Highest Bidder Collection - Lauren Landish Page 0,287

line that requires his name.

I shift in my seat, my skin pricking, my heart racing at the fire that burns in his eyes.

And as he signs the last line that requires his signature, I feel absolutely sick to my stomach.

Like I just signed my soul away to the devil.

Chapter 9

Zander

I stare at her from across the table, the door closing with a gentle click as Madam Lynn leaves the two of us alone in the conference room. It’s rather small compared to the luxury of Club X. But I suppose it’s only purpose is for signing contracts, so the plain white walls and simple necessities are all that’s needed. In here there’s no fantasy or illusion required. It’s all business.

Arianna’s head falls into a bow and she stays eerily still in her chair. Her eyes are focused on the floor. A darkness in me stirs with delight at her immediate submission to me. It’s wrong to think that way and I ignore it, shoving it down and pretending it doesn’t exist.

“Arianna,” I say her name for the first time. It feels forbidden, too sweet to taste. The syllables linger in the air as she slowly raises her chin, her head still bowed slightly and her gorgeous eyes stare into mine. Deep into me, as if she can see through me.

“What are you doing?” I ask her, taking the attention off of me and back onto her lush lips. They’re on the pale side, but a soft pink. Her makeup is soft and only there to emphasize her natural beauty.

“Whatever you wish, Sir.” I nearly groan at her response. I’m not into power play in the bedroom. I have enough of it throughout the day to fulfill those needs. But she tempts me. It’s the look in her eyes that tells me she needs what I can give her. She needs to be dominated, but not like this.

“May I call you Sir?” she asks me in a delicate voice that begs me to take her.

Her soft voice and perfect submission call to me. But I’m not interested in rules and games. The stakes in this game are much too high to play.

It hits me then, with her question, that she’s mine. That I can do with her as I please. My dick hardens in my pants just thinking about the sweet sounds that would pour from her lips. I keep my back straight as I adjust my cock to keep it from pressing against the zipper.

I’d love to get lost in her lush curves and bury myself deep inside her. But this is business. And the desires I have aren’t right. I tear my eyes away from her and look at the clock on the far wall. The second hand moves slowly, not a single tick audible as it moves seamlessly across the face. Counting time. That’s what I’ll be doing over the next month. That’s all this is.

She’s just another woman. My right hand sitting on the table balls into a fist at the thought, knowing it’s not true. I rap my knuckles against the table. The steady tapping fills the room as I realize how fucked this situation is.

She’s not just another woman. This would be too easy if she were. I wouldn’t have come here if it were true.

“Do you know why I bid on you?” I ask her as my eyes lift to her heart-shaped face.

“Because you wanted me to obey your every wish,” she answers in a gentle voice, the last word hanging in the air as I stare at her. Yes, a voice in the depths of my depravity calls out, begging me to take her as she offered. To give in and simply enjoy her.

“Do you know your Master offered you to me?” I ask her, although it’s not really a question. I shouldn’t have told her, but I want her to know, I want to see her reaction even more.

“Because my Master owes you?” she asks in a voice that doesn’t show what she’s feeling. It’s all a cognitive process, with no emotion involved. She’s hiding it from me.

“Yes, because your prick of a boyfriend owes me.” I’m intentionally cold, wanting a response, and she gives it to me.

Her eyes whip to mine and her lips press into a hard line. For a moment anger rises inside of me at the thought of her defending him, but her words cut through it, silencing it.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” As soon as the words are