13 The first step (1/2)

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

Abigail knew exactly what could happen the instant they entered this suite. She wasn't going to lie to herself. Deep within her, she still wished that this man would be like the male leads she had 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 even told her the very first time they met, that he didn't do love and never would. In short, he might only wanted a girlfriend for company or for his sexual needs. He made it clear enough from the very beginning that this was what she could expect and he warned her, not once but many times, to stay away. Yet, here she was, 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 that she could fall in love with but one who wouldn't love her back.

She knew 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 actually 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 22 year old adult, was struggling.

Quietly letting out a deep breath, Abi re-assessed her resolve 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 ever get, that if she didn't take this chance, she would die without fulfilling her one and only wish.

When the man moved towards the bedside table, Abi 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 he walked over to the other side of the room, removed his jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. She observed him carefully and she couldn't help but gape at how inhumanly graceful his movements were; so graceful it was hypnotic.

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, so his knee was up in the air with his wrist resting on top of it. He gazed at her sexily 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 vast 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 Abi'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 this 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 really did find her attractive.

It wasn't because Abi didn't have enough confidence in herself - she knew that she looked beautiful, especially that night - but this man right before her was on a whole other level - almost godlike. She wouldn't blame him if he turned around and told her that she barely passed his standards. She even truly believed that none of the girls in this country, including her, were good-looking enough to even stand next to him.

As Abigail 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 black waterfall that gently caressed its way down Abi's neck, along her collarbones, down the valley of her cleavage, and stopped just above her tiny waist.

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

”Strip,” he commanded. 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 question.

Abi was shocked, so shocked that she immediately fell into a daze. She knew what was going to happen the moment she entered this suite but she never expected him to ask her to strip by herself. Weren't they supposed to kiss first and then help each other undress while they were lost in each other's kisses? That was how it always happened in books and movies.

Abigail thought that she prepared herself enough for what was about to come but this was too unexpected. This was not a scenario that she had envisaged and she was suddenly faced with a dilemma she hadn't even considered. She didn't know where to even start!

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

”You can't do it?” His eyes narrowed. ”This is just the first step of the last test, Miss Chen.”