A MAZE OF GREED

Edwin took Ruth into his office chamber. Putting her down on the couch, he sat on the floor.

"Let me take a look at it." He said.

Now that they two were alone in the chamber, Ruth was more cautious of her actions. This time she did not pull up her dress as much as the last time.

At least she was wise enough to show Edwin the same ankle which was hurt before, or he would not have fallen for it.

"Your... socks..."

Ruth slowly removed her socks.

Edwin took her ankle in his hands. He pressed it at various points, and on one such point, Ruth hissed. Her ankle still was not completely healed, and after their picnic and the work she had to do in helping Thea and Rees in shifting to the great manor, her ankle had sored a bit.

"It is okay. It is going to be fine. Is it hurting too much?" Edwin asked.

Ruth could never get used to the plethora of emotions in his eyes at one moment, and the very next, he was as blank as a clean slate.

She shook her head a little.

"You can take a day off if you need." He said.

"No. I think I am fine!" Ruth said, pulling her leg away from him.

Edwin stared at her for a long moment, then nodded his head. He got up from the floor and walked back to his chair.

"Close the door behind you." He said, busying himself in some work that lay on his table.

See! that was exactly what Ruth could not get used to. He was as cold as ice again.

But Ruth was not ready to give up. She put on her shoes again and walked to his table. Standing at a hand's distance from him, she frowned.

"Should not we discuss something after what you said to me that night?" She crossed her arms under her chest.

Edwin did not even look up at her. He was unaffected and distracted.

"I am talking to you!"

'Is this really Ruth or Thea had entered her body?' Edwin wondered.

"I have already made my point. I do not think there is anything else to discuss." He finally replied.

What an ill-mannered man!

Ruth was now angry.

"Of course, there is hell lot to discuss! You can not go around threatening women to not touch any man. At least not me! I am not your puppet!" She told boldly.

Edwin paused. He looked up at her angry face. He rarely had seen her angry. He had seen her annoyed, irritated and frustrated many times- the majority of them caused by him.

But the last time he saw her this angry was when he insulted Florence.

"And why can not I?" Edwin pushed his chair back and turned to her.

"Because... because you are nothing to me!" Ruth blurted out.

She did not have this in her plan. It was her impulsive answer. She could not take a man controlling her against her will. And to oppose it, she could go to any extent.

Edwin's sharp jaw ticked. All the humour drained from his face.

"Are you sure about that, Miss Moore?"

"Very well! You are not my father, my brother, my friend, my lover or my husband. Why should I listen to you then?"

Edwin's wolf growled in displease inside him.

"You have to listen to me because I am saying so. Do NOT argue with me!" Edwin tried hard to control himself.

How could she argue with him over touching other men?

"And what if I refuse to listen to you? I am an individual with free will. I can do anything that I want. If I want to befriend a man, then I will. If I want to touch any man, then I will. If I want to kiss any man, then I WILL!

You do not have any say in it because you are nothing to me!" Ruth's voice rose by the end.

Her eyes blazed in anger. Her face was getting redder by every minute.

She felt confident after saying it out loud. For Ruth, she was not only telling this to Edwin but also to herself. She could choose any man, and she did not need to think about him before that.

She gasped loudly, her eyes went wide when Edwin pulled her onto him by her hand. She crashed on his hard wide chest, his tensed muscles felt like a wall of bricks. The heat radiating from his body made her skin burn.

She instinctively tried to push him away, but he snaked his arms around her waist and back, caging her firmly. This felt bad, and yet every cell in her body felt alive.

Before Ruth could open her mouth to say anything, Edwin leaned down. He covered her lips like the dark clouds covered the moon before the rains. Ruth's eyes popped out of her skull at that warm and foreign feeling on her lips.

His lips were soft and warm against her. She had imagined how it would feel to have them on hers some time, but she had never expected that her secret wish would be granted so soon and in the given circumstances.

Her flowery fragrance was dizzying, yet Edwin could inhale it for the rest of his lifetime. His wolf purred in delight as his long pended desire was coming to life.

He moved his one hand up, cradling her hair on the back of her head, restricting her head movements. He had her completely encompassed now with no way out of his grasp.

Ruth whimpered in protest when he did the first movement of his lips that came to Ruth's disadvantage, as he now had not only her body but also her soul captured.

Their bodies stuck together, inseparable and with no space for even air to pass. Her chest pressed hard against his, a gentle pain spread in her two soft mounds.

Her knees felt weak under her, and before she slumped down, Edwin pulled her on his lap with his other hand. Ruth did not know if she should be thankful for his action or curse her stars to land her in the lap of a bad wolf.

Her initial shock converted into something indescribable as Edwin's lips moved against her. Her eyes closed on their accord, her eyelashes stuck together. She wanted to open them, glare with her eyes to show him that it was not right.

Yet her body began to betray her just like her will. His muscular scent filled her chest with warmth.

Ruth's lips were soft and sweet, more delicious than Edwin had imagined. He could feel her rapid breaths beneath his nose like the angry sea waves crashing on the shore.

Her fingers pressed against his biceps, her nails almost digging into his skin as they breathed each other in hungrily.

His lips on hers were not harsh, yet she could feel the anger behind his every touch. They were demanding, dictating. Edwin kissed Ruth as if he was trying to snatch something, that she had been guarding all these years with all her might- her sanity.

She defended, she fought back, but he was too powerful for her petty human strength. Ruth's heart wanted to surrender to his wet lips, but her mind was still refusing it, although it knew that she was on the verge of surrendering.

Edwin was hungry. He was hungry for her for almost a year now. Only he and his wolf knew how they survived through this torturous year. She was right there, right in front of him and yet she seemed miles far away from him.

Edwin darted his tongue out, pressing it on her lips, asking for her permission to enter her mouth. The wet and soft bundle of muscles licked her pink lips from down to up and then sideways, trying to open the closed petals and taste the nectar inside.

Ruth was alarmed. She did not know what this was. She did not understand what was happening. To top it all, her brain seemed to forget how to function.

Edwin's wolf made a frustrating sound at the back of his throat. He was frustrated with patience. He wanted to take her, take all of her and at once. He wanted to mark his mate.

Before Ruth could react, Edwin stiffened under her. She could feel him going still all of a sudden, his body was as hard as a rock.

Before Ruth opened her eyes, he pushed her down from his lap.

She fell to the floor, shocked and moved. She looked up at him to see his eyes a shade darker. Was it a trick of the light?

For the first time, his face reflected his eyes. They were... vulnerable and... scared?

Ruth felt like falling from the mountain, hitting against the boulders and scrapping her body against the uneven hard surface of it.

She saw his whole body shaking. The look on his face made her heart break into pieces. He looked like he was trying to hold something with every ounce of his resilience. But what was he holding back?

"Go!" The word came as a strained whisper as if it took him a lot of effort to say it.

Ruth was baffled and frightened.

"Wh-what is happening to you? I-"

"STOP!" His voice boomed in the chamber, and Ruth froze.

Her hand remained in the air, a little away from him.

Ruth saw him closing his eyes, clenching them tight that made the lines around the corners of his eyes noticeable.

Tears clouded her vision. Her insides cried to help him because she felt that something was not right. The sudden coldness that hit her body with the loss of his warmth made her feel naked. And she realised that she was as vulnerable as him at that moment.

She slowly retreated her extended hand, curling her fingers in a fist. She felt helpless.

"You need to go Ruth!" Edwin struggled with his voice.

He then opened his eyes and, Ruth's heart sank watching the look in them.

"Please!" He said softly.

And Ruth ran. She ran out of his office chamber, without turning back to look at him. Tears flow freely on her cheeks. She ran and ran, then burst through the door of a random room. Closing the door behind her, she slumped down on the floor.

Crossing her hands around her, she cried. She cried, remembering that last look in his eyes.

He was clearly in pain. Then why does it feel like she was the one suffering from it? He was disappointed and, so was she.

He was silently asking for help, yet she had no clue how to help him. So she ran.. Ran away from the blue-eyed monster, who was her greatest redemption and also a path that led to self-destruction.