Page 7 of His to Possess
I turn my back on him, all my attention on Lilah now. “One million dollars.”
“Holy shit,” someone mutters from a nearby table.
“Is he insane?” someone else whispers.
“You’re making me want to jump back in,” Boyd says jovially, clearly missing the tension crackling in the air between me and Roth. “Girl must have a magic pussy to be worth a mill.”
I grit my teeth, waiting.Drop out,I urge Roth.We both know you don’t have that kind of money. Andyou don’t want to fuck with me.
The auctioneer, sounding a little awed himself, asks if anyone is willing to go to a million point one. I hold my breath, but no sound comes from the bastard at the other end of the table.
“Sold,” the auctioneer calls out. “Miss Lilah’s cherry sold for one million dollars.” He pats her arse and I see red. “I’m sure this sweet little thing will be worth every penny.”
I make a mental note to look up the auctioneer. He’s going to regret being such a worthless dirtbag. I stand, buttoning my jacket, ignoring Roth completely. Before I leave to claim my prize, I look down at Boyd, his earlier words about Lilah still ringing in my ear. “Our firm is no longer interested,” I tell him coldly. “Consider our business officially over.”
I leave him gaping at me while I march across the room to side of the stage to meet Lilah.
Lilah
If I thought I felt faint before it’s nothing to the way I feel now. I can barely feel my legs as the auctioneer herds me off to the side of the stage.
One million dollars.One million dollars.I can’t even wrap my mind around that sum of money. I frantically try to do even simple math in my head. What’s forty percent of one million? I’m so stunned that it takes a second for the number to come to me, and when it finally does, I stumble on my heels.
Four hundred thousand dollars.
Holy. Shit.
Who would pay that kind of money to sleep with someone? You’d think a guy with that much available cash would have no problem getting a woman into his bed. Surely wooing a gold digger would be cheaper than this.
Maybe there’s something wrong with him. Or maybe he’s into really dirty things. Oh, god, what is he going to expect of me?
There’s a female club employee waiting to help me down and give me instructions for what comes next. The idea ofnextshould terrify me, but there are so many competing emotions running through me right now I can hardly focus on one. More than anything else, I feel stunned.
One million dollars.
“You can come this way,” the woman says, eyeing me strangely, like she’s trying to figure out what on earth could have possessed someone to pay such a sum of money for a girl like me.
I wish I could tell you, lady,I think, a surge of hysterical laughter bubbling up in my chest. This isinsane. There must be some mistake. I probably did end up passing out on the stairs earlier and this is the crazy coma dream my bruised brain came up with. There’s not a person on this earth that would pay so much for—
“Hello, Lilah.”
My head snaps up at the smooth, posh voice. The same voice I heard bidding in the dark room. It hadn’t seemed at all familiar to me—I was too terrified and overwhelmed to give it much thought. But now that we’re standing in this much smaller space, I wonder how on earth I could have missed it.
And when my eyes rise to his face, I realize that there’s still room for this night to get a whole lot crazier.
Philip Matthews is standing there, glowering at me. Philip Matthews, the older brother of my life long best friend. Philip Matthews, my first ever crush, the man I was positive I was in love with from the age of fourteen to eighteen. Back then, he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen.
Today, he’s somehow even more attractive. I haven’t seen him in a good long while—maybe my high school graduation?—and the years have been very kind to him. There’s the slightest sprinkle of salt mixed in with the dark blonde at his temples, which only makes him look more distinguished. In all honesty, it makes him sexy as hell.
Even the way he’s glaring at me works. He had always been a stern man and there was something about that I liked, though I could never articulate to myself quite what that something was. What was clear is that his usually gruff demeanor made those moments when he did smile all the more special. His blue eyes would twinkle and I swear it was like the sun coming out after a long winter.
I don’t see a hint of that smile now. Philip Matthews is all ice as he scowls in my direction. It’s only then that all the pieces finally drop into place. I’m standing in front of Philip in a nearly see-through nightie with messy sex hair. The memory of his voice calling out absurd amounts of money crashes into me and it feels like the floor drops out from under my too-high heels.
Philip is the man with the winning bid. Philip freaking Matthews just spent a million dollars for my virginity.
I sway on my feet, certain that this time, I really will faint. But strong hands come out to grip my bare arms, an angry face shoved just inches from mine. “No, no, Lilah,” he murmurs in a dangerous purr. “No swooning for you. You’re going to be completely conscious while we deal with the consequences of your actions.”
His face is so close I can make out the tiny birthmark just below his left eyebrow, the only imperfection in a face of pure, icy-cold beauty. His blue eyes search mine, perhaps looking for some clue as to what in the hell I did to put myself in this position.
