Sold To The Dragon Princes: The Novel

by Daniella Wright

Tori had considered it. But she knew it would only cause massive amounts of bloodshed and possibly get several people that she really loved killed. And it wasn’t worth it. Mikhail had played his little mind games and ran his crazy little social experiment at her expense and now it was over. It was tragic and it was something she was going to have to deal with forever, but she was prepared to do that. There was no reason to bring anyone else into it, although she did want to see him pay somehow.

  “I got really drunk at my birthday party. And when the shooting in the bar started I got so scared that I ran out the back door and stumbled around walking down a few alleys. I flagged down a cab and I had it take me to a hotel where I slept it off. The next day I was going to come home, but I just didn’t feel like going back to real life. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately and I just decided that I needed a break. I’m sorry I didn’t contact you and tell you what I was doing. I thought you would just try to talk me out of it. And I needed this. I just had to get away from everything and everyone for a while. I’m sorry.”

  Tori almost believed every word of it herself. It was well-thought out and convincing even though she just made it up on the spot.

  “Well, honey if you felt that way I would have understood. You should have called. You almost put your mother into an early grave with a stunt like that, you know?”

  “I’m sorry,” Tori said. “That’s all I can say. I have no excuse for doing that; it was selfish of me and I just didn’t think. I was too wrapped up in me.”

  “Ok,” her father said. “Well, when do you think you can get back to work? No pressure; you take your time, but I was just curious because I do miss you being out there. The people like you and they respond to you.”

  “Soon, dad. Soon.”

  “Alright, well you just let me know honey. In the meantime just take it easy and enjoy your long birthday,” Tony said with a chuckle.

  Tori smiled and walked out of his office feeling the relief washing over her.

  CHAPTER 8

  Tori sat in her apartment looking at the blank television. She’d been sitting there for probably close to an hour enjoying the silence and the peace. It was odd, but for the past month she’d had nonstop peace and quiet all day and was desperate to talk to somebody, but now she was free and could pick up a phone and talk to anyone or go out into the house instead of her studio apartment her parents had built over top of the pool house when she turned sixteen, converting it essentially into a nice two-story house and talk to whoever she wanted to talk to.

  But she just wanted to be alone with her thoughts, probably because her thoughts would not stop about Mikhail. She could not get her mind on anything else. She kept thinking that he would be in the kitchen making breakfast when she got done with her morning workout or that he would be coming home just before dinner to fix one of his amazing feasts and tell her stories about the stupid things his friends and employees had done that day, some of them horrible things, but it put a smile on her face anyway.

  She missed him. She knew it was ridiculous, but she could not help the way she felt. When she broke it down everything he did he did because he wanted her, but he did not force her to do anything she didn’t want to beyond staying in the house. She did not want for anything there. And when she really looked back on it she had to wonder if she knew deep down that Laila was alright. After the first few weeks did she know? Did she know and choose to stay because she liked being there with him?

  Tori did not know what to make of her feelings. She had to tell Mikhail how she felt. She had to get some answers and confront him about his feelings.

  Thirty minutes later she was knocking on his door. She could barely remember the drive over or even being cleared at the gate to get into his property, but here she was. Was this a mistake after all?

  Mikhail answered the door just as Tori was debating whether to leave or not. The sight of seeing him standing there was shocking. He looked incredible and she immediately found herself being sucked back into him.

  Mikhail was shocked as well. It took him a few moments of standing there and looking her up and down before he spoke. And gone was the snarky cocky wit he usually displayed. He was talking to her like an actual person.

  “Wow, I didn’t expect to see you here ever again,” Mikhail said.

  “Well, that makes two of us.”

  “So, stupid question, but how are you?” Mikhail asked.

  “Enough with the pleasantries,” Tori said. “I came here to ask you why you did that to me. Why did you take me away from my life? Was I just some toy for your amusement? You asked me to acknowledge my feelings; well I’m asking you to acknowledge yours.”

  Mikhail did not answer for a few seconds. He stepped back and motioned her inside. She stepped back inside the house and he shut the door behind her.

  “Listen, I’m sorry I hurt you. That was never my intention.”

  “Then why do what you did? I still don’t get it.”

  “It’s like I told you at the bar; I saw an opportunity and I took it. I’ve been like that with everything in life; I’m a risk taker. I take chances. When I see an opportunity I don’t hesitate for a second. I just pounce on it.”

  “I see; so I’m just an opportunity,” Tori said.

  “No. You are much more than that. Listen, I really care about you. I’m sorry I did that to you. I ended up blowing what could have been the greatest opportunity of my life by trying to force something to happen instead of letting life take its course. I was wrong. I am sorry.”

  Tori could tell that for the first time Mikhail was being genuine. He really meant every word he was saying. And she believed him. And she had to admit the truth to herself too; she cared for him deeply.

  “I forgive you,” Tori said. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  Mikhail took her hands in his and held her close. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I met you. I never want to let you go.”

  “I’m not sure where this will lead or if it will work at all, but I want to try. I think we owe it to ourselves to let down our guards and just see what will happen with us.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Mikhail said. He bent down and kissed her gently on the lips.

  “Whatever doesn’t make sense, I’m sure we'll figure it out together,” Tori said.

  She closed her eyes as Mikhail leaned in for another kiss. His lips were so firm and so strong; just as she remembered. She had been craving him ever since she left him at the club.

  They barely made it to the bed with a single item of clothing left between them. The passion had taken over, true passion. It was a mix of lust and beginning love that was intense and sharp, swooping in like a speeding arrow with a destination that it could not be swayed from.

  She could not remember a time when she had felt so desired and so spent. As Mikhail entered her with his huge, thick member pushing through her wet shield into her waiting center she knew that it was all going to work out somehow.

  Love like this could not be destroyed. It started fast and it burned bright and hard, but with the right tending it would grow to become massive and nothing could burn hotter.

  Caged Passion was often that way.

  Sold

  ~Bonus Story~

  A Steamy & Forbidden Mafia Romance

  Life is rarely fair. Such an idea is for children, those who haven’t experienced enough of the real world to know what struggle is life. I could say it wasn’t fair that my father was in debt. I could say it wasn’t fair that I was the one that stepped up to deal with the consequences.

  What would it matter, really, when at the end of the day I still ended up in the arms and bed of Nero Adams, the man to whom I sold my body so that my father could have a chance to live? Fairness didn’t come into play in such situations like this. The only thing you could worry about was whether or not you’d survive knowing you ended up falling in love with the man who might get you killed.

  * * *

  Deal Makingr />
  Elizabeth

  The journey there was a long and complicated one. It was a road riddled in poor choices, bad timing, and though none were through any fault of my own, I still found myself withstanding the worst of the consequences to those actions.

  It had started with my father’s gambling, and then escalated at my mother’s death. By the time I realized how bad things were, truly saw how far things had sunk… well. All my mother’s possessions had been pawned to pay off my father’s unbreakable debts, and even then, he had the Lorenzo’s lackeys knocking on his door, demanding his money. When he couldn’t give it, his car had been busted up. The second time?

  It was his knee cap.

  So, where was here? Where was this place that I’d come, the beginning of the end, the apex of a hellish mass of worrying and suffering my family had been made to endure? Of all places, a biker bar. The last place that I ever wanted to be, but it was the only place I could imagine I could get what I needed and save my father before a busted knee cap turned into a busted skull.

  Ray’s, the place was called, and it was seedy as all hell. Pulling in in my beat-up Dodge, I cringed at the thought of setting foot into that bar. It was a haven for the depraved, the desperate and the destitute. You could get anything you wanted in there – booze, drugs, women, men. The biker gang that ran it wasn’t too picky; if it could be bought, they sold it, if they wanted it they took it. They were the second most powerful crime organization in the city, next to the Lorenzo’s, and that was only because the Lorenzo blood ran so deep through the city that they had their hands in everything that the bikers of Ray’s hadn’t touched.

  I stepped out onto the gravel, heels sinking between the rocks. I felt my stomach sink, too, the anxiety grip me at my core. I breathed in the air and tasted lingering hints of tobacco smoke. It almost made me crave the drag of a menthol, though my choice to quit years ago left me without. Perhaps it’d have calmed my nerves, settled the jitters that worked their way from my stomach, into my throat.

  The place was crowded. Bodies were packed tight within, and the haze of smoke and flickering yellow lights didn’t help much. I ended up pressed against people, body sliding uncomfortably against strangers. The firm grip of a hand squeezed my rear; a whistle pierced through the sound of thumping rock music. These were all things I ignored, things I let slip to the back of my mind and away.

  I had a singular purpose. I made my way to the back of the bar, avoiding the calls of men who noticed me. A quick glance to my phone told me that I was just a few minutes early; my promptness only made me feel more jittery. I didn’t want to have to wait much longer. The men outside the back room didn’t make it much easier on me, either. They were huge, stood a head and a half taller than me, at least. They looked down at me, smirks on their faces. Their eyes roved, though I stood straight.

  “I’m Elizabeth Love,” I told them. “I’m here to see Mr. Adams?”

  “You can wait until he’s done,” the man on the right said. He continued to look at me, and I felt as though I should be standing before him naked. I shifted.

  “I’ll wait, then.” I didn’t want to cause any more trouble than need be. My stomach felt knotted enough as it was; I didn’t have it in me to cause a true commotion.

  “Pretty thing, ain’t she, Johnny?” The one on the right spoke up. When I glanced at him, his smirk was a toothy grin.

  “True thing, true thing. You doing anything tonight, sugar?”

  “I’m speaking with Mr. Adams, and then I’m leaving,” I said, firm.

  “Sure you don’t want to party? Sweet little thing like you. Look like you need a little breaking in –”

  The reprieve of the door opening saved me. A woman stepped out, blonde, busty, beautiful. She had a dazed look to her green eyes, though, and white dusted her nose. She walked past us, wiping at her mouth. I swallowed when I saw white liquid drip from the corner of her red-smeared lips. One of the men reached out and smacked her rear. She stumbled, looked back at him, though she said nothing before going on her way. I didn’t like the implications of her state; it made me swallow nervously again.

  “Have fun, cupcake,” the man on the left said to me.

  I was glad that he at least didn’t touch me, too.

  The doors closed behind me. I was grateful for the silence that followed. A great desk was before me, and behind that, stood a man. I barely took his features in before I looked away, my face heating. He was tucking himself back into pants that had been down at his hip. There wasn’t much guessing as to what the woman in here previously had been doing for him.

  “Elizabeth Love?” The voice that greeted me was cocky sounding, as if its owner was too sure of himself for his own good. I nodded. The man laughed, and my eyes cut to him.

  “Is something funny, Mr. Adams?”

  He plopped himself down into his cushy chair. One of his hands ran through his sandy blonde hair; his smirk was as ever-present as the men outside. When he didn’t answer me, I stepped forward, neatly seating myself in the chair across from him. I steeled myself for the conversation at hand, for the bargain I would initiate. Too bad I didn’t possess enough steel within myself to stop my hands from trembling, clenched as they were on my lap.

  “I understand that you help people,” I began, unwilling to let his amusement with me impede my purpose. “If they have something to offer in return.”

  “I do,” he said simply. He lounged back, relaxed. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one with a lighter from his desk. When he offered me one, as well, I shook my head. He gave a shrug and took a drag. There was a bit of silence before he spoke again. “So what is it you need? Money? Protection? Another sort of favor? We’re generous here. For a price.” He seemed quite pleased about that. For a price. I had to fight down a grimace, and nod.

  “I need money. My father is in debt –”

  “And you’re being a good daughter, helping him get out of it?” His amusement seemed to mount. My jaw set.

  “I’m trying.”

  “I see.” He tilted his head. “So. Money. How much are we talking?”

  “Eight hundred thousand dollars.” Mr. Adams let out a whistle.

  “That’s a pretty price. And what are you going to do in exchange for nearly a million dollars’ worth of debt?”

  Ah. Finally coming to the crux of the issue.

  My heart, having beat at a steady, hard rhythm, felt like it was going to thump straight out of my body. I had made the choice, thought about it for weeks before concluding that this was what I needed to do. This, certainly, was the only way to save my father. He had nothing. I had nothing. Nothing to pawn to a broker, least, or that could be reasonably sold.

  So, when I answered him, I answered with as much dignity as I could manage, and hoped the sureness with which I spoke belied the fact that I was the most afraid that I had ever been in my entire life.

  “My company,” I said. “My… body. Whatever you would have of me. Whatever what you want for whatever it’s worth, for as long as it takes for my father’s debts to be erased. I just need it to be regular, so he’s paying and they see he’s paying, and they leave him alone.”

  Mr. Adams regarded me for a while. I wondered if he truly needed to think about my offer – I had heard he’d take almost anything when it came to having women. And though I feared the results of him taking me up on the offer – the plea – I feared what would happen should he deny me even more. It was life and death, what rested on my shoulders. It was a heavy burden to bare and I could only hope that this man… this biker, mobster, thug of a man, would help me, even if only to see himself secure some sort of pleasure from it.

  “Come here.” He beckoned me, quirking a finger over to him. I was hesitant to stand, but with no other options, what was I do to but go to him? I did so, steps hesitant. I stood before him, and he circled his fingers around, indicating that he wanted me to turn for him.

  It was humiliating, but I did so. It felt like I wa
s more a dog than a woman – an animal to be judged and appraised for its worth. When I turned back around to face him, Mr. Adams had a smirk on his face.

  “You’re in luck, Elizabeth. I like what I see. Now how about a taste?”

  That night was the first night that Nero Adams touched me.

  Unexpected Enjoyment

  Nero

  “Hey boss, you got a moment?”

  My eyes open, agitated. I had just laid my head down, finally getting a bit of time for rest. Not like oak wood was the most comfortable thing to lay your head on, but it was better than nothing and I was tired enough to ignore the fact that’d it’d likely leave my neck a little more than annoyed with me. That, however, was beside the point.

  Aiden stood in the doorframe of my office, leaning against it as if he owned the place. He was my best friend, my right-hand man. He was the one person I’d go to hell and back for, though interrupting my might may have earned him a one-way ticket there from me. He had a wicked grin on his rounded face, and I got the distinct impression he was going to tell me something that I didn’t want to hear; anything with a Cheshire grin like that was enough of an indication of that.

  “What do you want, Aiden? I just got to sleep.”

  “That Elizabeth woman called. Said it was urgent.”

  At that, I straightened up.

  It’d been about a week since that bombshell of a desperate woman came walking into my bar. Wasn’t the first woman, probably wouldn’t be the last – but she had something about her that interested me. Despite offering herself to me, she still had one thing most women didn’t have by the time they came here: her pride. I could see her try to swallow it down, but the time we spent together that night showed me she’d choke on it before she took it down entirely. Most in her position were dead and hollow already, that’s what made it easy to get them to do whatever you wanted.