Auctioned to Him 6: Damage

by Charlotte Byrd

  I climb back into the helicopter as if I’m floating on a cloud. Before closing the door, he kisses me on the hand and wishes me a good flight.

  I keep my eyes on Aiden as we fly away and I keep looking long after he and the yacht disappear into the ocean.

  When the New York skyline appears before us on the horizon, my phone beeps and I look down at the text.

  “Now, you have the full $250,000 to be unwise with. Go live your life to the fullest. Pursue your dreams. Nothing else in the world is worth it.”

  The number is a perfect match to the one on the card that Aiden gave me. It takes me a minute to realize what he means by the full $250,000. But I still don’t believe it until I can see it with my own eyes. Quickly, I log into my student loan account. And instead of $151,329, which I owed last month, the balance now reads $0.00.

  “You paid off my student loans??” I text Aiden.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you deserve the full quarter million to be unwise with.”

  I shake my head, not believing that any of this is really real. Who the hell are you Aiden Black?

  * * *

  THE END (for now)

  Get the Auctioned to Him - Deleted Scene!

  Get Auctioned to Him - The Deleted Scene for FREE by signing up for Charlotte Byrd’s Readers Club. You will get this chapter as well as access to exclusive content and giveaways. No spam. Ever.

  * * *

  BookHip.com/NPBWMZ

  * * *

  Details can be found at the end of Auctioned to Him

  About Auctioned to Him 2

  His for a Week

  Aiden

  I wanted to own her from the minute I saw her. That’s why I bought her for the night at my yacht party, but that one night wasn’t enough. I crave her. I have to have her. And for the first time, in a long time, I feel like I’m falling for someone. That can’t be right. I’m a confirmed bachelor. I love one-night stands and women who leave in the morning. But Ellie is different. She challenges me. She doesn’t listen. She frustrates me on every level and that makes me want her even more. It’s not just sex I want. Oh, no…I want more. This week, there are no rules.

  Ellie

  I’m a good girl who has never had a one-night stand, let alone let myself be auctioned off to the highest bidder. But that night with Mr. Black on his yacht was amazing and it gave me enough money to pay off all of my school loans. I doubted that I would ever see him again. He is a manwhore, after all. He may be beautiful and flawless on the outside, and damaged and tormented on the inside, but he’s still a manwhore.

  But then he called. Now I know that what I felt was real. It’s not just the dark pleasures that are pulling me back to him. It’s something more, but Aiden Black doesn’t just want to go on a date like a normal person. No, he wants me to be his for a week. On call. To do whatever he demands. Do I dare comply?

  WARNING: This is a HOT modern day dark erotic romance with an alpha billionaire for fans of EL James, Kira Blakely, and Madison Faye. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger, and a Happily Ever After for now.

  Auctioned to Him 2

  If you haven’t read Auctioned to Him 2: His for a Week, you can get it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Here are the links:

  Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2vNxGqc

  Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2wf5n74

  Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/d/Auctioned-Him-2-His-Week-ebook/B074D54L9Q/

  About Auctioned to Him 3: Back to the Yacht

  The hotly anticipated third book of the Auctioned to Him series continues the sensual saga of Ellie and Aiden.

  Mr. Black is Aiden and Aiden is Mr. Black. They are the same person except that they’re not. Aiden is kind and sweet and Mr. Black is demanding and rule-oriented. One thing is for sure, Aiden Black is as beautiful and flawless on the outside as he is tormented and damaged on the inside.

  I’m a good girl who had never even had a one-night stand before I went to his yacht party. And there, I let myself be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Ever since that night, Mr. Black’s scorching flames have singed me with the darkest of pleasures. I crave him and I couldn’t stay away from him even if I wanted to. He is my addiction. He is my every desire.

  So, when he invites me to another one of his yacht parties…I can’t say no.

  WARNING: This is a HOT modern-day, dark, erotic, romance with a bad boy alpha billionaire for fans of EL James, Kira Blakely, and Madison Faye. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger and a Happily Ever After for now.

  Auctioned to Him 3

  If you haven’t read Auctioned to Him 3: Back to the Yacht, you can get it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Here are the links:

  Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2x9wAHH

  Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2x6Y1jK

  Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/s/ref=nav_ya_signin?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=auctioned+to+him+3&

  About Auctioned to Him 4

  The hotly anticipated fourth book of the Auctioned to Him series continues the sensual saga of Ellie and Aiden.

  Aiden Black is beautiful and flawless and tormented and damaged. I’m a good girl who never thought that she would fall for a man who would buy her at an auction. But what started out as a relationship of pure lust has evolved into something more…love. The more I fall in love with him, the more I crave him. I can’t stay away.

  And now that his business is falling apart, he needs me more than ever. When I see the opportunity to help him, I have to take it…

  WARNING: This is a HOT, modern-day, dark erotic romance with a bad boy alpha billionaire for fans of EL James, Kira Blakely, and Pepper Winters. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger and a Happily Ever After, for now.

  Auctioned to Him 4

  If you haven’t read Auctioned to Him 4: His Addiction, you can get it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Here are the links:

  Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2fRWEkL

  Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2fL6bGJ

  Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/d/Auctioned-Him-4-His-Addiction-ebook/B075QHT6X2/

  About Auctioned to Him 5

  Book 5 in the Bestselling series - includes Book 1 as a BONUS! The hotly anticipated 5th book continues the sensual saga of Ellie and Aiden.

  I never expected to participate in an auction, let alone fall in love with a man who would buy me. But here we are. Aiden Black is beautiful and damaged. Our love started out as pure lust and now it’s so much more. His business is going up in flames and he needs me as much as I need him.

  But when we attend a lavish party in Maine, everything that was going so right, suddenly starts to go wrong. Suddenly, there’s no way out. Or is there? Can our love survive this?

  WARNING: This is a HOT, modern-day, dark erotic romance with a bad boy alpha billionaire for fans of EL James, Kira Blakely, and Pepper Winters. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger and a Happily Ever After, for now.

  Auctioned to Him 5

  If you haven’t read Auctioned to Him 5: Her Addiction, you can get it for FREE on Kindle Unlimited. Here are the links:

  Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2j9przh

  Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2oz3sHF

  Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/Auctioned-Him-5-Her-Addiction-ebook/dp/B0764F3C7Y/

  About Auctioned To Him 6

  The hotly anticipated 6th book of the Auctioned to Him series continues the sensual saga of Ellie and Aiden.

  “Whenever you’re not around, it’s all I can do to think about you. I crave you…You make me want to be a better man, Ellie.” With these words, the beautiful and damaged Aiden Black asked me to marry him.

  He has made me the happiest woman in the world, even though our life together is far from perfect. My best friend needs justice for what happened to her in Maine and Aiden is now unemployed after his billion dollar company was stolen from him. Will all this turmoil make us stronger or will it just make us fall apart?<
br />
  WARNING: This is a HOT, modern-day, dark erotic romance with a bad boy alpha billionaire for fans of EL James. It contains light bondage, NO CHEATING, No Cliffhanger and a Happily Ever After, for now.

  Auctioned to Him 6 also contains free BONUS, steamy, standalone, billionaire romance novels.

  Prologue - Aiden

  When I decided to ask her to marry me…

  When I first met Ellie, I thought it was just infatuation. She is so beautiful that she took my breath away. And then I got to know her. Her kind heart and witty sense of humor surprised me at every turn. But still, never in a million years did I think that I would be ready to ask her to marry me.

  The thing is that I do not have the best opinions about marriage. I see it as an old-fashioned institution that’s in place to keep people in their place. Instead of being free agents, individuals, we are forced into being couples, or family groups. To share every part of ourselves, even down to our names. Of course, sharing a name isn’t compulsory, but still, there’s the expectation.

  These are all the things that I’ve hated about marriage. But mostly, I hated the idea of being with just one person forever. But then I met Ellie. And now, somehow, everything that I was afraid of, everything that I dreaded, everything that I raged against, became insignificant. Instead of hating the idea of waking up with the same woman every morning, I look forward to it. Instead of worrying that I will get bored with her in a year, or five, or even within the month, I know that I won’t and I look forward to starting the adventure of a lifetime.

  Despite my reservations about marriage and love everlasting, I bought Ellie’s engagement ring a week after I met her. It had rained all night and I tossed and turned and couldn’t get a wink of shut-eye. In the morning, I decided to go on a run to clear my head. It wasn’t even seven o’clock when I ran past a small boutique jewelry store, down an unfamiliar alleyway that I’d never gone down before. Most of the stores are still closed at this hour, but there was an old man shuffling around in the front, cleaning the windows. And that’s when I saw it.

  The ring had somewhat of an antique design with a glittering oval yellow gemstone at the center, surrounded by shiny bright stones all around and all the way down the band. I was going to just keep going, but I couldn’t. It’s as if it had stopped me and pulled me inside. I knocked on the door, but the old man waved me off.

  “We’re not open yet,” he said.

  “I know, I’m sorry,” I yelled so he could hear me through the glass. “But if you could show me that ring there, I’d be really grateful.”

  The old man’s face told me that he was nowhere near being convinced, but against his better judgement, he opened the front door.

  “Which one?” he asked, grumpily.

  “The one with the yellow stone,” I said.

  “It’s a two-carat yellow diamond,” he says, handing me the ring. “Are you going to propose?”

  His salesmanship left much to be desired, but I liked him anyway. He wasn’t a people-pleaser and that was a refreshing alternative to most people I dealt with on a daily basis.

  “I don’t know. I just met her,” I said, picking up the ring and looking at it closer. Even though it was dark in the store and the clouds outside hung low and looming, this ring still sparkled as if it could make its own light.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said.

  “Yes, I know. It’s one of my favorites.”

  “And these are all diamonds around the band?”

  “Of course. High quality ones too.”

  I nodded, admiring the ring on my finger.

  “Tell me about this girl.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask, taken a little aback.

  “Well, this is my favorite ring. I bought this ring from a lonely old lady with no family or friends, but lots of money, who wanted it to go to a good home. She asked me what my dream was and I told her that my dream was to open a jewelry store. She gave me money to open this store, right here, and asked me to display this ring in the front. It was one of her favorites. She also asked me to sell it only to the right person.”

  “Oh wow,” I mumble.

  “Yes,” the old man nodded. “And so far, in forty-seven years, I have not encountered such a person.”

  I smiled. Perhaps, this ring is not to be after all.

  “So, tell me about this girl.”

  I took a deep breath. For a moment, I thought about lying about how we met because a man of his age probably wouldn’t approve of our unconventional meeting place. But then, at the last minute, I decided against it. I was probably not going to get this ring anyway, so why lie?

  I told him the truth. I told him about the yacht and the auction. I told him how I always assumed that I would be a bachelor for life, that I was simply incapable of loving one person forever.

  “And you’ve only known her for a week?” the old man asked after listening very carefully.

  Again, I was tempted to lie or at least obfuscate the truth. It sounded so sappy and stupid that I would feel this way about someone after such a short period of time. But again, I decided to go against my better judgement.

  “Maybe that’s not enough time, but it’s just how I feel,” I finally said. “I don’t know much about her, of course, but every part of my being feels at home with her. I feel like I belong with her.”

  The man listened very carefully, and looked away after a few moments. I was sure that I had blown it. But I was glad that I told him the truth, even if I didn’t deserve the ring. I had finally admitted something out loud that I had been terrified to admit to myself. I had admitted it and I was a better person for it.

  “Well, thank you for your time,” I said after a few moments. “You have a very beautiful ring, but I will not take up any more of your time.”

  I turned to leave, when the old man said, “And where do you think you’re going?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you want the ring or don’t you?”

  “You’re really going to sell it to me?” I asked, not quite believing my ears.

  “That is if you can afford it. It’s not cheap.”

  “I didn’t think it was.”

  The old man looked me up and down and then named the price. Fifty-eight thousand dollars. I nodded. It definitely wasn’t cheap. But I just pulled out my credit card and handed it to him.

  “So, what made you sell this ring to me after all of this time?” I asked, signing the receipt.

  The old man looked up at me with tears in his eyes. “When you were telling me about Ellie, it reminded me a lot of how I felt about my Althea when we first met. I laid my eyes on her and I knew almost immediately. I did wait a week to ask her to marry me and then it took another month for her to agree. But once we got married, we were very happy for thirty-five glorious years. Until she passed away.”

  My heart tightened up at the thought. It both went out to him for all the pain that he went through and for myself, at the thought of losing Ellie.

  “I’m so sorry about your loss,” I whispered.

  “Life happens,” the old man shrugged. “But no matter how much it hurts now, I know that we were very happy when we were together and that nothing can take that away.”

  The old man packed the ring into a velvet ring box and handed it to me.

  “Thank you very much,” I said, and turned to leave.

  “Oh, young man,” he said, stopping me at the door. “Since you are now the owner of this very special ring, I thought you should know a little bit more about it.”

  I nodded.

  “It was designed by a man named Captain Ludlow in England in 1860, for his beloved fiancé. She was sick with tuberculosis, and unfortunately it wasn’t finished before she passed away. After her death, Captain Ludlow took the ring with him as he sailed around the world. It had been with him in South Africa, Argentina, Tahiti, China, San Francisco, and all around the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

  Captain Ludlow never married aga
in, but instead held onto the ring as if it were his beloved’s heart. He had it in his pocket when his ship went down off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico and he was rescued after surviving three long days and nights alone at sea, on a piece of wood. He had it when he was attacked by pirates off the coast of Algeria. Captain Ludlow continued to sail well into his eighties and he came to believe that the ring protected him from the many dangers he encountered.

  He finally died from pneumonia doing what he loved best, sailing around the South Pacific. On his deathbed, he bequeathed the ring to his grand-niece, Ms. Elizabeth Ludlow, who later sold it to me and helped me to achieve my own dream. So, you see, Mr. Black, this is a very special ring. It will not only protect you in times of peril and turmoil, but also give you hope when all feels lost. I hope you treat it well.”

  Chapter 1 - Ellie

  When we get back to New York…

  We got back from Maine a couple of days ago. Aiden spent the night last night and has been gone all day, busy with work stuff. Caroline is out of the hospital and spending a lot of time alone in her room. I check on her every few hours, bring her food and tea, but she isn’t very interested. According to the hospital staff, she’s all better, physically. But the emotional toll of what happened in Maine will take a lot to recover from. I want her to see a psychologist or a therapist, but I haven’t gotten the courage to bring it up quite yet. She’s not even ready to leave her room yet. I doubt that she has the energy to go talk to anyone. Luckily, there was a psychiatrist at the hospital who prescribed her some medication to calm her down. That should tide her over for some time.