Chapter 1: The Predator’s Price

“Lock the door, Maeve, or I’ll let the security feed run live so the whole board can watch me ruin you.”

Xavier Greaves didn’t look up from his desk. He didn't have to; his presence pinned me in place. I locked the door on instinct, the deadbolt clicking like a final sentence.

“Come here,” he commanded.

I walked toward him, my pulse thudding. The air was thick with bourbon and predatory intent. He was a wall of tailored wool and raw, terrifying power.

"You’re three minutes late," he said, finally raising his gaze. His eyes were flint, hard and unreadable. "In my world, three minutes is worth ten million dollars. Do you have ten million dollars, Maeve?"

"No, sir. I... my father’s debt—"

"I don't give a fuck about your father’s debt. Not in the way you think." He stood up, and the room shrank. He was massive, his shoulders blocking the city lights. 

He stepped so close I felt the searing heat of his body clashing with the industrial AC. "You’re shaking. Is that fear, or are you already leaking for me?"

"I'm a professional, Mr. Greaves," I whispered, though my knees felt like water.

"You're a liar." He reached out and fisted his hand into my hair, yanking my head back until my neck arched. "Look at me."

I gasped, my hands flying to his forearm. His grip was bone-crushing, fisted so tight in my hair that tears pricked my eyes.

"You think this is a job interview?" He hissed, his lips brushing my ear. His breath was hot, smelling of cedarwood and iron. 

"This is a repossession. Your father put you up as collateral, and I’m here to collect interest."

He hauled me forward, slamming my back against the heavy office door. The wood was cold and unforgiving, biting through my thin blazer. 

He crowded me, his massive frame pinning me. I felt small. Hunted. And to my absolute shame, a treacherous warmth pooled between my legs.

"You like this, don't you? The violence of it." He let go of my hair and shoved his hand under my skirt. He didn't go for buttons. He yanked the lace of my panties aside with a sharp snap.

"Xavier, wait—"

"Wait for what?" He shoved two fingers into my pussy, driving them deep without gentleness.

I let out a choked scream, my back arching off the door. My hands fisted in his sleeves, trying to shove him, but my body was already betraying me. 

I was slick. Soaking wet. My pussy gripped his fingers with a frantic hunger that mocked my words.

"Fuck," he growled, his fingers moving in a hard, rhythmic grind. "Look at you. You're fucking drenched for me. You’ve been sitting in that lobby getting your pussy slick just thinking about me slamming you against this door."

"I... I haven't... I didn’t—"

"You’re a little slut in a cheap suit, aren't you, Maeve?" He shoved his fingers deeper, the stretch making my breath hitch. 

The friction was intense—a raw, wet heat that made my brain go fuzzy. "Tell me how much you want it. Tell me how much you need me to fuck the debt out of you."

"Please," I sobbed, my head lolling back against the door.

"Please what? Please stop? Or please ram my cock into you until you can't remember your own name?" 

He increased the pace, his thumb grinding against my clit with clinical precision. The sound was visceral—the wet squelch of his fingers sliding in and out, the rhythmic slap of his palm against my inner thighs.

I bit my own hand to keep from screaming. I could feel the sting of my teeth breaking the skin. 

I didn't want him to hear me break. I didn't want him to know that the friction was driving me to the brink of a shattering climax.

"Don't you dare go quiet on me," he commanded, fisting his hand back into my hair to pull my face to his. 

"I want to hear every filthy sound you make. I want to hear how much you love getting wrecked by the man who owns you."

"I hate you," I managed to choke out, even as my hips bucked against his hand, seeking more of the sting, more of the pressure.

"I don't give a fuck if you hate me. As long as you stay this wet. As long as you keep taking every inch I give you." He pulled his fingers out abruptly. The loss of heat was a shock, a cold vacuum that left me shivering.

He stepped back, eyes dark with unhinged, territorial rage. He looked down at his hand, covered in my slickness, then his gaze moved to my face. 

I was wrecked. My hair was a mess, my skirt bunched around my waist, and my chest heaving.

"You think that was the payment?" He asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low-octave rasp. "That was just the entry f*e."

He reached for his belt. The heavy leather creaked as he unbuckled it, his eyes never leaving mine. 

Then came the sound that made my heart stop—the sharp, metallic rasp of his zipper being yanked down.

He reached into his trousers and freed himself. He was massive, a thick, throbbing length of dark heat that looked like it would tear me apart. 

He was already fully erect, the tip of his cock weeping a bead of pre-cum that mirrored my own wetness.

"Get on your knees, Maeve," he commanded. He didn't suggest it. He didn't ask. He pointed to the floor directly in front of his boots.

"Xavier, please... someone might come—"

"Then you’d better be quiet, shouldn't you?" He stepped closer, his cock brushing against the hem of my ruined skirt. 

The smell of him—raw, masculine, and aroused, was overwhelming. "Down. Now. Take it all, or I call your father’s creditors right now and tell them he’s fair game."

I looked at the lock on the door, then back at the predator standing over me. My pussy was still throbbing, leaking more slickness down my thighs. My body was screaming for him to fill the ache his fingers had started. I was his.

I didn't say another word. My knees hit the carpet with a soft thud. I looked up at him, my vision blurred by tears and the raw, physical desperation he had ignited in me.

"Good girl," he whispered, his voice cold and satisfied. He fisted his hand in my hair again, pulling my head forward until my nose brushed the hot, pulsing head of his cock.

"Your orientation starts now. Open wide for me."