I relish the feel of her hot skin against my chest, her soft flesh in my hand, and the pulse in her neck thrumming beneath my fingers. I've never owned someone so completely, and it's intoxicating. She's mine, bought and paid for. The contract binds her to me. The money shackles her. Even if she wants to, she can't leave me.

My next thrust isn't so gentle. Or the one after. I whisper harshly, right to her ear, as she grunts every time I bottom out. "My brothers took you first, but the last man to stake his claim takes the prize. This whole month, you’ll be my little plaything, a toy for me to come in. I'm going to fuck you within an inch of your life, anytime I want to. Anywhere. You'd better understand what you sold us."

"Yes," she sobs, and the sound is a sexy shot of serotonin, right into the most primal parts of my brain.

I squeeze her throat, her breathing labored against my palm, and I push and pull her in time with my thrusts. My hips clap her ass with every plunge, and she's so goddamn tight. I can only hold back for so long like this, but I want her to fucking feel it. Every inch of punishment.

I don't even know what I'm punishing her for. For selling herself? For being so damn pretty? I chuckle dryly. Maybe I'm just cruel.

I guess I have Dad to blame for that one. Freud would be proud.

She gasps. I'm squeezing too hard.

With a sudden shove, I push her back down on the bed so I can grab her hips and get my hands off her tempting throat. My fingers whiten her flesh as they dig in. While she draws a rasping breath, I set to fucking her as hard as I can, as if a good come is all I need to exorcise my demons.

She cries out. I don't know if it's in pleasure or pain. I'm running on instinct, powered by a drive so primal it's fighting me for control.

Fuck.

I'm a goddamn animal. There's strength in that, but also a concern. Discomfort. Fear of who I am, of what has its talons sunk deep into my core. Something I try not to think about if I don't have to.

It's easier that way.

I'm not all evil. She will walk unsteadily for a couple of days after this, but I'll give her a final present to remember me by.

Sliding one hand down past her hip, I follow her smooth skin into the valley between her thighs, where I find her dripping cunt. Its wetness is my one sign of redemption.

She might act all scared and surprised, but her body tells the truth. She fucking loves it.

When the tip of my finger brushes over her enlarged clit, she moans, a harsh sound in the back of her throat. I'm not the only one here becoming primal.

I strum it with my fingertip, fast and hard, just like my fucking. She shakes, her breathing labored, and suddenly, with a scream, she goes taut. Her every muscle strains as she clenches around me.

Jesus fucking Christ. It's about the sexiest fucking thing I've ever seen.

There's no holding back from that. As she explodes, my balls tighten, and the tingling that signals imminent release becomes too much for me to hold back. With a bellow, I drive all the way in and hold myself there. I come so hard you'd think I was turning myself inside out.

Maybe it's the circumstances, and maybe it's just her, but I can't remember the last time I came so hard.

Resting her weight on her face and forearms, she's gasping for breath, drawing in the air with rasping little sobs. Did I go too hard on her? What did she fucking expect for how much we paid for her?

Besides, she came like a goddamn freight train. She liked it well enough. Fuck, she's quivering hard enough to be milking my cock still. I keep my grip on her hips so she can't pull off me until I'm ready, but she struggles like it's all suddenly too much.

"You stay right where you are," I growl because I'm the one in control here. "You don't get to go anywhere until I say so."

With a harsh gasp, she stiffens. You'd think I'd just hit her or something. What the fuck?

5

HONOR

WHAT WAS LOST IS FOUND

"Kylian?"

I think it's just my mind that whispers the name that has been straining at my consciousness, but when the man behind me freezes, I know my mouth uttered the same.

It's him. My stepbrother. A boy from my past who's lived only in my memories since my mom rushed us away from Montgomery House in the middle of the night and never looked back.