“Thank you,” I mumbled, lowering my gaze to my linked fingers.
She slid her index finger under my chin and lifted until I was looking at her again. “Remember,ma chérie.In a wolf pack, an alpha male will only mate with an alpha female. But, if the she-wolf is not dominant enough, he may mate with other females. Our alpha chose you.”
Their alpha?Okay, weird. “Chose me? I’m the she-wolf?”Someone please wake me.Maybe she was advising me to be strong like Aunt Trina did.
I’d watched all the other girls with something close to jealousy. They were beautiful with slim bodies, perfect tits, hair and asses. And when no one selected me, I’d suffered a bout of disappointment. Now, I understood why they hadn’t. I’d be chosen by someone specific, a man who clearly seemed a cut above the rest. Why else had he not participated with the others?
“Who is he?” I asked, now more curious than ever. We all wore masks, how did those men know who to pick.
Not bothering to answer, she touched the collar around my neck. “Come.” She turned away before a sudden scraping of wood against wood filled the silence as she swung the door open.
The second I stepped inside, my insides clenched, squeezing until I breathed hard to let more oxygen flow into my body as quick as possible. I spun around at the sound of the door closing behind me. At first, fear froze my feet and I refused to move, staring at the massive door that looked like something out of a horror movie. All dark panels, gnarled joints, and rough nodes. Did someone carve this out of a witch’s tree.
I shivered. The thought bringing me back to face reality.You can do this, Lee.
Hadn’t I explored enough old buildings on my own before. Pulling another deep breath, I slowly turned, venturing past the foyer, and stopped. The room, vast and shadowy, held the opposite effect to the demon’s lair I’d envision walking down the passages. Lit only by thin, flickering candles on five-arm candelabras in three corners of the room, the silhouettes they cast across glossy parquet floors, softened the mood. The sweet smell of cinnamon and freshly polished wood filling my nostrils was weirdly calming. So much for thinking I’d be raped in a dungeon and sold on the black market.
I glanced up. Thick wooden beams criss-crossed below the elevated ceilings just above tall windows, too high for me to reach but low enough to filter in moonlight. “There goes my escape option.” Then I noticed the four sets of chains hanging from the beams. I twisted my head from side to side trying to figure out their purpose. Some sex probably. The knowledge churned my insides, and I banded my arms around my stomach, the slight shudder through me not exactly comforting.
Chewing the inside of my cheek, I let my gaze drop. A huge bed, framed by a gold canopy draped with black, translucent curtains and dressed in dark bedding, occupied one side. I inhaled sharply. This was it. I was about to give up my virginity to some dude who probably looked Frankenstein behind his mask.
“Probably smells like it too,” I mumbled under my breath. A sudden vision of dead fish came to mind, and I slapped my hand to my mouth covering my laugh. Okay, panic gone. Now, I was sure they’d laced those drinks that woman had fed us. Why else was I not freaking out? Banging on the door until they let me out. Instead, I was admiring the freaking décor. Maybe because, like that woman said, beneath my shy façade, I was enjoying the danger, the suspense, the unknown tonight promised.
Then my gaze shifted to the wall left to the bed.Holy shit.For just a second, the beat abandoned my heart. My eyes grew round as I drew closer. Inside a long glass cabinet, a gold rod spanned half the length of the wall. From it hung whips, chains, funny shaped ping-pong bats, and black pieces of leather that looked like belts but where either to short or too long to fit an average waist. At the end, a stand housed canes ranging in sizes. Torture chamber?
Shaking my head, I looked to the wall opposite the bed. Half of it covered in glass from ceiling to floor against which, sat a black leather sofa. I took a moment to admire the girl staring back at me. The skirt, not my usual attire, was scandalous, the corset, even more so, highlighting the round fullness of my breasts. Those tricky heels did a real number on my legs, giving my calves an elegant shape. The seam of the pantyhose which had taken ages to centre, formed a defined trail for a man’s eyes to follow from ankles to thighs. Even if I argued until I was blue in the face, the entire outfit made me feel like a sexy woman.
I continued my exploration. A table wrapped in red material stood against the uncovered portion of that wall. I ran my fingers along the stiff fabric which was surprisingly warm. A set of four chains ending in leather cuffs, dangled from each corner. If I hadn’t witnessed the sexual acts in the ballroom, right now, this room and its contents would’ve had my curiosity at a shameful peak.
Not sure if I’d just imagined a subtle change in the atmosphere, my nose twitched. I sniffed the air, inhaling deeply. That scent, it was familiar. Cool mint with a subtle musk.
I know that smell.
Biting my lip, I searched my brain, but couldn’t place it.
“Don’t move.”
I stiffened, the hairs at my nape springing to attention. My heart rate kicked up, matching the speed of a bullet train. Forgetting the rules, I made to turn my head, but a firm hand cupped my chin, the pressure hard but not painful, kept me from doing so.
“Did you not understand the instruction, girl.” He breathed in my ear. A swirl of heat shot through me. I involuntarily clenched my thighs. “I said. Don’t. Move.” His voice was deliciously soft yet a threat, challenging at the same time sensual, clung to it. I might be wrong, but he sounded like a man who didn’t tolerate disobedience. “Are you afraid,” he asked in that same dizzying tone.
I might not know what he looked like but something in that gentle timbre, had a strange soothing effect on my pulse. “No,” I whispered.
He released my chin and oddly, I felt the loss in the pit of my stomach, it rolled. “Would you like to leave?” His chest against my back now, his slow, even breaths tickled my neck. Could someone be this calm, this controlled with a stranger.
Taking a moment to weigh my options, I pictured Eliana’s distraught face and with it I was reminded of my mother’s callous threat to harm my sister. “No.”
“Are you sure?” His warm hands, a gentle caress down my arms, my skin erupted in goosebumps.
“Yes,” I murmured, my fingers subtly searching for something to hold onto until I gripped the edge of the table in front of me.
“And what if I say, you can’t leave, ever?” he asked, his tone an obvious challenge. Cold fear sliced through me. Moving to turn, I jerked my head at the last second to face forward when his hand slid from my arm and settled on my stomach. “Disobedience begs punishment, pet.”
“Pet?” His thumb grazed my bare skin above the waistline of the skirt. A shiver, this one nothing to do with terror, slithered through me like an eel through water.
Be strong, Lee. You’ve got this.
Dropping my gaze, I noticed how strong his fingers, ending in perfectly manicured nails, appeared. How rigid veins curled over the back of his hand. When I glimpsed the edges of black sleeves draping his wrist, I quickly looked up, swallowing the ball of anxiety in my throat. Only one man had worn full black in that room, the one with the unique mask.
