“Will you wear something else for me?” he murmured against my skin. “Anything,” I replied. Reaching into his pocket, William pulled out a string of pearls. On them hung a small, rectangular ruby, and a pearl below it. I gasped, astounded by its beauty. “It's even more lovely than the dress!” William placed the trinket around my neck and clasped it. The ruby fell at the top of my breasts, the color of fire, smooth as glass under my fingertips. “It was my mother's. Passed down in the family for centuries,” he said. I twisted to face him, aghast.
