Crawl. Despite all the days that had passed, Yvonne’s command still haunted Ruby. She kept replaying the scene in her head, over and over and over. She’d been so helpless under Yvonne’s gaze, unable to resist the urge to do exactly what Yvonne had told her. And the worst part?

Ruby had enjoyed every second of it.

Ruby rinsed out her mouth and splashed some cold water on her burning face. Just thinking about that moment gave her the same thrill that she’d felt that night. Ruby had always had submissive tendencies. She liked giving up control, liked letting others take charge in the bedroom. But it was one thing to have someone spank her during sex, or to mess around with a pair of handcuffs. This was something else entirely. That moment when Ruby had gotten on her knees and crawled to Yvonne’s feet—it had triggered something inside her, that dark, insatiable side of her that craved submission. And she may have been imagining it, but she had sensed a shift in Yvonne too. What had passed between them?

It had felt so right.

But Yvonne had turned her back on Ruby. She’d left Ruby kneeling on the floor. And that stung.

Ruby headed back into her bedroom. It was time for yet another night spent lying awake, wondering if she’d made a mistake by agreeing to this sham of a marriage. The situation had been bad enough before, but Ruby had made things even worse. She should never have tried to seduce Yvonne.

Could she really survive a year of this? Of living with a woman who was equal parts sexy and cold? Who awakened all of Ruby’s fantasies, who pushed all her buttons?

Shedding everything but a t-shirt and her underwear, Ruby slipped into her bed then turned off the light. She shut her eyes, desperately willing sleep to come and save her from everything she was feeling. Regret. Hurt.

Desire.

Ruby sighed. Despite it all, despite Yvonne literally turning her back on Ruby, she wanted Yvonne even more.

As the beginnings of sleep finally began to take her, Ruby heard the faint sound of the front door opening at the other end of the apartment. So Yvonne was home. Ruby didn’t care. As Yvonne’s footsteps echoed down the hall, growing closer, Ruby rolled over and pulled the covers up over her, waiting for Yvonne to pass and continue to her bedroom.

But instead, the footsteps stopped at Ruby’s door.

Ruby’s heart thumped. She waited. Five seconds, then ten, then twenty. But all she heard was silence. Perhaps Yvonne had already moved on and Ruby hadn’t heard her? Ruby turned over in bed again, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling nagging at her.

Quietly, Ruby switched on the lamp, got out of bed, and padded to the door. She turned the door handle and opened it wide.

Yvonne. Yvonne was standing in the doorway.

Ruby looked at the woman’s face. In the dim light, it was shrouded in darkness, but Ruby could see that it was set like stone, even more expressionless than usual.