After everyone leaves, I find myself alone with Aiden. He puts his arms around me and kisses my forehead. He apologizes over and over, but I still feel numb about what just happened.

“He was about to rape me, Aiden,” I say after a moment, looking into space somewhere in front of me. “What the hell happened?”

“I had some work to take care of. And no one was supposed to bid on you, I swear.”

“So you did want me to participate in the auction?” I ask.

He nods, looking away. I don't understand. “But why would you want to bid again? I mean, I thought that we were beyond that?”

I don’t really know what I’m saying except that I want to say that I thought we were further along than this. I don't want money to be involved in our relationship anymore. I want this to be more than it is. But I have no idea if that’s what he wants.

“The thing is that Blake is one of Owl’s biggest investors. Mainly because he got involved in it so long ago. Back when I didn’t have any money.”

“Is he your friend?”

“He was. And he wanted you the second that he saw you at the last auction. But I outbid him. I think he was just getting back at me.”

I shake my head and walk away. There are words coming out of his mouth, but they still don’t completely make sense.

“Ellie, you have to believe me. I’m telling you the truth. I wanted you to participate in the auction because I thought it would be hot.”

“But why did you want me in the auction at all? I mean, I could’ve just come here and been with you?” I whisper.

Aiden looks away. I see a faint flash of red fill his cheeks. Is this a sign of his embarrassment?

“I wanted to outbid Blake again,” he says after a moment. “It’s a stupid guy thing. We just got into a disagreement about the direction that Owl will be taking in the future and I wanted to show him up. I wanted to show him that I have the girl. But then I got a very important business call and I couldn’t hang up. Owl is free to use as you know, for users. So growing our revenue has become somewhat of an issue. I don't want to bore you with the details.”

“No, I want to know,” I insist.

“Well, I’m trying to get a bunch of investors on board to try to take it into another direction. I want to monetize the company by selling advertising. And not just to big companies, but to everyday users. Small businesses. People who want to advertise their Etsy shops, sell their Amazon books, things like that.”

I nod.

“We were having a conference call right before the auction. And things got a bit heated. That’s why I couldn’t call in. I didn’t want to put a strain on what is already a very tenuous and precarious situation,” Aiden says. He takes a step forward and lifts my chin up to his. “But the last thing I thought would happen was that Lizbeth would go ahead with auctioning you off, and I never thought that Blake would go that far. I mean, I knew he was a sexist pig, but forcing you to do something against your will? I would never knowingly be friends with someone like that.”

There’s a desperation in his voice that is quite convincing. When I look into his eyes, the all-powerful, alpha guy I knew has all but vanished. Before me stands a hurt little boy who wants to desperately convince me of the truth. My head keeps trying to push him away, but my heart knows that he’s telling the truth.

I break away from his grasp and pace around the room. I don't know what to do. I don't want to forgive him, but I feel like I have to.

“Ellie, I know that what just happened is unforgivable. I mean, you must’ve been so scared and I put you in that situation. But I have to ask you to forgive me.”

He doesn’t approach me this time. Instead, he gives me space. I nod, hearing what he has to say but not really internalizing it. The anger that I felt toward Blake is now spilling over onto Aiden. I know he’s telling the truth, but I don't care.

“Ellie?” he asks after a moment.

“I don’t know what you want from me,” I finally say. “I mean, I understand what you’re saying, but I’m still angry. I was tied up here, completely powerless, in front of that asshole. I mean, I know that this was an accident, but I’m still fucking pissed.”

“I know,” Aiden whispers, hanging his head.

“I can’t stay here,” I say after a moment. “I want to go home.”

“Okay,” Aiden agrees. “The helicopter pilot went home, but I can call him in. It’s no problem.”

Fuck, I mutter to myself.

“Do you want me to leave?” I ask.

“No, of course not!” Aiden says quickly. “I want you to stay. But I totally understand why you feel like you have to. Do you want me to call him?”

I think about it for a moment. A part of me wants to leave. But a slightly bigger part wants to stay. And not just because the helicopter pilot went home already. But because of something else. Something that I feel for Aiden.

“Ellie, what can I do?” Aiden asks, probably sensing my trepidation. “What can I do to make this up to you?”

I think about this for a moment.

“Show me the library.”

He smiles out of the corner of his mouth and leads me to the library. It’s even more magnificent than I thought it would be. The ceiling is very tall, just like the rest of the rooms, but this room has elaborate wooden built-in shelves going all the way from the ceiling to the floor. As soon as I walk in, I’m hit by the strong aroma of brand new books. By the spines, I can tell that many editions aren’t new at all, but they are impeccably taken care of.

“Wow, this place is beautiful,” I whisper, spinning on my heels. There are older editions of the classics like The Iliad, and Shakespeare, and there are newer books as well. I walk over to one of the five wooden ladders with wheels at the bottom. I’ve seen these in movies, but have never had the pleasure to actually climb one.

“May I?” I ask. Aiden smiles and nods.

I grab a hold of the ladder. Pushing it slightly ahead of me, I step on the lower step and enjoy the momentum that it gathers even though it is a bit brief. For a second, I’m transported to one of my favorite movies from childhood, Beauty and the Beast. That was my favorite movie because Belle was a reader, like I was. She was a bit of a tomboy and didn’t care about guys or getting married. Instead, she always had her nose stuck in a book.

I climb up the steps of the ladder, about halfway up the wall and run my fingers across the hardbacks to the right of me. My hand lands on the thick large spine of Atlas Obscura. I slide it out and bring it back down with me. When I open the book, I press the book to my nose and inhale the sweet aroma of newly printed pages.

“This book is fascinating,” Aiden says. “There are so many strange places in the world.”

“I’ve only been on the website,” I say, looking at the photo about the island of dolls in Mexico City. Apparently, the island is something of a memorial to a little girl who died who loved to play with dolls.

“Well, these are quite creepy,” Aiden says, reading over my shoulder.

“I’ve always been somewhat terrified of old dolls,” I admit. We stand here for a few moments, reading about the swimming pigs of the Bahamas and the island of snakes off the coast of Brazil, which people aren’t allowed to visit without special permission from the government because it’s entirely populated by snakes and no other mammals, including the most venomous snake in the world.

“This book is fascinating,” Aiden whispers. “I’ve read most of it, but I could read it again and again.”

“Have you ever seen any of these places?” I ask.

“I’ve seen a few. But not many.”

“I’d love to visit some of these,” I announce. “Actually, I’d love to visit them all.”

“Why don’t you?” he asks after a moment.

That’s a very good question. A couple of weeks ago, I would’ve had a good excuse. I didn’t have the money. But now, things are a bit different now.

“Maybe I will.” I nod.

I walk over to a fainting couch at the far end of the room, the kind I’ve only seen in movies, and lie down, running my fingers across the books above my head.

“So what’s going to happen with Blake now?” I ask. Aiden shrugs.

“I don’t really know. He’s probably going to pull out of the company. He isn’t the type to be humiliated and then stick around.”

I like the sound of that. “You think I humiliated him?”

“Of course. I mean, you did basically beat him up,” he says with a smile on his face.

I won’t lie, I like the sound of that. And this is coming from a girl who has never been in a fight her whole life. I’ve always been somewhat of a pacifist. Or maybe just a wimp.

“And if he doesn’t pull out as an investor, I’m going to try to push him out. Even though that’s going to cause quite a mess.”

“Really?”

He shrugs. “I don't want his money, but Owl sort of depends on it, if you know what I mean. He is the biggest investor and it’s already bleeding money. I’m putting all our money into this new advertising strategy and so far it’s not really producing a return. At least, not as fast as I want it to.”

I nod as if I understand.

“You see, that’s what worked so well for Facebook. At first, it was just a social media space where everything was free. And then they had to monetize it somehow. So they started this great advertising platform, which is relatively easy to use for both small and big businesses. And that’s where most of their revenue comes from now. And Google, of course, has been doing that as well. That’s my plan with Owl.”

“So why isn’t it working?”

“The platform has some issues. Our reporting isn’t as great as Google’s and nowhere near as good as Facebook’s. And most of the time, we don’t spend enough of the advertiser’s money per day.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s say that the client puts in that they want to spend ten dollars a day on advertising. They create their ad and the audience targeting and ideally the platform is supposed to spend ten dollars or at least about ten dollars. But ours only spends about two dollars or maybe five dollars. It doesn’t deliver the ad to enough people in their parameters per day and that’s why the spend is so low.”

I don’t really understand what he’s talking about, or how one would even go about making the platform increase its reach, but I nod sympathetically. He doesn’t seem to notice.

After a moment, Aiden gets up and lights the large marble fireplace on the other side of the room. The light flickers all around the room, making the library look enchanted.

“This place is so beautiful,” I whisper, looking around. Suddenly, every muscle in my body relaxes and my eyelids grow heavy. It’s as if I’m falling under a spell.

“It’s my favorite room here,” Aiden says, sitting down next to me. We sit in silence for a bit, watching the flames flicker and catch on one another in front of us.

“The thing is, Ellie,” Aiden whispers, “that none of this Owl business really matters now.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugs. “Just how I feel now. The only thing that I care about is you.”

He is sitting so close to me, I can feel the heat emanate from his body. When I turn my face toward him, I feel his breath on my lips.

He reaches out and brushes his fingers along my bottom lip. His touch feels rough at first, but it quickly softens. I wait for him to move closer to me, but he doesn’t budge. Instead, he remains in place, waiting for me to make a move. After a few moments, I can’t bear it any longer. I move my face closer to his and press my lips onto his. I close my eyes and lose myself in the moment.

As our kiss intensifies, Aiden cradles my face and buries his fingers in my hair. His lips are effervescent. His tongue feels familiar in my mouth. With one quick motion, he tilts my head and places his lips on my neck. His kisses are slow and deliberate, and I start to feel myself lose all control.

As our legs touch, his hands slowly make their way down my shoulders and toward the small of my back. He pushes me against the couch and climbs on top of me. I let him. I crave him. My legs open on their own and we intertwine and become one. We roll around, pressing against each other’s bodies and losing our hands in each other’s hair and clothes. In a few moments, the clothes start to become a hindrance.

Within moments, we struggle out of our clothes and our bodies find each other and collide once again. Aiden kisses me again. This time his lips are more forceful and as powerful as the rest of his body. The kiss is so forceful it borders on pain, but the good kind. The kind that sends shivers up my body. I push back into him and feel him rise above me.

Soon, our bodies start to move as one. I love the feeling of his large, hard cock on my pelvic region, toying with me. Teasing me. I reach for it with my hand and grab hold. But he pulls away as he starts to kiss my breasts and then goes further down my body. He licks my belly button. My body rises and falls with each kiss. I open my legs and feel the wetness in between my legs. He slides in without much effort, finally filling me up. I’m so aroused that I feel myself getting close to an orgasm almost immediately.

“Aiden,” I whisper, throwing my head back in pleasure.

“Ellie,” he whispers into my ear as he moves in and out of me. I don't care that it has only been a few minutes. I want to come and I don’t dare stop or slow myself down. A moment later, my legs cramp up. I curl my toes and a warm sensation fills my whole body.

“Oh, Ellie!” Aiden moans a second later, collapsing on top of me after one final thrust.