Highest Bidder Collection - Lauren Landish

Prologue

Lucian

I slowly pace the room, letting the sound of my shoes clacking against the floor startle her. My eyes are on Dahlia, watching her every movement. Her breathing picks up as she realizes I’ve come back for her. With her blindfold on and her wrists and ankles tied to the bed while she lies on her belly, she’s at my complete mercy, and she knows it.

The sight of her bound and waiting for me is so tempting. I force my groan back.

Her pale, milky skin is on full display as she waits for me. I’ve left her like this deliberately, in this specific position. She knows now not to move, not to struggle. She knows to wait for me obediently, and what’s more, she enjoys it.

The wooden paddle gently grazes along her skin, leaving goosebumps down her thigh in its wake. They trail up the curve of her ass, and her shoulders rise as she sucks in a breath. Her body tenses and her lips part, spilling a soft moan. She knows what's coming.

She’s earned this.

She lied to me.

And she’s going to be punished.

She doesn’t know this is for her own good. She should, but she hasn’t realized it yet.

I’m only doing this for her. She needs this.

She needs to heal, and I know just how to help her. The paddle whips through the air and smacks her lush ass, leaving a bright red mark as she gasps, her hands gripping the binds at her wrists. I watch as her pussy clenches around nothing, making my dick that much harder.

Soon.

I barely maintain my control and gently knead her ass, soothing the pulsing pain I know she’s feeling. “Tell me why you lied to me, treasure,” I whisper at the shell of her ear, my lips barely touching her sensitive skin.

“I’m sorry,” she whimpers with lust. I don’t want her apology. I want her to realize what she’s done. I want to know why she hid it from me all this time. She’ll learn she can’t lie to me. There’s no reason she should.

Smack! I bring the paddle down on the other cheek and her body jolts as a strangled cry leaves her lips, her pussy glistening with arousal.

“That’s not what I asked, treasure.” My tone is taunting. She needs to realize what I already know. She needs to admit it. To me, but mostly to herself.

I pull away from her, just for a moment, leaving her to writhe on the bed from the sting of the paddle.

I didn’t anticipate our relationship reaching this point.

In the beginning, I thought this would be fun. Just a form of stress relief for me.

But things changed.

I bought her at auction, and now she can’t leave. She’s mine for an entire month. But the days have flown by, and the contract is almost over.

I need more time.

I’m going to make this right. I’m going to heal my treasure.

If it’s the last thing I do, I'll give her what she needs. What we both need.

She parts those beautiful lips, and hope blooms in my chest.

Say it, tell me what you desperately need to say.

But her mouth closes, and she shifts slightly on the sheets before stilling and waiting patiently for more.

I pull my arm back and steady myself.

Soon, she’ll realize it. My broken treasure. Soon she’ll be healed, but that won’t be enough for me anymore. I want more.

Smack!

Chapter 1

Lucian - A few weeks prior...

I stare at my jacket, laying it over the arm of the tufted leather chair in the corner of my office. I need to leave this fucking building and get home, but I don’t fucking want to. It’s not like I have anything waiting for me. Nothing to do but more work.

I’ve spent a fortune on my home. I built it from the ground up, painstakingly choosing every piece of hardware and meticulously designing each room myself. But I couldn’t give a damn if I go back there anymore.

It’s cold and lifeless. Empty.

My brow furrows, and a frustrated sigh leaves my lips. I could keep working. There’s always more work waiting.

I clench my jaw and type the password to unlock my computer, the gentle tapping of the keys soothing me. It’s a comforting sound. But only for a moment.

As the screen lights up and I glance at the window of emails left on the desktop, I seethe and remember why I’m in such a horrible fucking mood. My eyes focus on the lawyer’s name attached to the most recent email. This is why