“Madison.”

I freeze. The street below my window ceases to exist.

Thorne Drakos?

No. No. No. It can’t be him. And yet, I would recognize that voice anywhere. I hear the click of my office door closing and his footsteps coming closer. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes. The deep rumble of his voice is bittersweet.

‘Hello, Madison,” he whispers close to my ear. His energy surrounds me. I greedily drag in the scent of his aftershave, leather, pine forests, and the ocean. Oh, god. How I have missed him. These last two years without seeing him have been hell.

I take a step forward then turn around to face him. For a second my whole body goes cold. His eyes. The gray orbs are as frozen as the most inhospitable winter lake. He looks at me expressionlessly. The breath I was holding escapes in a rush. I force a bright smile. “Hiya.” My voice sounds breathy and shaky.

He smiles slowly. A cold smile. Full of danger.

I decide to take the bull by the horns. “I’m sorry I stole from you.”

His smile widens. It looks almost friendly except for the hostile wasteland in his eyes. “Are you now?”

“Yes, yes, I am very sorry. I’ll make arrangements to pay you back.”

His eyebrows rise. “What kind of arrangements would they be?”

“I’ll take a loan and I’ll pay you back every month. All of it. Every last cent.”

“With interest?’

“Of course,” I agree instantly.

His eyes glitter. “And the cost of finding you. It is very, very difficult to find a girl who stops using her credit cards, social media, and completely drops off the face of the earth.”

“Well, living in the UK is not exactly dropping off the face of the earth.”

“Let’s just say it is hard to find someone when you’re looking for Madison Redmond and they’re living under the name of Alison Mountbatten.”

I swallow hard. “Yes, I figured a new life was the best way forward.”

“Hmmm ...”

“If you tell me how much I owe you I’ll make arrangements. I … er … have work to finish.” I indicate to my desk.

“Um …We could call it two million even.”

My eyes pop. “What? I stol … took $300,000. You can’t be serious! You want two million back?”

He shrugs carelessly. “Interest and costs.”

“Interest and costs?” I echo incredulously.

He looks at me expressionlessly.

“You don’t even need it. It’s just numbers in your bank account.”

He takes his phone out of his expensive camel coat. “If you’d rather I alert the proper authorities instead—”

I raise my hand up. “Wait. Just wait a second here. We can work something out. I’ll pay it all back. I swear. I will. I just need a bit of time.”

“So you can run away.”

“I won’t run. I promise.”

He takes a step closer and I stop breathing. His hand rises up and he runs his finger down my exposed throat. “So soft and so pale,” he murmurs as his thumb caresses the skin where a pulse is kicking. “How can I trust a thief and a liar?”

“I give you my word.”

He shakes his head slowly. “No, Madison. Your word is not good enough.”

To my horror my eyes fill with tears. When I blink they spill down my cheeks. He laughs. “The oldest trick in the book. I should have known you’d stoop to that. Well, Alison Mountbatten, I’m afraid female tears have the opposite effect on me.” He bends his head and licks my cheek, his tongue warm and velvety. Then he looks into my widened eyes. “They excite me. You, my little thief, are going to cry for me. A lot.”

I did not realize that my hands had flown up. I must have wanted to shove him away, but they are resting on his chest, my fingers spread on the hard muscles. “What do you want from me?” I whisper hoarsely.

“I want you to pay your debt with your body.”

I blink with shock. “What do you mean?”

“For one year, you will be my toy. You sleep when I tell you to sleep, you will eat when I tell you to eat, you will spread your legs when I tell you to, you will fuck yourself when I tell you to, you will come when I tell you to. You will sleep in my bed and I will use you when and how I decide to.”

“You can’t do that to me,” I say, stunned.

“Or you can go to prison. You will be very sweet meat in a woman’s prison. All this soft, unmarked flesh.”

I shudder and he smiles. “See. My cock would be infinitely better, no?”

“Why are you doing this? You could have any woman.”

“Because I can. Now strip.”