“IamAzure. I work for them and pretending I didn't care when they tookmygirl and threw her in a cage with all the others was hell. I already put in months of work training her to be just the kind of woman I wanted. I don’t go for chained women, but I like them submissive. This one will do anything I ask, and she’ll do it with a smile on her face, happily, because she lives to serve me.”
Because he knew he needed to put on a show if he wanted Koa Rolland to understand that death was the only thing that would get him away from Ally, Mateo grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her down onto her knees before him. They’d already played this game in the ballroom tonight, and he knew Ally understood the stakes, so he tried not to feel too guilty as he looked at her. Keeping his expression cold and indifferent almost killed him, but he didn't have a choice.
“Show them how eager you are to please me, little mouse,” he ordered.
There was fear in the blue eyes that looked up at him, but determination there, too. He knew she didn't like anything about this, but he also knew she’d do it, because she’d already made the decision to do whatever she had to do to survive, and then deal with the fallout when she got home.
With hands that shook only a little, Ally reached into his pants and freed him, stroking him with a fist a few times beforetaking him into her mouth. Her gaze never wavered, never left his, and he knew she was using him as her anchor.
Which made pushing her further that much worse.
“Touch yourself, little mouse. Show them how much you enjoy pleasuring your master.”
Her brows rose a little, and for a second she choked on him, but then she did as he told her to, and kept one hand on him, while her other slipped inside her pants.
There was no denying the arousal spinning around them. All nine gazes were locked firmly on the beautiful redhead on her knees before him, and Mateo knew every single one of them would swap places with him in a heartbeat.
“She’s mine, and I won't give her up,” he said, looking away from Ally to Koa Rolland. “You paid for a woman from Azure, you pick another one. I’ll pay for this one for myself. She belongs to me, and I don’t share.”
“You could just choose another, train them,” Rolland said, his heated gaze dropping to Ally’s lips wrapped around him, and then her hand inside her pants.
“No. This one was mine first. I found her, I chose her, and I already trained her just the way I want her. Another one won't satisfy me the same way. I’d already planned on buying her from Azure, but they sold her off before I got the money together.”
“If you can't afford her, that’s not my problem,” Rolland scoffed.
“Let me put it this way,” he said as pleasure began to build inside him, and Ally’s breathing grew ragged. “I'm not giving her up. You can kill me, sure, take her back with you, but my girl won't live without me. She knew I was coming for her, and that’s the only reason she didn't do it already.”
“Do what?” Rolland asked.
“Take her own life. That’s what will happen if you take her back by force. So why waste your money? Azure won't give youa refund for that or allow you to choose another woman. So you may as well send us back home and allow Azure to offer you up someone else of your choosing.”
That plan would only buy him so much time, because he’d still have to figure out a way to convince Griffin to let him buy Ally for himself, and would have to rely on the fact that Prey would buy her freedom for him.
But as Ally cried out as pleasure rippled through her, and he followed quickly after her, he knew there was no other choice. He wasn't losing this woman, not to anyone. Otherwise, it wouldn't be Ally contemplating ending things, it would be him.
Because he couldn’t live without this woman.
He didn’t want to.
Chapter
Nineteen
August 22nd
3:17 P.M.
Was he dead?
Ally couldn’t think of another reason she wouldn't have seen Mateo since they were escorted off the plane and into separate SUVs. Koa Rolland, the name of the man who had bought her, apparently put some stock in the fact that she apparently “belonged” to Mateo. Being told he could replace her with someone else had been enough to keep them both alive, and on the plane journey back to the United States, the man hadn't touched her, had barely glanced at her.
She’d been kept cuffed and in a seat at the front of the plane, and Mateo, likewise cuffed, had been seated in the back. They hadn't been able to talk to one another, but she’d been able to see him, and that had been enough to keep her grounded.
Now it had been hours since he was taken away from her, and her fear for him kept growing.
Of course, it was a major gamble Mateo had taken by trying to bargain with Koa Rolland, especially since she doubtedAzure was going to let him buy her for himself even if he had the money. Prey knew where they were, at least there was that comfort, and the Delta Force team knew something had happened because they didn't make their flight.
If they'd left from the small airfield on the tiny island instead of taking a helicopter from Koa Rolland’s mansion to another island, the team probably would have broken them out before they even left Vanuatu. Would the team go to Prey and devise a plan to rescue them? Wouldn't that destroy the whole purpose of having men undercover inside the trafficking organization? If Mateo had what was needed to destroy Azure, he wouldn't still be working the case. It was selfish to think that Prey should put dozens, maybe hundreds of lives at risk just to try to save hers.