Midnight Pleasure [THE PLEASURE SERIES BOOK 1]

Chapter One - Melora

Melora stood next to her father's small throne. Her shoulders were pushed back, and her back was straight. Her long blonde hair fell smoothly down her back, stopping right at the curve of her ass. A long, red dress flowed around her. It was tight around her bodice but then flowed freely down her legs. A slit traveled up her right leg, stopping in the middle of her thigh. A jewel hooked onto a miniature gold chain clipped around her thigh showed off her father's wealth. Melora also knew that the gems brought attention to the exposed skin.

Melora's father was showing her off. She knew that. Melora was the only child of Chieftain Ba Coford. Her mother had died giving birth to her, so her father couldn't produce a male heir. This resorts to him showing off his daughter since she turned eighteen to an eligible bachelor. Melora closed her eyes and took a deep breath, tears stinging her eyes.

Chieftan Ba Coford needed to gain land and money fast. People from their clan left with every news of another raid on their land. Minor chieftains were claiming their land for their own. Her father needed to get rid of his daughter. He knew the only way for him to save his clan was to give her away to another chieftain with land and money to spare. On her twenty-first birthday, her father will have to come up with a decision about who he is going to give her hand to, much to Melora's demise. Melora knew her father was selling her, and that hurt more than she wanted it to. Ba Coford hadn't been the doting father she wished he would be. Knowing she was being sold damaged her; she hated the attention it brought her.

There was only one man that Melora wanted attention from. Her green eyes searched until she found him leaning against a pillar on the other side of the ballroom. He was barely visible to her as he stood in the shadows. He was always in the shadows during the day, watching her, protecting her.

Drystan was given to her as her bodyguard when she turned eighteen and was allowed to come to these gatherings. Ba Coford didn't trust her to be alone with any of the men in this room. But he trusted Drystan alone with her. Whenever Melora had to walk around the room, talking to many of the suitors her father would invite, Drystan was close behind her.

Melora could see Drystan's golden brown eyes shining through the shadows, watching her intently. She clasped her hands as her eyes met his, her insides warming up from the contact.

"Melora!" her father's voice snapped her out of her trance.

Melora took a deep breath as she gracefully turned to her father perched on his small throne and tipped her head to one side, a forced smile on her face. "Yes, father?"

Melora watched as her father gave her a bored look and motioned to the crowd before them, waving a hand. She looked at the two dozen young men standing before them, mingling with each other. None of them were paying any attention to her.

"None of these men are the ones I picked out for you," Ba Coford told her with a smirk.

"No?" Her heart sank whenever he would talk about this subject. Secretly, she had been hoping he would change his mind about giving her away, but she knew it wouldn't happen. She begged him to stop this search when it started, but he would always tune her out. Ba Coford was determined to sell his daughter to a man she didn't know or love.

Ba Coford moved his hand down to his right knee, a signal only for permission for Drystan to approach them. Melora stood up straighter as he came to them. His golden-brown eyes caught hers, and he smiled slightly, inclining his head to hers. His black hair was messy on his head and hung somewhat over his eyes. Full lips curved into a smile. Her eyes traveled up to his nose, broken one too many times, and then his beautiful eyes. Drystan was tall and full of muscle. His usual black shirt and pants hung tight against him, leaving little to the imagination. He had to know that he constantly tortured her, but she wasn't going to tell him. He was off-limits. Ba Coford made sure that she understood that.