CHAPTER 4

Gentlemen," Michael Liloe interrupted with a slap of his hands as he stepped behind me. "This is the beautiful Alina Volkova, a volunteer for our personal challenges. I assume you have her dossier, but let me introduce some of her finer qualities.

"First and foremost, she has come to us on her own free will.". She's lovely to look at, which can make life much easier for all of you who require a partner to take with you to parties and so forth. She's young, but not young enough, so your friends and family will be more likely to think that you have one of those more "normal" forms of relationship, if it is the sort of thing that you care about. She's highly educated, well-mannered, has all her teeth, and is fit. And no drug problem to deal with, so no detox period to keep you away from what you really want to do with her… to her.

"Fine, and perhaps the most valuable commodity of all is that she's still totally untouched. This, my beautiful gentlemen, is a grade A virgin. Unadulterated, untainted… as clean as fresh-fallen snow. Perfect to train, isn't she?"

The floor beneath me in the middle of the room began to ripple, and though it was nowhere near warp speed, it certainly caught me off guard, and I did indeed stagger a bit before I regained my balance. Round and round I went, mute entertainment for the men behind the two-way glass. There were no noises to be made, just the rare hum as the light above the doors flickered on. I could see the men take the phone beside them and talk into the receiver before their light was turned on, so I had thought that was how they were bidding.

I had no idea of the amount that the bids were going. I just hoped it finished with enough to pay for Jackson's care. At last, the sheik and the little guy flaked out, and the man I had dubbed the Walrus in my mind and the mysterious stranger remained to duke it out. The two of them slowly started to ease off on the bidding, and I was getting more and more dizzy from turning on the platform. To be honest, I just wanted it to end so I would have an idea of what was happening. I was still silently rooting for the enigmatic stranger.

The Walrus's light flashed finally, and I could tell that the bid was back with the enigmatic man, but he was not answering. There was panic as Michael Liloe came back into the room and stood next to me. He smiled at the Walrus and then looked up at the enigmatic stranger with an inquiring brow. I knew it was obvious by the expression in my eyes that I was pleading with him, but I did not know if it made a shred of difference. However, I had to try it.

The seconds dragged on agonizingly. The entire scene was as if in slow motion, and I could sense myself becoming dizzy and giddy. I knew I would pass out if I didn't receive some air to my head, but I had my breath locked, hoping the stranger would cover.

"Appears that we have a victory—" Michael started but, caught off guard, halted in the middle when the light outside the mystery stranger's room came on and the buzzer sounded.

I gasped in a grateful breath, feeling my head lift with prickles of tingles with the life-giving sensation of air. My head came flying towards the Walrus. I breathed out in relief as he shook his head and waved his hand away in the air before struggling to push himself back out of the chair to extinguish the light on the table.

"You are now property of a new mistress, Miss Volkova," Michael cooed, too close to my ear. "Get on over there and go greet your master, why don't you?"

"I'm not calling him master," I growled loudly enough for only Michael to hear, as he pushed me down off the platform.

"Call him anything he wishes if you want the nice two million he just paid for you," he retorted, grabbing my elbow and propelling me towards the mysterious man's room.

"Two million rubles?" I cried out in astonishment. I tried to pry my elbow loose from his grip because manhandling was not part of the deal, but he grabbed me once again, this time tighter, and pulled me in.

"What? Not enough? Greedy little thing, aren't you?" Without awaiting a reply, he opened the glass door to the mysterious man's room and strode in with me in tow.

The pungency of cigarette smoke hit my nostrils, but for some reason, I wasn't turned off.

"Miss Alina Volkova," Michael introduced me to the person who still stood in shadows. "Good work, Mr. Orlov. I believe she'll be well worth every ruble."

“Have the contract sent to my address,” a deep, sultry voice said from the shadows. The cherry on the end of his cigarette blazed and lit up his features dimly before he disappeared again. “And take your hands off my property, for Christ’s sake. I’m not paying for damaged goods.”

Michael released me immediately, and I rubbed the spot on the back of my arm, knowing there was going to be a bruise there in the morning.

"As you wish." Michael awkwardly bowed. "Be careful in the room, but be careful around her—she's a firecracker."

I had no idea what I was supposed to do, so I simply stood there like a fool for what seemed like forever.

When I had almost convinced myself that he was going to be arranging for the two of us to remain there the entire length of the two years, he finally breathed and extinguished his cigarette. The light flashed on, briefly blinding me, as my eyes had readjusted to the dark. After they had adjusted, I looked at him.

My gut lurched, and I swear I think I skipped a beat. or two. or three.

He was gorgeous. A picture of raw strength and chiseled good looks. He was dressed in a bespoke suit, black on black. He didn't have a tie wrapped around his neck, and the top buttons of his shirt were open to reveal his collarbones and a glimpse of his chiseled chest. My eyes followed the tense cords of his throat to his firm jawline, darkened by the initial presence of a beard. His lips were full and the sheer shade of deep pink, his nose straight and unblemished, and his eyes… my god, his eyes. I'd never known such a dark hazel so full of so many different colors, or so many men with eyelashes so long. His dark brown hair was short, longer on top with the front spiked. He was perhaps the most handsome man I'd ever seen.

He raised his hand and spread his long fingers through his hair. In annoyance at my gawking or simply out of habit, I had no idea, but it was nonetheless hot.

I wondered why some one so like him would go to such extremes as to purchase a companion when he obviously could have any one he desired. But then he moved closer, reminding me that this was no storybook greeting and there were things I had to do—things I did not have a choice in.

"Well, we'll see if you're worth it," he groaned as he unbuckled his belt and pulled out his enormous cock.

I gazed at him in shock, because gracious me, surely he did not expect me to lose my virginity to him in such a disgusting place. I mean, I knew that I belonged to him, but for goodness' sake?

On your knees, Alina, or the deal is off and you're free to leave with the lard-butt in the other room. He did seem to want you," he growled with a sensual grin as he stroked his magnificent cock. "Show me your appreciation."

Problem number one: I'd never given a blow job in my whole life.

"Alina, you're wasting my time, and clearly my money."

"You want me to… Here? Now?" I stuttered nervously.

"Did I stutter?" the mysterious man asked, raising an eyebrow.

I knelt on the floor at his feet and swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. Thank God that the floor was cold because it was not until then that I realized how ridiculously warm it had become in the small room. I could feel heat emanating from me in waves, and I could have been redder than a hot iron. Deep breaths of air were in order so that my nerves wouldn't make me vomit all over his lap. That would not have been well received.

He released a frustrated sigh, and it only made my heart beat faster. "Put my cock in your mouth, Miss Volkova."

I slouched forward and took it, finding that I couldn't even circle my hand around it. Sweet Jesus! He hadn't really meant it, had he, to think that I could jam something that large in my mouth. I stupidly looked up at him. His eyebrow was creased in hope and there was a twitch in his jaw; for an instant he very nearly looked as nervous as I did. I mentally shook my head because surely not, so I went back to the task at hand, which was most certainly a task and quite obviously something that I was meant to get on with.

I was sure I had to have appeared like a moron as I inspected his cock, trying to figure out how to go about doing it. All of those all-night sleepovers with Lanka really weren't so silly after all. I knew how to use a banana, all right, but those bananas would've needed to be filled with some serious steroids to compare to the mysterious man's cock.

There was a smudge of wet stuff on the head, and I didn't know what to do with that exactly, so I opened my mouth and licked at it with the tip of my tongue. I heard him hiss very faintly and took that as a sign that it was okay, so then I kissed it, but the kiss was not sexy at all. It was like kissing my uncle on his bald head, except not even like that. Jesus, I had no clue what I was doing and my fumbling was making my brain go to a seriously dumb place. It was my defense mechanism. I knew I was, but the timing of the fact that it was occurring didn't cause it to cease.