Page 2 of A Billionaire After Dark

Trying to stay focused on the goal, she glanced around the suite and started her story:The blue flames of the fire reflected in the floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a spectacular, rain-drenched view of the city. A view that had been bought for a price. But Madison had learned early on that anything could be bought for a price… including your soul.

Or was that too dramatic? Eden’s boss and the editor of the small newspaper she worked for always got on her for being too dramatic.

“You should write romance novels,” Stella would say. “Because with that kind of mushy prose, you’ll never make it as a serious writer.”

But Eden would make it. She might write a little dramatically, but she had something that other people didn’t have. Her father called it true grit. Her mother called it enlightened aura. And her brothers called it pain-in-the-ass stubbornness. Eden called it goal setting. And she had never left a goal unaccomplished.

Never.

And right now her goal was to become the next Woodward or Bernstein. She wanted to do investigative reporting like her father had done before he started teaching college journalism. So far, Eden had been given only human-interest stories. Charity walks, doggy costume contests, and a night at the opera. But now she had a story that she could sink her teeth into. A story about the underbelly of prostitution. It was the first real news story Stella had given her, and Eden was determined to knock her editor’s socks off with it. Even if it meant she had to go above and beyond. And this was certainly going above and beyond.

Taking her phone from her purse, she made a few notes describing the furniture, fireplace, and view. But the living room wasn’t what she needed to describe as much as the bedroom. She glanced at the double doors to her left, and after only a moment’s hesitation, she walked over and opened one.

Light from the living area sliced through the dark, across plush, white carpet and the puffy satin duvet on the bed. Was this the room where she would be expected to strip? Not that she was actually going to strip down to her skin. She wasn’t about to go that far for a story. All she needed was a taste of what it felt like to be in Madison’s shoes. Just a glimpse of the debauchery of the escort world. Once she had that glimpse, she intended to contract a bad stomach virus and get the heck out of there.

But for now, she might as well get a feel for her part. Channeling Mimi’s favorite actress, Mae West, Eden placed a hand on her hip and strutted seductively into the dark room. “So what do you want, big boy?” She ran a finger along the cool, slick fabric of the duvet. “You want a slow burn or a fast trip around the world?”

There was a rustle before a smooth Southern voice spoke. “Personally, I’ve always liked things slow and hot. But I am a little curious as to what going around the world consists of.”

Eden dropped her phone, and it thumped to the carpet, but not half as loudly as her heart thumping against her rib cage. “I-I’m sorry,” she stammered as she turned toward the voice. “I didn’t realize someone was in here.”

“Then who were you talking to?”

She tried to collect herself, but it wasn’t easy when her knees felt like overcooked spaghetti. “I was just…” Unable to think up a lie, she told the truth. “Practicing.”

There was a long pause before he spoke. “Close the door.”

She tried to clear the fear that clogged her throat. “There’s no touching, right?”

“I thought I explained the rules to your service.” His voice sounded closer. “No talking and follow my instructions to a tee.” The door slammed closed, causing Eden to almost jump out of her heels.

Being in the dark with a complete stranger had her reevaluating her goals. And becoming a good investigative reporter took a backseat to self-preservation.

“Look.” She took a step closer to the door. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do this.”

“Obviously. You seem to have a problem keeping your mouth shut.”

Suddenly, she wasn’t scared as much as annoyed. “And you seem to have control issues.”

“I believe I’m paying two thousand dollars for that control.”

“Two thousand?” Eden couldn’t hide her shock. She knew that Madison made a lot of money as an escort, but she hadn’t thought it was that much. “Are you kidding me?” Realizing that she didn’t sound very professional, she backpedaled. “I mean, Madison told me that I’d make much less.”

“She lied.” The words were spoken so close to her ear that she released a strangled gasp. She backed away and bumped into the bed, sitting down with a hard bounce. The mattress dipped as his hands pressed on either side of her hips. “There will be touching.”

“B-but that wasn’t part of the deal.”

“I don’t know what kind of deal you made,” he said, “but the deal I made was for a woman who will do exactly what I say.”

“Exactly?” she squeaked.

He leaned closer, his breath falling against her lips like steam on a bathroom mirror. “Exactly.”

Before Eden could make it very clear that she wasn’t about to do exactly what he said, he moved away. Only a few seconds later, a light clicked on. Not a light that lit up the room, but a soft, recessed light that shone only on the bed. The Dark Seducer stood by the window, his tall, lean body outlined by the small amount of light that filtered in through the curtains.

“But you’re right,” he said. “I won’t be doing the touching. And you won’t be touching me. Now take off your dress.”

With his words, Eden’s determination to succeed returned. All she had to do was slip off her dress and endure just a brief sampling of the humiliation that Madison went through. Of course thinking you could do something and actually doing it were two different things. Her hands shook so badly she had to fist them for a few seconds before she reached for the straps of her dress. She tried to calm her nerves with a little mental justification:This is no different from going to a nudist beach with your grandparents.Except she hadn’t been to a nudist beach with Pops and Mimi since she was three.The human body is beautiful and should be shared.Except her body wasn’t beautiful and she had never been good at sharing.This is only a few minutes of your life.Except as the dress slipped to her waist, time seemed to stand still.

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