Chapter 3 His Property

Alicia's POV

"What the actual fuck?"

The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Damon just chuckled and it wasn't a warm friendly sound.. it was the kind of chuckle you'd hear from a wolf right before it ate you!

"Maybe you should read things before you sign them, sweetheart," he said, leaning against a wall that probably cost more than my entire life.

"I wasn't even told anything!"

My mind was racing mow and then it hit me. My friend Maureen had sold me..! And I was stupid to sign the papers without reading it through.. I thought this was to be a one night stand!

Damon's smile spread slightly in pitty.

"What happened back there was a business transaction, love.. a simple exchange and you are the product. You're the boss's property now."

The air left my lungs in a whoosh. My trusted friend, my ride-or-die Maureen had taken a stack of cash and sold me!

"I want out," I said with my voice trembling with fear and rage. "Right now. This is insane!"

Damon just pushed off the wall and headed for the door.

"Yeah, I'm afraid you'll have to take that up with the boss."

"Who is he? What does he want?" I demanded with desperation.

But the door was already clicking shut behind him, leaving me alone in a silent rich prison.

When that terrifyingly intense man said he wanted my body, I thought... well, I thought it was going to be a one-night thing. A stupid, reckless, potentially mind-blowing fuck but this? He'd bought me. To be what? His personal, full-time fuck toy?!

A defeated llaugh bubbled up in my throat. This was so much worse!

The dress I was wearing... the one from the fashion auction... suddenly felt like it was strangling me so I practically ripped it off with my fingers fumbling with the tiny clasp. I needed my jeans and my worn-out t-shirt.. normal clothes.. my armor.

I marched to the massive wardrobe and threw the doors open and then I just stared.

There was nothing in there but lingerie and not the cute, cotton kind. I'm talking lace so delicate it looked like a spider's web and... were those stripper outfits?

I slammed the doors shut with my heart pounding. After a frantic search through the drawers, I found a couple of simple long nightgowns. They were still ridiculously silky and expensive-feeling but they covered me so I put one on.

Then, I waited. I sat on the edge of the ridiculously large bed, every nerve ending on high alert listening for a footstep and the turn of a doorknob but nothing came.

The silence was deafening and after what felt like an eternity, I finally worked up the nerve to lock the door from the inside and rhe soft click of the bolt was the most comforting sound I'd heard all night.

I didn't sleep.. I mean, I might have dozed off for a few minutes here and there but every little creak of the penthouse jolted me awake.

My brain was on a merry-go-round of panic, switching between 'Oh my god, I've been sold' and 'What on earth does this guy want?'

The next morning.. a sharp knock on the door had me shooting upright and my heart leaped into my throat.. this was it. Showtime..

I scrambled to the door and yanked it open, ready to face my mysterious captor.

It was just a maid.. a young woman with nervous eyes, holding a breakfast tray.

"For you, miss," she mumbled, not quite meeting my gaze.

The adrenaline crash left me dizzy.

"Where is he? The... the owner of this place?"

"He left very early this morning, miss," she said, her voice barely a whisper as she set the tray down.

"What the fuck?" I blurted out.

He buys a human being and then just... leaves for the day? What kind of psycho does that?

"When will he be back? What's his name? Please, you have to tell me something."

But she just shook her head with a flicker of genuine fear in her eyes and practically scurried out of the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

I was fucking trapped!

A whole day stretched out before me silently and terrifying. I tried calling Maureen.. I wanted to scream at her, to demand answers and to hear her pathetic excuses but my phone had zero bars. It had been like that since I arrived.. probably not a coincidence.

The day dragged on with each hour slower than the last. I was alone with my terrifying thoughts in a gorgeous soulless prison and ny the time night fell again, I was on the verge of running mad!

Then.. a soft knock on the door.. the maid again, I thought, maybe with dinner. I padded over and opened the door but it wasn't the maid.

He stood there, filling the doorway.. the man from the club. He was even more devastatingly handsome and infinitely more terrifying and just like at the club, my body betrayed me instantly.

That traitorous flush of heat, the pooling low in my belly and the sudden arousal washed over me again. My brain was screaming 'DANGER!' but my body was apparently waving a little white flag of surrender.

He didn't say a word.. just stepped calmly into the room as I instinctively backed away. He sat elegantly in a plush armchair facing the bed and gestured for me to sit on the the bed.

I was reluctant with every instinct telling me to run but where would I go? So I sat, perching on the very edge of the mattress.

"What do you want with me?" The questions tumbled out of me. "Who are you? You can't keep me here! This is kidnapping!"

He watched me with his gaze unnervingly calm.

"I told you what I want," he said, his voice a low rumble. "It's your body I need and you sold it to me, remember."

The bluntness of it should have horrified me.. it did horrify me but, god help me, a fresh wave of heat washed through me, making me shudder and I felt myself getting wetter between the legs and I hated myself for it!

"Who the fuck are you?" I demanded with my voice shaking.

A faint dangerous smile touched his lips.

"I am known by many names but formally, I am called Dmitri Hunt."

Dmitri fucking Hunt?! I shot to my feet with my blood running cold.

Oh no. No, no, no. Everyone in the city knew that name.. Don Dmitri Hunt! The head of the Velvet Mafia! A ghost story told in whispers! A man who made problems... and people... disappear! A man whose name was well known but only few who knew his face lived long enough to tell the tale!

"Oh, god... please," I stammered with my heart trying to beat its way out of my chest. "You have to let me go. I don't know anything! I'm nobody!"

He stood too and I backed up until the backs of my knees hit the bed and I sat down hard.

He didn't stop.. he sat down right next to me with his large body crowding my space. He leaned in close and to my utter astonishment, he... sniffed me like an animal scenting its prey and then a low soft growl rumbled in his throat.

"You don't need to fear me," he murmured in a sexy whisper that did things to me I couldn't control. "I'm not going to hurt you."

But his hands were already moving, one coming up to cup my breast with his thumb brushing over my nipple.

I gasped, jerking back.

"What the fuck.. Stop!"

He ignored me with his other hand sliding to my hip.

"I know you want this," he growled softly with his face so close to mine I could feel his breath. "Your body wants me and it's screaming for me. Do us both a favor and stop pretending."

And then his mouth was suddenly on mine, claiming me in a kiss that was hard and demanding while his hand squeezed my breast...!