CHAPTER 2

Amelia’s POV

“Why me, beautiful?”

His voice was slow and deep, like he already knew the answer and just wanted to hear me say it out loud. I sat across from him in that dark booth and tried to look brave, even though my hands were still shaking in my lap.

“Because you are the most handsome man here,” I said.

He laughed once, low in his chest. It was not a sweet laugh. It sounded like he had heard that line a hundred times and still found it funny.

“I can tell you are looking for someone to keep you company,” he said. “But I am afraid I am not someone you should get involved with. You should find a boy your own age.”

I reached across the table and took the glass from his hand. The glass was still warm from his fingers. I drank all of it in one gulp. The liquor burned down my throat and made my eyes water, but I did not look away from him.

“No,” I said. “I want you. I… I can pay you.”

He raised one eyebrow.

“Interesting. I have always been the one paying women. This is the first time a woman has offered me money.”

My cheeks felt hot. I hated how small I sounded, but I did not take the words back. I needed this. I needed to feel wanted by someone who did not look at me like I was broken.

He watched me for a long time. Then he stood up. He was taller than I thought. His dark suit sat on his shoulders like it had been made only for him.

“If you are sure, come upstairs with me,” he said. “But if you change your mind, leave now. I will pretend none of this ever happened.”

My heart beat so hard I could feel it in my throat. I followed him anyway.

The private suite was on the top floor. He opened the door and let me walk in first. The room was large and dim. There was a wide bed, dark sheets, and a window that showed the city lights far below. He closed the door. The lock made a soft sound.

I stood there in my short black dress and tried to breathe.

He did not rush me. He walked close and stopped in front of me. His hand came up and touched my jaw, slow, like he was giving me time to pull away. I did not pull away. His thumb brushed my lower lip where the red lipstick was smeared.

“Are you shaking?” he asked smoothly, even after he saw I shaking helplessly.

“I can't help it.” I managed to reply.

“Tell me to stop.” he said.

“I don’t want you to stop.” I looked into his eyes.

His mouth came down on mine, hard. It was nothing like Drystan’s kisses. This kiss did not ask. It took. I made a small sound against his mouth and grabbed the front of his shirt. He backed me toward the bed until the backs of my legs hit the mattress. I sat down. He stayed standing and looked at me while he took off his jacket.

He pulled my dress up over my hips. The air felt cold on my skin. He kissed my throat, then lower, and I closed my eyes because the feeling was too much. For three years my body had been treated like a problem, but tonight? It was treated like it mattered.

He pushed my knees apart and knelt between them. When his mouth found me, I gasped so loud I clapped a hand over my own lips. He did not stop. He licked me slow at first, then deeper, holding my hips down when my legs tried to close. Heat built fast in my stomach. I had never felt anything like it. My back arched off the bed. I said please without knowing what I was begging for.

He rose up over me and opened his pants. I saw how big and hard he was and my mouth went dry. He rubbed the head of his cock against me, wetting himself with me, and then he pushed in.

It hurt a little at first because I was tight and he was thick. I grabbed his shoulders. He paused, breathing against my neck.

“Look at me,” he said.

I looked at him. He pushed the rest of the way in, deep, until there was no space left.

He fucked me like he had all night and like he had no patience at all, both at the same time. The bed hit the wall. My dress was still bunched around my waist. His hand slid under my back and lifted my hips so he could go deeper. Every thrust knocked a sound out of me. I wrapped my legs around him and held on.

“Say it,” he muttered against my mouth. “Tell me you want this.”

“I want this,” I gasped. “I really want this.” I mourned.

He drove into me harder. The pleasure came in waves until I broke. I came with my face pressed to his shoulder, shaking. He groaned and followed me, pushing into the hilt, spilling inside me in hot pulses that made my toes curl.

For a long time after, the room was only our breathing.

He pulled out slowly. I felt empty and sore and strangely calm. He just lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. I stared too and I fell asleep without meaning to.

When I woke, the bed was cold on his side. The man was gone. No note. No number. Only the smell of him on the sheets and a dull ache between my legs made my face heat when I remembered how I had begged.

I sat up and pressed a hand to my chest. A little regret sat deeply in my mind. There was something more I struggled to put myself together with my  heart still racing.

My phone was full of missed calls. Drystan. Vivian. My mother. My father. I stared at the screen until it went dark. Then I ignored every single one.

I drove to my parents’ home with last night’s dress under my coat and last night’s secret under my skin.

They were waiting in the living room like they had been sitting there for hours. My mother’s eyes went straight to my bare legs.

“Drystan is hosting a banquet tonight,” my mother said. She did not ask where I had been. “Alpha Zephyr will be there. Drystan has been trying for months to get a partnership with Zephyr’s company. The invitation was not easy to get. You will stand beside your husband.”

I laughed, but it came out broken.

“I am not going. I am divorcing him.”

My mother’s teacup hit the saucer. “Do not be stupid, Amelia.”

“He cheated on me. He got another woman pregnant. He told me to raise her baby and smile. You heard me on the phone.”

“And you heard me,” my mother said. “His pack keeps this family standing. If you walk away, we lose everything.”

I looked at my father, hoping he would be different. He was not.

“You will go,” he said.

“I will not.”

He stepped closer. His voice dropped so my mother could pretend she did not hear the worst part.

“Your sister’s school fees are due. If you do not attend that banquet tonight, Drystan will stop paying them. She will come home. That will be on you.”

The room tilted. My little sister still believed I was happy. She still believed I was safe.

“You would sell me for her tuition,” I whispered.

“I would keep this family alive,” my father said. “Be at the house by six. Wear something proper. Smile. That is all.”

I had no choice that they would accept. So I nodded.