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...!

Alicia's POV

The moment his mouth crashed onto mine, my brain short-circuited. A screaming protest died in my throat, smothered by the startling heat of his kiss.

My hands which had been braced against his chest to shove him away betrayed me completely. Instead of pushing, my fingers curled into the soft expensive fabric of his shirt, holding on for dear life.

What are you doing, you idiot? Push him! my mind shrieked but my body had a different set of instructions.

A traitorous moan vibrated in my chest as his tongue explored my mouth, tasting of mint and something darkly intoxicating.

His hands which had been so cold and businesslike hours ago were now setting my skin on fire. One slid down my back, pressing me flush against him while the other cupped my breast, his thumb brushing over my nipple through the nightgown. A jolt of pure pleasure shot straight to my core.

I tried to pull back, to break the spell.

"Stop... we shouldn't..." My voice was a weak breathy whisper that sounded nothing like me.

Dmitri pulled back just enough to look at me, his dark eyes gleaming with knowing amusement.

"Your body says otherwise, kitten." he murmured with his voice in a low rumble. "It's begging. Stop pretending."

Before I could muster a real argument, his mouth was on my neck and all coherent thought vanished. He walked me backward until my knees hit the edge of the ridiculously large bed and I tumbled onto the sheets. He followed me down like a predator finally claiming his prize.

He kissed a blazing trail down my body, pushing the nightgown up as he went. When his mouth closed over one sensitive pebbled nipple, I cried out, my back arching off the bed. It was too much. It was not enough. My hands flew to his hair not to pull him away but to hold him right there.

"God..." I gasped.

He just chuckled against my skin, the vibration doing wicked things to me.

"Not God. Just Dmitri."

He continued his journey south, kissing and licking his way past my navel, over my trembling stomach until he reached the waistband of my panties.

He hooked his fingers into them and in one swift move, they were gone. I was completely exposed to him and instead of fear, a hot shocking wave of anticipation swept through me.. then his mouth was on me and I literally saw stars.

My entire world narrowed to the point where his tongue was making lazy devastating circles against my clit. I'd been eaten out before, sure. But this? This was like comparing a campfire to a volcanic eruption.

A broken keening sound escaped my lips and my hips lifted off the bed of their own accord, seeking more pressure, more friction, more him!

"Please..." I wasn't even sure what I was begging for. More? Don't stop? I'd lost all control.

He slid two fingers inside me, curling them just right and I shattered as my orgasm ripped through me so violently I thought I might break apart. I was gasping, my legs shaking, my fingers tangled in his dark hair holding him to me as I rode out the waves of pleasure.

When the last tremor subsided he looked up at me, his chin glistening. My face flushed with embarrassment and residual ecstasy.

"Should I stop?" he asked with his voice sounding husky. The arrogant confidence was still there but it was layered with something else... raw hunger.

I couldn't speak. I couldn't form words. All I could do was look at him, my chest heaving and give a tiny almost imperceptible shake of my head. No. Don't stop.

He understood. With a dark satisfied smile, he surged up and stripped off his clothes. My eyes went wide.

Oh. Wow. I'd heard descriptions like 'well-endowed' before, but this was something else entirely. His dick was... monumental.. thick, long, and rock-hard. A fresh thrill of nervous excitement shot through me.

He tugged my nightgown off over my head, leaving us both naked. He positioned himself between my legs and I held my breath. He teased me, rubbing the broad head of his cock through my wet pussy making me whimper with need.

"Please." I whispered again, this time knowing exactly what I wanted.

He pushed in just the tip, stretching me exquisitely rhen with a slow controlled thrust, he buried himself to the hilt.

I cried out in a sharp sound that melted into a long low moan. He filled me completely, every inch of him. He started to move in a deep rhythmic pace that had me seeing stars all over again.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him deeper, meeting his thrusts and the room was filled with the sound of our skin slapping together, my ragged moans and his low grunts.

"Right there... oh God, right there." I chanted, completely lost to the sensation.

I felt the coil of another orgasm tightening deep inside me, building faster and hotter than before. This one felt different, bigger, more overwhelming.

When it broke, I screamed his name as pleasure detonated through every nerve ending. My body convulsed and a warm gush of squirt soaked the sheets between us. I was dimly aware of my legs trembling violently against his sides.

Before I could even come down from the high, he flipped me over onto my stomach, pulling my hips up so my ass was in the air and he entered me from behind, his thrusts becoming harder, more possessive.

The sound of his hand connecting with my ass was loud in the room followed by a sting that morphed into a deep throbbing heat that only made the friction inside me more intense.

"Yes!" I heard myself sob, pushing back against him, completely mindless.

His pace became frantic and I felt my own climax building again impossibly matching his rhythm. He groaned my name as his dick pulsed deep inside me. We came together, collapsing in a sweaty breathless heap on the cum soaked sheets.

We lay there for what felt like an eternity, the only sound our ragged breathing. My mind was utterly blissfully blank. Then, without a word, he slid out of me and got up.

I heard his footsteps pad across the room followed by the sound of a glass panel sliding open. A cool breeze washed over my heated skin. He'd gone out onto the balcony.

The silence he left behind was deafening. Guilt came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks.

What did you just do, Alicia? my brain yelled, finally back online. You just let the head of the Velvet Mafia, a man who probably murders people before breakfast, give you the best orgasms of your life. You didn't just let him. You begged for it. You enjoyed it!

I curled into a ball, horrified at myself. I was a prisoner, a possession! And I'd moaned like a wanton harlot for my captor. This was so messed up!

I was just starting to spiral into a full-blown panic of self-loathing when I heard it.

A low, strained groan from the balcony.

I froze. What was that? It didn't sound like a satisfied sigh. It sounded... pained.

The groaning continued, mixed with a weird ragged breathing and a soft cracking sound.

My heart started to thud again but this time with fear, not pleasure. Was he okay? Was he... masturbating? Was one round with me not enough for him?

Cautiously, I sat up. I pulled the robe from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around myself, tying the belt with trembling fingers. The groaning got louder, more strained. It was a horrible almost animalistic sound.

Tiptoeing across the room, I approached the open glass door. The balcony was dark, shrouded in shadow. I could just make out his silhouette leaning heavily against the railing, his back to me, his shoulders hunched.

"D-Dmitri?" I whispered with my voice shaky.

He didn't answer. Another gut-wrenching groan escaped him, followed by that same cracking popping sound like someone stepping on dry twigs.

My fear evaporated, replaced by a sudden stupid wave of concern. Maybe he was having a heart attack! Maybe he was sick!

I slid the glass door open the rest of the way and stepped out onto the cool balcony tiles.

"Hey, are you al..."

The words died in my throat followed by a piercing and terrifying scream...

Dmitri's POV

I turned my head at the sound of her screm with the motion awkward in my half-shifted state and my vision now so full of heat and shadow zeroed in on her.

Alicia stood frozen in the balcony doorway, her hand clamped over her mouth, eyes wide with a terror so pure it was almost intoxicating.

A low guttural rumble started in my chest. It was supposed to be words but it came out as something else entirely. A monster's greeting.

"Like what you see?" I managed to grind out, my voice a distorted thing of gravel and growl with the human words stretching to fit my changing muzzle.

That did it. She screamed again in a sharp piercing sound of pure fright and scrambled backward. She fumbled with the glass balcony door, her hands shaking so badly she could barely grip it and she slammed it shut with a force that surprised even me.

The glass panels shuddered then cracked, a spider web of fractures exploding out from the frame before shattering into a thousand glittering pieces on the floor.

I couldn't help it. A dark rumbling chuckle escaped me.

That first glimpse... that fear... I lived for it. It never got old. She was seeing the real me. Not Dmitri, the Don of the Velvet Mafia but Dmitri, the Alpha of the Stonehurst Pack!

I watched through the broken door as she spun around with her panic a sweet scent in the air. She made a desperate dash for the main door to the hallway. Freedom. Cute.

With a powerful push of my legs, I leaped. I cleared the room in one bound, landing between her and the door with a soft thud that shook the floorboards.

She skidded to a halt, a whimper catching in her throat. The fear in her eyes was a live wire as she backed away, tripped over her own feet and fell onto the bed, scrambling backward until she hit the headboard, cowering.

I just stood there, waiting. Letting the transformation finish its course. The bones in my face finished rearranging, the dark brown fur thickening over my muscles. In seconds, a huge, dark-brown wolf stood where a man had been.

I stayed still and calm letting her absorb the impossible. I saw the full moon through the broken window, a bright silver coin in the sky. Then blessedly, a cloud slid over it dimming its call. I focused my will, pulling the beast back in, folding it away until I was just a naked man again, standing in a room littered with glass.

Alicia had squeezed her eyes shut as if that could erase what she'd just seen. As if we hadn't been tangled together on this very bed just moments ago fucking our minds out. I almost laughed.. the human capacity for denial was truly astounding.

I walked to a chair where my trousers were draped and pulled them on. The simple act seemed to terrify her more than the wolf had. When I approached the bed, she shrank away, pressing herself against the wood.

"Don't! Don't come near me!" she screamed, her voice cracking.

"Calm the fuck down." I said, my voice back to its normal low timbre though a bit rough around the edges. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're a monster!" she shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at me.

I shrugged, walking to the dresser and picking up a cigar. I clipped the end, lit it and took a long, slow draw and the smoke was a familiar comfort.

"Yeah. I know."

She kept screaming, the sound grating on my already raw nerves. The adrenaline was fading and a headache was starting to pulse behind my eyes. I snapped.

"Enough!" My voice cut through her panic like a whip. "Shut the fuck up!"

She instantly clammed up, her screams dissolving into choked silent sobs. Her whole body trembled and I sighed, blowing out a ring of smoke.

"I'm a werewolf." I said like I was telling her the time. Simple facts. "I can change when I want. Mostly. But the first night of a new moon... it's a bit of a bitch. Likes to happen on its own schedule like you just saw."

She shook her head wildly, her hair a mess around her pale face.

"No. That's not... that's not real. Werewolves aren't real!"

I gave her a flat look.

"Were you not paying attention two minutes ago? Or did you think I was just a very enthusiastic furry?"

"But... but then what about vampires? And dragons?!" she stammered, her mind desperately trying to find logic in a world that had just stopped making sense.

I scoffed.

"Now you're just talking movie crap. This isn't a fantasy novel, kotik. This is my life." She was clearly in shock and arguing was pointless. "Get some sleep. Process. We'll talk when your brain decides to rejoin the party."

I turned to leave, ready to find a very large bottle of whiskey. I needed to wash the taste of transformation out of my mouth and forget this whole messy night. But as my hand touched the doorknob, a sudden powerful sensation washed over me.

It was the same pull I'd felt at the auction... that intense primal attraction that made me bid a fortune on a woman I'd never seen... but it was a hundred times stronger now. It was like a magnetic force dragging me back toward her.

Frowning, I turned around. Alicia cried out as I strode back to the bed and leaned in close, ignoring her flinch.

I inhaled deeply, taking in her scent... fear, sweat, shame and something else... something buried deep beneath it all. Something uniquely irrevocably her!

And that's when it hit me with the truth of it exploding in my brain like a bomb.

It wasn't just an imprint! It wasn't just a strong physical attraction to a pretty human I could use to slake my sexual thirst. Alicia was my fated mate!!

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." I gasped, the words leaving my lips in a stunned whisper. I stumbled back from the bed, staring at her as if seeing her for the very first time.

Her eyes were wide, her fear momentarily eclipsed by shock at my shocked reaction. We just stared at each other with the air crackling with the unthinkable truth.

Without another word, I turned and practically fled the room, slamming the door shut behind me.

I headed straight for my study, beelining for the minibar. I grabbed a bottle of top-shelf whiskey, didn't bother with a glass and just started drinking. The liquor burned its way down my throat but it did nothing to dull the roaring in my head.

My fated mate...!

That night at the auction, the pull was strong, sure. I thought it was a powerful imprint. Imprints happen. We find humans we're chemically compatible with, it fulfills a need, we move on. It's convenient and simple.

But a fated mate? That's forever. That's bonds and destiny and a whole lot of complicated mystical bullshit I wanted no part of and she was human. It made no sense! My kind don't get human fated mates. It wasn't done.. it was a cosmic joke.

I drank until the room started to spin, trying to drown the realization. I must have passed out on the leather couch because the next thing I knew, the harsh ring of my phone was drilling into my skull. Dawn was just starting to bleed grey light through the windows.

I groaned, fumbling for the damn thing. My mouth tasted like ashes and regret.

"What?" I grunted with my voice raspy.

It was Damon.. his voice was sharp, clear and all business.

"We got the bastard, Boss..."