His hands wandered lower, fingers pressing into the dip of my spine, then slipping over the curve of my hips. His fingers teased the sensitive skin there, his touch lingering, exploring. A massage was one thing. This—this was something else entirely.
"Relax, little virgin." He withdrew his hands, but not before dragging his fingers over my waist in a lingering caress. "I’m only touching. After all… you belong to me, don’t you?"
**********
Selene’s life had been perfectly ordinary. Classes, late-night study sessions, coffee runs—just another college student trying to survive. Until the night she was taken.  
One moment, she was taking out the trash. The next, she woke up in chains, surrounded by strangers with eyes that glowed like molten gold and smiles that revealed fangs. Real, impossibly sharp **fangs.**  
Vampires.  
She would have laughed if she weren’t terrified. If the stench of blood and fear didn’t cling to the walls of the dark, underground chamber where she was held. If the stage she stood on didn’t feel like a meat market, her body was the product being sold.  
She wasn’t alone. Other humans were paraded before the silent, powerful figures watching from velvet seats, bidding on them with lazy amusement. Some were terrified. Some were resigned. Selene was neither.  
She was **furious.**  
Then *he* stepped forward.  
Tall, commanding, **dangerous.** The kind of man whose presence sucked the air from the room. His midnight eyes settled on her, and a cruel smirk curled his lips.  
Selene’s skin prickled. Every instinct screamed at her to look away, to shrink under his gaze. But she didn’t.  
And he noticed.  
“A million,” the stranger said, his voice smooth, final. “In cash.”  
Silence. No counterbids. No challenge.  
She should have been relieved the auction was over. Instead, her stomach turned cold as she realized the truth.  
She hadn’t been purchased.  
She had been **claimed.**

The Vampire's Doll

**DARIUS**
"I don't belong to you, Darius. Not in any lifetime. Not in any twisted prophecy."
I closed the space between us, voice quieter but no less intense.
"You're mine, whether you like it or not."
"I don't care...."
The tremble in her voice didn't go unnoticed. But it wasn't fear-it was d...

CHAPTER 24