At Any Price

Drake waved a hand to my seat while he took his. I sank slowly into mine, the leather sticking to the backs of my sweaty knees. I looked at the man flanking him for the very first time, suddenly realizing I hadn’t even spared a thought or a glance for him before this. He was older, balding, with a middle paunch and appeared in his midfifties. He carried a briefcase and appeared to be a lawyer. When I looked back at Drake, I almost jumped at the intensity of his gaze. His eyes shot points right through me, like icy darts. My eyes held his but I swallowed what felt like a watermelon in my throat and tried to ignore the pulse bumping at my temple.

Heath began riffling through a stack of papers on the table before him and Drake looked away from me to follow what Heath was doing. By coincidence, I’m sure, I finally remembered to take a breath at that exact same moment.

Heath pulled out the paper he was looking for and Drake turned back to me. “So do I call you Girl Geek or do I get to know your name?”

I cleared my throat and refolded my hands in my lap. “My name is Mia.”

His eyebrows rose. “Mia?”

I fought the urge to fidget, tightening my hands on top of my bare knees. He looked down, as if watching my hands through the glass table. “Emilia. But everyone calls me Mia.”

A small smile danced on his lips when he looked up again and met my gaze. “I’m not everyone.” His eyes traveled down to my conservative neckline—but no lower, to his credit—and back. “Emilia.”

My fists clenched. Was he deliberately trying to provoke me with this arrogant attitude? Because if it was unintentional, then this was a really bad sign.

Drake cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Heath’s stack of papers. “So let’s go over the particulars of the contract. Is this just about the penetration of one organ by another or are there specifics laid out? What about touching, kissing? How many times? What about kink?”

My jaw dropped. I couldn’t help it. I scrutinized him and he seemed to detect my study even though he was looking at Heath. His sensual mouth tugged up at the corners. That’s when I realized that this was deliberate. Was it an act?

I turned to Heath, who appeared to be barely able to contain his laughter. He looked at Drake with a strange expression. “That’s a lot to cover. And this is a strange venue to do it.”

Drake shrugged and his eyes flicked back to me. “How about we just start with deal breakers, then?”

I exchanged a glance with Heath, who nodded and turned back to Drake. “I know of one that we can discuss right now. There will be no fellatio.”

Drake leaned forward. “Excuse me?”

I folded my arms tightly against my chest, already burning with resentment. “You heard him correctly. No cocksucking.” Yeah, I said it. If he could be deliberately provocative, then why couldn’t I?

His black eyes darted to mine, mildly amused, still insufferably brash. “Are you on birth control?” he asked abruptly. I blinked. He was definitely one-upping me in the obnoxious department.

Drake’s lawyer jerked a surprised look at him, frowning, clearly surprised by the abrupt behavior. Well, at least that was a sign that this sort of thing was unusual from Drake. Still didn’t excuse him, though. “All of that is delineated in the paperwork for the terms of the auction, Mr. Drake. Yes, I’ll be using birth control but there will also be condoms—”

I stopped as his handsome face split into a patronizing grin. “If I’m going to lay down a fortune for the privilege of experiencing your quivering virgin flesh, I think it goes without saying that I expect to do it without a barrier.”

I sat back, clenching my teeth so hard that my head started to ache. My gaze was held fast by the challenge in his ebony eyes. He might have been the most gorgeous creature I’d ever laid my eyes on, but he was also an asshat.

He tilted his head at me, puzzled. “Why is that a problem? If we are both cleared by a physician—”

I unclenched my jaw just long enough to reply. “Recent medical clearance is not sufficient for me. I’d require celibacy for at least the previous six months, so—”

“Then there isn’t a problem.”

I highly doubted that. I opened my mouth to call him a liar when Heath leaned forward and put his hand on the table in front of me.

Drake’s lawyer cleared his throat, throwing a bland look at me and turning to Drake. “We can work all these details out later in mediation. Mr. Drake does have a plane to catch later today.”

Drake’s eyes darted to Heath and back to me. I could tell he was trying to gauge our relationship. It wasn’t the first time a person had looked at the two of us in that unsure, questioning way. Heath was not obviously gay in any way. He wasn’t “fabulous” or flamboyant. He was very masculine in his behavior and mannerisms, so he rarely set off people’s gaydar.