Chloe was escorted to a private room to prepare for the auction. Ivanna stayed with her, moving around with the ease of someone who knew the place inside and out.

"I want to wear this lingerie," Chloe said as she watched her friend pull several tagged pieces from the wardrobe. "I used Dante's credit card to buy it, so I want another man to be the one who takes it off."

"Fair enough." Ivanna grinned. "Sweet revenge."

She set the other lingerie aside and walked over to the vanity, picking up several expensive perfumes that were nothing like the delicate scents Chloe usually wore.

"I know," Chloe murmured.

Standing before the mirror, Chloe studied her reflection.

For the auction, she would wear only the black lace lingerie. Her body was beautifully proportioned, but it had always been hidden beneath the conservative suits she wore every day as Mrs. Montgomery. Tonight would be different.

A knock sounded at the door. Ivanna opened it to find one of Madame's men waiting outside.

"Everything's ready. It's time."

Ivanna escorted Chloe down a back hallway.

There was no door waiting for them, only a heavy burgundy curtain that looked like the stage drape before the opening act of a play.

At the center stood a large glass display case. Two men opened it for her. With trembling legs, Chloe nodded and stepped inside.

"Good luck, sweetheart." Ivanna smiled before walking away.

The auction was about to begin.

Without warning, the curtain swept open. Amber-colored lights washed over her, dim enough to cast the room in a seductive glow.

She stood on a raised platform, enclosed inside the glass display case like an expensive exhibit. No, like merchandise.

She slowly looked around the room.

Rich men, both young and old, sat at elegant round tables covered with bottles of the finest liquor. Every pair of eyes was fixed on her, stripping her bare with hungry gazes.

The air itself seemed heavy with desire. None of these men bothered to hide what they wanted. They had all come to buy the woman standing before them.

The only question was...

Who would make the highest bid?

Madame stepped onto the stage with effortless grace and sensuality.

She picked up the microphone and smiled at the crowd.

"Gentlemen, welcome."

Her voice echoed through the room.

"Tonight, Black Silk is offering you a truly rare treasure."

She gestured toward Chloe inside the glass case.

Madame approached without opening it.

There was no need for Chloe to do anything. Simply standing there was enough to captivate nearly every man in the room. Madame had noticed that immediately.

"Before you stands our rarest and most precious offering." She smiled wider. "A first time."

Absolute silence filled the room. Madame savored every second of it. This auction was going to be extraordinarily profitable.

"We'll open the bidding at five hundred thousand. Tonight, you're bidding for Gala's first night. A once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Chloe's eyes widened at the opening bid.

For a brief moment, she doubted anyone would actually pay that much for the virginity of a complete stranger.

"Seven hundred thousand."

The rough voice belonged to a broad-shouldered man whose face was anything but attractive. Even behind his mask, Chloe could tell.

The sight of him made her stomach turn.

The bidding escalated almost immediately. Every man in the room was wealthy and influential. None of them intended to lose.

"Eight hundred fifty thousand," a younger man called from a nearby table.

"Nine hundred thousand," the large man countered.

"One million."

The bid came from somewhere deeper in the room.

"One million!" Madame announced, striking the podium with an ebony gavel. "Do I hear one million one hundred thousand? Remember, the winner will be the first man to have her."

Her words only fueled the excitement. The offers climbed higher. One million two hundred thousand. One million three hundred thousand.

"Two and a half million!"

A man rose from his seat as he shouted the number, nearly doubling the previous bid.

Madame smiled with obvious satisfaction.

"Only two and a half million... for something this rare?" she asked, her soft voice carrying just enough challenge to provoke the room.

No one answered.

"Three million."

The large man spoke again.

Chloe looked at him. Revulsion twisted in her stomach.

Now she was truly beginning to regret this reckless decision.

She scanned the room. No one bid higher. Was she really about to lose her virginity to that disgusting man?

She bit her lower lip, trying to steady her breathing and suppress the fear rising inside her.

"Three million." Madame lifted the gavel. "Anyone else? Going once..."

She paused.

Silence.

"Going twice..."

Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the gavel to fall. She was going to be sold to that man. How could she have been so stupid? She should have found someone she actually wanted.

"Six million."

The deep, commanding voice came from the darkest corner of the room.

It was cold and authoritative.

"Six million?" Even Madame looked genuinely surprised by the bid.

She raised the gavel once more.

"Going once... Going twice..."

She glanced toward the broad-shouldered bidder.

He wasn't willing to go any higher.

For Chloe, the next few seconds felt agonizing.

Madame slowly swept her gaze across the room, but no one made another offer.

"Six million!" she declared, bringing the gavel down with a sharp crack. "The first time is yours."

From the shadows at the back of the room, the winning bidder couldn't take his eyes off Chloe.

He had only stayed to watch.

He hadn't intended to bid at all. Virgins had never interested him. He preferred experienced women who knew exactly how to satisfy him in bed.

Then, just as he was about to leave, she'd done it. She'd caught her lower lip between her teeth in a soft, nervous bite. Something inside him had snapped.

A fierce desire to possess her ignited, unlike anything he'd ever felt for a woman before, especially not an inexperienced virgin.

Now he'd bought her first time.

He had no intention of being gentle or patient. He wanted her to discover what it meant to be with a real man. A night she'd never forget.

"Holy shit... six million..." Ivanna whispered excitedly.

"What?" Chloe asked as Ivanna helped her step out of the glass display case.

"There's no time to talk." Madame interrupted as she approached them. "The gentleman who bought you wants you in the VIP suite immediately."

The color drained from Chloe's face.

From where she'd been standing, she hadn't even managed to get a good look at him. She didn't know if he was attractive... or another man like the burly bidder who had nearly won her.

"Don't worry," Madame said, noticing the fear in her eyes. "You were purchased by one of our most exclusive clients. He has impeccable taste."

She paused, studying Chloe.

"Although I have to admit, I'm surprised he chose someone with no experience."

"Who is he?" Ivanna asked curiously.

"That's confidential," Madame replied.

She ran a discreet business.

Every man who came to Black Silk was influential, and their identities were protected at all costs.

Chloe drew in a slow breath, forcing herself to calm down.

There was no turning back now.

She would give her virginity to the man who had paid six million dollars for it.

It was only one night.

After tonight, she would choose her lovers herself.

She would never ask Ivanna for help again.

Madame's men escorted her to the most luxurious suite in Black Silk.

It was the establishment's finest room.

Then again, after paying six million dollars, a few thousand more for the best suite probably meant nothing to a man like him.

Chloe entered alone.

The suite was enormous, almost as spacious as her bedroom at the Montgomery mansion.

A massive bed dressed in fine black sheets dominated the room.

Soft lighting cast everything in a warm, intimate glow.

Romantic.

Though she knew tonight would be anything but.

On a nearby table sat an expensive bottle of champagne.

She poured herself a glass and emptied it in one swallow.

She needed it.

The door opened again. She felt his presence before she even looked.

Setting her glass down, she slowly turned to face the man who had bought her.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and impeccably dressed in a tailored suit. His dark brown hair contrasted sharply with his piercing blue eyes that were cold and commanding. They held her gaze without wavering.

The air suddenly felt heavier.

He smelled of an expensive cologne, and a man willing to spend six million dollars on a single night was clearly drowning in money.

He stopped a few feet away. Without saying a word, his eyes traveled slowly over her body.

From the stiletto heels...

To her long, toned legs...

To the black lace clinging to her curves, barely concealing her body.

Heat spread through Chloe beneath his careful inspection.

She did everything she could to remain calm, refusing to appear desperate.

At least her first time would be with an incredibly handsome man.

His mask concealed part of his face, and the dim lighting hid the rest, but what she could see was enough.

He noticed her biting her lower lip again.

It was so damned sexy.

Just watching her made him hard.

"Let's see what that pretty little mouth can do," he said, his voice low and rough.

He closed the distance between them.

One hand gripped her chin. Without the slightest hint of tenderness, he claimed her mouth.

The kiss was demanding. Possessive. His lips parted hers effortlessly as he took what he wanted.

Chloe tasted expensive liquor on his tongue.

He invaded her mouth with absolute confidence, his experienced tongue tangling with hers, which had never known another man's kiss.

He broke the kiss just as abruptly as he'd started it.

Without a word, and with no trace of gentleness, he guided her down until she was kneeling before him.

She watched as he unfastened his trousers and freed his impressive erection.

Her throat tightened at the sight of its size.

"Open your mouth," he ordered. "I'm going to use it for what I paid for."

Chloe didn't resist.

This was exactly what she'd come here for.

She'd read scenes like this countless times in her novels.

All she had to do was surrender to the experience.

She parted her lips.

He smiled. Then he pushed himself as deep as she could manage.

The sensation overwhelmed her. His masculine scent surrounded her. There was no disgust. Only the intoxicating feeling of being filled, of finally experiencing something she'd longed for and that her husband had denied her for four years.

Now this stranger, the man who had bought her, was showing her what a real man was.

His hand closed firmly around the back of her neck, controlling the pace and the depth. He wasn't gentle. He never intended to be. His only concern was his own satisfaction.She couldn't even moan as he repeatedly filled her throat.

Chloe closed her eyes. Not out of embarrassment, but because she wanted to feel every second of it. It was raw. It was dirty. And it was the pleasure she'd been craving for so long.

Tonight, she intended to savor every moment. She would take everything the man who had paid for her first time was willing to give her. And she wouldn't refuse him anything.