scanned my body from top to bottom, lingering on the neckline of my robe. "It suits you better than I imagined. Although nothing suits you as well as water and sin."

I felt my cheeks burning again at the memory of the bathtub. I crossed my arms, trying to maintain a shred of dignity.

"Are you going to keep taunting me, or are you going to tell me what's next in this insane game?" I asked, trying to sound firm.

Nevan set the glass on an antique table and walked toward me. With each step, his presence seemed to fill the entire room, stealing my oxygen. He stopped a few inches away, forcing me to tilt my head back to hold his gaze.

"Game? No, Ruby. This stopped being a game the moment you walked into my house," he whispered, reaching out to catch a strand of my wet hair and twirling it around his finger. "But I've realized something interesting. Something that didn't appear in my detailed reports on your life.

His thumb brushed my lower lip, and I felt that electric spasm that was already becoming an addiction. He leaned in, his face millimeters from mine, his breath tasting of whiskey and desire, burning my skin.

"You observe yourself with a curiosity that isn't typical of someone with experience," he murmured, his blue eyes turning dark as a storm. "Your body responds to me in such a pure, unfiltered way that it almost seems... untouched."

I froze. The humiliation was replaced by a vulnerability so raw that I wanted to disappear. I tried to pull away, but Nevan grabbed my waist with a force that took my breath away, pressing me against his hot body.

"Is that it, Ruby?" he asked, his voice dropping to a dangerously soft, almost flirtatious tone. "Are you a virgin? Have you never let anyone touch this canvas I've been studying for months?"

I couldn't answer. I looked down, unable to sustain the intensity of his discovery. Nevan let out a low laugh, a sound filled with wicked satisfaction.

"Unbelievable," he hissed. "You're surrounded by beauty and art, and no one was smart enough or brave enough to claim you. No one until me."

"I'm not property, Nevan," I managed to say, my voice barely a whisper. "And I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of... of it being with you."

He smiled, a slow smile that chilled my blood and set my insides on fire at the same time. He took a step back, releasing me, but the sensation of his hands still burned my skin. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, watching me with a calmness that frightened me more than his aggression.

"Do you think I'm going to take you right now just because you're a gift that no one has opened?" he asked, crossing his arms over his tattooed chest. "How little you know me, beautiful. I don't just want your body. I want you to beg me for it. I want your innocence to cry out for me to destroy it."

I stood there in the middle of the room, feeling small under his "Boss" gaze.

"I'm not going to beg you for anything," I said, even though my body was still vibrating with excitement.

"You will," he assured me. "Because now we're going to play a new game. You're going to sleep in this bed with me. Every night. You're going to feel my warmth, you're going to smell my skin, and you're going to know that I'm inches away, but I'm not going to lay a hand on you until you can't stand another second of silence.

He walked over to the fireplace and threw in a new log, sending sparks flying. He turned to look at me one last time before turning off the main light, leaving the room bathed in the red glow of the fire.

"Lie down, Ruby. The Boss has plenty of patience for things that are worth it," he said, pointing to the right side of the bed. "And believe me, discovering the sounds you make when you finally surrender... is something I'm willing to wait a hundred lifetimes for."

I got into bed, covering myself up to my chin, feeling the weight of his gaze even in the darkness. Nevan lay down beside me, not touching me, but his mere presence was like a fire. I could feel his breath, his heartbeat, and the power that emanated from him. I knew this "game" was much crueler than any physical attack. I was locked in a golden cage with a man who was not only a mobster, but the owner of my darkest desires.

I closed my eyes, knowing the battle was already lost. The Ruby Lane of before would never have accepted this, but the woman now lying in this bed, wanting him to break his own rule, was a stranger Nevan had created for himself.