Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
A willing vessel for my dark depravity. Room and board included. Pay excellent.
I know this is a dangerous deal, but there are dark desires inside me too.
One day on the job, my innocence is gone.
Two days on the job, my hands are cuffed.
Day three, I am more than paid escort -- I am billionaire Sebastian Montgomery’s captive.
And I have never been so turned on.
LEGENDS AND LOVERS is a collection of dark legends and star-crossed love stories from twenty bestselling authors. Woven with mystery and magic, love and lore, romance and suspense, this multi-author collaboration promises to make your heart pound and keep you reading late into the night. Discover all the books in the series at legendsandlovers.com
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1
CLARA
WANTED: WILLING VESSEL
I require a woman who will become a willing vessel for my dark depravity. You must accept my desires enthusiastically and without complaint. You must have an open mind and attach no strings to certain acts. Will offer an initial payment of one hundred thousand as a sign-on bonus, with additional pay of one-hundred thousand for every month under my service. Luxury room and board is included.
I stare at the glow of the laptop in front of me, trying to process the absurdity on the screen.
The ad gives me the creeps. That much I’m sure of. It’s deep in the bowels of an online classifieds site, filed under miscellaneous.
I’ve been digging deep for a while. Looking for any place to live, the threat of homelessness looming over me.
Three days. That’s how much is left on m lease. Three days and then the landlord is going to show up and start throwing my stuff out on the street. We’ve been struggling to pay on time so much that he didn’t even offer us a renewal.
And my father? The man I’m sharing this lease with? He hasn’t been one bit of help. All of this past year, he’s been leaving me with the burden of trying to support us both, taking my money and heading right to the bar.
With eviction looming, do you think he would actually help me, his only daughter? No. He’s found a drunken friend of his to crash with. That generosity isn’t extended to me.
After all I’ve done? Working a full-time job to pay our rent? Paying for our food? Paying for everything? Go fuck yourself, Clara. You’re on your own.
All while going to college on top of it. Studying to hopefully get a better job someday, barely getting by on a barebones scholarship in the meantime.
I’ve gotten no sympathy from my father. He even had the gall to suggest kids like me have no idea what hard work is.
“And here’s your iced cappuccino,” Debbie says as she presents me with a cup before sitting down across from me with her own sugar-caffeine drink.
“Thank you so much,” I reply as I sip it. “I’ll pay you back soon. Really.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t you worry about it, that’s what friends are for.”
“Friends are for buying you coffee when you’re dirt-poor?”
“I meant more like giving you something to smile about during a tough time, but your explanation works too.”
I don’t know how I would have survived the past year without Debbie. She’s been my lifeline to sanity. Living with my father in such a tiny apartment has been maddening, and I’m low on options to get out of the house. The college library isn’t always open, and the coffee shop baristas look at me funny if I come in without buying anything. Debbie and her employee discount have helped a bunch of times, and she’s good to talk and vent to.
“Still no good leads on a place?” she asks.
“Nothing. I got fifty bucks to my name, Deb. Most places want a security deposit on top of the first month’s rent. You know any places where fifty bucks will cover that?”
She grimaced. “No. Not really.” She looks defeated whenever I mention my apartment problem. She so badly wants to help, but she’s on the financial ropes herself. She can’t take me in. Not for more than a night or so before her roommates get pissy with her.
I look back at the ad. There’s a phone number to call. I tap my fingers on the table, gauging how desperate I am. Is it time to resort to such a thing?
“What’re you looking at so intently?”
She gets back up and swings over to my side of the table, looking over my shoulder. “Willing vessel? The fuck? Is this some weird pregnancy kink thing?”
“I don’t know, Deb. I don’t know what this is.”
“Seems like one of those creepy ‘pussy for rent’ deals. Are you desperate enough to be considering that?”
“It’s really seeming like it’s that or be homeless. I’m trying to talk myself into it by thinking it can’t be worse than being spit on and talked down to by my customers in the late-night drive-thru. Is strange dick any worse than burning myself with peanut oil?”
“That doesn’t seem comparable to me. The shitty customer goes away eventually. Being a willing vessel or whatever the fuck doesn’t seem the same to me at all.”
I continue tapping my fingers on the table. I consider my options again. I can be homeless and try to keep going to school. Try to sleep over at friends’ places day to day, eat off the dollar menu, shower at the school’s gym.
I could try to beg my aunt who lives across the country for help. Aunt Mona would take me in. But if I move, I can kiss my education goodbye. This scholarship won’t follow me and my credit is already too shot to get student loans. I’ll be asking if people want fries with that for the rest of my days. Not to mention losing the friends I’ve made here.