Chapter 2 The Beast's Territory

Caspian had known before the auction even began. The connection wasn't new to him. It had been a distant pull for years... fractured, unstable, impossible to locate. Every lead had gone cold until my scent appeared in the system logs tied to the illegal auction network. That was the moment certainty replaced search.

Iwasn't a possibility, I was already his. The auction wasn't where he found me. It was where he finally reached me.

This much he told me in the SUV ride that lasted thirty minutes.

Thirty minutes of Caspian's hand between my legs, fingers stroking through soaked fabric while I tried not to make a sound. Tried not to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much my body was betraying me.

"You're so wet," he murmured against my neck, his breath hot. "And you're fighting so hard not to show it. I can feel you clenching, trying not to come on my fingers. It's adorable."

"Fuck you," I gasped.

"Soon." His thumb found my clit through the fabric and pressed hard. "Very soon. But first, I want to hear you admit it."

"Admit what?"

"That you want this." He bit down on my earlobe. "That you've been wet since the moment you saw me. That some part of you is relieved I bought you instead of one of those pathetic alphas."

I wanted to deny it. Wanted to tell him he was insane.

But his fingers chose that moment to slip inside my panties, finding me bare and slick, and the moan that escaped my throat was answer enough.

"Good girl," he purred. "Now stay quiet. We're almost home."

Home.

The word sent a chill through me even as pleasure built where his fingers worked.

The SUV turned off the main road onto a private drive that seemed to go on forever. Trees pressed close on both sides, their branches creating a tunnel of darkness. No streetlights. No other houses. Just miles of nothing.

Perfect place to murder someone and dump the body.

The thought should have terrified me more than it did.

Caspian's fingers stilled as we approached massive iron gates that opened automatically. Beyond them, a sprawling estate emerged from the darkness - all stone and sharp angles, more fortress than home. Gothic architecture mixed with modern edges, lit by strategic lighting that made it look both beautiful and menacing.

"Welcome to Thornhold," Caspian said, finally withdrawing his hand. He brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean, his silver eyes locked on mine. "Your new home."

The SUV stopped in front of double doors that looked like they belonged on a cathedral.

Caspian got out first, then offered his hand. I ignored it, climbing out on shaky legs.

Big mistake.

My knees buckled the moment my heels hit the gravel, the combination of fear and arousal making me unsteady.

Caspian caught me before I fell, sweeping me into his arms like I weighed nothing.

"Let me go..."

"No." He carried me toward the doors. "You can walk when you've earned it."

"Earned it? I'm not a fucking dog..."

"No. You're mine. There's a difference." The doors opened before we reached them, revealing a massive foyer with marble floors and a chandelier that probably cost more than the auction. "And you'll learn it. Starting tonight."

He didn't put me down. Instead, he carried me through the house - past rooms filled with expensive art and furniture that screamed old money, up a curved staircase that belonged in a palace, down a hallway lined with doors I didn't want to think about.

We stopped at the last door on the right.

"This is my room," Caspian said. "Our room now. You'll sleep here. Eat here when I want you to. And you'll learn to obey here."

"I'm not sleeping in your room..."

He kicked the door open and carried me inside.

The room was enormous. King-sized bed with black silk sheets. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the grounds. A fireplace already burning. And enough space to fit my entire apartment three times over.

Caspian set me down on the bed, and I immediately tried to scramble backward.

He caught my ankle and dragged me back.

"Rule one," he said, his voice dropping to something dark. "You don't run from me. Ever. Understand?"

"Let go..."

"Rule two." His hand slid up my calf to my thigh. "When I ask you a question, you answer. Clearly. Respectfully."

"I don't have to..."

"Rule three." He gripped both my thighs and yanked me to the edge of the bed, spreading my legs. "Your pleasure belongs to me now. You don't come without permission. And you definitely don't come because of anyone else. Including yourself."

Heat flooded through me despite my fear. "You can't be serious..."

"Deadly serious." He pushed my dress up to my waist, exposing my soaked panties. "These rules aren't negotiable, Rielle. Break them, and there are consequences."

"What kind of consequences?"

His smile was pure sin. "The kind you'll hate yourself for enjoying."

He hooked his fingers in my panties and tore them off in one smooth motion.

I gasped, instinctively trying to close my legs.

Caspian's hands kept them spread. "Beautiful," he murmured, his gaze fixed between my thighs. "And so ready for me. Tell me, little wolf, did you get this wet for Kieran? Or is this all for me?"

"I hate you..."

"That's not an answer." His thumb traced through my wetness, circling my entrance but not entering. "Try again. Who makes you this wet?"

I bit my lip, refusing to answer.

"Fine." He withdrew his hand completely. "Then I guess you don't need to come tonight."

"Wait..."

"Wait what?" He stood, towering over me. "You want something from me, you ask nicely. Using your words. Like a good girl."

The humiliation should have killed my arousal.

It didn't.

"Please," I heard myself say.

"Please what?"

"Please touch me."

"Why should I?" He was unbuttoning his shirt now, revealing a chest covered in muscle and scars. "You haven't answered my question. Who makes you this wet, Rielle?"

I stared at his chest, at the evidence of violence written across his skin, and felt my resolve crumbling.

"You do," I whispered.

"Louder."

"You do." My voice broke. "You make me wet. Not Kieran. You."

"Good girl." He shrugged off his shirt, and I saw more scars... claw marks across his ribs, what looked like a bullet wound near his shoulder, dozens of smaller marks that spoke of a life lived violently. "Now tell me what you want."

"I want..." I couldn't say it.

"Say it." He unbuckled his belt, the sound obscenely loud in the quiet room. "Or I'll make you watch me touch myself while you get nothing."

"I want you to fuck me," I blurted.

"Not yet." He pushed his pants down, and my breath caught.

He was huge. Thick and hard and pierced... a silver barbell through the head that caught the firelight.

"Tonight, you learn your place," he said, wrapping his hand around himself. "You watch. You beg. And if you're very good, I'll let you come. But you don't get me inside you until you've earned it."

"That's not fair..."

"Life isn't fair, sweetheart. You learned that when your boyfriend sold you." He stroked himself slowly. "Now lie back and spread your legs. Show me what's mine."

I should have refused. Should have fought.

But my body had other ideas.

I lay back on the silk sheets and spread my legs, exposing myself completely to his burning gaze.

"Wider," he commanded.

I obeyed, hating myself for how much I wanted this.

"Touch yourself," he said. "Show me how you like it."

My hand moved between my legs, fingers finding my clit and circling slowly.

"Faster." His hand sped up on his cock. "I want to see you desperate."

I increased the pressure, pleasure building fast now that I had permission.

"Stop."

My hand froze.

"I said you don't come without permission." He was breathing harder now. "Take your hand away."

I whimpered but obeyed.

"Good girl." He moved closer, positioning himself between my spread thighs. "Now open your mouth."

I opened, and he guided himself past my lips.

The taste of him exploded on my tongue - salt and musk and something darker. The piercing was cold against my tongue, foreign and obscene.

"Suck," he commanded.

I did, taking him deeper, my hands gripping his thighs for balance.

He groaned, his hand fisting in my hair. "Fuck. Your mouth was made for this."

He fucked my throat with controlled thrusts, never going deep enough to choke me but making it clear who was in control.

When he pulled out, we were both trembling.

"Please," I gasped. "Please let me come-"

"Not yet." He pushed me back on the bed and knelt between my legs. "First, you come on my tongue. Then my fingers. And only when I'm satisfied you've learned your place do you get to come on my cock. Understand?"

I nodded frantically.

"Say it."

"I understand."

"Good girl."

His mouth descended, and the first touch of his tongue against my clit made me scream.

He was merciless. Skilled. Eating me like he'd been starving for it, his tongue and teeth working in perfect combination while his hands held my thighs spread.

The pleasure built impossibly fast, spiraling toward release-

He stopped.

"No!" I cried. "Please..."

"Beg properly."

"Please, Caspian, please let me come, I need it, please..."

"Better." His fingers pushed inside me, two at once, curling to hit something that made stars explode. "Come. Now."

The orgasm crashed through me like lightning, pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. I came apart on his fingers, crying out his name, my body arching off the bed.

He didn't stop. Kept working me through it, dragging out every last tremor until I was a shaking mess beneath him.

"Beautiful," he murmured, withdrawing his fingers. "And that's just the beginning."

He stood, gripping his cock again, and my eyes went wide when I realized he was about to...

A phone rang.

Caspian's expression turned murderous. "What."

He pulled his phone from his discarded pants, glanced at the screen, and his entire demeanor shifted.

"I have to take this," he said, his voice cold. "Don't move."

He stepped into what looked like a bathroom, the door closing behind him.

I lay on the bed, still trembling, my mind racing.

What the fuck was I doing? I'd just let a stranger... a dangerous, possibly psychotic stranger... own me. Control me. Make me beg.

And I'd loved every second of it.

The bathroom door opened.

Caspian emerged, his expression grim. "Get dressed. We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"The kind where someone just put a fifty-million-dollar bounty on your head."

My blood turned to ice. "What?"

"Your ex's father." Caspian was pulling his clothes back on. "Apparently he's not happy I outbid everyone at the auction. He wants you back. Dead or alive."

"But I'm nobody..."

"You're mine." His eyes blazed. "That makes you worth protecting. And killing for."

He grabbed my arm and pulled me off the bed. "We're leaving. Now."

"Where are we going?"

His smile was all teeth and violence.

"To remind dear daddy why people don't fuck with what belongs to Caspian Valdyr."