ACE.
I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me as she stumbled onto the stage.
Birdene Black.
I’d know those brown eyes anywhere. Even ten years later, now that she has grown into a beautiful woman.
Her eyes remind me of a woman I fell in love with in college.
A woman who happened to choose my best friend over me.
Andrea Simpson.
Just thinking about her name feels like I’m committing the biggest sin of all.
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever consider finding the daughter of the man I hate with a passion, being auctioned off.
The murderous emotions that overtook every fibre in my body as other men bid for her drove me wild.
Fuck…
I was about to put a pretty silver bullet between Lawrences’ eyes if he dared to outbid me for her.
She is mine.
Even if it is for a month.
She is mine, and I will return her to her parents once I’ve had my fill of her.
Once I’ve ruined her for other men.
After I've tattooed my name on her precious little heart.
Ace Ripley.
She will scream my name in ecstasy. It will become her new favourite anthem. She will moan my name in her wet dreams, for I will haunt her for the rest of her life.
As she stood on the stage, looking like a lost lamb, with her full breasts on display in the transparent dress she was wearing.
Everything about her screamed sex and submission. And I plan to have more than just a taste of her.
It’s like she was gift-wrapped just for me.
Sighing, I open and close my zip lighter. The slight cling sound it makes somehow soothes my racing mind.
“Sir, Ms. Birdene.” Alana, my housekeeper, announces as she stands outside my office door with her chin dipped.
“Thank you, Alana,” I respond as I lift my head to find Birdene standing on the threshold with her gaze focusing on the carpet.
“Come here, Little Bird,” I say in an authoritative tone that has her strolling towards me.
She stops a few feet in front of my desk and combs her trembling fingers through her hair.
“I need you to sign this contract. The terms can be negotiated, but I’m warning you now. If they aren’t in my favour. It will be a hard no.” Opening the top drawer of my desk, I retrieve a brown envelope and toss it across the desk in front of her.
Elegantly, she raises her gaze to the folder and then to meet mine. “I had no choice but to come here, Ace.” Her voice trembles as she closes her eyes, doing her best to keep her tears at bay.
Leaning back in my chair, I flip my zip lighter open and closed. “I purchased you fair and square, Little Bird, and I’m going to take what is rightfully mine.” I snarl darkly at the thought of her rejecting me. “I also saved you from returning to your parents, as you begged me to.”
“Why did you kill them?” She asks upon releasing a shuddering breath. “Why did you kill Ross and Caleb? My guards?”
“Because they touched what is mine. No one touches what is mine and gets away with it.” I reply in a nonchalant tone that is filled to the brim with a dark promise.
Licking her lips, she swallows thickly. “One month and all I have to do is sleep with you before I’m free to leave?”
“Yes, Little Bird. One month of me fucking the innocence out of you and I will send you on your way with a little something extra to get you started on your own.”
“Why? Why are you going to give me money when this all revolves around charity?”
I can sense the hesitation thickly coating her words.
“I think you know why, Little Bird.” Standing up from behind the desk, I move to stand in front of her and lightly cup one side of her face. “I donated fifty million dollars to your choice of charity and in return, I get to sample my enemy's daughter before he can force you to marry your uncle.”
Her breath catches. “You know about that?”
“Everyone who is linked to your father one way, or another knows,” I growl with disgust.
“He’s not my biological uncle.” She whispers, feeling like she owes me an explanation. “I’m adopted. Olivia and Jaxson Black aren’t my birth parents, and I’ve been thinking…”
Taking a step back, I sit on the edge of the desk and fold my arms across my broad chest.
“Do share, Little Bird. I’d love to hear what you’ve been thinking about.” I coaxed, trying to get her to warm up to me.
“I will stay here for a month and I will warm your bed.” Nibbling on her lower lip, she pauses, and I raise my brows, intrigued to find out what she has to say. “All I ask in return is that you help me escape from my parents. Indefinitely.” She finally finishes after finding the courage to do so.
A deep laugh pours from my throat as I rub the side of my jaw. “That can easily be arranged. All you’ll have to do is pick a country and a new name. But first, I’m going to need something in advance before I agree, Little Bird.”
Her shoulders sag, “like?”
“A taste of the fire that is simmering deep in the pit of your stomach. I can sense it begging to be set free like a wildfire incinerating everything it comes into contact with. And I want to be the one who sets it free. I intend to be the first you burn, Little Bird.” My jaw clenches with excitement as the words leave my lips.
Rolling the sleeves of my shirt up my arms, exposing my tatted flesh. I walk towards the black leather sofa pushed against the wall and I sit down. Leaning back with my legs spread wide.
I place the back of my hand on my thigh with my middle finger erect, and I meet her gaze, licking my lips.
“I will not fuck you tonight, Little Bird,” I say in a husky tone as my eyes roam over her seductive body that’s making my cock twitch beneath my slacks. “You aren’t ready for me just yet. But I do want you to come over here and fuck my finger.” Bringing my hand up to my mouth, I slip my finger between my lips, generously coating it with my saliva before I return it to my thigh. “Come here, Little Bird, and sit on my finger. Show me what you look like when you come. And be sure to moan my name…” I demand with a slight hiss.
Embarrassment and desire twine through me as my gaze darts from his piercing green eyes to his hand. I’m lost for words, and I can’t believe I’ve just agreed to give him my purity, let alone warm his bed for the entire month I am promised to him—under contract.But I guess my virginity is a small price to pay if he can help me escape my parents and uncle Flynn. Part of me feels like a sinner just thinking about Ace fucking me. The enemy of my father and a surge of arousal slams into me.Ace wags his finger, “straddle my thigh. Right here.”Gingerly placing one foot in front of the other, I approach him with my chest rising and falling with every shallow breath I take. “I’m going to stop you right there, Little Bird.” He growls with one corner of his mouth curling and instantly, I stop in my tracks with a frown on my face. “I know you are innocent. But I believe you aren’t completely sheltered to the point that you do not know that you need to remove your pants and underwear.”Swal
After I signed the contract and made no amendments to it. I quickly pull on my clothes, feeling Aces’ gaze watching me.After he returns the contract to the envelope it came out of. He walks around his large desk to stand in front of me.“From this moment forward, you realise that your body is mine, Little Bird.”Lifting my gaze to meet his, “yes. I read the contract before I signed my soul over to the devil himself, Ace.” I answer him upon exhaling through my nostrils. “I still don’t understand why you made me sign it naked.”A lopsided smirk stretches across his face. “Am I the first man who has seen you bare?”“Yes.”“There’s your answer, then, Little Bird. The thought of me being the only man to ever see you bare makes breathing worthwhile. Especially knowing that your uncle Flynn has been keeping you hidden from the real world to keep you pure for his touch only.”A violent shudder corrupts my body. “Please… don’t speak like that. It makes me feel sick to think that all this tim
ACE.My eyes snap open as I jolt awake. An icy shiver takes over my soul.Brushing a hand over my face, I try to shake the exhaustion that clings to me. Releasing a long sigh, I cast my gaze downward to find Birdenes’ arm slung across my bare chest with her leg over my hip. Half of her body is over mine, and she is using me as her human pillow.If she were one of my other girls, I would have rolled her over and turned my back to face her. I’m not the type of man who likes to hug. There are no roses and chocolates with a happy ending in sight with these auction deals.You bid on a number that just so happens to tickle your fantasies. You fuck her, feed her, house her, and give her some spending money to help pass the time.But with Birdene, there is no urgency to push her off me. If I’m to be brutally honest. I feel the complete opposite. I want nothing more than to crush her small frame against my large body.A few stray strands of her hair tickle my nose, filling my senses with he
I stir when the sound of the curtains being drawn back releases me from the clutches of my deep slumber. The warmth from the early morning sun rays caresses the side of my face, and I roll over, groaning. “Just one more minute, please, Lucy…” “Mr. Ripley asks that you swallow the small white pill next to the large glass of water I have left beside your bed.” I jolt upright in the bed, dragging the sheet with me. My eyes dart around the room until they finally land on Alanas’. “Shit…” I exhale, brushing a hand over my weary face. “I forgot Ace now owns me for a month.” A soft smile graces Alanas' tiresome face. “If I may offer you one piece of advice, Ms. Black?” She says in a hesitant tone as she dips her head, knowing that she is about to speak out of context. Swallowing thickly, I stare at her. “Please. I need all the advice I can get.” I reply honestly. Lifting her chin, she steps forward and picks up the small pill that sits on a round saucer and the large glass of water.
As I reach Aces’ closed office door, I lift my hand and hold it in the air. I suck in three large breaths, and every time I releas them, I tell myself to knock. But it’s like my body is paralysed, and I cannot bring myself to take the leap and just… knock. Lowering my hand, I turn around and shake my head. I’m not ready to walk back in there after what happened between us last night. Deep down, I know if he demands me to do it again, I will. Not only because I’ve signed my body over to him for a month. But the sizzling thought of his fingers being rooted deep inside me as I fuck them with his gaze hot and heavy on mine, makes me weak at the knees. I’m almost twenty-one and Aces fingers are the only action I’ve ever had apart from my own fingers. I flinch when the office door opens, “running away from me already, Little Bird?” A hot shiver glides up my spine as his voice pierces my eardrums, which leaves them pulsing. I look over my shoulder, not meeting his gaze, and brea
ACE.The moment Birdene closes the door behind her, I grit my teeth to suppress the roar that is lodged in my throat.How dare she insinuate that I've borderline committed rape. If she had read the fucking contract, she would have known better than to hurl those fucking disgusting words at me.Rape.Do I look like a man who needs to take her virtue by force when I can walk into any club I want and have women falling at my feet? In groups.I swear… if her lips become looser, I will deliver her to Flynns’ front doorstep with a fucking pretty bow attached around her neck. As much as she intrigues me, she isn’t worth tarnishing my reputation over.Then there’s Alana.After all these years, she still has the backbone to go behind my back trading information for money with Flynn Black. After everything I have done for her, granted, she doesn’t know. But I have never given her a reason to believe that I am behind her husband's gutless actions.I’m not the bastard who put the gun in his han
The limo slows down as it reaches the front of the hotel where the gala is being hosted. Bright lights illuminate the dark sky as loud voices filled with laughter and chatter resonate through the atmosphere.Lowering my gaze, I nervously play with the sparkling, emerald green, satin gloves that match my evening gown and Aces’ eyes. I secretly hope he likes what I’ve picked out.I’m not sure if it was the gown or the colour that caught my attention first. But as I drew closer to it on the rack where it was sandwiched between a few other stunning gowns… I made my mind up then and there that this was the one that I would be wearing tonight.The sleeves and blouse are vaguely of a gypsy cut, all done in earthy greens and shades of black flecked with silver that seem to undulate on their own violation. The skirt consists of ruffled tiers of burnt charcoal that end in a ragged hem just above the ankle as if the seamstress had suddenly been called away before completing her task at hand.
Ace ushers me to a quiet corner, his gaze gives me a solid once over as he places his hands on my shoulders. “Breathe, Little Bird. You are here with me and I won’t let your uncle touch you.” He says in a low and grim voice. Inhaling deeply, I nod my head as I slowly register everything he is saying. “I hate that he has this effect on me,” I whisper, fighting back the torrent of tears threatening to escape past my tear ducts. “He’s mad… furious. I can hear it in his voice, and I know that if he can get me alone for even a minute, he will inflict a world of pain onto me.” Lifting my trembling hand, I place it over my racing heart and I close my eyes, counting to four. “Flynn won’t get the chance to corner you, Birdene.” He says through gritted teeth and I open my eyes to look up at him, realising that he has used my given name for the very first time since I have known him. And I can’t help but like the way it rolls off the tip of his tongue. “I want you to turn around.” Turnin