Bartered (The Encounter #1)(33)

It was champagne colored with Swarovski crystals sewn into the dress. The thin straps on my shoulders went all the way down mid-back and crisscrossed to the base. The top fit me like a second skin while the bottom was cut short but gave enough room to wiggle about when dancing. It was provocative, alluring, and downright eye-catching. And I had never felt such feminine power until I saw myself in the mirror.

With my hair in a loose, messy chignon, golden neutral strokes of eye makeup, and gold, strappy Louboutins, I had to do a double take just to make sure the amazing transformation was actually me and not some odd-like dream because the woman staring back at me had serious sex bombshell written all over her. A playful smile broke from my lips as I admired my spanking new look.

“You look stunning, ma belle.”

I jumped at the sound of his voice. I twisted my head around and spotted him leaning against the slightly parted doorframe. His dark eyes were enough to tell me that he approved of my outfit.

And, hell, could he look any more irresistible?

My eyes drank him in as the feeling in my gut became this hollow feeling while my heart constricted. His presence singularly disarmed me. His charisma was quite lethal. His gorgeous appeal was deadly to my hormones.

He wore a black bowtie with his black, formal outfit. His wet hair was coarsely brushed to the back, evoking that rugged, devil-may-care sex appeal.

“Aren’t you going to come here and say hi?” My question surprised me more than it did him because his lazy smile which oozed hot sex and danger was in place as he strode towards me.

Once he reached me in the middle of the room, he stepped into my comfort zone, lifting my chin towards him, eyes wild and beautiful. “I was going to say hi, but I needed a moment to appreciate you from afar.”

Seriously, he was giving me a massive dose of you-make-me-so-hot-I-want-to-drink-you-in-one-gulp. It was predatory, and it made me aware of him in all of the wrong yet right tingling places.

“What?” I mumbled with my heart pitter-pattering madly against my chest. I felt faint just to have him near me.

“Bonjour, Isobel.” He said in such a way it sounded more of a caress to my senses. He was inducing a response from me that I had not an utter clue as to where and how it had come about. I felt hypnotized, enthralled by this very man himself. “What’s wrong, ma belle?” He raised his brow when my mouth parted a little but no sound came out.

Why? Because I had been bloody rendered speechless. Not only did he look mighty delicious, but he seemed to have taken over me. My skin prickled from awareness of him. It’s him. Everywhere. Around. Me. It was perplexing and frustrating, yet my senses were beyond captivated by his powerful magnetism.

“Hugo…” I whispered, flushing when I realized that I sounded more aroused than I had ever heard myself in my entire existence.

He stepped closer, our lips almost touching, his eyes holding mine, seeming like he was waiting for something.

“You feel it now. This is why I can’t resist you, ma belle.” His eyes flickered back and forth before he engulfed me with his passion through his perfervid kiss.

I was putty in his hands. However, my mind raced, wondering how in the world he could influence me so. Even Damen, though we had such a loving relationship, didn’t bring out this side of me. That’s why I’d had no idea it existed. It felt forbidden, but I wanted more of it. What did that make me?

“There.” He eyed me after he parted from my swollen lips. “You look branded as mine now.”

f*uk. I better snap out of this trance before I dug myself so deep in the shithole I wouldn’t be able to manage to get out of it when time came for me to pack my belongings and go back to my old life.

This was temporary, best not to let my mind forget that rather essential detail.





The night started glamorous and lavish as expected. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t at all aware of how this sort of lifestyle went about, but normally, I was the outsider. Tonight, I was a part of it, and it was truly different from what I had expected. With Hugo at my side, I felt a different kind of rush when women gave those hateful, vying looks directed towards me. I certainly wasn’t used to it.

Hugo gently placed a hand on the side of my hips and pulled me close to whisper in my ear while my eyes wandered about, basking in the beauty and the over-abundance of style and beautiful people onboard. “We’ve been invited by Jacques. You met him at the gala. This yacht is owned by one of his best friends who’s going to be racing with him tomorrow. His name is—”

“Luca de Medici,” I finished the sentence as I spotted the rogue playboy from afar, talking to his friends, appealingly in good spirits.

“Oh. You know him?” He sounded pretty surprised.

“No, I don’t know him personally, but I know of him.” I paused, my gaze taking in the man in question with one appreciative glance. “Everyone does.” Who wouldn’t notice those emerald green eyes, the scruff, and the smile that meant to drill holes in your underwear? And goodness, the tabloids did no justice when you saw the enigmatic man in real life.

Hugo’s fingers dug into the fabric of my dress and right into my sensitive skin. “Is it really necessary to stare at him while I’m right next to you?” he furiously hissed. “Save me some pride, Isobel. Have some decorum.”

I frowned. “Are you being serious?” I gave him a disbelieving glare before it totally sunk in that he meant each word. “Oh, you totally are.” His handsome face merely darkened at my close scrutiny. “I don’t get you and your jealous streak. It baffles me,” I said out loud without thought. His expression didn’t look pleased. In fact, it looked downright murderous.