Prize. I gritted my teeth against the feelings it caused in my stomach.

“Right,” Dante said with a light laugh, not at all fazed by his boss’s scolding. “For Ms. Mercer, these are the rules you must abide by when in Mr. King’s care.”

I grabbed the paper as he slid it toward me, quickly reading through the rules.

One

I belong to Warren King and Warren King only during our contracted time. I cannot touch, kiss, caress, or sexually please another man or woman in any way or allow myself to be touched, kissed, caressed, or pleased by anyone else while under his care.

Two

I must be willing to submit to any and all sexual demands of Warren King that are not listed under my Hard No list provided to Black Silk Auction House prior to being purchased.

Three

Warren King does not tolerate brats. Any bratting will be met with a fitting punishment of Warren King’s choosing.

Four

I must stay in Warren King’s care for the duration of the contract and am not allowed to leave without him unless given express permission.

I paused at the first two. I knew they were pretty standard, based on what Dante had said before the auction, but this definitely had Warren’s personal touch. He was possessive. Something that used to make me swoon but now made me feel threatened.

I scanned through the rest, not caring too much about what it said. It didn’t matter. I would do what I had to do to get close to him. My fate had been sealed the moment I applied for the Black Silk Auction.

I signed my name at the bottom and passed it to Warren without meeting his gaze. I had felt it on me the entire time I was reading his rules. The sound of his pen scratching against the surface caused my heart to skip.

The next piece of paper was my own Hard No list. It was blank.

I signed it without blinking and passed it to Warren, only to stop when his hand covered mine. I jerked it from his grip, my head snapping to look at him.

An amused smirk was spread across his face.

I was taken aback by him now that I was getting an up-close-and-personal look. There had been plenty of news coverage about him. It seemed he was getting recognized every week for something great he did. Donating money here. Building something there. Hell, the net worth count alerts I got on my phone every month were enough to drive me insane.