FIRST STEP

The bedroom was enormous, decorated in a masculine tone of gray and black. It was dimly lit–mood lighting, she supposed–and Rose found herself standing a few feet away from a large king-sized bed.

Rose knew exactly what could happen the instant they entered this suite. She wasn't going to lie to herself. Deep within her, she still wishes that this man would be like the male leads she has read in her favorite romantic novels–a gentleman, sweet, dotting, and respectful, a man who wouldn't do this thing without love for his partner.

However, she knew right from the start that he was not that type of man. He clearly showed her, and his actions spoke clearly of how he wasn't the type to love. In short, he might only want a girlfriend for company or sexual needs.

Rose didn't mind, she just wanted the experience, to know what it means to have a boyfriend, to fulfill her novel-inspired desires.

And here she is willingly following him to the depths of hell, despite the thudding of her pulse, because she believed that this was the man she had been looking for, the answer to her wish, a man who could fall in love with but not sure he would fall in love with her back.

She knew well enough that he wasn't the type of man who would wait until they were in love with each other before doing this so she already mentally prepared herself. But now that it was happening, she couldn't help but slightly waver. This wasn't as easy as she thought. She didn't know doing this took a lot of courage. She wondered why her classmates in high school who she overheard talking about having sex made it sound like it was so easy. Somehow, she began to see them as super brave individuals because compared to them, she, a twenty-three years adult, was struggling.

Calmly letting out a deep breath, Rose reassessed her revolve but in the end, her decision didn't change. She already bravely asked him to bring her to his hell despite him telling her it was not a good place. This was her choice and she would commit to it because she just got the feeling that this was the last chance, she would spend the rest of her life without fulfilling her only wish.

When the man moved towards the bedside table, Rose closed her eyes for a while, barely hearing his footsteps muffled by the soft, thick carpet. The moment she opened her eyes again, intense emotions overflowed within them, indicating her steely resolve to go through with this.

She stood there and quietly watched him as he removed his watch and placed it on top of the table. Her eyes followed him as she walked over to the other side of the room, removed his jacket, and hung it on the back of a chair. She observed him and she couldn't help but gape at how inhumanly graceful his movements were; so graceful it was hypnotic. There was something so satisfying about the hair on his body, it perfectly complemented his handsome look.

After removing his necktie, he nonchalantly walked back towards the bed and promptly made himself comfortable. He was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard, with one leg straight and the other folded up, do his knee was up in the air with his wrist resting on top of it. He gazed at her with his sexy eyes as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt with his other hand, stopping only once he reached the button that would expose his chest.

The view of him sitting there, in the middle of a cast bed, was just jaw-dropping, she felt like she needed to rub her eyes and pinch her cheeks just to make sure she wasn't imagining things, but even she knew that her imagination could never come up with a scene like this one. His eyes were smoldering with all the sexiness in the world without him even trying, which caused Rose's heart to pound even harder.

She could not take her eyes off him, no, she didn’t want to take her eyes off him and miss out on his spectacular image. He was undoubtedly the sexiest man she’d ever met–not that she had met many men in her lifetime, but that was beside the point. The point was no man could ever compare to him.

They both quietly stared at each other for a long while. She saw his eyes deliberately travel from her head down to her toes and then back again. His expression was still unreadable but she could at least feel the intensity from his eyes as he looked at her, giving her confidence that maybe this man did find her attractive.

It wasn’t because Rose didn’t have enough confidence in herself but this man right before her was just on a whole other level.

As Rose was busy thinking about just how high his standards might be, the man on the bed continued to survey her. This time, his gaze felt like a waterfall that gently caressed its way down Rose’s neck, along her collar bones, down the valley of her cleavage, formed by the u-neck of her dress, and stopped just above her tiny waist.

And then, finally, he opened his mouth and spoke.

“Strip,” his voice echoed calmly almost not hearable. His voice wasn't harsh nor cold but he sounded so authoritative as he uttered that single word, like he was used to giving orders and just expected them to be done without any questions.

Rose’s eyes widened in shock. She was well aware of what was going to happen the moment she entered this suite but never expected him to ask her to undress herself, too soon casually. This was not a scenario that she had envisaged. She imagined they would kiss first and then help each other undress while they were lost in each other’s kisses.

And she was suddenly faced with a predicament she hadn't even considered. She didn't know where to even start!

Her confusion, silence, and the shock on her face, of course, didn't escape the man’s notice.

“Miss Rose. Is something wrong? You can't do it?” His slightly tilted face formed a mocking smile.

“This is just the first step of the test, by the way, Miss Rose.”

Rose subconsciously swallowed. She was shocked but surprisingly, she didn't feel scared. She looked at him in the eyes and although she still wasn't able to decipher anything from it, somehow, she felt like this man would not hurt her. Even though she had only met him a few times, deep down she felt that she would be safe with him and it was a mystery to her.

She was only freaking out because she had no idea how to do this. She had never done anything like this before but she was now twenty-three years old and it was about time she experienced what it would be like to be treated as a woman in a man’s care.

“What do you mean the first step? Just the first step?” she felt her heart thud louder against her chest.