“That’s your father’s problem.”
I shake my head. “It’s my problem. He has no way of paying the money he owes. He’s a dead man otherwise.”
“Gambling?”
I shake my head. “He took out a loan to pay for school for me. Arts academy,” I add in a whisper. “And then he lost his job.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
He stands there in silence. “One million. You’re at my beck and call. You stay with me. What I want, you give me.” I nod.
He reaches out and unties the knot in my shirt with a flick of his fingers. The fabric falls away, and my breasts spring free. I can barely breathe as he stands there looking at me, appraising me.
“Can I touch you, Samantha?” he asks in that low, smooth voice. In its own way, this calms me, even if only a little bit. I get the sense that this man won’t try to force himself on me, when he so easily could. He easily stands nearly a foot taller than me, and he’s built like an athlete: broad shoulders, biceps flexing even under the suit he’s wearing.
“Yes,” I whisper. I need this. One million dollars. My life will never, ever be the same. I’ll do whatever he wants, as long as I get my fresh start.
I can only assume he’s done this before. Does he come here every few months, buy a week with a girl, and move on? His fingertips graze the side of my breast, and I bite back a whimper. I’m trembling. My stomach is fluttering and my heart is pounding. This is terrifying, and yet the second he touches me, it feels like I’ve lost the ability to think.
Instead, I focus on his fingertips tracing the side of my breast, circling around my nipple, which is already an almost painfully hard peak. He brushes his thumb over my nipple, and I do whimper then.
“Very, very nice. It’s a good little act you’ve got going on. Tie your shirt back up. I don’t like anyone else looking at my property.”
I nod and quickly do it, and he stalks to the door and lets Harry back in.
Within moments, Harry’s been paid and this man, this man who owns me for a month, has transferred a million dollars into my bank account.
“Get your things in order. Pack. I’ll pick you up in a couple hours. What’s your address?” he asks. I rattle off my address and apartment number, then my phone number. He leaves the room without another word, and I take a few minutes to try to settle myself down.
One month at his beck and call. One month with a man who outright owns me.
There’s no way I’ll come through this and still be the same as I am now.
I’ll take it all. I saved my father’s life. I can handle anything else.
Chapter Two
Dante
I have no idea what the fuck came over me. I was there to meet with some dipshit my father was supposed to be meeting with. The dipshit never showed, but she did.
I don’t get off on the whole stripper thing. Why pay to watch some stranger parade around for a bunch of assholes when you can have your own private show, complete with a blowjob afterward?
And then I saw her. Big blue eyes. Long, silky black hair. Big, luscious tits, sweet little rounded stomach, and the kind of hips I could see myself gripping hard as I rammed into her.
I had heard about Harry’s little auctions. My brother uses Harry’s services sometimes. It took a few words, a little extra cash, and Harry included her in the auction.
But a million dollars? I must be out of my fucking mind. I can get a girl without paying.
But I won’t get this one. Or have her pledge to do anything I want.
And there’s a whole lot I want to do to her.
I pull up to the address she gave me. It’s in a shit part of the city, and when I take the elevator up to the fourth floor, it smells like piss. I walk down the hall until I’m outside 4E. I knock, and a moment later, she’s peeking out the door at me.
“One second,” she says in her soft, sweet voice, and I nod.