n's

ninetee

king behind me, and the click of heels on marble as I was l

l, and the air thick with perfume and lust. But I knew what it was the moment I stepped through the door

hat part of me

e of my breasts, the shape of my nipples, the hard points of my thighs. One of the women

nt to look

dn't even bee

e of being the first. I wasn't naive enough to believe I'd be special. I was prop

legal. Men in tailored suits circled like p

e walk

k at anyone.

m ice-angles, shadows, and a mouth that looked like it had never smiled.

nded on me, the

't speak. He simply rais

at

lled like cigars and rot-coughed. "She has

lanced at me again. "That's exac

tion. No b

t boug

goodbye to the girls. One moment I was a product on display; the next, I was

t the bodyguard with the scar across his mout

when I thought h

window, his jaw clenched tight, the vein in his temp

d, I thought i

was

his m

. Massive doors that opened into

me, not once chec

ere. Older, strict. She bowed to him and h

etched over a blade. "She'll be kept in the east wing. She is not to enter my

asked before I

ed to m

s command. Pure, total dominance that m

loser until I had to tilt my head to look up a

ushed. Not

h w

"Welcome to your

in the room they'd given me. Stark w

my th

of his footstep

ight in years. He never spoke to me again. Not directly. He gave orders to t

e never smiled. And he n

e night.

I couldn't help it. I wanted to see what

foot, holding my breath as I p

man's moan.

e through the c

, flawless. Naked. Bent over the

fuck her.

whispered something I couldn't hear. Her moans grew desperate, wild, as if she didn't even care he

d out his name-Caelum-a

e she collapsed onto the

uched myself for

ay his hand moved. The way his voice

wasn't

e one moaning. Th

e he r

tching him from shadows. I learned his routines, the way his jaw ticked when

self to the memory of that co

l to

urs scrubbing floors, my knees aching, my dress clinging to

floor. The one with the glass walls and hea

e, washing away the filth, the rules, the shame. I

outh. The way he made that woman

oan

, qu

't hear th

hear hi

old draft of air hit my back-and the he

ned s

e he

shower. Fully dressed. Han

n't blink. D

lushed. Fingers sti

pped f

ouldn't