Page 53 of Vicious Kingdom

The tech guy quickly adjusted. “Eight and a half thousand.”

“Nine!” someone from the back, who I didn’t know, shouted.

Monica preened. “The children will be so lucky!”

“Three million dollars,” I said, lifting my paddle slightly.

Silence drowned the room.

“Million?” Monica croaked and reached for her throat. Her eyes were the size of saucers.

“Million.” I held the matron’s gaze. “Six zeroes with a three in front. Do you need me to write it out for you?”

Guilt made me donate the outrageous sum. Nothing else—

No one else.

The math teacher’s daughter was the only reason. There had to be lots of kids in her same situation, with parents desperate to find the money to save them. Maybe my contribution would help keep them from doing something stupid.

Yes…that was the reason I bid so high. That and the fact that no one else was paying for time with Annaliese.

The socialite gulped. “For the sum of threemilliondollars, Miss Hertz! Is there any challenging bid?”

“I almost want to add to that just to see what you’ll do,” Josh chuckled beside me.

I would pay triple the amount to save another parent. Not because the thought of someone else taking the temptress out on the town brought out a cloud of rage. That reaction wasn’t something I cared to explain.

On the other end of the stage, the Californian let out a strangled groan and shook his head.

Victory washed through me, bringing a sweet relief to my veins. The point was made. This was my city, and Annaliese was mine to play games with. I slid a glance across the crowd and met that poignant blue stare before dropping my gaze to her smart mouth. No, if those lips were choking on a cock—

It will be mine.

The picture was too tantalizing. Tears streaming down her face, her air cut off as I drove into her. That sight was mine, and mine alone.

Not that I had any intention of fucking that lying little mouth.

“Miss Hertz, come forward and meet your champion.” At the declaration of the closing bid, the murmurs started up. This time, the ballroom became a jungle. Everyone was speculating why I paid an outrageous sum for a date.

But Anna’s blue eyes locked with mine. She stepped onto the stage and walked directly toward me. I snatched her wrist and hurried her off the opposite side as Josh chuckled softly.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Annaliese snorted. “Going to teach me a lesson, Baldwin?”

Before I could think, I was moving again. My grip tightened on her wrist as I tugged her into the adjoining room. The door fell closed with a slam, cutting off the circus behind us.

Anna’s soft pants were the only sound.

They fucked with my head more than the locker room talk, more than the blood, money, and charade.

“Baldwin?” Annaliese whispered. “I can’t see a damn thing.”

Cursing into the darkness, I caught hold of her and yanked her toward me. Her body collided with mine, and I savored the gasp of surprise that escaped her lips.

“You don’t need to see what I’m about to do to you,” I warned as a streak of heat throbbed through my veins.

A split second later, my mouth crashed against hers, striking with a fierce, raw hunger, perilously close to violence, despite the lack of light in the room. She went stiff in my arms, stunned by the force of it. Her hesitation made me growl low in my throat. But only for a moment. Only before instinct took over, and she began kissing me back, lips softening, a slow surrender. She met my ardor, and I felt her body shift, molding against my chest, inviting the touch she had first resisted. I shoved her up against the wall, heart pounding in time with the frantic rhythm of hands that explored the curve of her hips. Her mouth opened beneath mine, and I forced my tongue through the barrier of those half-open lips, a welcome warmth through the growing storm. I fucked her mouth with a greed, a desperation I didn’t know I could feel. The intensity shocked her. She stilled as my hands tangled into her hair, then I released her mouth with a shuddering breath.

I was possessed.