"Go to bed with me and I will make you rich beyond your imaginations" His voice was calm but had a lot of hidden intentions. Known simply as Z, the ruthless multi-billionaire dominant who was used to getting just anything he wants including women, finds himself in a battle to devour the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, just like the other women he slept with. Jessica might be poor, but she had what other women he'd met were lacking and he was determined to find out what it was. She wouldn't surrender to his advances, neither will she pay him any attention. She was bent on letting him know that money cannot take every woman he desired to his bed, no matter the amount, because some women don't care about money but what is inside his heart.But what happens when after risking his life for her, she starts to genuinely fall for him? And oh, what if there's a competitor for him as well, is she ready to be involved in a dirty fight for a man she never really cared about?
Chapter 1 C1
There was a heavy downpour throughout the night. Jessica's clothes were totally drenched in the rain. Breathing heavily, she knelt in the mud, surprised to have made it to the river bank so soon. She glanced over her shoulder and her body shook. Crocodiles loved to hang out in Florida waters. A few moments more and she could have been torn apart by those creatures. She paused the thought with a shudder.
She scrubbed the water off her face with shaky hands and pushed to her feet.
As her fear diminished, she peered through the darkness and could barely see her car.
"I'll be back for you. Just wait for me," she promised, feeling like she was abandoning her baby.
Once she got on the narrow road, she shifted her hair out of her face and glanced at each way. Darkness and darkness. Dammit, why couldn't she have an accident right in someone's frontage? But no, the nearest house was probably the one she'd passed about a mile back.
She headed that way, stopping to glare at the pool of water where her car had tumbled right off the road. The armadillo, of course, was long gone. At least she hadn't hit it.
With her head lowered, she walked down toward the house, getting wetter and wetter. Hopefully she wouldn't trip on something in the darkness. Breaking her leg would be the last unfortunate thing in a day that had been a disaster from start to finish.
Number one mistake: meeting at a halfway point for their first date when the man lived miles and miles outside of Tampa.
He sure hadn't been worth the trip. She'd have found more excitement auditing business accounts. Then again, he hadn't appeared all that impressed with her either. She grimaced. She'd recognized the look in his eyes, the one that said he really wanted tall and slim, an Angelina Jolie type woman, no matter that her posted picture portrayed her quite accurately: a pint-size Marilyn Monroe.
So far, she'd have to say finding a guy through the Internet rated right up there with back-country shortcuts, her second mistake of the day.
Aunt Eunice always swore things happened in threes. So would braking for an armadillo be considered her third mistake, or was there another disaster lurking in her near future?
She shivered as the wind howled through the palmettos and plastered her drenched clothing against her chilled body. Couldn't stop now. Doggedly, she set one foot in front of the other, her waterlogged shoes squishing with every step.
An eternity later, she spotted a glimmer of light. Relief rushed through her when she reached a driveway studded with hanging lights. Surely whoever lived here would let her wait out the storm. She walked through the ornate iron gates, up the palm-lined drive past landscaped lawns, until finally she reached a three-story stone mansion. Black wrought iron lanterns illumined the entry.
"Nice place," she muttered. And a little intimidating. She glanced down at herself to check the damage. Mud and rain streaked her tailored slacks and white button-down shirt, hardly a suitable image for a conservative accountant. She looked more like something even a cat would refuse to drag in.
Shivering hard, she brushed at the dirt and grimaced as it only streaked worse. She stared up at the huge oak doors guarding the entrance. A small doorbell in the shape of a dragon glowed on the side panel, and she pushed it.
Seconds later, the doors opened. A man, oversized and ugly as a battle-scarred Rottweiler, looked down at her. "I'm sorry, miss, you're too late. The doors are locked."
What the heck did that mean?
"P-please," she said, stuttering with the cold. "My car's in a ditch, and I'm soaked, and I need a place to dry out and call for help." But did she really want to go inside with this scary-looking guy? Then she shivered so hard her teeth clattered together, and her mind was made up. "Can I come in? Please?"
He scowled at her, his big-boned face brutish in the yellow entry light. "I'll have to ask Master Z. Wait here." And the bastard shut the door, leaving her in the cold and dark.
Jessica wrapped her arms around herself, standing miserably, and finally the door opened again. Again the brute. "Okay, come on in."
Relief brought tears to her eyes. "Thank you, oh, thank you." Stepping around him before he could change his mind, she barreled into a small entry room and slammed into a solid body. "Oomph," she huffed.
Firm hands gripped her shoulders. She shook her wet hair out of her eyes and looked up. And up. The guy was big, a good six feet, his shoulders wide enough to block the room beyond.
He chuckled, his hands gentling their grasp on her arms. "She's freezing, Ben. Molly left some clothing in the blue room; send one of the subs."
"Okay, boss." The brute -- Ben -- disappeared.
"What is your name?" Her new host's voice was deep, dark as the night outside.
"Jessica." She stepped back from his grip to get a better look at her savior. Smooth black hair, silvering at the temples, just touching his collar. Dark gray eyes with laugh lines at the corners. A lean, hard face with the shadow of a beard adding a hint of roughness. He wore tailored black slacks and a black silk shirt that outlined hard muscles underneath. If Ben was a Rottweiler, this guy was a jaguar, sleek and deadly.
"I'm sorry to have bothered --" she started.
Ben reappeared with a handful of golden clothing that he thrust at her. "Here you go."
She took the garments, holding them out to keep from getting the fabric wet. "Thank you."
A faint smile creased the manager's cheek. "Your gratitude is premature, I fear. This is a private club."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Now what was she going to do?
"You have two choices. You may sit out here in the entryway with Ben until the storm passes. The forecast stated the winds and rain would die down around six or so in the morning, and you won't get a tow truck out on these country roads until then. Or you may sign papers and join the party for the night."
She looked around. The entry was a tiny room with a desk and one chair. Not heated. Ben gave her a dour look.
Sign something? She frowned. Then again, in this lawsuit-happy world, every place made a person sign releases, even to visit a fitness center. So she could sit here all night. Or...be with happy people and be warm. No-brainer. "I'd love to join the party."
"So impetuous," the manager murmured. "Ben, give her the paperwork. Once she signs -- or not -- she may use the dressing room to dry off and change."
"Yes, sir." Ben rummaged in a file box on the desk, pulled out some papers.
The manager tilted his head at Jessica. "I will see you later then."
Ben shoved three pages of papers at her and a pen. "Read the rules. Sign at the bottom." He scowled at her. "I'll get you a towel."
She started reading. Rules of the Shadowlands.
"Shadowlands. That's an unusual na --" she said, looking up. Both men had disappeared. Huh. She returned to reading, trying to focus her eyes. Such tiny print. Still, she never signed anything without reading it.
Doors will open at...
Water pooled around her feet. Her teeth chattered so hard she had to clench her jaw. There was a dress code. Something about cleaning the equipment after use. Halfway down the second page, her eyes started blurring. Damn it all. This was just a club, after all; it wasn't like she was signing mortgage papers.
Turning to the last page, she scrawled her name.
When Ben returned, he checked the papers for her signature, handed her a towel, and showed her into an opulent restroom off the entry. Glass-doored stalls along one side faced a mirrored wall with sinks and counters.
She glanced in the mirror and winced: short, pudgy woman, straggly blonde hair, pale complexion now blue with cold. Surprising that they'd even let her in the door. Dropping the borrowed clothing on the marble counter, she kicked her shoes off and tried to unbutton her shirt. Her hands were numb, shaking uncontrollably, and time after time, the buttons slipped from her stiff fingers. She couldn't even get her slacks off, and she was shuddering so hard her bones hurt.
"Dammit," she muttered and tried again.
The door opened. "Jessica, are you --" The manager. "No, you are obviously not all right." He stepped inside, a dark figure wavering in her blurry vision.
"Permit me." Without waiting for her answer, he stripped her out of her clothes as one would a two-year-old, even peeling off her sodden bra and panties. His hands were hot, almost burning, against her chilled skin.
She was naked. As the thought percolated through her numb brain, she jerked away and grabbed at the dry clothing. His hand intercepted hers.
"No, pet." He plucked something from her hair, opening his hand to show muddy leaves. "First a shower."
He wrapped a hard arm around her waist and moved her into one of the glass-fronted stalls behind where she'd been standing. With his free hand, he turned on the water, and heavenly warm steam billowed up. He adjusted the temperature.
"In you go," he ordered. A hand on her bottom, he nudged her into the shower.
The water felt scalding hot against her frigid skin, and she gasped, then sighed as the heat began to penetrate. After a minute, she realized the door of the stall was open. Arms crossed, the man leaned against the door frame, watching her with a slight smile on his lean face.
Chapter 1 C1
26/10/2023
Chapter 2 C2
26/10/2023
Chapter 3 C3
26/10/2023
Chapter 4 C4
26/10/2023
Chapter 5 C5
26/10/2023
Chapter 6 C6
26/10/2023
Chapter 7 C7
26/10/2023
Chapter 8 C8
26/10/2023
Chapter 9 C9
26/10/2023
Chapter 10 C10
26/10/2023
Chapter 11 C11
03/11/2023
Chapter 12 C12
04/11/2023
Chapter 13 C13
06/11/2023
Chapter 14 C14
06/11/2023
Chapter 15 C15
07/11/2023
Chapter 16 C16
08/11/2023
Chapter 17 C17
09/11/2023
Chapter 18 C18
11/11/2023
Chapter 19 C19
12/11/2023
Chapter 20 C20
14/11/2023
Chapter 21 C21
15/11/2023
Chapter 22 C22
16/11/2023
Chapter 23 C23
03/12/2023
Chapter 24 C24
04/12/2023
Chapter 25 C25
04/12/2023
Chapter 26 C26
06/12/2023
Chapter 27 C27
07/12/2023
Chapter 28 C28
07/12/2023
Chapter 29 C29
08/12/2023
Chapter 30 C30
09/12/2023
Chapter 31 C31
10/12/2023
Chapter 32 C32
10/12/2023
Chapter 33 C33
11/12/2023
Chapter 34 C34
11/12/2023
Chapter 35 C35
11/12/2023
Chapter 36 C36
11/12/2023
Chapter 37 C37
12/12/2023
Chapter 38 C38
12/12/2023
Chapter 39 C39
14/12/2023
Chapter 40 C40
14/12/2023
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